# The 4 Best Popcorn Makers on Amazon in 2026 > Best popcorn makers on Amazon in 2026: the Whirley Pop stovetop popper, a hot air popper, a microwave popper and a stirring popcorn machine. Guide: https://twelvetabs.com/reviews/best-popcorn-makers/ · Updated 2026-09-28 · By TwelveTabs · Search it live: https://twelvetabs.com/?q=best%20popcorn%20maker&guide=best-popcorn-makers As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases. Our picks are independently researched, written by TwelveTabs AI and never sponsored. Prices and ratings change often: see the guide for today's. ## The top picks - **The crispiest popcorn, made on the stove:** Original Whirley Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper. It won our main search and our stovetop search: an aluminum pot with a hand crank and nylon gears that keep the kernels moving. - **Oil-free popcorn with almost no cleanup:** Presto PopLite Hot Air Popcorn Popper (04863). It won our hot air search and was a runner-up in the main one: an electric air popper that pops without oil and has a butter melter and cord wrap. - **Popping in the microwave, with no bags:** Ecolution Micro-Pop Microwave Popcorn Popper, 3 Quart. A runner-up in our main search: a 3-quart microwave popper in heat-safe borosilicate glass, with a silicone lid that measures kernels and melts butter. - **Hands-off, movie-theater-style popcorn:** West Bend Stir Crazy Electric Hot Oil Popcorn Popper, 6 Quart. A runner-up in our stovetop search: an electric popper with a motorized stirring rod and a large lid that turns into the serving bowl. Our top pick for most people is the **[Original Whirley Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper](https://twelvetabs.com/reviews/best-popcorn-makers/#pick-1)**. It won the main TwelveTabs search we ran for this guide, "best popcorn maker", out of 25 Amazon listings, and it won our stovetop search too. It is an aluminum pot with a hand crank that keeps the kernels moving, and it suits anyone who wants crisp popcorn and does not mind a few minutes at the stove. Want popcorn with no oil and almost no cleanup? The **[Presto PopLite Hot Air Popper](https://twelvetabs.com/reviews/best-popcorn-makers/#pick-2)** won our hot air search. If you would rather use the microwave, the **[Ecolution Micro-Pop](https://twelvetabs.com/reviews/best-popcorn-makers/#pick-3)** is a glass popper with no bags to throw away. And for hands-off, movie-night popcorn, the **[West Bend Stir Crazy](https://twelvetabs.com/reviews/best-popcorn-makers/#pick-4)** stirs itself and turns its lid into the serving bowl. ## How to choose a popcorn maker Serious Eats, which popped the same half cup of kernels in every model it tried, splits popcorn makers into a few types. The type matters more than the brand. - **Hot air poppers** blow hot air through the kernels, so they need no oil. Serious Eats found them fast and efficient, and the easiest to clean: a quick wipe and you are done. The popcorn is lighter and drier, so it takes toppings best with a little melted butter or oil. - **Stovetop poppers** are a metal pot with a crank you turn to stir the kernels in oil. They made some of the crispiest popcorn in Serious Eats' tests, with very few unpopped kernels, but you have to stand at the stove and hand-wash the pot. - **Stirring poppers** are electric, with a nonstick hot plate and an arm that stirs kernels in oil. Serious Eats found they made crisp popcorn with no unpopped kernels, but they were slower than air poppers, and the base cannot go in water. - **Microwave poppers** are a bowl with a vented lid. They take a little trial and error with your microwave's timing, but they need no counter space and no bags. Two more things Serious Eats noticed: the built-in butter warmers on electric poppers mostly did a poor job, so melt butter in a small pan instead. And capacity varies, so check how many cups a machine makes if you feed a crowd. ## Our picks in detail ### 1. Original Whirley Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper: best overall **Why it made the list** - It won our main search, "best popcorn maker", from 25 listings. - It also won our search for "stovetop popcorn popper", from 32 listings. - Its listing describes an aluminum pot with nylon gears and a hand crank that keeps the kernels moving for even popping. - Serious Eats picks the Whirley Pop as its best stovetop popcorn maker, and it left just three unpopped kernels in their test. **Drawbacks** - It needs oil and a stove, and you have to turn the crank while it pops. - Its thin metal pot has to be washed by hand. **Skip it if** you want to press a button and walk away. Pick 2 or pick 4 does that. ### 2. Presto PopLite Hot Air Popcorn Popper: best air popper **Why it made the list** - It won our search for "hot air popcorn popper", from 36 