Getting started with composting is an amazing decision. You're going to be reducing your own food waste while creating a beautiful substance that can make the earth better instead of worse. Composting can also be a rewarding personal experience that you find enriches your life.
However, getting started can have its challenges, and finding the right compost bin is one of them. To help you out, we've compiled a list of the best compost bins for the most common methods of composting. If you're not sure yet how you want to compost, feel free to take a look through every compost bin here - they're all fantastic. However, if you do know what type of compost bin you're looking for, you can easily jump ahead to that category.
- Our top 5 recommendations for the best compost bins
- 6 best compost bins for your kitchen
- The 3 best worm composting bins
- 4 best tumbling compost bins
- The 4 best outdoor compost bins
- 5 helpful resources for beginner composting
Before diving into the specifics, though, we want to showcase the best of the best compost bins for each category.
Our top 5 recommendations for the best compost bins
If you don't want to spend the time checking out all your options, that's no problem. Each compost bin on this list is an ideal tool for the composting process, and we would highly suggest choosing one of these options if you're not sure what you're looking for.
- Best indoor compost bin (overall): Lomi home composter
- Best kitchen scrap collector: Bamboozle composter
- Best worm composting bin: Urbalive worm farm
- Best tumbling compost bin: IM4000 compost tumbler
- Best outdoor compost bin: Aerobin 200 insulated composter
6 best compost bins for your kitchen
If you don't have much outdoor space, or just don't have much food waste to compost, indoor compost bins are a great choice. Even without access to an outdoor space, you can compost your kitchen scraps and reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. Here are the best countertop compost bins available.
1. Lomi food composter
Composting is always quick and easy when using Lomi, a small countertop kitchen appliance. All you need to do is throw in your food scraps, push a button, and wait less than a day for it to finish. In the end, you're rewarded with a nutrient-rich dirt you can use to feed your gardens and indoor plants.
Unlike with traditional compost methods, you don't need to put in any effort yourself, and you don't need to wait weeks or months for finished compost. Instead, you can get a steady supply of dirt every day that you can use to enrich your plants. Even if you don't garden at all, that dirt can be given away or thrown in the green bin, and you'll have prevented your food waste from releasing methane into the atmosphere and taking up space in landfills.
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2. Bokashi compost bin
Bokashi composting is a relatively quick and easy way to compost your kitchen scraps indoors. You fill up the bin for two weeks, add some of the included Bokashi bran, and then wait another two weeks for it to finish composting. If you do want to use that finished product for your plants, you will have to wait a while longer still. What the Bokashi bin produces is too acidic for garden soil, so it will need to be buried for another 2 weeks or so before you'd want to put it in your soil. But all things considered, this is one of the best countertop compost bins available for people that want to compost quickly.
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3. Bamboozle composter
If you want to go full in on sustainability and care a bit less about function, then Bamboozle is one of the best indoor compost bins in the market. This bin can only store the kitchen scraps and cannot actually produce compost but, it is made from completely eco-friendly materials, and will be able to compost itself at the end of its life. It's also cute and compact, making it a great fit for the kitchen.
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4. Exfoil kitchen compost bin
The Exfoil kitchen compost bin is another bamboo composter that looks completely different from the Bamboozle composter. However, like the Bamboozle, this bin also cannot actually create compost and merely acts as a scrap collector. This one also has a stainless steel interior, making it more sturdy and far easier to clean. Its simple square shape also makes it an easy fit wherever you'd want to put it, and its bamboo exterior also makes it look great anywhere.
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5. Utopia stainless steel compost bin
This stainless steel compost bin is a simple but highly effective choice if you're worried about odor and fruit flies. The tight lid combined with the charcoal filter is great at preventing any bad smells from escaping, and should easily keep your kitchen clear of unwanted pests.
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6. OXO good grips compost bin
For a bin that's easy to carry around, clean up, and is sure to last a while, the OXO good grips compost bin is a great option. The flip-up lid also makes this bin easy to use while busily preparing meals and cleaning up the kitchen.
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The 3 best worm composting bins
Vermicomposting, also known as worm composting, is a popular and quick way to compost traditionally. Depending on the amount of space you have, worm composting can be done either indoors or outdoors, and these worm compost bins will work in either environment.
7. Urbalive worm farm
The Urbalive worm farm is definitely the most attractive worm farm on the market. This worm compost bin will look stylish whether it's in your garden or your living room. It's also designed to make the extraction of liquid worm tea extremely easy through the spigot at the bottom of the bin. If worm composting is the way you decide to go, this is definitely one of the best compost bin options out there.
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8. Urban worm bag
The Urban worm bag makes worm composting and harvesting especially easy. All you need to do is fill the bag from the top with all your kitchen scraps, then harvest the finished compost from the easy opening on the bottom of the bag. No more needing to sift through the worm compost on your own! All you need with this is some sort of stand to put it in. You can purchase one with the bag or you can make one yourself.
