Looking for the best compost tumbler for your garden or kitchen? You’re in the right place.
We’ve trawled the market and picked out the very best indoor and outdoor compost tumblers on the market so that you don’t have to. Below, you’ll find a list of our top 10 picks alongside an in-depth review of each of them.
All of the tumblers in this list represent excellent value for money and will help you to create the best-possible quality compost in the shortest possible amount of time.
Let’s get started!
Best compost tumbler – what to look for
Before we get into the list, to help you compare your options, we’ve prepared a short buying guide that shows you what to look for. Keep an eye out for these features when you’re shopping around.
- Durability. Badly-made tumblers are more likely to freeze up in winter, or might not be strong enough to keep out pests. Look for a tumbler that’s extra-durable with a good pest-proof lid and a strong frame.
- Material. Dark-colored recycled plastic helps absorb the heat from the sun and hold in moisture, which speeds up decomposition. Wooden bins are also a good option and hold heat well, just make sure they’re made with rot-resistant materials.
- Shape. Round designs don’t have any ‘cold corners’ (hard-to-reach areas), which helps with mixing. On the other hand, square bins fit nicely in a corner of your garden.
- Aeration. Composters need fresh air to do their magic as oxygen is essential to the decomposition process. Look for a tumbler that is well-ventilated with plenty of aeration holes.
- Capacity. Most compost tumblers will list their capacity on the product page. Think about how much compost you’re likely to produce and choose something with a sufficient capacity for your needs.
- Ease of use. The best compost tumblers will be easy to turn. Sliding doors make it easier to add materials and unload compost.
- Dual vs single-chambers. Dual-chamber tumblers are great as they allow you to let one chamber decompose while leaving the other one free to put new scraps in. However, if you don’t think you’re going to be producing much compost, this might be overkill – a single-chamber should suffice.
- Assembly. If you’re not great at DIY, look for a tumbler that’s easy to assemble. Some designs are harder to set up than others.
Top 10 best compost tumblers
Brand | Model | Type | Weight | Capacity |
FCMP Outdoor | IM4000 | Tumbler | 26.8 lbs | 37 Gallons |
DF Omer | Recycled Plastic Garden Composter Bin | Standard outdoor compost bin | 19.36 lbs | 110 Gallons |
GYJ | Compost Bin Kitchen, Garden Composter | Countertop kitchen composter | 2.4 lbs | 1.6 Gallons |
SQUEEZE Master | XXL Outdoor Compost Bin | Standard outdoor compost bin | 23.4lbs | 190 Gallons |
Spin Bin | Outdoor Compost Tumbler | Tumbler | 21 lbs | 60 Gallons |
Algreen | Soil Saver Classic Compost Bin | Standard outdoor compost bin | 27.5 lbs | 94 Gallons |
Lifetime | 60058 | Tumbler | N/A | 50 Gallons |
Geobin | Compost Bin | Standard outdoor compost bin | 7 lbs | 216 Gallons |
DF Omer | Miracle-Gro Dual-chamber Compost Tumbler | Dual-chamber tumbler | 18.01 lbs | 37 Gallons (18.5 x 2) |
Lifetime | 60309 | Dual-chamber tumbler | 85.8 lbs | 100 Gallons (50 x 2) |
1. FCMP Outdoor IM4000 Tumbling Composter
Our overall top pick for the best compost tumbler is the IM4000 by FCMP Outdoor (Forest City Models and Patterns), a company known for designing and manufacturing some of the best lawn and garden products on the market.
The IM4000 is an 8-sided dual-chamber tumbler that features a rotating, tumbling design. The tumbler handles the mixing for you and takes the hassle out of composting. All you have to do is close the door and turn it around 5 times every few days.
The dual chambers mean you can let one side finish composting while adding fresh clippings to the other side for uninterrupted composting. The build quality is excellent as the tumbler features a durable, BPA-free, UV inhibited, and 100% recycled polypropylene body with a galvanized steel frame that’s both contact safe and corrosion-resistant.
