Air fryer vs multi-cooker - the verdict on which one you should invest in and why, according to our expert reviewers

Are you debating whether to buy an air fryer vs a multi-cooker? It's a good question, as though both of these appliances are ultra-useful, there is a distinct difference in which user will suit each type.

Of course, the best air fryers are a genius buy; they're cheap to run, take a fraction of the time your oven does to cook the same foods and are energy efficient. The best multi-cookers share that value-for-money edge, as they often have the ability to slow cook, bake, steam and sometimes even air fry too - all in one unit.

Both of these buys will revolutionise your kitchen. But there are other factors to consider, including price, space and your keenness to explore all of the functions that multi-cookers have to offer.

For a visual explainer, we've delved into detail on the pros and cons in the video below, but in order to provide in-depth comparisons based on our reviews, we've also put these two appliances head to head below, with a careful look at the experience of our Kitchen Appliances Editor Molly Cleary and our resident home economist and product tester Helen McCue.

What is an air fryer?

People sometimes try to complicate air fryers but in reality, they are a simple thing. In essence, an air fryer is a mini convection oven that sits on your countertop. It uses circulating hot air to give the food inside an all-around cook and works wonders on a variety of foods, including chips, vegetables, meat and fish. As it's a smaller version of your oven, it'll cook your food a lot faster.

Air fryers can be multi-functional too. One of our favourite air fryers after testing it extensively, the Ninja Foodi Max Dual Zone can air fry, crisp, roast, bake, reheat and dehydrate foods, meaning that you can cook anything from cake to beef jerky inside.

When we tested the Ninja Dual Zone in our test kitchen we found that it was incredible at crisping foods up, and legions of fans of the best Ninja air fryers using it online have gotten creative with this appliance; I've seen everything from bread to lasagne cooked up inside. Our reviewer Helen really showed how versatile our top-rated air fryer is in her Ninja FlexDrawer Air Fryer review, and how big, with the ability to cook an entire leg of lamb in the megazone.

The one thing air fryers aren't so great at? Liquid-based mixes. That can make stews and sauced-based recipes a no-no. The rule of thumb to apply is: if it would work in your regular oven, it'll work in your air fryer.

What is a multi-cooker?

As you might have guessed from the name, a multi-cooker is an appliance that's capable of performing 6 or more functions in one machine (though the number of programs can rise to as high as 15 in certain models).

One of the most popular models is the Ninja Foodi 11-in-1 SmartLid Multi-cooker which pairs up nicely with the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone air fryer we mentioned earlier. It can bake, pressure cook, slow cook, air fry, steam, and a lot more. It's great for all of those liquid-based dishes that air fryers can't cover, like stews or sauce-heavy foods.

The same can be said for the Ninja Speedi, which is a multi-cooker with the ability to perform two functions at one time. When I tried it, I was blown away by how convenient it is for midweek meals.

Our reviewer Helen, during her testing process also found that the Ninja 11-in-1 was great for using different cooking modes consecutively, and for cutting down on cooking times overall. In her testing process, she baked a cake, roasted a chicken, steamed vegetables and used the air fryer function to whip up chips.

Other users online love to use their multi-cooker to pressure cook and then air fry a large cut of meat - the perfect time saving main for Sunday dinners. If this sounds like something you'd love to use your multi-cooker to do, then bear in mind that not all multi-cookers can air fry, and you’ll often require an additional lid for one that can.

We covered one such multicooker in our Instant Pot Pro review. This model has a pretty hefty price tag (£169.99), but lacks an air fryer lid. We still rated it highly overall, thanks to the array of functions and ease of use, but upgrading to an air fryer lid with the Instant Pot Pro Crisp, will set you back even more, at £249.99. If you're on a budget, that extra expense is definitely something to factor in.

Ninja has really been upping it's game when it comes to making multi-cookers more accessible. These appliances can still be a bit mystifying, but releases that we've covered, such as in our Ninja Foodi Possible Slow Cooker review show the brand is packing more functionality into well-priced products.

The Foodi Possible can slow cook, sear/sauté, steam, braise, simmer, bake, prove, and keep food warm. That means that while it's more expensive than most of the best slow cookers on the market, you'll secure value for money if you can afford to invest thanks to what else it can do too, and the countertop space it can save you.

Air fryer vs multi-cooker: Which is easier to use?

To put it simply, thanks to the fact they usually have fewer functions, air fryers win in the battle of being the easiest to use. With most models, even when they do have other presets on offer, if you do just want to air fry, it's just as simple as using your oven.

Multi-cookers on the whole can be a little trickier to get used to, and you might be more dependent on having a solid manual from the manufacturer. If you're good at handling tech in general, it shouldn't be too much of a struggle, but it might mean a little more complication when it comes to trying to quickly cook up midweek meals.

If you're an enthusiastic cook, then you'll probably enjoy getting to grips with all of the settings that a multi-cooker can offer, and find that it exceeds your expectations.

Our reviewer Helen had some reservations about the safety of using the pressure cooking function of the Ninja 9-in-1 due to the steam that needs to be released, but found that it ultimately yielded excellent results and that she felt reassured by the easy-release feature.

Air fryer vs multi-cooker: Which is easier to clean?

As you might have guessed from our comparisons, a lot of top-rated multi-cookers and air fryers are produced by the same big-name brands, with Instant and Ninja at the forefront of the market for both of these appliances.

