5 Best Dishwashers for $500 or Less, Lab-Tested and Reviewed

These dishwashers are the least expensive models that still perform reasonably well in our lab tests. Some of them even have a few extra features that you’d usually find only on more expensive models. All the models we’ve highlighted are Energy Star certified.

CR purchases all the dishwashers we test at retail. These include lower-priced dishwashers (like those in this article) and expensive ones (such as those from Miele and Thermador), as well as many in between. This enables us to track whether the priciest dishwashers are, in fact, the best.

We spend around 30 hours evaluating each dishwasher in our lab. Our testers load each model with 12 place settings of white ceramic dishes coated with baked-on food, then run it on the normal cycle or its equivalent. When the cycle is complete, we use a photo-imaging machine to determine precisely how clean each dish is. While we used to evaluate how well dishwashers washed dishes only from the lower rack, which is typically where you’d load your larger dishes, we recently expanded our testing to include upper-rack washing performance as well.

We also test how well each machine dries plastic. Plastic is more difficult to dry than metal, glass, and ceramic materials because it cools faster and doesn’t allow water to evaporate as easily. We also record cycle time and energy and water use, and judge the dishwashers on their noise levels. For ease of use, we look at how easy it is to use the dishwasher’s control panel and how many convenience features the dishwasher offers, including an adjustable upper rack, a third rack, ample flatware slots, adjustable tines, a self-cleaning filter, and more.