5 Cheaper Alternatives to KitchenAid Mixers in 2024

What is the best stand mixer brand in 2024?

The number one stand mixer brand is indeed KitchenAid.

Speaking of the word "mixer", many people will hear "KitchenAid". It's no surprise that top performance, timeless design, legendary durability, streamlined beauty, and easy-to-lock tilting head define the KitchenAid mixer's reputation.

What Is The Best KitchenAid Stand Mixer?

Of the many options now available, KitchenAid's Artisan Series($449.99) is still the best stand mixer for the money!

Here's our ranking of the best KitchenAid stand mixers:

1. The Artisan Series

2. The Artisan Mini Series

3. The Classic Series

4. The Design Series

5. The Professional Series

The specific KitchenAid stand mixer ranking reasons and test reviews I'll cover at the end of this article. If you want to know, please drop down the article.

What's the Best KitchenAid Stand Mixer Alternative?

Everything is good, but a bit expensive?

KitchenAid tops the list of "Best Mixers" year after year. Without a doubt, this is an excellent product and I believe it is worth the investment.

But if you're only mixing occasionally, or just don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a mixer, we've rounded up the best stand mixers you can buy, from Breville models to Cuisinart, GE, and more.

Let's quickly review our picks for the best stand mixers:

• The Best KitchenAid Stand Mixer Alternatives: Breville the Bakery Chef, $399.95. 

  This alternative isn’t cheap, but it’s the closest you can get to KitchenAid without paying KitchenAid prices.

• Best large-capacity stand mixer for affordability: Cuisinart Precision Master 5.5-Quart Stand Mixer, $205.99

• Best digitally controlled stand mixer: Instant® 7.4-quart Stand Mixer, Pro, $299.99

• Best value stand mixer: Hamilton Beach Electric Stand Mixer, 7 Speeds, $119.99

• Best premium stand mixer: GE Tilt-Head Electric Stand Mixer, 7 Speeds, $244.57

KitchenAid vs. Breville, Cuisinart, Instant, Hamilton Beach, GE Mixer Quick Comparison

At a Glance: 

Best Stand Mixer Comparison & Review

#1 The Best KitchenAid Stand Mixer Alternatives: Breville the Bakery Chef, $399.95

The $399.95 Breville the Bakery Chef isn't that much cheaper than the $450 KitchenAid Artisan; but if you're looking for an excellent alternative to a KitchenAid stand mixer, I believe Breville's is worth it one look!

• When it comes to width and depth, this Breville stand mixer is the perfect size for any counter. While it’s not a replica of the KitchenAid, it still has that classic stand mixer look in a die-cast metal body. 

• This compact mixer has a more powerful motor, more features, and a lower price point than the 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan model (our previous top pick).

• Breville's mixer offers an array of uses thanks to the 12-speeds you'll have to choose from. 

• The well-built machine completes every task powerfully with minimal noise and mess. The performance is amazing. It deftly whipped stiff peaks in a lightning-fast 18 seconds, the fastest of any model tested.

• When we whipped cream, mixed cookies, and kneaded pizza dough, it was strong enough to resist rocking and walking on the counter, while many other mixers were not.

• But The Bakery Chef has a handful of useful features and accessories that bakers will appreciate, including a built-in timer that you can use to count up to how long it takes for a dough or batter to reach the perfect consistency, then set it to automatically shut off after that amount of time the next time you make the same recipe. 

• This is the only one that came with both a standard beater blade and a scraper beater blade. And unlike KitchenAid’s flex-edge beater (which must be purchased separately for the 5-quart Artisan model), Breville’s has the silicone scraper on both sides, not just one.

• It comes with two mixing bowls—a 4-quart stainless steel bowl with two small helper handles and a 5-quart clear borosilicate glass bowl with a large handle and pour spout that’s also etched with measurements for easy recipe-following. 

• Breville covers the Bakery Chef with a one-year warranty on the machine and a five-year warranty on the motor, longer coverage than the one-year warranty KitchenAid provides for the Artisan. 

• Still, we've listed what we don't like about Breville's the Bakery Chef.

• You won’t find a hub on this mixer for attaching accessories like a grinder or pasta maker so you can’t justify the high price by thinking you’re getting more than one appliance for your money. 

• KitchenAid Artisan comes in a much wider variety of fun colors and can work with multiple cooking attachments such as a meat grinder or pasta maker. The Breville is only available in black, white, silver, champagne and dark blue.

• A safety lock on the side of the body must be disengaged to move the head of the stand mixer. Therefore, you have to use two hands to tilt the head.