Luckily for busy homes, both of these brands make a range of dishwasher-safe inserts, which makes them super easy to clean up if you have the ability to chuck things into the dishwasher.

If not, because air fryers and multi-cooker components often have non-stick coatings, they are also easy to clean by hand using soapy water too. The main thing to remember is that if you have a preference for either handwashing or using a dishwasher, just be sure to check the specifications of any model you're thinking of buying.

The other thing that might put air fryers ahead when it comes to cleaning is related to their size. Air fryers tend to be a little less bulky than multi-cookers, as there are less functions needed to be squeezed in, meaning that you can probably wash up the basket in quicker time and find space more easily on your drying rack.

Air fryer vs multi-cooker: Which is easier to store?

On that note, it is important to discuss space when it comes to deciding between an air fryer and a multi-cooker, especially if you're not in possession of a huge, sprawling kitchen.

As you can see from our test centre photos, multi-cookers can take up a lot of space, with most having a cooking capacity of at least six litres. Even the most compact pick on our round-up, which we cover in our Magimix Perfect Cook review, has a 3.6 litre bowl and weighs 11.14kg.

By comparison, air fryers have a much wider size range. Some of the smallest we've tested, such as in our Lakeland Digital Compact air fryer review, are as compact as 1.6 litres, making air fryers on the whole, a better buy for small homes. If you have more mouths to feed, there's plenty of space on the other end of the spectrum too with up to nearly 10 litres available in larger dual zone models.

With either of these appliances, before you buy, you need to establish where you're going to store them. An air fryer, especially a compact one, is probably fine to sit on your kitchen counter, but multi-cookers tend to be more difficult to make work with decor, and you might need a free cupboard to store it in instead.

If you opt for a multi-cooker with lots of functions, you might also need to factor in storing separate lids and inserts, and might want to factor in other ways to keep those neat, like this rack from Amazon.

In defence of multi-cookers, there is an argument that they are actually more space-saving than any other appliance, thanks to the fact that one machine can do so much. If you do buy an all-in-one air fryer, steamer, pressure cooker and more, you won't need to take up space on your countertop with a million other appliances.

Which is more affordable?

There are two things to consider when it comes to affordability here: initial cost and long-term price to run.

Comparing purchase prices, it's fair to say that there isn't too much difference depending on the level of appliance you want to buy. A quality entry-level multi-cooker can be secured from around £80, with some prices as low as £50. The same lower price bracket applies to smaller, less advanced air fryers.

If you want to secure a top-rated multi-cooker or air fryer from brands such as Ninja and Instant, you'll be looking at an up-front cost of around £100 and over. Sales events like Black Friday can massively help to bring this price down, but on the whole, a more capable model will be more expensive.

In the cost of living crisis, knowing the cost to run these appliances is hugely important to factor in. To compare, we can take the wattage of the Ninja Foodi Max Multi-Cooker 9-in-1 with 1760 watts, and the ever-popular Ninja Foodi Dual Zone air fryer, with a wattage of 2400.

Naturally, as the multi-cooker has a lower wattage here, with the current energy prices, it'll cost less to run. The Ninja air fryer will cost you more per hour comparatively - but it is one of the biggest models available on the market. With air fryers, it's also rare that you'll need hours to cook anything at all - as these appliances are so unbelievably efficient.

A smaller air fryer will of course be cheaper to run, and if cost is your principal concern, be sure to check the wattage where you can. Overall, your cost to run will depend on what you cook and how long you're cooking for - with both of these appliances being star buys when it comes to efficiency.

Air fryer vs multi-cooker - which should you pick?

So, which should you pick? It depends, on quite a few factors. While many multi-cookers do air fry pretty well, they don’t come with that handy drawer that makes it easy to check on your food while it cooks, and lack those dedicated features that can take your cooking further. However, the circular air frying basket of a multi-cooker could be a good choice for those who want to air fry seriously large quantities of food.

On the whole though, if air frying is your number one priority, I would personally just go for the air fryer. It’s a smaller and less complicated machine, and it fits well under kitchen cabinets.

Alternatively, if you think you’d get a lot of use out of all the features a multi-cooker has to offer, they are really smart and handy appliances that can be used to cook just about any meal. They'll save you the space needed long term if you're going to invest in other kitchen appliances, and they have the seal of approval from us when it comes to usefulness.

If you want to settle somewhere in the middle ground between an air fryer and a multi-cooker, Ninja's newest releases will appeal. As we discuss in our Ninja Combi review, which is a multi-cooker oven with a side-hinged door, thanks to Ninja's prioritisation of ease of use, you can cash in on maximum functionality whilst effectively replacing your oven, and not having to lose out on functionality.

We're aware that's a lot of options to consider. Overall, our top tips before you buy would be to think about the number of functions you'll actually use with either an air fryer or a multi-cooker and to envision exactly the kind of foods you hope to cook in your purchase before splashing any cash.

How we compared these products

At Ideal Home, we know that how we test products is really important, as it enables you to trust the opinions we give. That's why we've included links here to reviews of various air fryers and multi-cookers, so you can read up for yourself on what makes them so great (and not so great, sometimes).

We test as many air fryers and multi-cookers as is humanly possible at home or at our test centre in Reading. Often, we will test products out for a number of weeks or even months before we come to a verdict, and always make sure to photograph and record our findings of our tests, so that we can be informed as best as we can to tell you all about these handy kitchen appliances.