I tested a variety of popular milk frothers to see which ones you want to wake up and use every morning. (Lisa Schweitzer/Yahoo)
If you crave the velvety froth of a barista-made coffee drink — but not the dent it makes in your wallet — it's time to add a milk frother to your cart. You'd be amazed at how easily frothed milk can elevate basic java, plus it's essential if you want to make hot lattes or iced cappuccinos at home. To bring you the best milk frothers for 2025, we browsed hundreds of these gadgets, from the most basic manual models to full-on countertop electric frothers that produce hot and cold foam.
Even though I have a degree from the French Culinary Institute, prior to this testing project I didn't know much about milk frothers and steamers. I'd tried an inexpensive handheld version once or twice and had a vintage Nespresso frother (that came with my machine) for years, but I rarely used it. What I have learned from my culinary training, restaurant work and experience writing about food and cooking is that you've got to find the gadget that makes most sense for your specific needs. Maybe it's a dishwasher-safe frother, or a self-heating device. Or perhaps you're looking for the quietest possible solution that won't wake a sleeping household.
Whatever the case, we're here to help. After heavily researching milk frothers, I tested seven of the most popular options, both manual and electric, from budget to high-end. Many of the models impressed me, but I narrowed it down to the three best milk frothers for 2025. Here they are, plus our top tips for getting just the kind of frothy milk you desire.
Note: I was planning to test the well-liked Golde handheld frother, but it didn't arrive in time for this round. We'll update this story as soon as we're able to give it a whirl.
Related: More tools for coffee lovers, including the best Keurig machines, the best Nespresso machines, the best iced coffee makers and the best drip coffee makers.
Type: Electric countertop | Self-heating: Yes | Capacity: 3.4 to 17 oz. | Dimensions: 7"L x 5"W (base); 5"H x 5.5"W (pitcher)
Enjoying a hot cappuccino on a cold morning or a lush, foam-topped iced matcha latte on a summer afternoon is within reach when the Instant Magic Froth is on your kitchen counter.
It has an easy-to-navigate control panel with four buttons. There are three foam options: off/stir only (which makes this gadget great for hot chocolate, chocolate milk and café au lait), foam (made at low speed) and extra foam (made at high speed). You can also choose from three temperature levels: cool (meaning heat off), warm and hot.
The inside of the pitcher has clearly marked minimum and maximum frothing indicator lines so you don't have to pre-measure milk, though the amount of milk needed depends on the foam and heat you're trying to achieve.
After selecting your preferred foam type and temperature, you put the lid on and press the start button. When the milk has reached the correct temperature and foam thickness, the frother will stop and beep to let you know it's finished. The pitcher handle is easy to grip and the pour spout works well.
The only downside? Frothing and steaming hot milk takes about 4.5 minutes, which I realize seems like no big deal, except when you require that morning coffee jolt right now.
Type: Battery-powered handheld | Self-heating: No | Capacity: N/A | Dimensions: 9.5"H x 2"W
While some handheld frothers are less effective than countertop versions, this Amazon No. 1 bestseller and Yahoo editor favorite is an impressive powerhouse that works quickly.
It took me about a second to figure out how to use it (you basically just press the "on" button) and about a minute for it to froth both dairy and almond milk into a cloud of rich and creamy foam.
Washing the frother is a cinch: You run the whisk under hot water and briefly turn it on. That's it. You can store it upright on your counter (by the coffee maker, of course) in its handy stand.
I'd recommend it to anyone interested in a budget-friendly frother who doesn't mind heating the milk separately.
Type: Manual | Self-heating: No | Capacity: 14 oz. | Dimensions: 5.1"D x 3.5"W x 6.2"H
A manual frother is more work than an electric one, but if you've ever traveled with your own coffee setup (death to AirBnB instant coffee packets) or are particularly mindful and intentional about your coffee routine, this is the frother for you.
The concept of this stainless steel manual frother is similar to that of a French press coffee maker. The lid has an attached plunger with a double-mesh aerator that you pump up and down to create froth. Because the lid is stainless steel, you can't see the froth as you go and may need to stop and open it up to see your progress. It took a little more than a minute for me to create a dreamy froth with both dairy and almond milk.
You can use cold or hot milk. The capacity is technically 14 ounces, but it will overflow if you use that much, so beware. When you're done frothing, you can place all the parts into the top rack of the dishwasher.
