Ninja and NutriBullet are the two brands most shoppers end up choosing between when they want a personal blender: a compact motor base that blends straight into a cup you can drink from. Both make push-to-blend models, both sell versions with more power and preset programs, and both have a cordless portable line. The differences that matter are power, how many cups come in the box, how each handles ice and frozen fruit, and what independent reviewers found.
This guide compares the two brands the way a buyer meets them: what each one makes best, what America’s Test Kitchen found when it reviewed a personal blender from each, ice and frozen drinks, cups and lids, cleanup, warranty and safety records. Then it gives our picks from each side, all in stock when we checked.
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Quick verdict: Ninja or NutriBullet?
Neither brand clearly beats the other on independent reviews: America’s Test Kitchen rated both its Ninja (Nutri-Blender Pro BN401) and its NutriBullet (NBR-0601) “Recommended”, and named the NutriBullet its Best Buy. So choose by what you blend. Choose NutriBullet if you mostly make one fruit-and-greens smoothie at a time and want the simplest, smallest machine: ATK found it “did a good job of blending fibrous kale and pineapple” and made great salad dressing. Choose Ninja if you blend a lot of ice and frozen fruit or want more cups in the box: Ninja’s personal blenders come with more power and extra cups, though ATK found its BN401 “very loud” on hard frozen ingredients.
Ninja vs NutriBullet, side by side
| Ninja | NutriBullet | |
|---|---|---|
| Best known for | Higher-power personal blenders with several cups; Blast cordless blenders | The original push-and-twist personal blender and its Pro versions |
| ATK 2026 rating | Nutri-Blender Pro BN401: “Recommended” | Personal Blender NBR-0601: “Recommended”, Best Buy |
| Smoothies with greens (ATK) | Fine texture, “some visible flecks of kale” | Blended kale and pineapple well, “a tad icy” |
| Thick milkshakes (ATK) | Needed a shake halfway through | Needed a stir halfway through |
| Noise (ATK) | “Very loud” with hard, frozen ingredients | Not discussed |
| Cups in the box (our picks) | Three 20-oz cups (BQ301); one 18-oz vessel (Blast) | One 24-oz cup (NBR-0601) |
| Warranty | 1 year on the Blast listing; not stated on the BQ301 listing | 1 year on all blenders (nutribullet.com) |
| CPSC recalls found | 2015 recall of BL660-series full-size blenders (16-034) | None returned for NutriBullet |
What each brand makes best
NutriBullet built its name on one idea: a small motor base, a cup that screws onto an extractor blade, and push, twist and blend. Its own site still sells a 700-watt personal blender and a 1-year warranty on every blender, with an optional 3-year extension (nutribullet). The NutriBullet America’s Test Kitchen reviewed, the NBR-0601, is the plainest version of that idea, with one 24-ounce cup.
Ninja’s personal blenders tend to come with more power and more cups. The Ninja that ATK reviewed, the Nutri-Blender Pro BN401, has an 1,100-watt base, two 24-ounce cups, two travel lids and Auto-iQ presets. Ninja’s newer push-to-blend model, the BQ301, has a 900-peak-watt base and three 20-ounce cups, according to its listing. Ninja also makes the cordless Blast line, which blends in a vessel you carry like a water bottle.
What America’s Test Kitchen found
ATK’s 2026 personal blender review, by Sarah Sandler, Miye Bromberg and Hannah Crowley, rated both brands’ models “Recommended” (America’s Test Kitchen). Neither won; the top pick was a Beast model.
On the NutriBullet side, ATK said the NBR-0601 “did a good job of blending fibrous kale and pineapple into smoothies, although they were a tad icy”, “made great salad dressing”, and needed a stir halfway through a thick milkshake. Its travel lid “permits leak-free transportation and on-the-go sipping”. ATK also named it the review’s Best Buy.
On the Ninja side, the BN401 “made acceptable, fine-textured smoothies with some visible flecks of kale”. It was “very loud” with hard, frozen ingredients, and testers had to shake the cup halfway through a milkshake. Its travel lid “was leakproof and easy to drink from”.
ATK’s broader findings apply to both brands. “The higher the advertised wattage, the more effective the blender does in fact seem to be”, though the advertised wattage “isn’t necessarily the power you get during use”. And cup shape matters: ATK preferred jars with openings at least 2 inches across, because tall, narrow jars trapped ingredients away from the blades.
Ice, frozen fruit and frozen drinks
If you blend frozen fruit or ice most days, power matters, and Ninja usually gives you more of it. Our Ninja push-to-blend pick has a 900-peak-watt base, and its listing says its Pro Extractor Blades crush ice. The NutriBullet we recommend is the brand’s simplest model; its listing calls it 700 peak watts, while ATK lists the same model number at 600 watts.
