May 2025: As warmer weather approaches, we have updated this page with timely shopping advice to help you find the best pizza oven for your taste, lifestyle and cooking space. We removed the Karu 16, as it has been discontinued. We are currently testing the new, compact Ooni Koda 2 for consideration in this guide, so stay tuned.
The best pizza oven will guarantee the tastiest slice this side of Italy. Simulating the smoky flavors of a traditional stone oven, the best pizza ovens help you make restaurant-quality pizza recipes in your own backyard. Not only that, but you can use them to roast meats and vegetables and even bake desserts. But with so much on the market, it's easy to feel spoiled for choice.
As a professional product tester, I've had hands-on experience with all the best garden gear, and I think a good pizza oven could give the best grills a run for their money. I've tested twenty models from Ooni, Gozney, and Breville, and I've found the best pizza ovens to suit every garden and budget.
To help you compare and contrast, I've assessed each pizza oven against the same criteria: cook time, ease of assembly, price, and the all-important taste test. Our team – including a former pizza cook – tests every oven on cheese pizzas, pepperoni pizzas, calzones, meat and vegetable dishes, flatbreads and even desserts to see how well they stand up to scrutiny. We recorded how long it took each oven to reach cooking temperature and measured how quickly each oven could cook each type of pizza.
Dozens of pizzas later, I've found the best pizza oven in the world: the new Ooni Karu 2 Pro. I tested it a few weeks ago on six pizzas, gluten-free flour, a calzone, a flatbread, chicken thighs, and even a brownie, and it knocked our previous #1 pick off the top spot. It has a large capacity in the same-sized body, a sleeker digital thermometer and, most importantly, makes a better pizza.
Best pizza ovens
Below, you'll find the headlines on the best pizza ovens of 2025. You can click 'read more below' to see detailed reviews and specifications.
The quick list
This brand-new entry has just taken the #1 spot from its predecessor. It reaches 950°F in just fifteen minutes and makes perfect pizza every time. It's the best pizza oven we've ever tested.
This less expensive option is under $400. We found it easy to assemble, simple to use, compact and lightweight, too.
The Gozney Tread is small and unassuming, but it makes incredible pizza. The size and portability suits small gardens, beach houses, and camping trips (just don't expect to be able to take it on a hike).
This little oven is safe for indoor use, but it still packs a punch. It's the first domestic countertop oven to hit 750°F and it can cook a pizza in just two minutes.
This sleek, chic oven will elevate your outdoor kitchen. It is expensive but truly excellent, and worth the luxury price tag.
This oven is a perfect statement piece for an outdoor kitchen. Unlike others on this list, it can handle two pizzas. A winner for hosting pizza parties.
Best pizza oven 2025
Best pizza oven overall
I tested the Ooni Karu 2 Pro on six different pizzas, including a gluten-free pizza, a calzone, chicken thighs, and brownies, and it aced almost every test. It did so well that it knocked its predecessor, the Ooni Karu 16, off the top spot in this pizza oven ranking. This oven went straight in at #1.
Unlike most other pizza ovens, it has a glass door. This is what puts it at a higher level than all of the other appliances featured below. The glass door retains moisture and heat within the oven, making for a light, fluffy crust with the perfect moisture level. Every pizza I tested in this oven was perfect, with golden, melted cheese and sauce that was neither too dry nor too wet, offering the perfect counterbalance to the char on the crust.
In addition, it's one of the fastest ovens we've tested. It can reach more than 950°F in just 15 minutes, three times faster than some of the ovens on the list, and it can cook a pizza to completion in just over a minute. The updated digital thermometer is a big improvement on the original, offering a color-coded system to let you know when the oven is ready for pizza, as well as a handy probe thermometer.
It also excelled at cooking foods other than just pizza. A flatbread came out perfectly, with vegetables developing a smoky char but not drying out. The chicken thighs I cooked in a cast iron skillet were also exceptional, and the probe thermometer made it easy to check that everything had reached a safe internal temperature.
There are a handful of caveats, but they're minor rather than real problems. The biggest is that this struggled to bake brownies. Even with the oven at its lowest temperature and keeping a constant eye on the top of the brownies, the top broiled and the inside was uncooked, which isn't the case with other ovens we've tried. Apart from that, it takes up a lot of room on a patio table, and while the thermometer is excellent, it can be hard to read it through the glass door in low light.