I tested each of these frothers with about 5 ounces of both full-fat dairy milk and unsweetened almond milk. I noted how well each gadget foamed and heated, how long it took, how easy it was to use and clean and the resulting milk consistency and taste. For a frother to rank on our list, we took the following into account:
Ease of use: The controls should be intuitive, not confusing. I wanted to know if it was obvious when the milk was done frothing. I noted whether the jug had a comfortable handle for pouring, if the milk splattered while it was frothing and more.
Capabilities: What can this gadget do — is it self-heating? Does it have more than one foam and temperature mode? Can it help me make a cappuccino, latte, hot chocolate or café au lait?
Ease of cleaning: Is it dishwasher-safe or does it need to be hand-washed?
My time spent testing the best milk frothers yielded some top factors to keep in mind when you're shopping for this kitchen gadget.
Manual vs. electric: A manual frother is a pitcher with a mesh plunger (it looks and operates much like a French press coffee maker) that you pump up and down by hand to aerate the milk. There are two types of electric milk frothers — handheld (either battery-operated or rechargeable) and countertop (with an electric power cord). Handheld electric frothers aerate milk when submerged, but do not heat the milk; that said, they are compact and easy to store. Countertop electric models have a heating element and a removable whisk that rapidly spins to aerate and warm up milk simultaneously. They can also produce cold froth.
Self-heating: This comes down to how important convenience is to you. Do you want to push a button and come back to velvety, hot frothed milk when it's done? Or are you perfectly happy to heat some milk in the microwave and then froth it with a handheld or manual model? Often, with convenience comes a higher price and a larger footprint in your kitchen.
Dishwasher-safe: Some models are dishwasher-safe and some are not, but most are relatively easy to clean with warm water and a soapy sponge.
Nespresso Aeroccino4 Electric Milk Frother ($119): Nespresso has a reputation for being at the top of the barista-experience-at-home game. The Aeroccino4 delivers on that in terms of speed, power and long-lasting foam. The price is what threw me. There's no sugar-coating $119. But, in only 60 seconds milk gets piping hot with dense foam, which is markedly faster than other countertop electric models. Is it worth it? Perhaps, if you value speed and use it daily.
Bodum Bistro Barista Electric Milk Frother ($83): Often on sale for around $60, this electric countertop frother has a noteworthy 13.5-ounce usable capacity, meaning you can heat and froth enough milk for several drinks at a time. The froth itself is cloudlike, but I found a few drawbacks to this model — it's on the louder side, it lacks a handle for easier pouring and the unit emitted a mild burnt-rubber smell after frothing.
Rösle Stainless Steel Dual Speed Handheld Frother ($36): Rösle's handheld model has two speeds and a fair amount of power, but was not as easy and effective as the Zulay frother. It's also one of the pricier handheld options on the market. Thankfully, it did arrive with the required batteries, though I was frustrated that this frother did not have a cover or a flat side on which to rest.
Bodum Latteo Manual Milk Frother ($17): Another entry from Bodum, the Danish coffee experts, this manual frother looks almost exactly like a French press but with a different type of plunger. While I loved its clean lines and glass carafe, I didn't have much patience to continue to pump it to aerate the milk when it started splattering and sputtering. Manual labor plus spilled milk? No, thank you.
Baristas have a wealth of tools at their disposal. They include a steam wand (a tool that may be part of a high-end espresso machine that forces steam into milk), a variety of milk frothers (like the gadgets in this article) or a blender that helps them create cold foam.
Watery frothed milk could be a result of lack of aeration, which can happen if a handheld wand is placed too high up in the vessel. Other factors could be that your milk is too old (as milk ages, its proteins break down and the proteins help create foam), you're using non-dairy or low-fat dairy that naturally does not foam as much as full-fat dairy or you've overheated the milk.
One of the most common mistakes when frothing milk is using "old" dairy milk. As I noted above, when milk ages, its proteins break down and these are the proteins that help create the structure of foam. Another easy-to-fix mistake: You may be holding the frother wand too high or too low in the container of milk.
Also, take care not to burn the milk — dairy milk scalds at 165°F, so please don't overheat it. Some frothers just don't work as well with non-dairy milk. If you let the frother jug or parts languish too long after use without rinsing or cleaning, the milk solids can leave a residue. Handheld models may splatter milk if your milk vessel isn't large enough for the amount of foam it will produce — this is a trial-and-error process, for sure.
We received complimentary samples of some products and purchased others ourselves, but we reviewed all products using the same objective criteria.