The 3 Best Small Air Fryers - Spring 2025

The best small air fryer we've tested is the Ninja Pro AF141. This 5-quart air fryer is among the smallest we've tested, and it's a good option if you don't have a lot of free counter space. Despite its diminutive design, its basket has a good amount of surface area, so you can arrange more food in a single layer compared with some other 5-qt air fryers, which is important for the crispiest results. It makes good quality air-fried food, so French fries, chicken wings, and vegetables come out evenly browned and crispy, with a relatively small proportion being under- or overcooked. It also preheats and cooks quickly, making it a good option for quick snacks.

While it has fewer different functions than some air fryers, it still offers great versatility. The four presets (Air Fry, Roast, Reheat, and Dehydrate) give you access to a wide range of temperatures and fan speeds for different recipes and cooking methods. Its crisper tray has a ceramic non-stick coating, which isn't as easy to clean by hand as traditional non-stick coatings, but you might prefer it if you try to avoid PTFE coatings.

If you want a small air fryer with a price tag to match, the BELLA 6qt Pro 90165 is the best compact air fryer for anyone on a budget. It has a taller but narrower design than the Ninja Pro AF141, so it can squeeze into cramped spaces a little more easily. The basket has a bigger 6qt overall capacity but has about the same surface area as the Ninja's, meaning it has the same effective capacity. However, it usually costs about half as much, and it makes similarly good-quality air-fried food, making it a good option for preparing quick, crispy snacks or side dishes for a couple of people. 

It preheats and cooks quickly, but doesn't maintain as stable a temperature during cooking as the Ninja, which makes it harder to follow recipes accurately and properly cook more delicate foods. It has only one fan speed and isn't ideal for methods like baking and dehydrating. With all that said, it's an inexpensive, simple option if you're looking for a compact air fryer.

If you want something even smaller, consider the Chefman TurboFry RJ38-5-T, whose smaller footprint takes up less of the valuable real estate on your counter. This basic model has only a single fan speed, so it's best suited for air frying and not other methods like baking. However, it does a decent job of evenly cooking and crisping air-fried foods like fries, chicken wings, and Brussels sprouts.

The Ninja Foodi DZ071 isn't exactly small, but has a compact design considering its overall capacity, and may be a better option than the previous options if you regularly cook for the whole family. This 7-quart air fryer is smaller than some similar dual-basket options like the Ninja Foodi DZ550, as it has a shorter design and smaller footprint. However, it still has an impressive amount of surface area in its basket, so you can prepare food for several people and get good results.

It does a very good job of evenly air-frying food, so a relatively small proportion ends up under or over-done. It's also very versatile, with a wide range of temperatures and fan speeds for different cooking methods, such as dehydrating and baking. Unlike the other air fryers recommended here, you also can use it as a single or dual-basket fryer with its removable basket divider. This design, with one large basket that can be divided, means the baskets won't be as well-isolated as models with completely separate drawers. However, it's not a huge issue as long as your recipes don't call for vastly different settings on each side, and you can still prepare your main and side dishes separately.