A machine arrived after we first wrote this guide that doesn’t make ice cream the way any of the others do — and it now outsells most of them. The Ninja CREAMi doesn’t churn liquid at all. Understanding what it actually does is the single most useful thing in this rewrite, because it determines whether it’s the right machine for you or completely the wrong one.
Here’s how each type works, and what to buy in 2026.
Our Top Ice Cream Makers
Three Different Machines, Three Different Workflows
Freezer bowl ($70-190). A double-walled bowl full of coolant gel lives in your freezer. Freeze it solid — 16 to 24 hours — pour in chilled base, churn 18 to 25 minutes. One batch per freeze, so a second flavor means waiting a day. Cheapest and, for occasional use, entirely sufficient.
Compressor ($299-600). A built-in refrigeration unit, like a tiny freezer with a paddle. No pre-freezing, no planning, back-to-back batches. Churns in 25 to 40 minutes. Heavy — 24 to 28 pounds — and expensive, and the only option if you want to make three flavors in an afternoon.
The Ninja CREAMi ($200-300) — the different one. You freeze your base solid for 24 hours in a proprietary pint container. Then a blade called a Creamerizer descends into that frozen block and mills it; one reviewer described it as working “like a drill bit.” No churning, no ice, no salt, no pre-frozen bowl. One pint at a time.
That distinction matters. The CREAMi doesn’t remove the wait — it moves it. Planning is still 24 hours ahead. What you get instead is texture control (a Re-Spin cycle fixes icy results) and the ability to make things a churn simply can’t: protein ice cream, single-serving portions, sorbet from frozen fruit.
The Best Ice Cream Makers in 2026
1. Cuisinart ICE-21P1 — Best Overall Value
$69.99, 1.5 quarts, churns in about 18 minutes, and it has been the sensible answer for years. Pour in chilled custard, press one button, walk away.
The economics are hard to argue with: for the price of three pints of premium supermarket ice cream you get a machine that makes better ice cream than the supermarket sells. The catch is the freezer bowl — it needs a full day of freezing beforehand and takes up meaningful freezer space year-round if you want it ready.
Buy a second bowl if you’re serious. It’s the cheapest possible upgrade and turns a one-batch machine into a two-batch one.
Specifications:
- Capacity: 1.5 quarts
- Churn time: ~18 minutes
- Type: freezer bowl (16-24h pre-freeze)
PROS:
- Cheapest route to genuinely good homemade ice cream
- Simple — one switch, no settings
CONS:
- Bowl must live in the freezer
- One batch per freeze cycle
Conclusion
The default recommendation for anyone making ice cream a few times a summer.
2. Ninja CREAMi NC601 — Best for Variety and Diet-Friendly Bases
$249.99 for the Deluxe eleven-program version with two 24-ounce tubs. What it does that nothing else does: turn almost any frozen block into a scoopable dessert — ice cream, gelato, sorbet, smoothie bowls, milkshakes, and notably protein ice cream and low-sugar bases that churning machines handle badly.
The Re-Spin cycle is the feature that makes it work in practice. Low-fat and high-protein mixtures come out icy on the first pass; seventy seconds of Re-Spin turns them creamy. Without that, half the recipes people buy this machine for would fail.
Two honest warnings. It is loud — flagged independently by multiple reviewers, and not the sort of loud you run while someone’s on a call. And the pints are proprietary, so you’re buying into an ecosystem.
Buying note: the current lineup is NC351 (7 programs, $199-230), NC601 (11 programs, 24oz tubs, $249.99) and NC701 Scoop & Swirl (13 programs with soft-serve dispensing, $299.99). Older reviews cite NC301 and NC501 — a generation out of date. There’s no standalone “Swirl” model; soft serve exists only inside the NC701.
Specifications:
- Type: mills frozen base (not a churn)
- Pre-freeze: 24 hours, solid
- Capacity: two 24 oz tubs; one pint per cycle
PROS:
- Handles protein and low-sugar bases nothing else manages
- Single servings without committing to a full batch
- Re-Spin rescues icy results
CONS:
- Genuinely loud
- Still needs 24 hours of planning
- Proprietary containers
Conclusion
The machine to buy if variety, portion control or protein ice cream is the point. Not a shortcut around planning ahead.
3. Cuisinart ICE-70P1 — Best Freezer Bowl Upgrade
$189.99 for two quarts, a 300-watt motor and a countdown timer with preset programs for ice cream, gelato and sorbet. The larger capacity is the real reason to step up — 1.5 quarts disappears fast in a household of four.
