Ooni are the most popular pizza oven in the world and the hype keeps building. With so much marketing and press coverage you'd be forgiven for thinking that Ooni pizza ovens are little more than hype.
However, there's a reason Ooni takes up the top three spots in our guide to the best pizza ovens. I wanted to hate it but their most recent oven rocketed to the top of our guide to the best pizza ovens. Unless there are some big shake-ups over the next few months, our tests have shown that they're quite simply the best pizza oven brand around.
I've been a product tester for years and tried all of the best pizza ovens pitched some of Ooni's top ovens against each other to reveal which Ooni oven is best.
The quick list
This is the best pizza oven we've ever tested, making perfect pizza thanks to a helpful digital thermometer.
This was our favorite pizza oven for years, but it was surpassed by its successor, the Karu 2. But while slightly worse than the newer oven, it's still incredibly fast, and cheaper than it's ever been.
This inexpensive option is a great option on a budget. There's a steep learning curve to master it, but it makes incredible, smoky pizzas.
This pizza oven is easy to assemble and easy to use. Weighing just 20.4 lbs, it's even easy to move, and should fit perfectly on a standard outdoor kitchen countertop.
This oven is the only one in the world you can use both indoors and outdoors. It's easy to use and makes good pizza, but it will cost you.
Which Ooni should I buy?
The best Ooni overall
The Ooni Karu 2 Pro came out late last year, and we were among the first publishers to test it. After trying the oven on six different pizzas, including a gluten-free pizza, a calzone, chicken thighs, and brownies, I found the best pizza oven I've ever tested. Its predecessor, the Ooni Karu 16, had been our favorite pizza oven for years, but the Karu 2 instantly replaced it.
The most important feature is that this oven has a glass door that sets it apart from most other ovens on the market. The glass door helps to retain a little extra moisture within the dough, making for a much lighter, chewier crust than comparable ovens like the Gozney Dome. Every pizza I tested in this oven was restaurant-quality, with golden, melted cheese and perfectly cooked sauce.
It's one of the fastest pizza ovens I've ever tested and it can top 950°F in just 15 minutes, three times faster than other pizzas on the market. It can cook a cheese pizza in just under a minute.
The new digital thermometer is a big improvement on the original segmented digital display. The former only showed temperature, but it now offers a color-coded system to let you know when the oven is ready to use, as well as a probe thermometer.
That probe thermometer means this oven also excelled at cooking foods other than just pizza. The chicken thighs I cooked in a cast iron skillet were exceptional, and the probe thermometer made it easy to check that the meat was safe to eat.
There are a handful of caveats, but they're nitpicking rather than real problems. It takes up a lot of room on a table, and it can be hard to read the thermometer when the pizza oven door is open because of the screen refracting through the glass. However, these are tiny issues - the pizzas from this oven are the best you can get.
Read more: Ooni Karu 2 Pro review.
The fastest Ooni
This was our favorite pizza oven for years. It was the industry standard, one because this is one of few ovens officially endorsed by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana - the True Neapolitan Pizza Association.
That was before it was surpassed by the new Ooni Karu 2. However, this is still an incredibly good pizza oven.
Our Managing Director Jason Orme says that there is 'nothing like the pizzas that come out of the Karu 16'. It makes perfect pizzas with charred crusts and gooey melted cheese. Most importantly, like the Karu 2 Pro, it's incredibly fast to heat up and cook pizzas. It heats up quickly and cooks entire pizzas in just under a minute, so it's well worth considering.
It has a huge 16-inch capacity and runs off both gas and wood fuel, delivering both the speed and convenience of gas cooking or the smoky flavors of a traditional wood-fired pizza. There's a responsive digital thermometer and a see-through door so you can check your pizza as it cooks.
While it cooks on two different fuels, gas fuel isn't fitted as standard, so it's an extra expense. We also aren't fans of the fact that essential accessories like pizza peels and pizza cutters aren't included. The door is harder to use than in the new Karu 2 Pro, and the thermometer is a simple segmented digital display, which looks a little old-school compared to more recent appliances.
