Is a Vitamix Worth It? I Asked Several Experts to Weigh In

The first time I got my hands on a Vitamix blender, I was in culinary school. While I sincerely believed I had been making some nice soups and purees with my immersion blender or conventional smoothie model, the Vitamix made that all seem like child’s play after one go.

Gone was the minuscule, vegetal particulate matter that otherwise defined my early attempts at a velvety butternut squash soup. A truly emulsified, homogeneous mixture was apparently only available with a professional device, a truth I would acknowledge time and time again, no matter which Vitamix model I encountered in various restaurant kitchens.

Professional devices come with professional price tags, however, and I never enjoyed the exceptional outcome available from a Vitamix in the privacy of my own home. But small kitchen appliances have come a long way in the last decade, and with high-functioning brands like Ninja in the mix, it begs the question: Is a Vitamix worth it?

What makes a Vitamix blender better?

One of the primary attributes that sets Vitamix apart from many other blenders is its high-speed motor. If you’ve also had the privilege of ever using one, you will know well that the speed of its highest setting puts most other blenders squarely in the rearview mirror. Its power feels like something that could reasonably be put to use for supersonic travel.

Unlike a food processor and some standard blenders, which contain sharp blades that vivisect their contents into smaller and smaller bits, a Vitamix also relies on stainless steel, dull-edged blades that basically pulverize your food when combined with its ultra-rapid rotation and the gravitational pull of the vortex it creates. This is what creates its unparalleled smoothness, since nothing inside the jug is actually getting chopped to bits.

Vitamix vs. Ninja Twisti

In our most recent lineup of the best blenders, the Ninja Twisti model was neck-and-neck with the entry-level Vitamix Explorian for top honors. Here’s a side-by-side look at how they compare in terms of features, power and price.

One thing that stands out here is that, while the Ninja model has more available power, its lighter base may make blending less stable at top speed, especially with harder items such as nuts. The jug is smaller, which is fine for smoothies, but may make blending soups more cumbersome, assinceyou’ll likely need to do it in several batches. The warranty also pales in comparison to Vitamix. Does that warranty justify the Vitamix price, though, at nearly 2.5 times what you can pay to take home the Ninja?

Is a Vitamix worth it? Experts weigh in

I asked several chefs and kitchen experts to share their thoughts on whether a Vitamix is worth it. Similar to the results of the same experience with Le Creuset — the (expensive) standard-bearer for Dutch ovens — brand loyalty is real, though everyone I queried brought up valid considerations about functionality, longevity, warranty, origin and whether or not you’re going to actually use the thing often enough to justify it.

First, “ask yourself, ‘how often do I use a blender?'” suggests Joanne Gallagher, co-founder and recipe developer at Inspired Taste. “Consider what you actually cook in a week. If a blender lives on your counter and gets consistent use, the investment is worth it,” she says. “If you make a smoothie every day, love to make your own nut butter, or blend hot soups straight from the pot, a Vitamix could be your best friend.”

Perhaps you believe you would do all of this more regularly if only you had a world-class appliance that inspired you to do so. “I end up cooking and trying new things the more confident I feel in the kitchen,” Gallagher says, and the right appliance can help. “When you know you’ll get the perfect tomato soup, for example, you’re likely to branch out and try new recipes and cooking methods,” she says. There is merit in that thinking, of course, but it’s a potentially expensive gamble if you don’t those sorts of things on a regular basis already.

As for the quality of output, “in the past, I struggled with cheap blenders that left smoothies chunky and couldn’t handle hard spices like cinnamon when making homemade mole sauce,” says Jessica Randhawa, founder and head chef at The Forked Spoon. “I now own two Vitamix blenders, one in each of my test kitchens,” she says. “One is an entry-level model, which is an amazing blender and does everything a blender should do perfectly every time.

The other is one of Vitamix’s newer, top-of-the-line models with food processor attachments, which allowed me to get rid of my old food processor in that kitchen.” The latter point here is a worthwhile consideration. If a Vitamix can do the work of two appliances, the price tag starts to feel a little less like a reach.

Not every chef believes that it is worth it if you’re not really using it all the time. “For most home cooks, I don’t think a Vitamix is truly worth the price,” says Rena Awada, head chef and owner of Healthy Fitness Meals. “Unless you’re making soups, nut butters, etc., daily, or running a small food business, the speed and smoothness it offers rarely justify the cost.”

Chef Molly Pisula of Vanilla Bean Cuisine offers up a workaround. “The price point is high, but refurbished blenders are available, and even sold directly on the Vitamix website,” she says. (“Reconditioned” in Vitamix-speak.) “And Amazon often runs a great Black Friday sale on Vitamix blenders.”

If you do take the gamble on the cost of a new model, though, Randhawa points out some serious upside: “I love that Vitamix is made in the USA,” she says, “and comes with a warranty better than most cars.”

My own Vitamix alternative experiment: Chefman Obliterator

I recently came into possession of a Chefman Obliterator, which has specs very similar to the Vitamix Explorian model, including a self-cleaning mode and speed dial that goes up to 5. (Each speed setting is subdivided by 5 hashmarks, making for effectively 25 speed settings.) Its price is listed at $75 on Amazon, putting it squarely in the budget blender camp. Despite not wanting to give up the moral of the story too soon, without taking you through my process: Run, don’t walk to pick up this blender at that price.

I freely admit that I was initially drawn to the Obliterator on hyperbole alone. “Obliterate” is a serious claim that feels like the blender should also come with a wand and a book of spells. Turns out, those props aren’t even necessary.

Since butternut squash soup is apparently my personal benchmark for evaluating the success of a given blender, butternut squash soup was made. Into the Obliterator’s generous chamber went the chunky, “country style” pre-puree concoction, and then out came something that could reasonably be called obliterated, but in a good way. It was as smooth and ungranular as that which could have been served at any high-end restaurant, and pretty much obliterated the fantasy that I might someday actually spring for a Vitamix.