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9. Worm factory 360 composting system
The worm factory 360 is a simple way to get started with worm composting. By stacking and filling one tray at a time, you're able to create layers of compost that will finish in stages. As you create more kitchen waste and fill more layers, the worms will migrate up the levels to work on the next trays. While the worms are composting your organic waste, you'll be able to retrieve liquid fertilizer straight from the spigot in the worm compost bin.
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4 best tumbling compost bins
Another easy way to compost is with a compost tumbler. Again, this can be done either indoors or outdoors. It's generally better to compost outdoors during warmer seasons and indoors during colder seasons because your compost will finish quicker that way. Of course, that will depend on whether you have the space for both locations. Either way, the tumbling bins on this list are great for either indoor or outdoor use.
10. IM4000 compost tumbler
If you want a tumbling compost bin that can handle a lot of organic waste, this dual chamber compost tumbler is a fantastic choice. It's large and durable, and the second compost chamber means you can have one batch of waste composting while you fill up the other chamber. This is a simple but highly effective choice of compost bin.
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11. Miracle-Gro small compost tumbler
If you don't have much waste to compost but still want a compost tumbler, the Miracle-Gro small compost tumbler is a better option for you. Although it only has a single chamber, it's much smaller in scale, taking up far less space than most compost tumblers. It's still easy to use and will seal to prevent odors from escaping.
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12. Compost wizard
While most compost tumblers are set up on a stand, which takes up extra, unnecessary space, the compost wizard is designed to sit right on the ground. This takes up less space than other tumbling compost bins while keeping a larger capacity for your organic waste. If this one isn't big enough for you, there's also a larger size that comes with a second chamber!
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13. Jora JK125
If you really can't compost inside and you still want a compost tumbler, the Jora JK125 is your perfect match. This tumbling compost bin is designed to be well insulated so that your yard and food waste continue to compost efficiently during the colder seasons. The steel it's made from also makes this a highly durable compost tumbler that would be able to easily withstand harsher weather.
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The 4 best compost bins for outdoor composting
If you've got the space for it and you know you're going to be composting a lot of organic waste, a dedicated outdoor compost bin is the way to go. The ones on this list all work slightly differently, but they're all fantastic outdoor compost bins that will be able to store quite a bit of yard and food waste.
14. Subpod mini essentials bundle
If your main goal when composting is to use that compost for your outdoor garden, then the Subpod is the best compost bin for the job. Instead of adding waste to a compost bin above ground where you'll have to then sift through it for finished compost to place in your garden later, you just add the Subpod to your garden bed. By burying it straight into the soil, the nutrients from the organic waste will have direct access to the soil you want to feed, making your job far easier.
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15. Aerobin 200 insulated composter
For a robust outdoor compost bin, the Aerobin is the best choice. This compost bin has a great balance between capacity, size, and durability that makes it ideal for outdoor spaces and families that generate plenty of organic waste. An added benefit to this bin is that it collects compost tea at the bottom, so you don't have to wait for the finished compost to get some natural fertilizer.
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16. Redmon compost bin
The Redmon compost bin is a simple outdoor compost bin built with ease of access and durability in mind. The four doors around each side of the bin make accessing the finished compost extremely simple, while the weather-proof materials it's made of ensures it doesn't get damaged in harsher weather.
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17. GEOBIN compost bin
The GEOBIN compost bin is a cheap way to start composting a ton of organic waste. If you've got a yard just full of waste that needs composting, this is probably the best choice for you. The bin is flexible and expandable, so it's easy to set it up where you need it and how you need it. If you aren't composting much waste, this likely isn't the best compost bin you can choose.
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5 helpful resources for beginner composting
If you're getting started with composting, you're going to need more than just the best compost bin to get going. Here are a variety of beginner composting resources that should be able to help you along your journey.
- How to use Lomi dirt: If you already have a Lomi or are planning on getting one, you may want to know all the ways that you can use its end product. While the nutrient-rich dirt can be placed straight into your garden soil to improve your plants, there are other creative ways to use it as well.
- How to build DIY compost bins: Buying a compost bin may not be the right choice for you. Whether you don't have the budget for one, or would just rather enjoy building one yourself, this article can lead you to the best DIY compost bin instructions.
- What to compost and what not to compost: With all the garden waste and food scraps we have lying around, it can be difficult to know what we should be composting and what should just be thrown away. This comprehensive list will take all the mystery out of what to compost, and even explain why specific organic waste shouldn't be composted.
- The complete compost gardening guide: For many, composting is a way to improve their gardening so they can have tastier vegetables and healthier flowers. This book will help you make compost and use it to enhance your gardens.
- A guide to indoor composting: As it's becoming more common not to have much outdoor space at all, indoor composting is becoming more and more popular. This guide will help you get started on your indoor composting process with tips and tricks to get the best finished compost.
Now that you know about all the best compost bins you can get, we hope you can pick one out that you'll love. If you're leaning towards the Lomi, you can easily order one for yourself online. Otherwise, we hope you get along with your composting journey! If you ever need help along the road, just remember that you can find plenty of composting tips, tricks, and guides on our blog.
Written by: Sereana Simpson