#2 . Best value stand mixer: Hamilton Beach Electric Stand Mixer, 7 Speeds, $119.99

Hamilton Beach offers slightly less color selection than other brands, but it is a reliable and affordable machine for its price. 

For $129.99, you can try out a brilliant entry-level stand mixer from a trustworthy company that has the same mixing action as KitchenAid stand mixers. 

• Mixing versatility: includes splash guard, dough hook, whisk and flat beater. 

• With its 300-watt motor, it can effortlessly mix thick batters and doughs like bread, pizza, cookies, and more. 

• We were impressed in our tests with its ability to whip delicate egg whites into stiff peaks and to knead bread dough quickly and evenly.

• With seven different speeds, you'll have enough control to avoid under-mixing and over-mixing batters, doughs and frosting. But we did notice some splatter in our testing.

• The Hamilton Beach is not exceptionally sturdy, and its head bobbed a bit when we kneaded dough for two loaves of bread (the max recommended by the company). 

• But this lightweight machine is easy to lift if you want to keep it stashed away when you’re not using it. A handle on top gives you a good grip when you move it around.

• The motor head left little room to add ingredients to the bowl without tilting it up—so it’s hard to, say, add an egg while gently mixing the batter. 

• While it may have some minor drawbacks, such as difficulty cleaning the bottom of the bowl and stability issues at higher speeds, overall, this stand mixer is a reliable performer that won’t break the bank.

• Customers value the lightness of Hamilton Beach compared to KitchenAid. Other reviewers note that the Hamilton Beach "runs quiet," and the attachments reach the bottom of the bowl, similar to a KitchenAid. 

#3. Best large-capacity stand mixer for affordability: Cuisinart Precision Master 5.5-Quart Stand Mixer, $205.99

If you're price-sensitive, this Cuisinart model allows you the security of a major brand name with significant savings over the KitchenAid mixer.

• The Cuisinart Precision Master 5.5-Quart Stand Mixer is just $249.95. Cuisinart also offers the $299.95 Precision Pro, which features three preprogrammed food settings and seven recipe tasks.

• The unit features 12 speeds, a polished stainless steel bow, and a 500-watt motor on both the Precision Pro and Precision Master.

• The main rival to KitchenAid, this mixer was brilliant with heavy duty tasks, like kneading bread. 

• In our tests, the mixer whipped out very fluffy egg whites and cream with no leakage. But we did notice a bit of head jiggling when kneading stiff dough.

• It has two additional speed settings than the KitchenAid. It's tied with KitchenAid for the quietest operation.

• If you're catering for a crowd, the bowl is also larger than the KitchenAid Artisan by half a quart. The bowl also has a sturdy handle, which is helpful when you want to remove a bowl full of batter or dough from the base.

• Though it can't match the KitchenAid for colors, the six options - periwinkle blue, white, silver, red, black, and robin's egg green - suit almost every kitchen.

• A variety of accessories are available to expand its usefulness, including a pasta roller and cutter, pasta extruder, meat grinder, frozen dessert maker, and spiralizer.

• Most Cuisinart models come with a three-year limited warranty.

• Of course, we still list Cuisinart where it falls short!

• You'll find the Cuisinart's speed knob difficult to turn and adjust.

• Some ingredients stuck to the sides of the bowl, so we had to scrape the sides down to fully incorporate the ingredients.

#4 . Best digitally controlled stand mixer: Instant® 7.4-quart Stand Mixer, Pro, $299.99

If you’re looking for a stand mixer with a sleek design that can accommodate large recipes, you won’t be disappointed with the Instant Stand Mixer Pro, which offers several modern upgrades over its competitors.

While the Instant model doesn’t come in the same range of colors as a KitchenAid, there are a few reasons you might choose it over the legacy brand. 

• The Instant Stand Mixer Pro retails for $300, which is around $150 cheaper than the KitchenAid Artisan. 

• And with a 7.4-quart capacity, the mixing bowl can hold more than any stand mixer in its price range. 

• It’s ideal for making large batches of baked goods, and as an added bonus, both the bowl and all the attachments are dishwasher safe.

• It has 600 watts of power, so even the thickest doughs won’t slow it down, and has 10 speed control settings perfect for creaming butter or furiously whisking a meringue. 

• The ten speeds are controlled digitally, as is the easy-to-use count-up/count-down timer with a pause button. 

• It even comes with a built-in timer, so you can automatically set the machine to whisk for a minute. 

• Beyond the main aspects of the machine, it also comes with all of the accessories you need to get started, including a dough hook, mixing paddle, and whisk. 

• And one thing worth mentioning is that the mixing bowl itself has a handle, a stark difference from the competition, but one that’s worth it if you’re constantly pouring batter into cake tins. It also comes with a pouring shield to cover the bowl, so nothing splatters all over your kitchen counter.

