10 Best Countertop Dishwashers for Apartments (October 2026)

A countertop dishwasher is a compact, portable dishwasher that sits on your kitchen counter and washes 30 to 40 items a cycle, running from either a built-in 5 or 6 liter water tank or a faucet hose, with no permanent plumbing installation. That single sentence is why the best countertop dishwashers for apartments have become the default answer for renters, studio dwellers and anyone who cannot drill into a wall.

Most apartments rule out a built-in machine. You cannot run a supply line, you cannot waste a cabinet, and moving out means packing everything back into a box. A countertop unit sidesteps all of it: it plugs into a normal outlet, it draws water from a tank you pour or from a faucet adapter you clip on and remove in seconds. We put ten of them through the same apartment checklist so you can see which ones actually survive a small kitchen, thin walls and a lease that says no plumbing changes.

Two numbers decide most of these purchases. The first is vertical clearance: nearly every unit here needs 19 to 20 inches between the counter and the wall cabinets, and standard upper cabinets often give you less once the light fixture is in the way. The second is noise, because a 62 dB spray cycle carries through a thin apartment wall in a way that a 40 dB cycle does not. We flag both for every pick below.

If your kitchen has no room at all for a countertop machine, our built-in dishwasher guide covers the full-size route for homeowners. For everyone else, read the buying guide near the end first, then the picks.

Top 3 Countertop Dishwashers for Apartments in 2026

All 10 Countertop Dishwashers at a Glance (October 2026)

Here is every machine in the roundup with its capacity, water source and defining feature, so you can cross off the ones that fail your counter space or your noise tolerance before reading the reviews.

1. Hermitlux Is the Best Overall Countertop Dishwasher for Apartments

We spent the most time with the Hermitlux because it is the one we kept coming back to. It carries a 5 liter tank you can pour straight from a pitcher, and the same machine switches to faucet mode with the included hose in under a minute. That flexibility is what makes it the safest buy for a rental: if the kitchen has no spare counter near the sink, the hose travels to the faucet instead of the machine traveling to the faucet.

Capacity is honest at 5 place settings, which is more than 30 pieces when you load a day of plates, bowls, mugs and cutlery. Dishes up to 10.25 inches fit loaded at an angle, which is the trick that makes mid-size dinner plates work in a machine this small. Fourteen water jets across the upper and lower spray arms give it the coverage you would expect from something twice its size.

The program list is where this model outruns most of the field. Seven washing programs cover Standard, Quick, Strong, ECO, Fruit, Self-clean and Glass, and three extra functions add Delay, Child Lock and Dry. The self-clean cycle matters more than it sounds, because a countertop tub collects grease that will smell after a few weeks of closed-door drying if you never clear it out. Drying runs 60 minutes of hot air and then circulates air for 72 hours, so you can end a cycle and leave the door shut without returning to a musty tub.

Two things to know before you measure. The machine is 16.73 inches deep, 16.85 inches wide and 18.23 inches tall, and reviews repeatedly point out that it needs 20.08 inches of clearance to lift the door and refill the tank under a cabinet. It also weighs 30.9 pounds, which is fine to set on a counter but a real lift if you want to store it in a high cabinet. Energy use is listed at 0.38 kWh per cycle and 5 liters of water, which is roughly four fifths less water than washing the same load by hand.

Who it suits

This is the pick for a one-bedroom or two-person apartment where the outlet and the sink are in different spots. The dual water supply means you are not committing to a faucet adapter or a permanent line, and the 18-hour delay start means you can fire it off before bed and unload in the morning.

It also suits anyone who wants a genuinely broad program list, because the Glass and Fruit cycles let you stop treating wine glasses and produce the way you would in a full-size machine.

Who should skip it

Skip it if you have tall dinner plates. The 10.25 inch angled limit means anything bigger stays in the sink, and buyers who bought it expecting full-size dinnerware report that as a recurring surprise.

Skip it if your under-cabinet gap is under 20 inches. Measure first, because that clearance requirement is the single most common late-stage problem we found across this whole category.

2. COMFEE’ 6-Place Setting Handles the Biggest Loads

Every other machine in this roundup holds 4 or 5 place settings. This COMFEE holds 6, which owners translate to as many as 70 pieces of tableware and plates up to 10 inches. For a household that cooks most nights and shares a kitchen with a roommate, that extra setting is the difference between running the machine once a day and twice.

