There’s no denying that Stihl is one of the biggest names in outdoor power equipment. The German manufacturer topped SlashGear’s ranking of the best chainsaw brands on the market and has enjoyed a century of success built on quality and reliability. That being said, not every product Stihl makes ranks as the out-and-out best option in its category. This is especially true for pressure washers.
Many people do not associate Stihl with pressure washers. We didn’t even include them in our ranking of the best pressure washer brands. That isn’t to say that its pressure washers are bad. Based on Consumer Reports‘ findings, which combine expert testing and owner opinions, Stihl ranked sixth out of nine brands for its pressure washers with an overall score of 63/100, which is slightly above average. Rankings and reviews from various publications rarely mention a Stihl pressure washer as a must-buy, an exception being the Stihl REA 100 Plus, named the best portable model by The Spruce.
Because of this, we’re going to look at four different pressure washer brands that generally receive better ratings than Stihl. To evaluate each brand, we considered expert testing and reviews from publications like Consumer Reports and owner satisfaction scores. You can find a more detailed explanation of our methodology at the end of this article.
DeWalt
If you’re in the market for power tools, hand tools, outdoor power equipment, or any other product for handy work, DeWalt is definitely a brand worth considering. Few tool brands can match the consistent quality that DeWalt offers across a wide range of products, and that quality level extends to pressure washers as well.
DeWalt earns the third-highest overall brand rating from Consumer Reports. The company’s electric pressure washers stand out, with three machines ranking among the top models tested by CR. The DeWalt DWPW2600 was the highest-scoring of the three, placing third among all electric pressure washers reviewed. Its cleaning and ease-of-use tests scored top marks, with its noise production and PSI/flow rate tests getting perfectly average numbers. Considering the highest-rated electric Stihl model earned below-average PSI and flow rate test scores, that’s certainly a step up.
The New York Times’ Wirecutter is also a big fan of DeWalt pressure washers. The DeWalt DWPW2600 PSI Electric Jobsite Pressure Washer model was the publication’s top overall pick for pressure washers, commending it for its ease of use and storability. The publication’s runner-up was also a DeWalt model, the 2100 PSI 1.2 GPM Electric Jobsite Pressure Washer, which is essentially a smaller and slightly less powerful version of the 2600.
Popular Mechanics highlighted the DeWalt 3000 Max PSI 1.1 GPM Brushless Electric Jobsite Pressure Washer as the best model for easy storage. While its gas- and battery-powered pressure washers aren’t quite as acclaimed, there’s still a lot of love for DeWalt pressure washers on the whole.
Greenworks
Greenworks is one of those tool brands that puts a heavy focus on landscaping products. Along with all its gardening tools, the brand also offers several pressure washers. Greenworks doesn’t produce any gas-powered pressure washers. Instead, it exclusively provides electric- and battery-powered models. The brand also offers a few hybrid varieties, which can be operated with either powerformance
Greenworks is Consumer Reports’ No. 1 pressure washer brand overall. With five different models in the top electric pressure washers and two in the top battery-powered models, that’s just a consensus level of quality no other brand is quite able to reach for CR. This is due in no small part to Greenworks being tied with Bauer for the best brand reliability of every manufacturer tested, but it beats out Bauer when it comes to owner satisfaction.
Popular Mechanics rates the Greenworks Pro GPW3002A Pressure Washer as the best electric model on the market. It was particularly impressed with how well its power capabilities stacked up against gas-powered pressure washers. Greenworks also offers hybrid pressure washers, the PW3000HYB series, with two 5.0Ah batteries. This model was deemed to be the best hybrid pressure washer by Pro Tool Reviews.
If you’re looking for a pressure washer with a lot of features, such as a foam blaster, The Spruce is a big fan of the Greenworks 2700 PSI 2.3 GPM Cold Water Electric Pressure Washer. For those who don’t want gas-powered pressure washers, Greenworks has many highly rated options.