Personal blenders are for single drinks. For a pitcher of frozen margaritas or a batch of salsa, a full-size blender with a pitcher is the better tool; see our guides to the best blender for frozen margaritas and the best Ninja blender for full-size models.
Cups, lids and cleanup
Both brands let you blend in the cup and drink from it. The Ninja BQ301 comes with three 20-ounce cups, two spout lids and a storage lid; its cups, lids and blade assembly are top-rack dishwasher safe, according to the listing. The NutriBullet NBR-0601 comes with one 24-ounce cup, a to-go lid and a lip ring; nutribullet says to twist off the blade, rinse it, and put the cups on the top rack of the dishwasher.
The cordless Ninja Blast cleans itself: its listing says to run a 30-second blend cycle with water and a drop of dish soap, and the lid and vessel are dishwasher safe. Never put a motor base in water; nutribullet’s own care guidance says to wipe the base with a damp cloth.
Warranty and safety records
NutriBullet’s site says “every nutribullet blender comes with a free one-year limited warranty against defects in materials and workmanship”. Ninja’s website would not load when we checked, so we could not read its warranty terms there. The Ninja Blast listing states a 1-year limited warranty, and the BQ301 listing does not state one.
In November 2015, SharkNinja recalled about 1.1 million Ninja BL660-series professional blenders in the U.S., because the full-size blender “poses a laceration risk if consumers pour or invert the pitcher after removing the lid” with the loose stacked blade still inside; 53 lacerations were reported (recall 16-034). The remedy was new instructions, not a return (CPSC). Those blenders came with Nutri Ninja cups, but the recall concerned the pitcher. None of our picks is a BL660-series blender, and we avoid that model. A search of the CPSC recall database for NutriBullet returned no recalls.
Choose Ninja if… / Choose NutriBullet if…
Choose Ninja if…
- You blend ice and frozen fruit most days.
- You want several cups, so two or three people can each have their own.
- You want a cordless blender you can take to work or the gym (Blast).
Choose NutriBullet if…
- You make one smoothie at a time, mostly fruit and greens.
- You want the smallest and simplest machine, with ATK’s Best Buy behind it.
- You want a clearly stated 1-year warranty from the maker.
Our picks on each side of the Ninja vs NutriBullet choice
Two Ninjas and one NutriBullet, all in stock and sold by Amazon.com when we checked. Ninja’s own website blocked us, so the Ninja details come from Ninja’s own brand listings on Amazon. The Ninja Blast and the NutriBullet are models that appear on our other blender guides in different listings; we explain why we include them below.
1. Ninja Nutri Blender 900 Watt – Three Cups and Push-to-Blend Power
The BQ301 is Ninja’s current push-to-blend personal blender. Its listing describes a 900-peak-watt motor base with a Pro Extractor Blades assembly that crushes ice and breaks down whole fruit and vegetables. You press the cup down to blend and pulse by hand, so you control how fine ice and seeds get.
It comes with three 20-ounce To-Go cups, two spout lids and a storage lid, so you can blend a drink for now and store one for later. The cups, lids and blade assembly are top-rack dishwasher safe.
This is a new model, and we found no independent review of it. ATK reviewed the BN401, a different Ninja model with an 1,100-watt base and Auto-iQ presets; that review’s comments on noise and kale flecks are about the BN401, not this blender.
Why we like it
- 900-peak-watt base, per the listing.
- Three 20-oz cups, two spout lids and a storage lid.
- Manual pulse control.
- Top-rack dishwasher-safe cups, lids and blades.
Key specifications
| Model | BQ301SL1BRN |
|---|---|
| Power | 900 peak watts |
| Cups included | 3 |
| Cup size | 20 oz |
| Blade | Pro Extractor Blades assembly |
| Controls | Push to blend |
| Dishwasher-safe parts | Cups, lids, blade assembly (top rack) |
| Warranty | Not stated in the listing |
Why we recommend it
Choose it if you blend frozen fruit or ice often, or want cups for two or three people.
Skip it if you want a reviewed model; this one is too new for an independent review.
Pros and cons
Pros
- More power than NutriBullet’s basic model.
- Three cups and a storage lid.
- Sold by Amazon.com at the time of writing.
Cons
- No independent review of this model on the pages we read.
- Warranty not stated in the listing.
2. Ninja Blast Portable Blender – Cordless Blending on the Go
The Blast is Ninja’s cordless blender. Its listing describes a 7.4-volt base that recharges over USB-C, an 18-ounce ribbed vessel that creates a vortex, and a stainless steel BlastBlade assembly for ice and frozen fruit. A sip lid with a carry handle lets you blend and drink from the same vessel, and separate power and blend buttons prevent blending by accident.
The lid and vessel are BPA free and dishwasher safe, and the blender can clean itself with a 30-second cycle of water and a drop of dish soap. The listing gives a 1-year limited warranty.