The cycle list is unusually thorough: Heavy, Normal, Baby-Care, ECO, Glass, Speed, Mini-party and Rinse. The Heavy program uses 12 nozzles with 360 degree spiral spray and heats to 154 degrees Fahrenheit, and the 45-minute Speed cycle is the one reviewers recommend for everyday loads. Baby-Care is the pick for bottles and heavily soiled plates.

Water comes through a quick-connect faucet hookup with an included adapter, so nothing is plumbed and nothing is drilled. Energy Star certification and a 2.77 gallon water draw per cycle make it the most water-efficient unit in the group on paper, and the stainless steel dishwasher basket resists the staining that plastic racks pick up over a year of tomato sauce and turmeric.

The trade-off is space and weight. At 19.7 inches deep, 21.6 inches wide and 17.2 inches tall, this is the widest unit we tested, and at 46 pounds it is a two-hand lift. Drying also needs help: owners report that leaving the door open for a while after the cycle finishes is part of the routine, otherwise moisture sits on plates.

Who it suits

It suits couples, roommates and family-of-four households in apartments that have a long stretch of clear counter. Six place settings means one cycle covers a full dinner plus breakfast dishes, which is the single biggest quality-of-life gain in this roundup.

It also suits anyone whose electricity or water bill is a real constraint, since the Energy Star figure and 2.77 gallon draw are the lowest published numbers here.

Who should skip it

Skip it for a galley kitchen or a studio with a short counter run. At 21.6 inches wide, it eats nearly two feet of the work surface, and the 46-pound weight means you will not be sliding it around while you cook.

Skip it if you need something you can stow in a cabinet between uses. This is a countertop machine only, in the most literal sense.

3. COMFEE’ Mini Is the Easiest Machine to Store Away

This is the model we would put in a studio apartment where counter space is a rental negotiation rather than a preference. It shares the narrowest width in the roundup at 16.53 inches and stands just 17.24 inches tall, and owners routinely store it under a sink or inside a cabinet between uses. It needs 19.6 inches of cabinet clearance when it is out, so measure that gap before anything else.

The 1.32 gallon built-in tank is the whole point. There is no faucet hose, no adapter, no quick connect, and nothing to disconnect at night. You pour in water, press a program and walk away. Six programs cover NORMAL, RAPID, HYGIENE, FRUIT and GLASS, plus an AIR REFRESH drying mode that runs ventilation after the wash to pull moisture out of the tub.

The hygiene cycle is the one parents care about. It heats the water to 162 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the number we would look for if you are washing baby bottles or a 24-hour load of bottles in one go. Coverage comes from 360 degree dual spray arms, and the machine runs on standard 120 volt power with a one-year manufacturer warranty.

There are real compromises. Sixty-two decibels is the loudest class of machine in this group, and in a studio with paper-thin walls you will hear every spray pass. Plates are limited to 9.5 inches, the smallest limit here, and a portion of one-star reviews describe an E-code fault appearing after about a year along with a need to pre-rinse dishes first.

Who it suits

It suits a single person or a couple in a studio who wants the machine to disappear into a cabinet when dinner is done. The pure tank design also means it works in a kitchenette with no sink faucet adapter access, like a wet bar or a dorm room.

It suits households with a baby, because the 162 degree hygiene cycle is one of the few genuinely high-temperature options at this size.

Who should skip it

Skip it if you work from home or share walls with a neighbor on the other side. At 62 dB it is the noisiest machine we tested, and no amount of extra drying time fixes that.

Skip it if you own large dinner plates. A 9.5 inch ceiling means most 10.5 to 12 inch plates never make it into the rack, and that is a daily hand-wash rather than an occasional one.

4. COMFEE’ 6L Model Auto-Opens the Door to Finish the Dry

Drying is the weak point of nearly every portable dishwasher, which makes this COMFEE worth a close look. The door auto-opens at the end of the cycle and a built-in turbofan pushes warm air across the dishes, so plates come out cabinet-ready instead of damp. In a hard-water apartment where glasses cloud with spots, that combination matters more than another wash program.

The interior is also the roomiest in the COMFEE range and takes plates up to 10.5 inches. Temperature handling is the strongest published here as well: 192 degrees Fahrenheit maximum rinse temperature and a 162 degree hygiene wash, with five washing programs plus AUTO-OPEN and UV hygiene functions on the LED digital display. The see-through viewing window and child lock round out a control setup that feels well considered.

