Best Snow Blowers of 2026, Tested by Our Experts
The best can quickly and easily blast through deep piles of snow
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The most powerful snow blowers in our ratings of more than 100 gas and electric models can clear a path as fast as you can walk, scooping up 18 inches of snow and hurling it 40 feet away. They also easily handle the compacted mounds left at the end of a driveway, which is important in the aftermath of a heavy winter snowstorm.
But you’ll also find simpler, less expensive machines that are great for smaller accumulations, including power snow shovels, and models that aren’t worth buying at all.
- Best Gas Snow Blowers: Two-Stage Compact Single-Stage
- Best Battery Snow Blowers and Shovels: Single-Stage Two-Stage Power Snow Shovels
- How CR: Tests Snow Blowers Picks Snow Blowers
The listings below, available to CR members, cover various types of snow blowers, both gas- and battery-powered models. (Battery-powered models have been improving rapidly, but machines that run on gas still clear snow faster.)
Snow blowers also vary by how many mechanical “stages” are used to move snow through the machine and out the chute.
Best Two-Stage Gas Snow Blowers
Two-stage snow blowers are just right for heavy snowfalls up to 16 inches deep.
Best Compact Two-Stage Gas Snow Blowers
Many snow blowers are 28 or 30 inches wide. If you want to save space in the garage or get a more maneuverable machine, consider these compact snow blowers, which are 24 inches across. They may require an extra pass or two along your driveway, but they muscle through piles of snow as capably as their wider rivals.
Best Single-Stage Gas Snow Blowers
These single-stage snow blowers aren’t as powerful as the machines listed above. But they do a stellar job moving up to about 9 inches of snow. Many of them also leave a cleaner surface than higher-gauge models, because the augers (the spinning blades) are often made of rubber. That means they can contact the surface you’re clearing, unlike the metal auger of a machine meant for more snow.
Best Two-Stage Battery Snow Blowers
Top-scoring battery-powered snow blowers can work nimbly in a range of conditions, though they won’t clear snow as fast as the best gas-powered machines. Two-stage machines will easily clear up to 9 inches of snow, but you’ll need some patience to clear deeper snow.
Best Single-Stage Battery Snow Blowers
Single-stage battery snow blowers are meant to handle up to only 6 inches of snow, and they’re less expensive than two-stage models.
Best Power Snow Shovels
These battery-powered handheld shovels operate differently from traditional snow blowers, but they’re still capable of clearing up to 6 inches.
How CR Tests Snow Blowers
No two snowflakes are alike, and that presents a challenge for our lab technicians. So our team uses a mixture of water-saturated sawdust in place of snow. “It’s a close approximation, and it’s standardized,” says Jonathan Tuczynski, who is part of our snow blower test team. “So each model gets tested with the same mixture year to year.”
The sawdust mixture can simulate a standard snowfall or be molded into a mound, much like the ones municipal plowing trucks leave at the end of a driveway (It doesn’t make good snowballs, though we did try.)
In each test, we time how fast a model cuts through the dense mixture and note how far the sawdust is thrown and how clean the surface is. The Overall Score for each model combines the results from these performance tests with survey data from thousands of CR members, which informs our brand reliability and owner satisfaction ratings.
We test single-, two-, and three-stage gas snow blowers from brands including Ariens, Craftsman, Cub Cadet, Honda, Husqvarna, Toro, and Troy-Bilt. And we look at lighter-duty, single-stage, and two-stage electric blowers from brands like Ego and Snow Joe, as well as power snow shovels from brands like Greenworks and Toro. We test power snow shovels in the same way we test snow blowers, but we use far less of the sawdust mixture. For anything deeper, you’ll want a traditional snow blower.
How We Pick the Best Snow Blowers
The experts at Consumer Reports look for snow blowers that do the job quickly and efficiently—and will be reliable season after season. Here’s what our Top Picks have in common.
They’re capable. All of the models selected can work through 6- to 18-inch-deep snow, depending on the number of stages.
They throw snow far. The best snow blowers hurl snow a suitable distance so that you won’t have to make extra passes to clear a path or driveway.
They’re quick. The gas models work through snow quickly.
They can handle a plow pile. All of the best models can tackle a large mound of snow that a snowplow might leave at the end of your driveway.
They’re reliable. Top models are worth the investment only if you can count on them season after season.
When Is the Best Time to Buy a Snow Blower?
Whether you’ve yet to receive your first inch of snow or you’re on your third blizzard, it’s never too late or too early to consider a snow blower. In general, you can often find sales during seasons with low snowfall, and some manufacturers and retailers look to clear inventory before spring. Many snow blowers last a decade or longer with proper maintenance, meaning you’re not just buying it for this winter but for the next 10 or more.
BEST TIME TO BUY:
