The best lawn mowers are ones that will do the job well in as little time as possible. After all, mowing grass is a literal chore. But deciding to invest in your own mower vs. hiring a lawn service is a big deal, and it makes sense that you’d want to select a tool that checks off all your lawn care boxes.
Figuring out just what your needs are can take some time. Dale Vogelsanger, senior product expert for lawn and garden at outdoor power equipment site Power Equipment Direct, points out that there’s a huge variety of lawn mowers on the market. He recommends breaking down your needs based on how big your lawn is, how comfortable you feel walking vs. riding and the type of terrain you’re planning to mow. This can help determine whether you need a gas, electric, push, riding or even robotic mower, he says. Naturally, there’s also your budget to consider, along with any bells and whistles you might want with your mower, like mulching and bagging capabilities and whether you’d benefit from cool perks like a built-in phone charger.
To round up the top options, we considered important features like deck size, overall value, crucial safety features and must-have elements to make your mowing experience as seamless as possible. Here are the best lawn mowers you can buy right now.
- Best Overall Lawn Mower: Honda 21-Inch NeXite Variable Speed 4-In-1 Gas Walk Behind Self Propelled Mower
- Best Self-Propelled Lawn Mower: Ego Power+ 21-Inch Self-Propelled Cordless Electric Lawn Mower
- Best Gas Push Lawn Mower: Toro Recycler High Wheel Gas Walk Behind Push Lawn Mower
- Best Corded Electric Lawn Mower: American Lawn Mower Company 50514 14-Inch Corded Electric Mower
- Best Riding Lawn Mower: Ryobi 38-Inch Electric Rear Engine Riding Lawn Mower
- Best Zero-Turn Mower: Ryobi 54-Inch Electric Riding Zero Turn Mower
- Best Robot Lawn Mower: Worx WR140 Landroid M Robotic Lawn Mower
- Best Small Riding Lawn Mower: Cub Cadet CC30E 56-Volt Max Cordless Riding Lawn Tractor
- Best Cordless Electric Lawn Mower: Sun Joe 14-Inch Push Cordless Electric Lawn Mower
Best Overall Lawn Mower
An Affordable Option That Basically Drives Itself
The Honda 21-Inch NeXite is a natural choice for the best gas engine self-propelled lawn mower, but because this category is generally the smartest choice for the average homeowner, it also becomes the all-around best mower. This is the mower that hits all the right notes at a reasonably affordable price. The GCV200 Honda engine starts easily and has plenty of power for driving the rear wheels. Honda places its Select Drive control at your fingertips so you can dial in the mower’s precise speed to match your walking pace—not with a lever but with an actual dial. And it’s particularly safe; the flywheel brake rapidly stops the engine if you release the brake lever.
Deck damage is one of the most common reasons people need to replace their mower, but Honda’s NeXite has one of the best deck materials in the industry. It’s dent-proof, rust-proof and backed by a lifetime warranty. And underneath, it uses air pressure to keep grass circulating longer for better clipping and mulching. From there, the business end of the mower relies on twin blades you can set between 0.75 inches and 4 inches off the ground. In operation, it creates great mulch. Speaking of mulch, a single lever lets you switch rapidly between bagging (the bag has a generous 2.5-bushel capacity), mulching and discharge.
Best Self-Propelled Lawn Mower
An Easy-To-Operate Machine With LED Headlights For Nighttime Mowing
The Ego Power+ is one of the best overall electric walk-behind mowers available on the market right now. It’s powered by a 56-volt, 7.5 Ah Lithium-ion battery. That makes it about as powerful as an average gas mower, and it should run for about an hour on a charge. Another advantage: The battery is compatible with all Ego power tools, so you can swap batteries around and always have a spare ready to hot-swap if needed.
The drive is controlled using a typical lever control, and delivers excellent fine-speed control over the range of the mower’s performance. The mower’s multi-blade system gives a professional, clean cut to your lawn that a single-blade mower can’t achieve. Need to mow late in the day? No problem: There are LED headlights to illuminate your path.
The Ego lets you quickly switch between mulching, bagging and discharge with a single lever, and the collection bag holds 2 bushels of clippings. You can vary the deck height from 1.25 inches to 4 inches using a single handy lever—you don’t need to adjust each wheel or front and rear individually.
Best Gas Push Lawn Mower
A Reliable Mower That Gets The Job Done
Toro’s 21-inch push mower is built around a reliable 140cc Briggs & Stratton motor. It’s a budget-smart mower that gives you a lot of power, but dispenses with luxuries (like being self-powered) for smaller yards.
The motor is easy to start: There’s no need for a manual choke adjustment, priming or pumping before trying to turn it over, which is a welcome convenience. And since you’ll be pushing this mower, you’ll appreciate the enormous 11-inch rear wheels that helps you get traction on rougher terrain and inclines. The deck can be adjusted from 1.25 inches to 3.75 inches in six different positions, but you’ll need to set height levers separately in the front and rear.
The Toro has a few key conveniences. For starters, you can quickly switch among mulching, bagging and discharge. It also includes a bag for clippings. The handle can be set between two different heights with no tools required, and the motor doesn’t require any oil changes over the life of the mower—just check the level and add oil as needed.
Best Corded Electric Lawn Mower
A Budget-Friendly Option That’s Perfect For Smaller Yards
Though much less common than they once were, corded electric lawn mowers are still an option if you have a small yard and want to avoid a gas-powered mower. The American Lawn Mower Company’s 50514 14-Inch Corded Electric Mower is hard to beat on price and is a powerful option that’s easy to use.
Perhaps the largest disadvantage of the 50514 is its modest deck size—you get just 14 inches of cutting width, so it’s clearly intended for smaller yards. In exchange though, it’s among the lightest of the recommended walk-behind mowers at just under 26 pounds.
American Lawn Mower has built this around an 11-amp motor and gives you the choice of mulching or bagging your clippings (it is fitted with a 1.7-bushel bag)—but no discharge option. The bag has a grass level indicator so you can tell when it needs to be emptied. Another convenience: The deck height is controlled with a single lever, though it has a somewhat limited height range from 1-inch to 2.5 inches.
Best Riding Lawn Mower
A Zero-Emission Riding Mower With Up To Two Hours Of Run Time
When your yard is large enough to benefit from a riding mower, you shouldn’t have to spend a small fortune, which is why the Ryobi 38-inch Electric Rear Engine Riding Lawn Mower is an ideal choice. For your investment, you get a quiet, zero-emission but powerful riding mower with up to two hours of runtime—that’s enough to cover two full acres.
The generous 38-inch cutting deck is one of the main reasons you’ll want to consider this Ryobi. It’s wide enough to simplify your cutting pattern but this mower should still have no trouble fitting through a standard gate. And the twin blades mean you get a clean, professional cut, noticeably better than the ragged trim you sometimes get with a single blade.
While this might not be the main reason you’d choose this riding mower, the cockpit is reminiscent of a space ship, with a high-tech but easy-to-use control panel with digital battery level display, cruise control and even a USB port to charge your phone while you mow. LED headlights mean you can keep working when the sun starts to set.
You can directly discharge your clippings or choose to mulch. And the beefy 16-inch rear wheels generate a lot of traction for uneven terrain, though this mower is best on relatively flat land.
Best Zero-Turn Mower
A Battery-Powered Mower That Can Turn On A Dime
Not everyone needs a zero-turn mower, but if you need to landscape a yard with lots of obstacles like trees and flower beds, there’s nothing better than being able to pivot inside your mower’s own footprint. The Ryobi 54-Inch Electric Riding Zero Turn Mower is a superb example of this type, and because it comes from Ryobi it uses batteries and an electric motor instead of gas.
That’s a huge advantage for this mower, which runs quietly and has no noxious emissions. Even so, it can level up to 3.5 acres on a single charge. That electric system drives five motors and spins three blades for precise and professional cuts. You can manually adjust the deck across 12 positions, from 1.4 to 4.5 inches.
The control panel includes a digital battery level display, LED headlight operation, reverse mowing and a USB charging port to keep your phone juiced up while you’re mowing.
Best Robot Lawn Mower
A Roomba-Like Mower For A Truly Hands-Off Experience
Like a Roomba for the yard, the Worx WR140 Landroid M Robotic Lawn Mower is a modern alternative to regularly shepherding a walk-behind mower in the hot sun. The idea here is that this robot mows your lawn autonomously, on a set schedule or when you trigger it manually from your smartphone. It’s equipped with Wi-Fi and GPS so you know where it is within your yard at any given moment and can control it remotely. The WR140 is intended for lawns up to about a quarter-acre, and you can define its perimeter by laying down a boundary wire that it knows not to pass. (Worx also has a model designed for larger, half-acre lawns as well.) The mower isn’t limited to just watching for the boundary wire, though. Thanks to a set of optical sensors, it can go around obstacles in the lawn so it won’t run into or try to mulch toys your kids have left lying around.