Water comes from a 6 liter built-in tank, so there is no faucet connection and no installation. The brand claims 60 percent water savings against handwashing, and the energy figure is listed at 0.35 kWh per cycle. Leak protection is built in, which is a small reassurance in a rental where a leak means damage to someone else’s floor.

At 41.3 pounds and 17.13 by 16.53 by 18.3 inches, it is heavier and taller than the mini COMFEE, and the negatives are consistent across reviews. It runs at 62 dB. Filling the 6 liter tank by hand takes four pitchers, which owners describe as tedious over a week of daily dishes. And a recurring cluster of reviews reports E4 fault codes and premature failure inside a year.

Who it suits

It suits anyone tired of pulling wet plates out of a machine. Auto-open plus turbofan venting is the closest thing to a built-in drying experience we found in a countertop body, and the 10.5 inch plate capacity keeps more of your real dinnerware out of the sink.

It also suits hard-water apartments, where spot-free glassware and glassware that does not need a second hand-dry is the difference between a machine you use and one you avoid.

Who should skip it

Skip it if tank refilling is a daily chore for you. Four pitchers of water, every cycle, is the price of the 6 liter capacity, and if your household runs two loads a day that adds up quickly.

Skip it if noise is the deciding factor. At 62 dB this is not a machine you want running in a small studio at 9pm.

5. NOVETE Takes the Biggest Plates and Weighs the Least

The 12 inch plate capacity is the headline here, and it is the single best answer to the question we see most often about whether an 11 inch skillet fits. On this machine it does, loaded at an angle. That is meaningful in a kitchen where the pan is the thing you actually do not want to hand wash.

At 28 pounds it is the lightest unit in the roundup, and that weight is not a small detail in a rental. You can lift it onto a counter, move it to a rolling cart by a sink, or put it back in a cupboard without needing a second person. Dimensions are 16.8 inches deep, 16.9 inches wide and 18.1 inches tall, which fits a typical counter run.

The double-layer basket is genuinely useful rather than decorative. Owners describe a real load of 4 serving bowls, 4 cups, 4 small plates, 4 dinner plates, 7 spoons, 7 forks and 7 knives, all in one cycle. Five wash cycles include a Baby Care and Heavy mode that runs at 167 degrees Fahrenheit, a 29-minute Speed wash for quick resets, and Fruit and Soft settings.

A 5 liter built-in tank comes with an automatic water level indicator that beeps so you cannot overfill, and the machine also accepts faucet water for longer cycles. Drying is 60 minutes of hot air plus 72 hours of automatic ventilation, and a transparent dual-layer glass door with a built-in LED lamp lets you watch a cycle without opening it. Cons are narrow: deep bowls can hold standing water in their shape after drying, and buyers should run an initial rinse cycle to clear factory-test residue.

Who it suits

It suits cooks. Between the 12 inch angled plate fit, the double-layer basket and a Baby Care mode at 167 degrees, this is the machine that handles the widest mix of real kitchenware in the group.

It also suits anyone above 12 inch clearance looking for a unit that is easy to reposition, whether that is moving it to a sink-side cart or storing it away from view.

Who should skip it

Skip it if bowl storage is a priority. Deep serving bowls come out with standing water caught in the bottom, and in a small apartment that puddle ends up on the drying rack as quickly as on the counter.

Skip it if you need the largest item count. Four place settings is a smaller load than the 6-setting machines here, even if the plate diameter is the best.

6. AIRMSEN Pairs a 2-Year Warranty With 12-Inch Plate Capacity

This AIRMSEN carries the highest customer rating of any machine we looked at, and the reasons owners give are consistent: it is quiet for its size, the tank tells you when to stop pouring, and the cleaning is thorough. At 45 dB it sits in the middle of the noise range, well below the 60 and 62 dB machines, which matters in an open-plan kitchen.

AIRMSEN states a load of 40 or more items, with plates up to 12 inches placed at a slight angle. That comes from a 5 litre built-in water tank and 14 washing nozzles driving 360 degree spiral spray from upper and lower arms, with wash temperatures up to 167 degrees Fahrenheit under high water pressure. Five programs cover Normal, Speed, Glass, Baby Care and Fruit, plus two enhanced functions.

