We stock dishwashers from around £240 to just over £1,100. This guide picks the best of them at each price point, explains what actually matters when you're choosing, and tells you honestly where paying more stops being worth it. Every model here is in stock, and every price is live.
Our top picks at a glance
| Category | Model | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Montpellier MDWBI6064 60cm, 14 place | £429 |
| Best budget integrated | Candy CI3E53E0W-80 60cm, 13 place | £319 |
| Cheapest overall | White Knight AT45FSDW 45cm freestanding | £238.99 |
| Best freestanding | Indesit DFE1B19XUK 60cm, 13 place | £335 |
| Best slimline | Montpellier MDWBI4553 45cm, 10 place | £369 |
| Best mid-range | CDA CDI6121 60cm integrated | £389 |
| Best premium | Smeg DI362DQ 60cm, 13 place | £529 |
| Best luxury | Smeg 50s Retro 60cm built-in, 13 place | £1,113.99 |
How we chose these
Every dishwasher here is one we stock and would fit in our own kitchens. We picked across price points from the brands we know best — Montpellier, Candy, CDA, Indesit, White Knight and Smeg — judging on capacity, energy use, noise, build quality and what you get for the money.
We haven't listed everything we sell. These are the models that represent the best choice in each category. Prices include VAT and are correct at the time of writing; the product pages are always the definitive price.
Best overall: Montpellier MDWBI6064, £429
Fourteen place settings is the most capacity in our mainstream range, and it's the difference between one cycle a day and two. A family of four can load a full day's dishes, including pans and baking trays, and run it once overnight.
It's a fully integrated 60cm machine, so it disappears behind a matching kitchen door. If you're fitting a kitchen and want one dishwasher that won't need thinking about again, this is the one we recommend most often.
Best for: families of three to five, anyone who cooks properly most nights.
View the Montpellier MDWBI6064
Best budget integrated: Candy CI3E53E0W-80, £319
Thirteen place settings, full-size, fully integrated, for £319. That's the most capacity per pound in our range and it covers a household of three or four without complaint.
You're giving up some refinement compared with the mid-range machines — fewer programmes, a slightly noisier cycle — but the wash itself is perfectly good. For a rental, a first kitchen, or a straight replacement of a machine that's died, this is the sensible buy.
Best for: landlords, first-time buyers, replacing a broken machine without overspending.
Cheapest overall: White Knight AT45FSDW, £238.99
A 45cm slimline freestanding machine and the lowest price we stock. Freestanding means no housing unit and no door to hang — it just needs a water feed, a drain and a socket, which makes it the easy answer for a utility room, a garage conversion or a flat where fitting isn't practical.
Ten place settings suits one or two people. Don't buy it for a family of five.
Best for: utility rooms, small flats, anyone who needs a dishwasher without a fitted kitchen.
View the White Knight AT45FSDW
Best freestanding: Indesit DFE1B19XUK, £335
If you want freestanding but need full-size capacity, this is it — 13 place settings in a 60cm stainless steel machine. The finish means it doesn't look like an afterthought standing on its own, which the white budget machines rather do.
Best for: families without a fitted kitchen, or anyone who wants to take the dishwasher with them when they move.
Best slimline: Montpellier MDWBI4553, £369
A 45cm integrated machine for kitchens that can't spare 60cm. Ten place settings — fewer than a full-size machine, but a slimline dishwasher washes just as well, it simply holds less.
The thing to check before ordering is your housing unit. A 45cm dishwasher needs a 45cm unit; you can't pack out a 60cm gap and hope.
Best for: galley kitchens, couples, flats, any kitchen with a 45cm gap to fill.
View the Montpellier MDWBI4553
Best mid-range: CDA CDI6121, £389
CDA design their appliances in Britain for British kitchens, and their after-sales support is among the better ones to deal with when something goes wrong. The CDI6121 is a 60cm fully integrated machine that feels a step up from the budget models — quieter, better drying, more programmes you'd actually use.
It sits between the Candy and the Smeg, and if the Montpellier 14-place is more capacity than you need, this is the machine to look at instead.
Best for: households of three or four who want a more refined machine without going premium.
Also worth a look in the middle
Two more integrated machines sit in the same bracket and are worth comparing: the Samsung Series 7 60cm at £499, and the Rangemaster T60 12 place at £490. The Samsung is the better bet if the rest of your kitchen is Samsung; the Rangemaster if you already have a Rangemaster cooker and want the brands to match.
