Which Pressure Washer Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 8 pressure washer options head to head. Cat came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Cat
Price shown in test: $225, the most expensive pressure washer tested
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Stanley
Price shown in test: $96
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Wen
Price shown in test: $81, just $2 more than the Sun Joe
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“The Cat is the best pressure washer, but it's also very expensive at $225.”
Best in 3 of 6 measurements, including Higher Pressure 3.0 GPM Tip, Total Cleaning Units and Soap Apply Rinse Time.
Best in 1 of 6 measurements, including Low Pressure High Flow 3.7 GPM Tip.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Weight
- 1Cat23 lb
with accessories
- 2Stanley15 lb
- 3Karcher18 lb
- 4Worx15 lb
- 5Ryobi20 lb
- 6Wen17 lb
- 7Yard Force20 lb
- 8Sun Joe12 lb
with accessories, the lightest of all brands (packaging claimed 13 lb)
Baseline Noise And Current
- 1Cat7 amps
75.5 dB, pumped 2.76 gallons in 1 minute with no spray tip
- 2Stanley6.3 amps
73 dB (tied with Wen), pumped 2.11 gallons in 1 minute with no spray tip
- 3Karcher9.5 amps
(highest baseline current of any brand), 77.5 dB, pumped 1.82 gallons in 1 minute with no spray tip
- 4Worx8.2 amps
74 dB, pumped 1.75 gallons in 1 minute with no spray tip
- 5Ryobi7.5 amps
85 dB, by far the loudest of any brand at baseline; pumped 1.77 gallons in 1 minute with no spray tip
- 6Wen6.3 amps
73 dB, pumped 1.97 gallons in 1 minute with no spray tip
- 7Yard Force8.1 amps
74 dB, pumped 1.56 gallons in 1 minute with no spray tip
- 8Sun Joe5.64 amps
77 dB, pumped 1.92 gallons in 1 minute with no spray tip
Low Pressure High Flow 3.7 GPM Tip
- 1Cat1,150 PSI
(nearly 400 PSI better than Stanley/Karcher), 12.35 amps, 1.77 gallons per minute
- 2Stanley800 PSI
(tied 2nd with Karcher, best yet at that point in testing), 9.7 amps, 1.58 gallons per minute, took the pressure lead from the Wen
- 3Karcher800 PSI
(tied 2nd with Stanley), 11.6 amps, 1.44 gallons per minute; experienced a big pressure drop at the start of the test that quickly recovered
- 4Worx725 PSI
10.7 amps, 1.53 gallons per minute
- 5Ryobi700 PSI
(tied with Wen), 9.7 amps, 1.51 gallons per minute, loudest yet at 76.5 dB with a tip attached
- 6Wen700 PSI
(tied with Ryobi), 10.5 amps, 1.46 gallons per minute
- 7Yard Force650 PSI
(next-to-last place, ahead of only Sun Joe), 9.85 amps, 1.44 gallons per minute, loudest yet at 75 dB with a tip attached
- 8Sun Joe620 PSI
reached in a fraction of a second, 8.5 amps, 1.39 gallons per minute
Higher Pressure 3.0 GPM Tip
- 1Cat1,625 PSI
(best of all brands), 14.55 amps (near the limit of what the circuit breaker could handle), 1.56 gallons per minute (best of all brands)
- 2Stanley1,250 PSI2nd
(2nd best of all brands, by far the best at that point in testing), 11.9 amps, 1.37 gallons per minute (2nd best)
- 3Karcher1,220 PSI3rd
(3rd best), 13.25 amps, 1.27 gallons per minute; needed about 10 seconds to recover from an initial pressure drop before reaching full pressure
- 4Worx1,200 PSI4th
(4th best), 13 amps (pushing the limit of the circuit), 1.34 gallons per minute (tied 3rd with Ryobi), took over 4 seconds to build to full pressure
- 5Ryobi1,140 PSI5th
(5th best), 12 amps, 1.34 gallons per minute (tied 3rd with Worx); took about 10 seconds to reach full pressure
- 6Wen1,125 PSI
12.9 amps, 1.25 gallons per minute
- 7Yard Force975 PSI
12.1 amps (pretty much maxed out), 1.29 gallons per minute
- 8Sun Joe980 PSI
(this figure is not stated directly in the Sun Joe's own passage, where the transcript cuts off mid-sentence after '...went from 620 to'; the 980 PSI value is recovered from a later sentence describing the Wen's result, which explicitly compares the Wen's 1,125 PSI 'to only 980 for the Sun Joe'), 10.1 amps, 71.5 dB, 1.1 gallons per minute
Total Cleaning Units
- 1Cat2,533
best of all brands
- 2Stanley1,7092nd
2nd best of all brands
- 3Karcher1,5514th