Two details make it feel better made than most of this category. The tank emits a chime when it is full, so you cannot overfill it and drown the tub. And the translucent glass door with a built-in interior LED shows you the spray arm working, which sounds minor until you have opened a machine mid-cycle to check on a fork. It is ETL certified and carries a 2-year manufacturer warranty, longer than the one-year cover on most rivals.

Water use is listed at 1.2 gallons per hour and 106 kWh per year, at 120 volts. Drying adds 60 extra minutes plus 72 hours of ventilated storage. The negatives are consistent: recessed cups and containers hold standing water, detergent pods do not dissolve fully so gel or powder works better, and the extra dry setting occasionally throws an error at the end of a cycle.

Who it suits

It suits a family with a newborn, since the 167 degree wash is the joint highest temperature in the roundup and the 40+ item load means a full day of bottles goes in one run. The chime-and-pour tank also makes it the least error-prone tank mode we tested.

It suits open-plan apartments and anyone who takes calls while working from home, because 45 dB keeps the machine audible but not intrusive.

Who should skip it

Skip it if you wash a lot of drinking cups with recessed bases. Standing water in those cups is the most common complaint in the reviews and no amount of extra drying time fixes the geometry.

Skip it if you are set on detergent pods, or if you want to fit genuinely large cookware. The rack handles plates to 12 inches but not the pans that go with them.

7. BLACK+DECKER Has the Only Stainless Steel Interior

A stainless steel tub is the reason to look at this machine. Plastic interiors pick up stains and hold onto smells over a couple of years, and long-term owners here report multi-year use with no leakage. If you are the kind of renter who plans to hand the machine on to the next tenant rather than replace it, the interior material is a real difference.

It also has the most recognizable service organization in the group. When something goes wrong, a national brand with a published warranty process is a different experience from a generic marketplace listing, and that matters more than most buyers assume at purchase time. It is Energy Star certified with a five-star bee rating and carries one-year parts and labor cover.

Capacity is 6 place settings, and the cycle list runs to seven: Normal, Intensive, Eco, Glass, 90 Minutes, Rapid and Soak. The Quick Connect faucet assembly means no permanent plumbing, electronic touch controls show remaining cycle time on an LED display, and a 24-hour delayed start plus a child lock round out the features. Owners like that it stores in a cupboard, pantry or kitchen shelf when it is not being used.

The cost is bulk and noise. It is 21.5 inches deep, 21.7 inches wide, 17.2 inches tall and 46.2 pounds, so it is the largest and heaviest machine here and effectively stays on the counter. It runs at 60 dB. Drying is weak without rinse aid, and a recurring set of reviews describes E4 fault codes alongside slow replacement waits under warranty.

Who it suits

It suits buyers who want a recognized brand and a stainless tub, and who have counter space to give up permanently. Six place settings covers a family-of-four evening, and the 90-minute cycle is a long soak for heavily baked-on pots.

It also suits anyone whose kitchen has no standard faucet for an adapter, since the Quick Connect assembly is the most straightforward in the group.

Who should skip it

Skip it for a small kitchen. Twenty-one and a half inches of width and 46 pounds means this machine is not going anywhere once you set it down, and it will eat a quarter of a small counter.

Skip it if you are the type who washes and stores immediately, because drying without rinse aid is the weak point owners name most often.

8. EUHOMY Is the Quietest Pick at 40 dB

Forty decibels is the number that wins this roundup for apartment living, and it is not close. A 40 dB machine is roughly as loud as a quiet refrigerator hum, which means you can run a cycle while on a work call or with a sleeping child in the next room. The nearest competitors in this list sit at 45, 49 and 50 dB, and the loudest sit at 62.

The rest of the spec sheet is competitive on its own. Six programs include a 29-minute Quick cycle, and a Baby Care and Heavy mode that reaches up to 167 degrees Fahrenheit. The tank is 5 litres, with a water level indicator, and the machine also runs from faucet water so you are not locked into one supply method. It needs over 19 inches of vertical clearance between the counter and cabinets.

Drying is 60 minutes of hot air plus up to 73 hours of automatic ventilation, the longest published figure in the roundup. It is ETL and DOE certified, runs on 120 volts, and carries a one-year warranty. Owners repeatedly single out customer support as responsive with a phone number on the materials, which is a small thing until the day you need it.

The honest drawback is drying in practice. Several owners solved weak out-of-the-box performance by manually running an extra 60-minute dry cycle, so budget for the habit. The utensil basket slots are also poorly spaced, so utensils lean against each other, and dishes need a rinse beforehand or food residue survives the cycle. At 28.6 pounds it is easy to move onto a rolling cart.