Best premium: Smeg DI362DQ, £529
Smeg build to a higher standard than most, and it shows in the things you notice daily — how quietly it runs, how well it dries, how solid the baskets feel after five years. Thirteen place settings, fully integrated, with a quick wash that's genuinely quick.
If you want more capacity in the same brand, the 14-place model is £702.99. The DI262D at £650 is the same capacity without the quick wash, so the DI362DQ is the better buy of the two.
Best for: kitchen renovations, open-plan rooms where noise matters, anyone keeping the machine ten years or more.
Best luxury: Smeg 50s Retro built-in, £1,113.99
You don't buy this one on value. You buy it because you already have the Smeg 50s fridge and the kettle and the toaster, and you want the dishwasher to match. Thirteen place settings and Smeg's usual wash performance, in the styling that made the range famous.
Best for: design-led kitchens and anyone completing a 50s Retro set.
View the Smeg 50s Retro dishwasher
What actually matters when choosing
Size and capacity
Dishwashers come in two widths: 60cm full-size, holding 12–15 place settings, and 45cm slimline, holding 9–10. A place setting is one person's crockery, cutlery and glass.
For a family of four, aim for at least 12, and 14 if you want room for pans and trays rather than washing those by hand anyway. Measure your housing unit before you order — our measuring guide covers what to check.
Energy rating
Dishwashers are rated A to G on the label introduced in 2021. Most sit between C and E, and a C is not a bad machine — the new scale is deliberately much stricter than the old A+++ one, which no longer exists.
A typical cycle costs somewhere between 15p and 30p in electricity. Run daily at about 20p, that's roughly £73 a year, and a more efficient model might save you £15–25 of that. Over a ten-year life it adds up, but it shouldn't be the first thing you choose on.
Noise
Measured in decibels. Most machines run between 42dB and 52dB — 40dB is a quiet library, 50dB is conversation. In an open-plan kitchen, look for under 46dB, or you'll find yourself turning the television up every evening.
Features worth paying for
A half-load option saves water and energy when the machine isn't full, which for a couple is most of the time. A delay start lets you run it overnight on a cheaper tariff. An adjustable upper basket means tall glasses and big pans can both fit, on different days.
Features you can skip
Wi-Fi. Interior lighting. You will look at the inside of your dishwasher while it's running approximately never. Spend the money on capacity or quietness instead.
Integrated or freestanding?
An integrated dishwasher hides behind a door that matches your cabinets — you can't tell it's there. It needs a housing unit of the right width and a door panel to hang on it, so it suits a fitted kitchen and not much else.
A freestanding machine has its own finished front and goes anywhere with water, drainage and a socket. Less tidy in a fitted kitchen, far more practical in a utility room, a rental, or a kitchen you're not ready to rebuild.
If you're replacing an existing integrated machine, stay integrated — the unit and door are already there. More on the trade-off in our guide to built-in vs freestanding appliances.
FAQs
What dishwasher should most UK households buy?
A 60cm integrated machine with 13 or 14 place settings, somewhere between £320 and £450. The Montpellier MDWBI6064 at £429 is our most-recommended model; the Candy at £319 is the value version of the same idea.
Is a dishwasher cheaper than washing by hand?
Usually, yes. Washing a full load by hand uses roughly 50–60 litres of hot water. A modern dishwasher uses 9–12 litres. Once you count the energy to heat all that extra water, the machine wins on a full load. Half-empty cycles are a different story.
How long should a dishwasher last?
Ten to twelve years is typical in the UK. Better-built machines such as the Smeg models tend to go longer, mostly because the pump, baskets and door hinges are made to a higher standard. Clean the filter monthly and run an empty hot cycle with dishwasher cleaner every few months and you'll get the best out of whichever you buy.
Are slimline dishwashers as good as full-size?
They wash just as well. The only difference is how much goes in — 9 or 10 place settings against 12 to 15. For one to three people a slimline machine is plenty. For a family, a full-size one saves you running it twice.
What energy rating should I look for?
The best dishwashers on the market today manage a C or D. Almost none reach A or B, because the scale changed in 2021 and got much harder. Compare models in the same price bracket rather than chasing a letter.
Do I need to rinse plates first?
No. Scrape the big bits into the bin and load them. Pre-rinsing wastes water and actually makes the wash slightly worse, because dishwasher detergent needs something to work on.
Not sure which to go for?
Message our UK team on WhatsApp and a real person will reply within 30 minutes, seven days a week. Or see everything we stock in the dishwasher collection.
