Juicing dual: Is the Ninja Cold Press Juicer or the Nutribullet Juicer better?

The Ninja Cold Press Juicer on an orange background and the Nutribullet Juicer on a yellow background
(Image credit: TechRadar)

Creating delicious fresh fruit and vegetable juices at home is a great way to increase your intake of these vital healthy foods. One of the best juicers allows you to experiment with flavor combinations and develop custom juices that are bursting with freshness.

In fact, more and more of us are jumping on the juicing trend. In the US, sales increased during the pandemic seemingly driven by a desire to boost our immune systems by consuming healthier foods. According to a report in FoodNavigator-USA refrigerated juice and functional beverage sales grew by 12.2% to $5.4 billion. 

So if you’re trying to switch out unhealthy sodas for nutrient-packed juice drinks, it makes sense to opt for the freshest possible juices by making your own at home. You’ll also be able to cut down on wasteful packaging and plastic bottles while enjoying the maximum flavor and nutrition that comes from freshly extracted juice.

Here we’re comparing two of the most budget-friendly juicers from two big brands to see which is best: the Ninja Cold Press Juicer or the Nutribullet Juicer so you can be sure to get the most bang for your buck.

Best Ninja Cold Press Juicer and Nutribullet Juicer deals

Read on to find out just how these juicers  compare – or, if you know which appliance you want, check out the best prices right now for both products below:  

Price

Both the Ninja Cold Press Juicer and the Nutribullet Juicer are amongst the more affordable juicers we’ve reviewed and there’s not much difference in price between the two. The Ninja Cold Press juicer has a list price of $129.99/ £169.99 (it’s not currently available in Australia). While the Nutribullet Juicer is slightly more affordable at $99.99/ £99.99/ AU$179.99.

Centrifugal juicers, such as the Nutribullet model, are generally cheaper than Cold Press Juicers so while the Ninja is pricier than the Nutribullet, it’s very affordable in comparison to other cold press juicers that can set you back several hundred. You can find out more in our article Centrifugal juicers vs cold press juicers

The Ninja Cold Press Juicer being used to juice apples

(Image credit: Ninja)

Design

There are plenty of notable differences in the look and the way these two juicers work. As we’ve already mentioned, the Nutribullet Juicer is what’s known as a centrifugal juicer - it chops up the fruit and vegetables using sharp rotating blades and then spins the pieces at high speed to force them through a strainer.

The Ninja Cold Press Juicer is as the name suggests, a cold press juicer. This type of juicer breaks up the fruit and vegetables using a part called an auger and then passes it through a mesh to extract the juice. It’s a slower process that can produce less waste and less froth.

The Nutribullet is the smallest in terms of footprint on the kitchen counter with a round base measuring 16 x 9.5 x 9.5 inches/ 41 x 24 x 24 cm (h x w x d). While the Ninja isn’t much bigger but has a more rectangular footprint that’s longer and thinner at 14.2 x 13.8 x 6.9 inches / 36 x 35 x 17cm (h x w x d).

The Ninja is supplied with a small juice jug that can only hold 17fl oz/ 500ml of juice before it’ll need to be emptied. But the 27fl oz/ 800ml jug that comes with the Nutribullet allows you to juice much more before it’ll be full. Furthermore, it comes with a froth separator lid that’s handy for storing juice in the fridge as well as separating the froth from the juice.

Thanks to its large feed chute, whole apples can be juiced in the Nutribullet without having to cut them up. However, there’s extra chopping required when juicing in the Ninja, anything much wider than a carrot will have to be cut into smaller pieces to fit in its 1.8 inch/ 4.5cm feed chute.

The Ninja comes with three interchangeable pulp filters that allow you to choose the amount of pulp in your juice, the Nutribullet doesn’t come with this option.

We found the Ninja more fiddly to assemble than the Nutribullet, but on the plus side, it’s easier to empty waste from the Ninja’s external pulp container. Whereas the Nutribullet has to be disassembled to remove the pulp. Both come with dishwasher-safe parts for easy cleaning.

Nutribullet Juicer being used to prepare some fruit and vegetable juices

(Image credit: Nutribullet)

Features

While essentially both models are juicers and can both extract juice from a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. As we explained above, they work in different ways and this means there are differences in the amount and the texture of the juice they produce.

In our tests, the Ninja was able to extract significantly more juice from kale than the Nutribullet. Having said that, for everything else we juiced, from oranges to carrots to a mixed green juice, the Nutribullet outperformed the Ninja by extracting larger volumes of juice, which also means we were left with less waste.

When it comes to texture, the Ninja can create impressively clear and pulp-free juice with very little froth on top. However, the juice extracted by the Nutribullet tended to have lots of froth and this juicer struggled to make completely pulp-free juice.

Both juicers feature simple intuitive controls, the Nutribullet has two speeds to choose between, while the Ninja only has one speed but also comes with a reverse setting which helps to unclog it when necessary.

Typically, cold press juicers are slower than centrifugal juicers and that’s definitely the case here. The Nutribullet can juice a whole apple in 18 seconds. Whereas the Ninja requires you to chop the apple first and it still took a lengthy 30 seconds to extract the juice.

The Ninja Cold Press Juicer having been used to prepare some green vegetable juices

(Image credit: Ninja)

Verdict

The best juicer depends on what you intend to juice. If you’re planning on juicing leafy greens and making kale shots, you should go for the Ninja Cold Press Juicer. This is also the model to pick if you’re very particular about having smooth clear juice.

For those looking to juicer other fruit and vegetables, the Nutribullet is the better option. It’ll extract more juice and produce less waste. Plus t

Helen McCue
Freelance Contributor

Helen is a freelance writer who specializes in kitchen appliances and has written for some of the biggest home-related titles around. She has been reviewing small appliances, including blenders, juicers, and multi-cookers, for more than 8 years,  and also upholsters furniture when she's not testing the latest food tech gadgets.