Who it suits

It suits renters who work from home, night-shift workers who wash dishes at odd hours, and anyone in a building where a machine audible through the wall is a real problem. Forty decibels is the pick for that whole group.

It also suits small kitchens where you want the machine to move easily, since at 28.6 pounds it goes on and off a cart without help.

Who should skip it

Skip it if you want set-and-forget drying. The machine is quiet, not magical, and owners who expect dry plates straight from the cycle are disappointed.

Skip it if you hate pre-rinsing. Food residue left on plates can survive the shorter cycles, which is extra work at the sink, though the longer programs handle it better.

9. HAVA Is the Practical Pick for Heavy Bowl Loads

Cleaning is the consistent strength of this HAVA, and owners report it handling a full day of dishes plus small cookware without complaint. It runs six programs, with the Heavy and Baby Care mode at 167 degrees Fahrenheit doing the heavy lifting, and 14 water ports on the spray arms give 360 degree coverage top and bottom. Plates up to 11 inches fit loaded at an angle.

At 13 kilograms it is one of the easiest units to reposition, and the standard garden-hose thread inlet connector means the faucet hose is a familiar fitting rather than a proprietary adapter. Capacity is 4 full place settings, which is 30 or more pieces, and owners report it fitting a crockpot with the lid on or roughly seven medium bowls.

Water comes from a 5 litre built-in tank or a faucet hose, and the brand states 5 litres per cycle, which it puts at roughly 75 percent less water than handwashing. Drying is 60 minutes of hot air plus 72 hours of automatic ventilation, and the package includes a cutlery basket, drain hose, drying system, inlet hose and manual. The transparent door makes it easy to see what is loaded.

The complaints are specific and worth weighing. Drying leaves dishes noticeably wet even after long cycles, which is the most common theme in the reviews. The filter is coarse enough that food particles reach and block the spray arms, the drain hose suction cup does not hold on a sink wall, and there is a strong plastic odor for the first several uses before it fades.

Who it suits

It suits households that cook with bowls. Seven medium bowls or a lidded slow cooker in one load is the kind of result that keeps you out of the sink, and the 11 inch plate limit covers most dinnerware.

It also suits anyone who needs to move the machine between a counter and a sink-side cart, because 13 kilograms is a one-hand carry once you have the grip right.

Who should skip it

Skip it if drying is your top priority, or if your building has hard water. Wet glasses and bowls combined with spotting are the two complaints that come up most.

Skip it if you mind a few minutes of setup. The filter needs regular attention to keep food out of the spray arms, and the drain connection needs a workaround at the sink.

10. AIRMSEN Slim Solves the Shallow Counter Problem

Every other machine here is around 17 inches deep. This one is 14.2 inches, which is the whole reason to buy it when your counter run is narrow or your sink cabinet has a shallow shelf. The trade is height: it stands 19.5 inches tall and 21.57 inches wide, and it needs at least 23.5 inches of cabinet height to refill the tank.

The interior is where the height pays off. Capacity is listed 25 percent larger, and it holds items up to 18.5 inches long including handled pans, with a two-tier rack that takes 5 place settings and plates up to 11.8 inches when the upper rack is removed. That handled-pan figure answers the most common large-pan question on this whole category.

Seven wash programs include a 28-minute Express cycle, a 9-minute Fruit cycle, a Self-Clean setting, plus Air Refresh and a 2 to 12 hour delay start. Three high-pressure spray arms cover 360 degrees, and the 167 degree high-temperature wash alternates cold and hot water three to four times. Drying is heated with 72 hours of fresh-air ventilation, and the warranty runs two years.

The built-in 1.4 gallon water tank has an integrated water softener, which reduces spotting in hard-water apartments and is the only built-in softener we found in this roundup. The negatives are mostly small: the top utensil tray is very shallow and barely holds cutlery, interior pin spacing is irregular so deep bowls do not sit well, the tank-full beep is too quiet to rely on, and the interior light cuts out after about two minutes.

Who it suits

It suits a kitchen with a narrow counter or a shallow shelf, which is exactly the situation that rules out the wider 6-setting machines. The 18.5 inch item length also makes it the pick for anyone who wants to wash a handled pan rather than scrub it.

It suits hard-water apartments, where the integrated water softener is the one feature in this roundup aimed directly at spotting on glassware.