• The Instant Stand Mixer Pro also has an accessory port which can take Instant’s compatible pasta roller, meat grinder, and slicer/shredder (all sold separately) and we really liked that the minimal pouring shield attached to the motor head instead of the bowl. 

• It weighs less than other blenders but has suction cup feet that help compensate and prevent the mixer from moving. However, we don't like the feet: They make it harder to lift and move the mixer.

• In testing, we found that this mixer isn't very good at scraping the sides. So, if you’re someone who frequently whips up small batches in your stand mixer, the Instant Stand Mixer Pro probably isn’t the best option for you

• Unlike the beautiful designs of the Smeg, Cuisinart and KitchenAid mixers, this model only comes in white. 

#5 . Best premium stand mixer: GE Tilt-Head Electric Stand Mixer, 7 Speeds, $244.57

We were impressed with the performance of the GE Tilt-Head Electric Stand Mixer, which performed well in our tests for whipping cream, cookie dough, and bread recipes.

• While other mixers need constant help scraping ingredients off the sides of the bowl, the GE mixer's rotation design covers the entire bowl so we don't have to lift a finger.

• It is quite lightweight and easier to lift or stow than other machines we tested. However, this didn't cause it to move during operation; it sat motionless on the countertop.

• The clean industrial design gives the illusion of a more expensive product and includes a coated flat beater, coated dough hook, wire whisk, and pouring shield. 

• Plus, this model's accessory port works with third-party accessories, including KitchenAid accessories, which only adds to the value of this affordable mixer.

• The stand mixer boasts a die-cast metal frame with a tilt-head design, available in sapphire blue and granite gray. 

• Its 350-watt motor gracefully stands up to dense doughs and sticky batters. With 7 speed settings, it offers enough versatility for tasks from stiff peaks to airy loaves. 

• The 5.3-quart die-cast metal bowl is slightly larger than standard mixing bowl sizes, which means there's extra space for large recipes or double batches. 

• Also features a slow start motor to avoid sudden splashes when changing the mixing speed.

• Keep in mind that this machine has a 10-minute automatic shutoff feature, so if you want to stir or knead ingredients longer than that, you'll need to turn the dial back to "zero" and restart it.

• It’s intended to prolong the life of your stand mixer, but it can also get annoying for prolonged mixing.

# Final conclusion

For most home bakers, we now recommend Breville’s The Bakery Chef—a versatile 5-quart stand mixer with helpful built-in features and a handful accessories to help tackle big and little baking jobs. 

It’s more powerful and more affordable than our previous top pick, the 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan Series stand mixer, which we also recommend if you want a more classic machine without any digital components. 

Comparing the best KitchenAid stand mixers

KitchenAid stand mixers are real workhorses, they're packed with features and last a long time.

Since they all behave similarly, what's the difference between them? Mainly price, size, wattage and color.

What’s The Difference Between A Bowl-Lift And Tilt-Head Stand Mixer?

If you’re shopping for a KitchenAid stand mixer, the biggest decision you’ll have to make is whether you want a tilt-head style or a bowl-lift style. Both styles have that speed and efficiency KitchenAid is known for, but these small design tweaks change how you’ll add ingredients or swap out attachments.

So what’s the difference? A tilt-head is designed so the top hinges back whenever you need to add ingredients. (Here, the bowl rests at the base of a stand mixer, so you’ll have plenty of room.) With a bowl-lift, the mixing bowl is suspended with two adjustable arms. So whenever you want to add more ingredients, you’ll need to raise and lower the bowl. Ultimately, it all depends on your personal preference, so you’ll want to think about which design is more conducive to your needs.

Which KitchenAid Stand Mixer Is Right for You?

Small But Mighty: The Artisan Mini Series

The Artisan Mini Series stand mixer retains all the beauty and horsepower of the classic model in a smaller size.

The Artisan® Mini is lighter and smaller, yet just as powerful as the KitchenAid Classic™ tilt-head mixer, and we found this to be true in testing, as the Mini performed all tasks just as well as the Classic.

• 25% lighter, 20% smaller footprint (compared with KitchenAid Classic Stand Mixer).

• Compact size is ideal for apartments and smaller kitchens.

• Artisan Mini uses the same motor power as the Artisan.

• Has the same 10 speed settings.

• Soft-start feature helps avoid ingredient splash.

• 3.5-qt. polished stainless-steel bowl with ergonomic handle; locks to base.

• Makes up to 5 dozen cookies in a single batch.

• With colors from bold to understated, there's a Mini to match both your kitchen and your style.

The MSRP isn't that much different than the full-size Classic, so unless you're purposefully looking for something small and compact, we would opt for the Classic. 