This model also appears, in another color listing, on our best portable blender guide. We include it because it is Ninja’s answer to NutriBullet’s portable line and the only cordless option on this page. No independent review of the Blast was read for this page, so these details come from Ninja’s listing.
Why we like it
- Cordless, USB-C rechargeable.
- Sip lid with carry handle.
- Self-cleaning blend cycle.
- 1-year limited warranty, per the listing.
Key specifications
| Model | BC151NV |
|---|---|
| Power | 7.4 V rechargeable base (watts not stated) |
| Cups included | 1 vessel |
| Cup size | 18 oz |
| Blade | Stainless steel BlastBlade assembly |
| Controls | Separate power and blend buttons |
| Dishwasher-safe parts | Lid and vessel |
| Warranty | 1 year limited |
Why we recommend it
Choose it if you want to blend a smoothie at work, the gym or a picnic, away from an outlet.
Skip it if you want the strongest blending; a battery base will not match a corded 900-watt base for ice.
Pros and cons
Pros
- No cord needed.
- Easy self-clean.
- Sold by Amazon.com at the time of writing.
Cons
- Single 18-oz vessel.
- Must be recharged.
- No independent review read for this page.
3. NutriBullet Personal Blender 24 Oz – ATK’s Best Buy
The NBR-0601 is the basic NutriBullet: a motor base, an extractor blade, a 24-ounce cup, a to-go lid, a lip ring and a recipe book, according to its listing. You push, twist and blend. The listing says the product is built to North American and Canadian electrical standards.
This is the model America’s Test Kitchen rated “Recommended” and named its Best Buy. ATK found it handled kale and pineapple well, though smoothies were “a tad icy”, made great salad dressing, and needed a stir for thick milkshakes. Its travel lid allowed leak-free sipping.
One thing to know: this gray listing describes 700 peak watts, while ATK lists the NBR-0601 at 600 watts, and nutribullet’s own site lists its 600-watt original as discontinued. We could not resolve the difference, so judge it as the brand’s basic model, not as a high-power blender. It also appears, in another listing, on our best budget personal blender guide; we include it here because it is the NutriBullet that ATK reviewed.
Why we like it
- ATK: “Recommended” and Best Buy.
- Handled kale and pineapple well (ATK).
- Leak-free travel lid (ATK).
- Cups go on the dishwasher’s top rack.
Key specifications
| Model | NBR-0601 |
|---|---|
| Power | 700 peak watts (listing); 600 watts (ATK) |
| Cups included | 1 |
| Cup size | 24 oz |
| Blade | Extractor blade |
| Controls | Push and twist |
| Dishwasher-safe parts | Cups (top rack); rinse the blade |
| Warranty | 1 year limited |
Why we recommend it
Choose it if you want a simple, reviewed personal blender for one smoothie or dressing at a time.
Skip it if you blend a lot of ice; ATK found its smoothies a little icy, and it is the brand’s lowest-power model.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Independent review behind it.
- Small and simple.
- Sold by Amazon.com at the time of writing.
Cons
- Only one cup.
- Wattage differs between the listing and ATK.
- Smoothies a tad icy (ATK).
Ninja and NutriBullet questions, answered
Is Ninja or NutriBullet better?
On independent reviews it is a tie: ATK rated the Ninja BN401 and the NutriBullet NBR-0601 both “Recommended”, and named the NutriBullet its Best Buy. Ninja’s personal blenders usually have more power and more cups; NutriBullet’s basic model is simpler.
Which is better for frozen fruit and ice?
Ninja’s models generally have more power, and ATK found higher wattage did tend to blend better. ATK did find its Ninja very loud on frozen ingredients, and the NutriBullet’s smoothies a little icy.
Was there a Ninja blender recall?
Yes. In 2015, about 1.1 million Ninja BL660-series full-size blenders were recalled because pouring with the lid off and the loose blade inside could cut users (CPSC recall 16-034). The remedy was new instructions. None of our picks is in that series.
Can a personal blender make salsa or margaritas?
For one serving, yes; ATK found the NutriBullet made great salad dressing. For a batch of salsa or a pitcher of frozen margaritas, a full-size blender is the better tool.
Are the cups dishwasher safe?
Yes, on the top rack, for both brands’ picks here. Wipe the motor base with a damp cloth and never put it in water.
Our last word on Ninja and NutriBullet
Buy the NutriBullet NBR-0601 if you want ATK’s Best Buy for simple single smoothies. Buy the Ninja BQ301 if you blend frozen fruit and want three cups, or the Ninja Blast if you want to blend away from an outlet. For more personal blenders from both brands and others, start with our guide to the best personal blender, or see our best NutriBullet guide and the best blender for smoothies.
And if you would rather skip the cooking tonight, see the menu or call to order.