Read more: Ooni Karu 16 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven review
The best wood-fired Ooni
If you want your pizza journey to achieve absolute authenticity, you need a wood-fired oven. They make pizzas that taste like a different product to store-bought pies and, if we're being critical, they taste a little better than pizzas from gas ovens too. Cooking with flames means that you char the crust, create leopard spots on the base, and can beautifully brown cheese.
At the risk of sounding like an Ooni sponsor, we give the Fyra our 'best wood-fired pizza oven' accolade, against all other brands, in a heartbeat. It easily overcomes the common complications faced with other wood-fired pizza ovens: it's easy to set up because the instructions are clear and the app is loaded with tips for your everything from pizza wood pellets to dough. It's simple to add wood and control the temperature, and the fast heat-up time means it's ready to go in just 15 minutes.
When it came to the all-important taste test, this was unbelievable. The pizzas our experts made looked the part, with spotting, browning, and charring in all the right places. Even better, it tasted the part too, each bite was packed with intense, smoky flavors.
It's worth noting that the Fyra, just like the Karu, doesn't come with a pizza peel or slicer. Other pizza ovens include these as extras almost by default, because you won't get far without either.
Read more: Ooni Fyra 12 review
The best gas Ooni
The Koda 12 is the easiest Ooni to use. You save on all the hassle of swapping fuel types or lighting charcoal and just plug in your propane. After that, it heats up in 15 minutes and can cook a pizza in a respectable two minutes.
It excelled on test, making near-perfect cheese and tomato and pepperoni pizzas, as well as an indulgent garlic bread. The worry with gas ovens is that you can't achieve a good crust, but this model achieved excellent charring.
This lightweight oven is one of Ooni's lighter ovens, so it's easy to move around the garden and store.
The only thing preventing this oven from a perfect taste test is the problem of all gas-fuelled outdoor cooking. By comparison with charcoal, this oven tastes almost sterile. It's wonderfully charred but it's missing the je ne sais quoi of smoky flavour you get with wood pellets. This model would also hugely benefit from a door. It makes it easier to load the pizza but means that it's easy to drop heat.
Read more: Ooni Koda 12 review
The best indoor Ooni
There was only one indoor pizza oven on the market until this launched last year - the Breville Pizzaiolo. In my preview of the Volt 12, I compared the specs on both machines and found that the Volt reaches a higher temperature. It also has an innovative 'boost' function which hikes up the temperature when you open the oven door, preventing any sudden loss of heat and making it much faster to turn around lots of pizza in one go.
When we finally got it on test, it made delicious pizzas, and we found the boost button helpful for hosting pizza parties. They're a little sanitized compared to the rest of the market, but it's about as close as you can get to flame-licked leopard spotting you get in a wood or gas oven.
However, the biggest draw is that this oven works both indoors and outdoors. No other pizza oven on the market can do that. It brings an unparalleled versatility to entertaining that other ovens - even the Karu 16 - won't be able to match.
However, this is the most expensive Ooni oven available. You'll also need a lot of counter space, because the 24.2” x ” x 20.8” x 10.9” dimensions take up plenty of room.
Read more: Ooni Volt 12 review.
Comparison table
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Price | Size | Fuel Type | Exterior dimensions | Cook time | Price also includes | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ooni Karu 2 Pro | $799 | 16" | Wood and gas | 19 3/4 x 31 3/4 x 32 3/4" | 60s | Torx Key, Digital Temperature Hub | 5 years |
Ooni Fyra 12 | $249 | 12" | Wood | 29.1 x 15.4 x 28.5" | 60s | Chimney cover/scoop | 5 years |
Ooni Koda 12 | $399 | 12" | Gas | 24.4 x 15.5 x 11.7" | 60s | Pizza stone, gas regulator | 5 years |
Ooni Karu 16 | $649 | 16" | Wood and gas | 33 x 32 x 20" | 60s | Digital thermometer, essentials guide | 5 years |
Ooni Volt 12 | $1399 | 12" | Electricity | 24.2" x 20.8" x 10.9" | 1 min 30s | Timer | 2 years |
Ooni alternatives
If this all feels too much like advertising, don't worry. We've tested lots of other brands of pizza ovens. We recommend:
Best-looking
This beautiful oven is designed to work with your garden design rather than yet another black-and-gray appliance. On test, it made a great pepperoni pizza and gorgeous steak, but it's expensive.
