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David Watsky Senior Editor / Home and Kitchen
David lives in Brooklyn where he’s spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips. David earned his BA from Northeastern and has toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now he’s likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or tinkering with a toaster. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.
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When you’re jonesing for some fizzy soda, it can be more fun to create your own carbonated beverage at home, and it can be more affordable in the long run than buying soda. Most of the popular soda-making machines provide users with the ability to customize their own flavors and even control the amount of carbonation. And best of all, these machines are friendly enough for every skill level.
But when you’re looking for a soda machine, it’s important to make sure it’s worthy of your precious kitchen counter space. It should be compact, easy to use and, of course, capable of making delicious, bubbly soda.
To find the best, I put eight soda makers to the test, including three SodaStream models, Ninja’s fancy new at-home Thirsti machine and Aarke’s striking stainless steel carbonator. Based on my testing, here are the four best soda makers to buy for yourself or that special someone who’s impossible to buy gifts for.
What’s the best soda maker overall?
After extensive testing (and one persistent case of hiccups), we’ve marked the SodaStream Terra as the best soda maker for 2025. During our testing, we found it consistently makes sparkling water with its simple manual pump; it’s cheaper to purchase, and it also offers an exchange program that makes getting carbonation canisters cheaper.
While there are more elegant options, the SodaStream Terra is probably the best soda water maker for most people.
SodaStreamBest soda makers to buy in 2025
CNET Score Breakdown
Overall Rating 8.2
In testing to find the best soda water makers, it mostly came down to general performance, ease of use, and overall value. I made at least 10 full bottles of sparkling water using each, noting how proficiently and consistently a machine executed its most vital duty of imparting carbon dioxide into the water. I also carbonated other liquids — including fruit juice and wine — but found that there was no difference in performance based on the type of liquid being carbonated. If a machine carbonated water well, it did so across all liquids.
Some of the machines took more muscling and pumps of the lever to get carbon dioxide emitted into the bottles. Of the manual machines, the SodaStream models were the most consistent. With five unique settings, the Spärkel electric seltzer maker makes the most precise soda water.
The stylish Aarke III carbonator comes in five finishes and has a vintage malt shop look.
AarkeI also took note of the sturdiness and build of each soda water maker. The Aarke III is by far the most stylish soda water maker and is built solidly out of stainless steel, with five finishes to choose from. Aesthetics are nice, but it’s also by far the priciest model, with an over $200 tag, which keeps it from being the best model for most people.
DrinkMate OmniFizz: This $120 sparkling water maker did a fine job carbonating water, wine and juice. I don’t have much negative to say about the machine other than that the hinge at the top that connects the bottle to the machine seems like it could loosen or break over time.
SodaStream Fizzi One Touch: The SodaStream Fizzi One Touch is an electronic sparkling water maker that typically retails for $130 but is currently on sale for $124. It works well and has three presets to get whatever level of carbonation you seek. This is another model I don’t have any major issues with, but I just don’t think it’s worth the extra $54 over its manual counterpart, the Terra when it is not on sale.
Sparkel: This unique carbonation system uses powder packets instead of carbon dioxide canisters to add fizz to water. It works well, but the machine base is bulkier than most and isn’t quite worth the $150 price.
Soda Sensei [Out of Stock]: This model looks nice, but it struggled a bit more than the SodaStream Terra to make consistently bubbly water.
How much cheaper is it to make seltzer at home?
Let’s use the rough estimate SodaStream gives of getting 60 liters out of each $17 cartridge if you use the exchange program. That breaks down to about 25 cents per liter. By comparison, the average cost for a 1-liter bottle of soda water is about 80 cents in a store.
If you were to go through six cartridges over a year ($102), plus the cost of the SodaStream Terra ($100), that would be $202 total and about 56 cents per liter, a significant savings over store-bought seltzer.
These calculations are based on drinking 360 liters per year, which is about 33 ounces of soda water per day, or a little less than three cans. The more carbonated water you drink and the longer you use your SodaStream, the more you’ll save versus paying for the canned stuff.
Are soda water makers better for the environment?
Definitely. A soda water maker such as SodaStream or the Aarke Carbonator has almost no negative environmental impact. If used instead of store-bought seltzer, these machines will take hundreds of cans and plastic bottles out of the waste management and recycling system every year. Standard carbon dioxide canisters are also reusable, which is why SodaStream will sell you a refill for half price if you return the empty canister.
Can you carbonate other beverages with a soda water maker?
Beyond making carbonated water, you can add fizz to just about any liquid with a soda water maker. Fruit juices, sparkling wine and beer that have gone flat (even flat soda) are just a few popular beverages to consider other than plain cold water. If you want fizzy milk, you can make that too.
