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The 2 Best Slushie Machines of 2026: Now With Soft Serve
We live in the golden age of the home slushie machine. It's a new age brought upon us in 2024 after the virally popular Ninja Slushi brought the bar slushie into American kitchen—and with it a new world of frozen margaritas and Bapple slushies. But this year Ninja's original slushie machine has been supplanted. The Ninja Slushi dropped to record low prices during Prime Day, likely in part because the new best slushie machines are a couple of newer models by Ninja.
Both of the new Ninja slushie machines in 2026 have leapfrogged the rest of the competition. The Ninja Slushi XL ($350) is the best frozen drink maker I'd recommend to most for its faster freezing times, smarter controls, higher capacity, greater flexibility on ABV and sugar content, and ability to make satisfying soft-serve ice cream. For those prone to hosting parties, I'll take this year's Ninja Slushi Twist ($400), a two-chamber device whose marketing gimmick is frankly silly, but which solves a real problem for hosts. The Twist lets you keep one chamber of slush always flowing, while the other one re-freezes.
And so I am happy to report the state of the home slushie remains strong. Boozy slushies are maybe the one thing I miss from that first Covid-19 pandemic summer—the days when “supporting local business” meant sucking down whiskey slush by parked cars, like some John Cougar Mellencamp character. These days, I’m like the king of daiquiris. I am the sultan of slushed tamarind micheladas and the friar of frosé. These frozen drink machines can, of course, also make normal slushies without booze in them, for parents and lovers of 7-Elevens. Frozen juice is delicious. Everything frozen is slightly more delicious. There is also the promise (but not quite the reality) of frappés and milkshakes.
Prefer ice cream? Former WIRED reviewer Adrienne So had her spring and summer changed last year by a rainbow of soft serve and tart froyo from the delightful Ninja Swirl by Creami (9/10, WIRED Recommends). For other summer refreshment, see our guide to the Best Cold-Brew Coffee Makers and the Best Pod Coffee Makers for Cold or Hot Brew.
Updated June 2026: After a new round of testing, I've added Ninja Slushi XL and Ninja Slushi Twist as my two new top picks. Greenpan Frost is added to the honorable mentions. I also newly tested a Vibofrost machine. Prices and discontinued items have been updated and/or noted.
Ninja Slushi machines are, quite simply, childlike fun for adults. I don’t know a soul who owns a Slushi who isn’t just kinda delighted by it. The Ninja Slushi XL, which arrived in the spring of this year, is a better machine than the original Slushi in almost every way. It's bigger, sure, with a maximum fill level of 96 fluid ounces versus the 64 fluid ounces of slush offered by the original. This is useful for groups larger than four or five, but if this were all the machine offered, it would be a nominal refresh.
What matters is that the compressor is significantly upgraded. This means faster freezing, and colder freezing that allows for higher-ABV drinks and even credible soft-serve ice cream. Depending on fill levels, boozy slushies take a mere 8 to 12 minutes—half the time I'd expect on the smaller machine.
You also don't need to fuss around as much determining correct freezing temps. A “SlushAssist” feature determines and monitors optimal slush temps for any liquid you dump into the XL. While I don't know how it works even after asking Ninja (they're answer was pretty opaque), the feature works well enough I abandoned choosing “milkshake” or “boozy slushie.” I just press the SlushAssist button, and then a slushie or Dole Whip or soft-serve ice cream comes out.
Notice I didn't say milkshake, despite Ninja's advertising? That's because low-fat milk that goes into milkshakes causes too much froth in a slushie machine, so most recipes recommend heavy cream. This produces a substance a lot more like dense, rich, soft serve than a much lighter milkshake. But let