listings. - It was also a runner-up in our main search. - Its listing describes an electric hot air popper that pops without oil, with a cord wrap and a built-in butter melter. - Serious Eats names it the best air popper: the fastest it tried, with fewer unpopped kernels than the other air poppers. **Drawbacks** - Serious Eats found its butter melter dribbled, so melt butter separately. - It is plastic, where the Whirley Pop is aluminum. **Watch for this:** Presto sells the PopLite under more than one model number and listing. Ours is the 04863. Check the model number if you are matching it to a review. **Skip it if** you love the richer taste of popcorn popped in oil. ### 3. Ecolution Micro-Pop Microwave Popcorn Popper: best for the microwave **Why it made the list** - It was a runner-up in our main search. - Its listing describes a 3-quart popper made of heat-safe borosilicate glass, made without BPA. - Its silicone lid measures the kernels and melts butter as the popcorn pops, and the bowl is dishwasher safe. **Drawbacks** - At 3 quarts it makes less popcorn than the other picks. - It is glass, so it can break if you drop it. **Skip it if** you often make popcorn for a crowd. ### 4. West Bend Stir Crazy Electric Hot Oil Popcorn Popper: best stirring popper **Why it made the list** - It was a runner-up in our stovetop search. - Its listing describes an electric popper with a motorized stirring rod, so it stirs itself. - Its large 6-quart lid flips over to become the serving bowl. - Serious Eats picks it as its best electric oil popper: crisp popcorn and no unpopped kernels. **Drawbacks** - It is slower than an air popper. Serious Eats timed it at just under four minutes. - Its nonstick base cannot go in water, so cleaning off the oil takes care. **Skip it if** you are short on counter or cupboard space. ## What we left out, and why Our three searches returned 93 listings. TwelveTabs shortlisted 29 of them, read the listing pages of 9 finalists, and named a winner and two runners-up in each search. We kept one popper of each type and left out the rest: - **Dash Fresh Pop Hot Air Popper**, a runner-up in our hot air and stovetop searches. It is a second air popper, and the Presto won our hot air search. - **Presto PopLite My Munch**, a runner-up in our hot air search. It is a smaller 8-cup Presto air popper. One thing stood out: Serious Eats, which popped popcorn in every model it picked, chose three of our four as the best of their type. We found them from the Amazon listings alone. Wirecutter's guide to making popcorn names the [Presto PopLite](https://twelvetabs.com/reviews/best-popcorn-makers/#pick-2), our pick 2, among its picks. We could not read the guide this time and could not confirm its top pick, so no separate Wirecutter pick is in the comparison table. ## Questions people ask ### Is an air popper or a stovetop popper better? It depends on what you like. An air popper needs no oil and cleans up in seconds. A stovetop popper makes richer, crisper popcorn but takes more work. Serious Eats found both left very few unpopped kernels. ### Can you make popcorn without oil? Yes. A hot air popper like the Presto pops kernels with hot air alone. A little oil or butter afterward helps salt stick. ### How do you get butter on air-popped popcorn? Melt it separately in a small pan or the microwave, then drizzle it over and toss. Serious Eats found the built-in butter warmers on electric poppers did a poor job. ### What is the easiest popcorn maker to clean? A hot air popper. With no oil involved, it only needs a wipe. Stirring poppers are the hardest, because their electric base cannot go in water. ### How did TwelveTabs choose these popcorn makers? TwelveTabs ranked the Amazon listings for “best popcorn maker”, “hot air popcorn popper” and “stovetop popcorn popper”, read the pages of 9 finalists and named a winner in each search. From those 93 listings, we kept the four that each suit a different need, as of September 25, 2026. We checked the advice against Serious Eats. TwelveTabs, our AI shopping agent, compared the Amazon listings, and AI wrote this guide from that research. To see what it picks today, run the search yourself with the button on this page. ## How we researched On September 25, 2026 we ran three live TwelveTabs searches of Amazon: “best popcorn maker”, “hot air popcorn popper” and “stovetop popcorn popper”. Together they returned 93 listings. TwelveTabs shortlisted 29 of them, read the listing pages of 9 finalists and named a winner and two runners-up in each. We kept four, one of each type. AI wrote this guide from that research. Listings change: we read them on September 25, 2026, and a model, color or seller may differ today. ### Sources - [Serious Eats: The Best Popcorn Makers](https://www.seriouseats.com/best-popcorn-makers-7506178)