The gelato setting is more than marketing: it runs a slower churn that incorporates less air, which is exactly the difference between ice cream and gelato. Same freezer-bowl constraint as the ICE-21, so the pre-freeze planning doesn’t go away.
Specifications:
- Capacity: 2 quarts
- Motor: 300W; churn ~25 minutes
- Presets: ice cream, gelato, sorbet
PROS:
- Bigger batches; genuine gelato mode
- Timer and auto shut-off
CONS:
- Three times the price of the ICE-21 for capacity and presets
- Same freezer-bowl wait
Conclusion
Worth it for a bigger household or someone who cares about the gelato distinction.
4. Whynter ICM-201SB — Best Compressor Value
The affordable way into compressor territory: 2.1 quarts, a built-in refrigeration unit, no pre-freezing ever. Make a batch, wash the bowl, make another — the freedom that freezer-bowl owners quietly envy.
At 24.25 pounds it isn’t going in a cupboard between uses; it’s an appliance that lives on a counter or a shelf. That’s the real cost of compressor convenience, more than the money.
Whynter’s line runs from small 0.8-quart units up to 2.6 quarts, all compressor-driven, if the size doesn’t suit.
Specifications:
- Capacity: 2.1 quarts
- Type: compressor — no pre-freezing
- Weight: 24.25 lb
PROS:
- Back-to-back batches with no planning
- Cheapest credible compressor machine
CONS:
- Heavy; needs permanent space
- One-year warranty
Conclusion
The pick if spontaneity matters more than counter space.
5. Breville Smart Scoop BCI600 — Best Premium
$599.95, and the machine for someone who takes this seriously. Twelve hardness settings let you dial in soft-serve through firm-scoop; the machine senses consistency and tells you when it’s reached the setting you chose. It then holds the finished ice cream cold for up to three hours, so a dinner-party dessert can be ready before guests arrive rather than during dessert.
Six hundred dollars for ice cream is a lot of money, and we won’t pretend otherwise. It’s the right purchase for a small number of people — those making ice cream weekly, or chasing a specific texture that a fixed-speed machine won’t hit.
Buying note: the model is BCI600. Older guides say BCI600XL; Breville renamed rather than discontinued it.
Specifications:
- Type: compressor
- 12 hardness settings with automatic sensing
- Keep-cool: up to 3 hours
PROS:
- Precise, repeatable texture
- Holds finished ice cream cold
CONS:
- $600
- Large and heavy
Conclusion
A specialist’s machine. If you already know why you want twelve hardness settings, this is the one.
Ice Cream Maker FAQ
Why is my homemade ice cream rock hard the next day?
Because it lacks the stabilizers and air that commercial ice cream has. Fixes that work: a tablespoon or two of alcohol in the base (lowers the freezing point without tasting of it), a higher fat custard, or a little corn syrup or glucose. Also let it sit out five to ten minutes before scooping.
Do I have to chill the base first?
Yes, and it’s the most-skipped step. A warm base will partly melt a freezer bowl’s coolant before churning begins, and you’ll get soup. Chill overnight — ideally to fridge temperature — and the difference in texture is dramatic.
How long does the freezer bowl need?
16 to 24 hours, at the back of the freezer, not the door. Shake it: if you hear liquid, it isn’t ready. Many people just leave it in permanently.
Can the CREAMi make ice cream from scratch?
Yes — you make a base as usual, freeze it solid in the pint for 24 hours, then spin. What it also does is turn frozen fruit, protein shakes and yogurt into dessert, which is what most owners use it for.
Is a compressor machine worth triple the money?
Only if the freezer-bowl wait is what’s stopping you from making ice cream. If you’re happy planning a day ahead, the $70 Cuisinart makes ice cream every bit as good.
Summary
Most people should buy the Cuisinart ICE-21P1 at $70, plan a day ahead, and enjoy better ice cream than they can buy. The Ninja CREAMi NC601 is a genuinely different machine — buy it for protein bases, single servings and variety, not as a way to skip the planning. Step up to the ICE-70 for bigger batches, the Whynter if you want spontaneity, and the Breville Smart Scoop if you’re chasing exact texture.
One practical note if you’re following links from older articles: Ninja’s old website now redirects wholesale to SharkNinja’s, so any bookmark from a 2020-era review is dead.