2. DF Omer Garden Compost Bin
Our runner up composter is the garden compost bin from DF Omer, another leading home and garden brand. This is a standard compost bin so it doesn’t rotate, but if you’re willing to manually turn the soil once in a while, it’s a great option.
It has 110 gallons of space so you can fit plenty of compost in there and an eco-friendly BPA-free recycled plastic body. It’s also super easy to assemble and comes with a 2-year warranty for added peace of mind.
3. GYJ Kitchen Compost Bin
If you’re just looking for a composter for your kitchen scraps, look no further than this kitchen compost bin from GYJ. This is the best kitchen/countertop composter we’ve found. It’s made of high-quality stainless steel so it’s extra durable and odor-free.
It uses a compact, lightweight design that fits nicely under your kitchen sink. It only holds 1.6 gallons, but that’s all you really need in a countertop composter as it’ll hold at least a few days’ worth of vegetable peels and other food scraps.
4. SQUEEZE Master XXL Outdoor Compost Bin
SQUEEZE master makes a ton of high-quality composting products, and this XXL standard compost bin is no exception. It boasts a whopping 190-gallon capacity – one of the largest on this list.
It’s another standard compost bin that sits directly on your soil. One of the most exciting features of this composting product is the unique X-shaped aeration holes, which speed up air circulation for rapid composting. The brightly colored green door also looks nice in a garden setting.
5. Spin Bin 60 Gal. Outdoor Compost Tumbler
This made-in-the-US 60-gallon outdoor tumbler from the Spin Bin brand is the perfect option for anyone whose serious about composting. Two features make this particularly effective at rapidly turning your waste into compost.
The first is the dark color, which absorbs the sun’s heat to raise the internal temperature. The second is the dual mixing bar which ensures thorough mixing and excellent aeration with each turn of the bin. Slots in the bottom of the spin bin allow beneficial compost tea to drain out into your soil.
6. Algreen Products Soil Saver Classic Compost bin
If durability is important to you, check out this classic compost bin from Algreen Products. It’s one of the sturdiest bins on the market, with a solid BPA-free environmentally-friendly body and an awesome locking, self-watering lid that does a great job of keeping pests out of your compost pile. It claims to be able to turn your waste into rich, organic compost in just 6-8 weeks.
7. Lifetime 60058 Compost Tumbler
Lifetime is a brand that focuses on the high-end of the market. They don’t cut corners on their products and the 60058 model compost tumbler is no exception.
It doesn’t come cheap, but it has one of the best build qualities of any tumbler we’ve come across, with heavy-duty UV-protected HDPE panels, powder-coated steel frame, and galvanized steel base. You don’t have to worry about this thing freezing up in cold weather.
8. Compost Bin by GEOBIN
This Geobin compost bin has the greatest capacity of any composter on this list. It can hold a whopping 216 gallons of waste, which should be more than enough for even the most prolific composters. It features an expandable, simple, no-thrills design and is super easy to assemble. If you’re a serious agriculturist, farmer, gardener, or anyone with a lot of soil, this is the product for you.
9. Miracle-Gro Dual Chamber Compost Tumbler
Next up, we have an awesome dual-chamber compost tumbler from Miracle-Gro, which claims to be America’s most-trusted garden supply brand. With an average 4.5-star rating and over 1200 customer reviews, this is one of the most popular tumblers on Amazon – and for good reason.
It features a 2-chamber design that allows you to fill one side while you leave the other one to cook and a clever tumbler system that makes it easy to turn the compost without breaking a sweat.
10. LIFETIME 60309 Outdoor Double Bin Rotating Composter
And finally, we have another awesome composter from the Lifetime brand. This time, we’re looking at their 60309 model. This is a double-bin rotating tumbler composter with an interesting ‘barrel-esque’ design.
Inside the barrels, which turn on their axis to ensure a balanced rotation, is an aerated internal bar that mixes the compost and helps the air to circulate. Each barrel holds 50 gallons, which gives it an impressive total capacity of 100 gallons.