Equipped with a standard WORX battery, the WR140 returns to its charging station automatically when the battery is running low. The charging station, like the robot itself, works autonomously, and has a weather cover to keep the mower dry in the rain. As an added bonus, you can use the battery interchangeably with other WORX tools.
This model is surprisingly agile. It has a pair of large wheels in the back for traction and a single smaller wheel up front which lets it turn more or less on a dime. It can easily navigate tight corners and obstacles, and can successfully work in hilly yards with as much as a 35% grade.
Best Small Riding Lawn Mower
An Electric Ride-On Option That’ll Won’t Overpower Your Garage Space
Your riding lawn mower doesn’t have to be a behemoth to get the job done. This Cub Cadet has a 30-inch deck to cover plenty of yard at once with an overall small compact design that won’t take over your garage space. In fact, it can fit through gates as small as 36 inches and takes up as much space as two garbage cans. The CC30E is an electric mower powered by a 56-Volt max lithium-ion battery that can handle up to an acre at once without losing any power. It’s also quieter than many gas mowers, so you don’t have to stress about the potential impact on your ears.
The CC30E is specially designed for your comfort, with a high-backed seat, armrests and two USB charging ports, so you can juice up your phone while you work. You’ll also enjoy zipping around your yard with responsive handling that gives you an 18-inch turning radius. Once you’re done mowing, simply plug the battery into a standard 110-volt outlet—it’ll recharge in just four hours.
Best Cordless Electric Lawn Mower
A Rechargeable Push Mower That’s Great For Small- To Medium-Sized Lawns
If you have acres and acres to mow, this isn’t the machine for you. But if you have a small- to medium-sized lawn, Sun Joe’s cordless electric push mower is a great option. It blazes a 14-inch path in each pass, allowing you to get through plenty of grass with each push. The mower also has a three-position manual height adjustment, allowing you to get a higher or lower cut based on your personal preference.
The whole thing has a simple push-button start and removable safety key to ensure only adults control the action when they’re ready. Your clippings will be collected into a 10.6-gallon bag that’s easily detached so you can simply toss it in the trash or your compost pile. The Sun Joe is powered by a 28-volt lithium-ion battery that’ll mow more than 10,000 square feet of yard with one charge. (An LED battery level indicator lets you know where you stand on power as you mow.) Once you’re done with your yard work, just plug it in to recharge for next time.
How To Choose A Lawn Mower
There’s not a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to shopping for a lawn mower, and everyone’s needs are slightly different. Vogelsanger recommends considering the following when you’re trying to figure out which type is right for you:
- Cordless Push Mower: This is the best option if you have a smaller lot and are able to cut your grass on a fairly regular basis. “If you have a cordless mower, you don’t want your yard to get overgrown because this doesn’t have the power to get through taller grass,” Vogelsanger says.
- Ride-On Mower: Ride-ons are ideal for people with larger lots, time constraints and physical limitations. “They are going to cut faster and have a wider deck than a push mower,” he says.
- Plug-In Mower: While this style isn’t as popular these days, a plug-in is ideal for people with smaller lawns—a quarter-acre or less, or a city lot, he says.
- Gas Mower: While some people prefer battery-powered options, gas mowers will typically allow you to mow for longer periods of time, Vogelsanger says. You’ll just need to remember to refuel.
- Battery-Powered Mower: These mowers are often a good option for people who don’t want to bother with gas or fumes, he says. They can also end up being more economical in the long run, depending on how long you plan to keep your mower.
- Robot Mower: If you want a truly hands-off experience and you have the budget for it, a robot mower can be a good choice. “These basically cut the yard themselves,” he says. You’ll need a yard without much debris or trees though, given that these machines don’t do a good job of working around obstacles.
As for choosing features like grass clipping functionality, Vogelsanger says it really comes down to personal choice. “You can discharge clippings, mulch or bag them,” he says. “Some people prefer to bag, while others don’t want to have to dispose of the clippings. It’s up to you.”