There are more details in our Ooni Karu 2 Pro review.
Best budget pizza oven
If some of these ovens sound like too much hassle, then the Ooni Koda 12 could be for you. Instead of charcoal, it runs off gas, so all you need to do is plug in your propane and you're good to go. It heats up in 15 minutes and cooks your pizza in two.
Our expert tester used the Koda 12 to make an excellent cheese pizza, a perfect pepperoni pie, and an indulgent garlic bread. Although most gas ovens can't create a crispy crust, this model achieved excellent charring and was especially good at baking thin-crust pizzas.
This oven can make more than just pizza. Our tester used it with a cast iron skillet to make delicious grilled chicken and roasted vegetables. The Koda 12 is lightweight, too, so it's easy to move and store.
The biggest issue with this oven is the lack of a door. It makes it easier to load the pizza but much harder to regulate the temperature. The Koda 12 is also missing the bonus features of Ooni's Karu 16, such as a built-in thermometer.
You can find more details in our Ooni Koda 12 review.
Best small / portable pizza oven
The Tread makes incredibly good pizza, on par with much more expensive options. It made great cheese and pepperoni pizzas, a perfect flatbread, a good calzone, and delicious chicken thighs. It tastes as good as some ovens that are double the price.
It's easy to set up and fast to heat, reaching top temperatures in around 15 minutes. This is perhaps because it's one of the most compact ovens I've ever tested, so it's a great choice for smaller homes. If you buy the Tread Venture stand, you'll find that this oven is much more versatile than the competition. Unlike every other pizza oven stand or table I've tested, which need a patio or deck, the Tread can be used on almost any terrain.
But the lack of a door means the dough isn't as crisp or moist as the two Ooni Karu models above, and because the pizza sits so close to the burner, you need to keep a close eye as it cooks. While the thermometer is a helpful inclusion, it only gives vague temperature ranges, not specific temperatures, and it's located in an awkward spot on the side of the oven, not the front.
However, don't be fooled into thinking this oven is as portable as the marketing claims. It's certainly the most portable pizza oven I've ever used. The rack on the top of the oven makes it easy to maneuver, and the Tread Venture stand (available separately) is much more portable than any other pizza oven table I've tried. However, being more portable than the rest of the market isn't saying much. This oven still weighs in at 30 lbs, which isn't back breaking but quickly becomes uncomfortable to carry over any distance. Once you factor in a bottle of propane and the stand, you'll find that this oven will be tricky to lug around. It's a great option for tailgating or off-roading, but you won't want to hike this up a mountain with it.
You can find more details in our Gozney Tread review.
Best indoor pizza oven
For a quick and easy pizza night, you need the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo. This electric pizza oven is designed for indoor use, so it's the perfect option for apartment dwellers or people without a yard.
This countertop oven was the first domestic oven to reach 750°F. That means it can cook a 12-inch pizza in just two minutes. The Element iQ smart system regulates power so that the oven mimics the type of heat generated in a brick oven. This gives that leopard-spotted charred finish you usually get from a wood-fired pizza oven.
There are dedicated settings for different types of pizza, covering New York, pan, thin and crispy, or frozen pizzas. While you can control the temperature and heating element, our expert preferred the pre-set features which kept the process almost fool-proof. Though this indoor marvel comes close to being great, it still can't recreate the smokiness that marks a traditional Neapolitan. It's also one of the most expensive ovens we've tested.
You can find more details in our Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo review.
Best-looking pizza oven
We recently tested the Gozney Dome S1 and we can't stop talking about it. This multifunctional machine made some of the best Neapolitan pizza we've ever tasted, as well as a crisp calzone, crunchy peppers, and tender chicken thighs.
We loved the original Gozney Dome, and on paper it seemed that this update wouldn't live up to its high standards. The S1 is marginally smaller and a little less versatile: it only runs on propane gas. However, the Gozney Dome S1 is also $500 cheaper than its predecessor, which makes it a far better option in terms of affordability.
One of the best things about the Gozney Dome S1 is its energy efficiency. This oven turns out near-perfect pizzas in 60 seconds flat. There's enough space inside to accommodate at least two pizzas at the same time, which is ideal for pizza parties or quick mid-week cookouts.