- 4Worx1,6123rd
- 5Ryobi1,5315th
- 6Wen
not included in the video's named top-5 cleaning-units ranking (implies 6th or lower)
- 7Yard Force
not included in the video's named top-5 cleaning-units ranking (implies lowest or near-lowest)
- 8Sun Joe
not included in the video's named top-5 cleaning-units ranking (weakest pressure and flow numbers of all 8 brands)
Soap Apply Rinse Time
- 1Cat18 seconds
to apply (fastest of all), 23 seconds to rinse (fastest of all), 41 seconds total (best of all brands)
- 2Stanley19 seconds2nd
to apply (fastest yet at that point), 30 seconds to rinse, 49 seconds total (2nd best)
- 3Karcher24 seconds3rd
to apply, 28 seconds to rinse (tied with Ryobi), 52 seconds total (3rd best)
- 4Worx23 seconds
to apply, 33 seconds to rinse, 56 seconds total (5th of the ranked group)
- 5Ryobi26 seconds4th
to apply, 28 seconds to rinse (tied with Karcher), 54 seconds total (4th best)
- 6Wen
rinse time 37 seconds (3 seconds faster than the Sun Joe's 40); apply time is captioned as '3 seconds faster than the Sun Joe at 25 seconds', which is internally inconsistent since the Sun Joe's own apply time was also stated as 25 seconds - based on the same '3 seconds faster' pattern used consistently elsewhere in the video (which checks out arithmetically for every other brand), the intended apply time was likely around 22 seconds, but the literal captioned figure is kept here and flagged rather than silently corrected
- 7Yard Force29 seconds
to apply, 36 seconds to rinse, both longer than average
- 8Sun Joe25 seconds
to apply, 40 seconds to rinse, both the slowest recorded
Wood Cleaning Test
- 1Cat
did by far the best job removing build-up and permanent marker stains, confirmed consistent on a second test board
- 2Stanley
performed nearly the same as the Wen, removing quite a bit of build-up after one pass
- 3Karcher
consistent spray pattern but did not remove as much build-up as the top performers
- 4Worx
regular (non-adjustable) tip gave a consistent spray pattern, performed better than Sun Joe but not as well as Wen or Stanley
- 5Ryobi
removed most of the build-up and the permanent marker stain, finishing 4th
- 6Wen
finished in 2nd place, removing a lot of build-up from a narrow portion of the board, though its adjustable nozzle pattern varied a lot
- 7Yard Force
consistent spray pattern but did not remove as much build-up as the top performers, grouped with the weaker-performing brands
- 8Sun Joe
removed only a small amount of build-up, with an adjustable nozzle pattern that concentrated most of the pressure in the center rather than an even spray
Durability
- 1Cat
no damage from the 36 inch drop test or from a vehicle driving over the gun handle
- 2Stanley
no damage from either the drop test or the vehicle weight test
- 3Karcher
survived the drop test, but sustained a lot of cracking damage on both sides of the handle from the vehicle weight test, though it still worked
- 4Worx
no damage from either the drop test or the vehicle weight test
- 5Ryobi
survived the drop test, but the handle cracked with some inner-side damage from the vehicle weight test, though it still worked fine
- 6Wen
no damage from either the drop test or the vehicle weight test
- 7Yard Force
no damage from either the drop test or the vehicle weight test
- 8Sun Joe
no damage from either the drop test or the vehicle weight test
How it was tested
- baseline noise (dB) and motor current (amps) without a spray tip
- baseline water pump flow (gallons per minute) without a spray tip
- pressure (PSI), current, noise, and flow rate using a shared 3.7 GPM low-pressure spray tip
- pressure (PSI), current, noise, and flow rate using a shared 3.0 GPM spray tip
- total cleaning units (PSI times gallons per minute)
- soap application and rinse time on a vehicle
- wood surface build-up/mold removal using each brand's own hose and nozzle
- spray gun drop durability (36 inch drop)
- spray gun crush durability (vehicle driven over the gun handle)
“The Cat is the best pressure washer, but it's also very expensive at $225.”