You can find more detail in our Gozney Dome review.
Best indoor
Breville's Pizzaiolo is an indoor oven that's great for apartments. It has dedicated settings for New York, pan, thin and crispy, and frozen pizzas, and costs the same as the Ooni Volt 12.
You can find more detail in our Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo review.
Best compact
A compact little oven but it has room for an extra-wide mouth. We found this makes it easy to insert, adjust, and remove your pizzas.
You can find more detail in our Solo Stove Pi Pizza Oven review.
How to choose the best Ooni pizza oven for you:
Pizza ovens are brilliant ways to cook food in a more artisanal way. Although the name suggests that they only suit pizzas, you can cook meats, breads, and other slow-roast foods in them. Before leaping into a purchase, you'll want to think about a few aspects:
Fuel source
Ooni ovens use a range of sources. They can use fire, electricity, or gas to cook your food. Electricity is the most simple method, but it limits where you can place your oven. Gas gives more versatility and more control, but won't deliver the same flavors as a wood-fired model. Cooking with flames creates a whole new world of flavors. They'll char and brown your food, enhancing smoky and intense flavors. Flames are harder to control, but they're the best option for artisanal chefs.
Size
Consider the space that you're willing to dedicate to a pizza oven. There are portable options that you can pack up and take with you. Some are safe for kitchens, but others are outdoor only.
Price and accessories
The ovens that have a smaller retail price often don't come with a peel, paddle, or slicer. If you already own these, you can save money and opt for a cheaper model. If you don't, you'll want to evaluate the total cost, because buying a bundle might save you overall.
How we tested these Ooni pizza ovens
Our team of experts tests every single product we recommend. We used these Oonis to make pizzas, because they're a good litmus test for the base heat across the whole oven, how thorough the heat is to the oven's roof, and how well it browns ingredients too.
Then, we'll test the limits of every oven. Our experts make flatbreads, focaccia, chicken, and vegetables. The best ovens are those that are versatile and quick to cook these ingredients, but we also want them to be energy-efficient.
We make notes on every aspect of these ovens, so we can let you know which spaces these suit. This largely depends on size, assembly, storage, and maneuverability. Balanced with price and warranty, we can give you a good overview of which ovens are best for which homes.
You can find more information on our testing process in our How We Test guide.
Ooni FAQs
Is Ooni the best pizza oven?
Our tests have shown that Ooni is the best pizza oven brand. The Karu 16 is the best pizza oven you can buy - period - followed by the Fyra 12 as the best wood-fired pizza oven and the Koda 12 as the best gas-fuelled pizza oven. If you want the very best pizza oven, Ooni is the way to go.
However, there are plenty of other brands out there. We're also big fans of Gozney, which tends to be a little more design-forward than Ooni.
Can you use an Ooni indoors?
You can't use Ooni ovens indoors, except for the Volt 12, which is specifically designed to be used indoors. Using any other Ooni indoors risks a fire hazard, and in the case of the wood-fired models, the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Can you leave an Ooni outdoors?
Yes, but think of it like a grill. Ooni pizza ovens are designed to be used outside, and you can leave them out, but if they're exposed to rain too often they'll rust. The best move is to buy a waterproof cover from Ooni, or a cheaper cover on Amazon.
Ooni can be great but they aren't the only option on the market. It's worth weighing up Ooni vs Gozney to see which brand is the best option for your home, or comparing Ooni vs Solo Stove, another popular pizza oven brand.
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