Simpson
Many well-known brands offer pressure washers as a small part of their overall product offerings. However, some companies prioritize cleaning, and pressure washers are their signature products. That’s certainly the case for Simpson. Whether you need a pressure washer for residential, commercial, industrial, or sanitization purposes, it has at least one model for you. Not only does Simpson offer gas- and electric-powered models, but it has ones that use diesel, natural gas, and even liquid propane too. The one kind it’s missing is a battery-powered pressure washer.
Pro Tool Reviews couldn’t be a bigger fan of Simpson pressure washers. It rates the Simpson Aluminum ALH3425 3600 PSI pressure washer as the best gas-powered model, loving its balance of power, reliability, efficiency, and price. The publication also rates the Simpson PowerShot 3300 PS3228 model and the PowerShot 4200 PS4240 model as the best 3000 PSI and 4000 PSI pressure washers on the market, respectively.
The Spruce also ranks a Simpson as the best gas-powered pressure washer available, but it opts to select the Simpson PowerShot 3500 PSI PS61002-S model for that honor, impressed with the amount of power you can get with a fairly compact unit that’s pretty easy to move around.
Consumer Reports actually gives the Simpson brand the same overall score for its pressure washers as Stihl. It only tested three Simpson models — two gas and one electric — so it’s not a huge sample size, but both gas-powered models far outranked the one Stihl model tested, though Stihl did earn higher ratings for its electric pressure washers. For gas, though, it’s Simpson all the way.
Westinghouse
Despite changing ownership over the years, Westinghouse remains active to this day and is one of the oldest operating appliance brands, having been established all the way back in 1886. You’re probably more familiar with its work in home appliances, but it produces outdoor power equipment too, including both gas- and electric-powered pressure washers. Although it may not be the first name that comes to mind for this particular tool, Westinghouse definitely ranks as one of the highest-rated pressure washer brands on the market.
Consumer Reports has Westinghouse tied with DeWalt as the third-best overall pressure washer brand out there. Where it gets the majority of praise from CR is with its gas-powered machines. Three of the top overall-rated gas-powered pressure washers are Westinghouse models. That includes the best-rated Westinghouse WPX3400, which gets top marks from CR’s in-house testing for PSI and flow rate, cleaning ability, and ease of use. The WPX3200 and WPX2700 are the other two models in that upper echelon.
Popular Mechanics takes the love for the WPX3400 one step further, naming it the best overall pressure washer. It greatly appreciates the washer’s power and durability, while also admiring how light it is for a gas-powered model.
On the electric side of things, The Spruce and Wirecutter both spotlight the Westinghouse ePX3500 as the best value you can get for a pressure washer. This is a 2500 PSI model that’s very easy to set up and can be found for just $169. Considering that the much-loved WPX3400 goes for $349, having a more budget-friendly alternative that’s also well-rated is a nice option. Westinghouse can deliver on both fronts.
Why these four brands made the cut
To determine whether a pressure washer brand had better ratings than Stihl, a number of different factors had to be considered. First, there needed to be a decent level of consensus regarding these particular brands. This was determined using the ratings and reviews from a variety of different publications, including The New York Times’ Wirecutter, The Spruce, Pro Tool Reviews, Popular Mechanics, and Consumer Reports. These are publications that have extensive experience writing about tools and appliances, including pressure washers.
Owner satisfaction scores from Consumer Reports were also an important determining factor. These are scores from people who actually purchase and regularly use these pressure washers, as that experience can differ from professional or editorial testing. If only one or two models from a brand had good owner and expert reviews, that wasn’t enough to make this list. There had to be a strong feeling for a variety of different pressure washers that a company produced for it to be considered, eliminating any outliers with a solid product or two.
When all of these considerations came into play, it was then whittled down to four brands. These were ultimately the ones with the highest level of consensus among the experts and owners. They were also chosen to represent the various types of brands that produce pressure washers, from all-encompassing home improvement tool manufacturers to brands focused almost entirely on cleaning. After all that, these four were selected, and they’re shown here in alphabetical order rather than in order of quality or recommendation.