KitchenAid Artisan Mini Series 3.5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer

$329.99 AT AMAZON

Best on a Budget: KitchenAid Classic Series Stand Mixer

It’s the standard KitchenAid stand mixer, a workhorse, with no extra bells or whistles. 

• With a tilt-head body and 4.5-quart capacity, it can tackle nearly any task or recipe, whether you’re stirring wet and dry ingredients together, kneading bread dough or whipping cream.

• The Classic is the least expensive line of the three full-size models, and with that comes the least powerful motor. 

• The Classic has 275 watts and is a planetary-motion mixer, which means the attachments revolve while the bowl remains stationary. 

• If you're not picky about colors or wanted black or white anyways it has the same retro design as the Artisan but is slightly smaller in capacity and motor. 

• The Classic gives you the basic KitchenAid experience at an entry-level price.

• 4.5 quart capacity for small to large batches.

• Add ingredients easily with the tilt head design.

• 10 speeds for almost any task or recipe.

• Model K455 includes (1) 4.5 Quart Stainless Steel Bowl, (1) Coated Flat Beater, (1) Coated Dough Hook, (1) 6-Wire Whip

KitchenAid Classic Series Plus 4.5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer

$329.99 AT TARGET

$329.99 AT KITCHENAID

First best choice: The Artisan Series

Of all the stand mixers we've tested, we believe the KitchenAid Artisan Series is the best for most people.

• The Artisan model is similar to the Classic model, with some exceptions. 

• The Artisan is offering better power, a larger capacity, and a host of colors to choose from.

• It is available with either a stainless-steel or glass bowl (each with a handle).

• Featuring a 5-quart capacity, it’s plenty big for standard baking recipes but compact enough to fit inside most kitchen cabinets. 

• Match your style with over 20 colors available. 

• The Artisan® motor is 325 watts, while the Classic™ motor is 275 watts. The additional power on the Artisan® mixers can help when mixing thick, heavy doughs.

• Like other KitchenAid models, this series has 10 speeds and comes with three standard attachments.

• All in all, the Artisan is KitchenAid's best-selling stand mixer and our top recommendation for the best KitchenAid stand mixer.

KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Stand Mixer

$450 AT TARGET

$450 AT KITCHENAID

$460 $350 AT AMAZON

Artisan Design Series 5 Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer with Glass Bowl

$500 AT KITCHENAID

Best Upgrades and Aesthetics: Design Series 

Released in 2022, the Design Series Blossom mixer is the most recent addition to the KitchenAid family. In terms of capabilities, it’s the same as the Artisan or Classic series: tilt-head body, 10 speeds, 5-quart bowl. The difference, of course, comes in the packaging of it all.

• This one-of-a-kind appliance is part of KitchenAid's Craftsman Series and is only available in one model.

• It's a gorgeous, soft thyme green shade inspired by a range of herbs and edible flowers found in the kitchens of makers around the world, and it's truly too pretty to be true.

• It also features a hammered-copper bowl with a stainless-steel interior. Luxury is here again, with absolutely ultra-stylish, ultra-glossy, ultra-high-performance appliance.

• We think this mixer is the ideal wedding or new home gift for those who love home-cooking and will look great on any kitchen work top.

• The Design Series Blossom Stand Mixer is available for purchase on KitchenAid.com (MSRP $699.99).

2022 Design Series Blossom Tilt-Head Stand Mixer

$700 AT KITCHENAID

Heavyweight: Professional Series

If you like to make dense breads and lots of cookies at one time, this is the line for you. 

• Like the Artisan and Classic, the Pro Line mixer has 10 speeds. The biggest draw, we think, is that the Pro Line offers the option of a bigger mixing bowl (either 6- or 7-quart). 

• However, it lacks a pour spout and the redesigned bowl wider and more shallow making it hard to mix smaller batches of dough. 

• Instead of a tilt-head, this line comes with a bowl-lift, which can sometimes present a challenge when removing any of the three standard attachments. 

• What it lacks, though, it makes up for in power. The 7-Quart Pro-Line model has a 970 watt motor for powerful and thorough kneading, which is the most powerful of all the models.

KitchenAid 7-Quart Professional Series Line Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer

$680 AT WS

Extrabux is an international cashback shopping site, offering up to 30% cashback from 10,000+ Stores!

B&H Photo Video, Dyson, Woodland Direct, Ooni UK, Bed Bath and Beyond, TUSHY, Zoro, Anthropologie, 4seating.com, GDF Studio, simplehuman, Appliance Parts Pros, etc.

Join to get $20 welcome bonus now! (How does Welcome Bonus work?)