The Gozney Dome S1 features an in-built precision temperature gauge to help you monitor and maintain internal conditions. The control system is highly sensitive and takes a little getting used to, but affords you total authority over your oven. Your Gozney Dome S1 should arrive with all the essentials, from the gas hose to the flue funnel, but you'll have to pay extra for the Placement Peel.
There are more details in our Gozney Dome S1 review.
Best large pizza oven
This traditional-looking pizza oven comes with all the modern conveniences. It has a stainless steel cooking chamber and four oven floor firebricks.
The ALFA Nano is pizza party-friendly, thanks to two thick layers of ceramic fiber insulation, which prevents the outside from burning up. This might be important if you have young children, or if you just want to avoid burns and blisters.
The mouth of the oven maintains the heat of the cooking chamber, while also making it easier to turn the pizza during cooking. It has a 15-inch opening, but a much larger capacity inside for bigger pies, so while ALFA recommends cooking one pizza at a time, our tester found that you can just about fit two smaller pies in. If you want even more capacity, Alfa Forni also makes ovens that can hold up to five pizzas at once, but this model, the Alfa Moderno, available at BBQ Guys, is very expensive.
The pizzas are delicious, but as a true wood-fired pizza oven it takes a few attempts to master. The biggest downside is the size. While it means you can cook two pizzas at once, it will dominate your patio or deck. It's also pretty expensive for a relatively basic pizza oven.
You can find more details in our ALFA Nano Pizza Oven review.
Honorable mentions
If you're kitting out an outdoor kitchen, this is the oven you need. Both the bone white and olive colorways look much better than the usual grays and blacks of other pizza ovens. It makes great pizzas too, but we also found it was really good for flame-grilling meat. However, the lack of a door makes it a little inefficient. More importantly, it's just too expensive for us to justify promoting this oven. The $2000 asking price is far too expensive for most people.
There are more details in our Gozney Dome review.
The Arc is one of Gozney's cheaper options, but it's still an excellent pizza oven. It excelled at making every pizza we tried, and it was even amazing at baking peanut butter brownies. The only issue with this oven is smaller and more expensive than similarly-priced Ooni ovens, so we went with the cheaper, larger option.
There are more details in our full Gozney Arc review.
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's expensive for what it is. It's also very bulky and doesn't include a thermometer, unlike the Breville Pizzaiolo above.
You can find more details in our Ooni Volt 12 review.
How to choose a pizza oven
When considering a pizza oven, there are a few key points.
Fuel type and flavor
The fuel you use determines the taste of your pizza, the time it takes for the oven to heat up, and the necessary cleaning measures, as well as any additional costs of running your oven.
Wood-fired ovens often produce the best-tasting pizza, infusing a smoky, charred flavor into the crust, cheese and toppings. Some fruitwood can add a slightly sweet taste. A bag of wood pellets costs $5-$15 per bag (depending on what size you buy), so is fairly affordable. However, wood-fired oven will require some clean up and are a bit of a learning curve to master. Lighting and maintaining a fire is sometimes easier said than done. No matter your fire-starting skills, it will take 10-15 minutes for the fire to get to the right temperature to cook.
Charcoal provides a pretty similar cooking experience and flavor profile to wood. Again, you can buy a bag of charcoal fuel for around $5-$15. Most quality pizza ovens will have a tray that catches the ash for easy disposal, but like wood, it does take some time for the oven to reach the right temperature.
Gas pizza ovens are easy to use and tend to be a little cheaper, but they don't bring the same smoky flavor that wood and charcoal pizza ovens do.
Electric pizza ovens are great, but they're usually designed for indoor use only. Keep in mind that, like gas, electric pizza ovens can't quite achieve that authentic smoky flavor you get from wood and charcoal.
Cook time
If you purchase a high-quality pizza oven, such as those featured here, you can expect your pizza to cook in as little as 1 minute and as long as 10 minutes. That's a whole lot quicker than a pizza delivery service. Busy families might appreciate a gas or indoor electric pizza oven, which heats quickly and requires far less prep and clean-up time.
Size
All pizza ovens take up a lot of space. Expect to give up half your outdoor table, or buy a new pizza oven stand. The smallest ovens make 12" pizzas, the largest 20". The size you choose depends on how many people you have to feed and the size of your garden. Couples only need a 12" oven; larger families should opt for 16" ovens.
How we test
The ALFA pizza oven on test
We tested these ovens by making a lot of pizza and putting them through taste tests. I know − it's a hard life being a product reviewer. We tried dozens of cheese pizzas, pepperoni pizzas, and as-many-toppings-as-possible pizzas, as well as garlic breads, flatbreads, and focaccia.
We pushed these ovens beyond the limits of dough, roasting chicken and vegetables to test their versatility. We timed how long it took each oven to reach temperature and cook a pizza so that we could assess their energy efficiency, as well as the ease of ignition.
We pay close attention to the look of each oven to see which spaces they will suit. We also consider the nitty-gritty details like assembly, storage, and maneuverability. We judge all of this against price and warranty, to make absolutely sure that the ovens we recommend are the best value for money.
You can find more information on our testing process in our How We Test guide.
Our expertise
Helen is a trained home economist with a 20-year career in appliance reviews. She is a freelance writer specializing in home appliance reviews, but she’s most at home when trying out the latest kitchen and cooking gadgets. Helen tested the Ooni Fyra12 in her own backyard and found that 'even a novice cook will be able to achieve good results'.
Millie was Head of Reviews at Homes & Gardens and has reviewed a number of the pizza ovens in this guide. With a lot of trial and error, she's discovered exactly what an oven needs to make the best pizza. Millie tested the Breville Smart and Gozney Roccbox in her yard at home.
Best pizza oven FAQs
Are wood-fired pizza ovens better than gas?
For that authentic Italian taste, you need a wood-fired oven. Gas pizza ovens are great, and they can create a leopard-spotted charred crust, but they can taste a little sterile by comparison.
That said, gas ovens are far easier to use. There's no tricky, time-consuming ignition of wood pellets. All you need to do is hook up your gas and start cooking.
How do I stop my pizza from sticking?
A light dusting of flour or cornmeal should create a barrier between your dough and the stone, which makes it much easier to turn and remove your pizza from the pizza oven.
Can you use a pizza oven indoors?
Yes, if you're using an indoor pizza oven. You should never use a wood-fired or a gas pizza oven inside, because the smoke will destroy your kitchen. The best and safest indoor pizza ovens are the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo and the Ooni Volt 12.
How does a pizza oven work?
A pizza oven is a miniature version of those big brick-fired ovens you see in proper pizza joints. The heat source, typically wood pellets or gas, sits at the back of the oven. When lit, it heats the oven to blistering temperatures that can cook an entire pizza in a minute. The best pizza ovens char the crust for an authentic finish that a regular domestic oven can't replicate.
Is it worth getting a pizza oven?
Yes. In terms of taste, there's no contest between a pizza oven and a regular domestic cooker. In fact, I made one of the best pizzas I've ever had on an Ooni Fyra. It was fast, fresh, and delicious, and it barely cost a thing. Don't tell the Italians, but it genuinely beat some of the pizzas I've tried in Italy.
The biggest issue is the money. If you can't stretch to one of the more expensive ovens, you should stick to a basic wood-fired pizza oven. It will still taste authentic, and you won't be overpaying for non-essential features.
What's the right temperature for pizza?
You should cook your pizza at 850-950°F (450-500°C). Some ovens can reach temperatures as high as 1200°F, but this might be overkill for a simple backyard pizza oven.
What can I cook in a pizza oven?
Most pizza ovens are designed to cook homemade pizzas rather than the pre-packaged stuff you might find in the frozen aisle at the grocery store. There are exceptions to that rule: the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo, for example, is designed to cook frozen pizzas, as well as Neapolitan and deep dish pies.
However, many of the best pizza ovens are multifunctional and double as meat and veg roasters. We roast vegetables and meat as part of our tests, and the best ovens can even handle deserts like brownies.
Final thoughts
Once you've bought one of the best pizza ovens, it's time to get cooking. If you're new to making pizza, it's worth learning how to light a pizza oven. For wood-burners, it's important to invest in the best wood for a pizza oven.
Ooni make many of the best pizza ovens on the market. If you know you want an Ooni, but you'd like to assess all your options, then you're in luck: we've pitted the best Ooni pizza ovens head to head so that you can make an informed choice.
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