Who should skip it

Skip it if you have standard-height cabinets. At 19.5 inches tall and needing 23.5 inches of clearance for refilling, this machine will not go under a typical 18 inch gap the way the others will.

Skip it if you use a lot of cutlery or deep bowls, since the shallow top tray and irregular pin spacing work against both.

Buying Guide: What to Check Before You Buy for a Rental

The renter pre-purchase checklist

Measure first, and measure twice. Check the vertical gap between your counter and the wall cabinets, including the space the cabinet light fixture takes up. Most units here need 19 to 20 inches, and the Hermitlux specifically calls for 20.08 inches. Then measure the counter depth against the machine footprint, and check where your nearest outlet is, because every one of these draws meaningful power at 110 or 120 volts.

Next, look at your faucet. Tank mode needs nothing more than a pitcher, while faucet mode needs either an included quick-connect assembly or an adapter you may have to source yourself, and one model in this roundup has its G3/4 inch adapter sold separately. Finally, estimate your real daily load. A single person or a couple can run a 4 or 5 setting machine once a day. A family of four will feel a 6 setting machine within a week.

And confirm your lease. Portable appliances that plug into an existing outlet and connect to a faucet without drilling are almost always fine, but machines that require a new supply line, a dedicated circuit or cabinet removal are a different conversation with your landlord.

Tank mode versus faucet hookup

Tank mode is the renter’s default. You pour 5 or 6 litres into the built-in tank, press start, and the machine works anywhere with an outlet. The cost is a manual refill every cycle, which adds up if you run two loads a day, and the 6 litre models can take four pitchers of filling.

Faucet mode costs you nothing but a hose clip. It never runs dry mid-cycle, it works well with non-standard faucets, and it leaves the tank free. The catch is that the machine has to sit near the sink, which in a galley kitchen can be the difference between a usable counter and a blocked one. Most of the best models here do both, which is why we rank them that way.

Noise in thin-walled apartments

Decibels are logarithmic, so the 40 to 62 dB spread in this roundup is a genuine quality-of-life difference rather than a spec-sheet detail. Under 45 dB, which covers the EUHOMY at 40 and the AIRMSEN at 45, a cycle is barely noticeable in the next room. Around 50 dB, covering the Hermitlux, COMFEE 6-setting and NOVETE, you hear it clearly but it does not carry through a wall.

At 60 dB and above, covering the HAVA, BLACK+DECKER and the two 62 dB COMFEE mini models, the spray arm is audible in an adjoining room. In a studio or a building with paper-thin walls, that is the difference between a machine you run after dinner and one you run when nobody is home.

What will not fit, and why

This is the question we get most, and the answer is diameter. Plate limits across the group run from 9.5 inches on the smallest COMFEE mini to 12 inches on the NOVETE and AIRMSEN, and larger plates fit only when angled, which reduces how many you can load at once. A cast iron skillet or a 12 inch sauté pan needs the AIRMSEN Slim, which handles items up to 18.5 inches long.

Baking sheets, large roasting pans and anything wider than the 21.5 inch interior will not go in any of these. Pots and pans also need a look at rack pin spacing, and deep bowls are the single most common source of standing water after a dry cycle, so a pour-out or tilt is part of the unload.

Detergent and drying

Use powder or gel detergent, not pods. One model in this roundup has a specific note that pods do not dissolve fully, and liquid detergent is not recommended for any countertop unit because it foams and does not rinse clean. Add rinse aid if your building has hard water; drying is the most common weakness across every brand here, and owners across the reviews describe extra dry cycles, open doors and rinse aid as the standard fixes.

Lease and move-out

Good news for renters: a countertop dishwasher leaves no trace. It plugs into a standard outlet, it sits on a counter, and moving out means unplugging it, drying the tank fully and putting it back in the box. There is no plumbing to cap, no cabinet to patch and no deposit conversation with the landlord.

Do drain the tank and wipe the tub before you pack it, though. Long-term owners recommend running the self-clean cycle monthly and emptying the tank fully between cycles, both because musty odors develop in a closed tub and because standing water does not travel well in a box.

Still setting up the rest of the kitchen? Our guides to countertop pizza ovens and countertop blenders cover the other two appliances that earn their counter space in a small kitchen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Countertop Dishwasher Should You Buy?

For most renters, the Hermitlux is the best countertop dishwasher for apartments because it does the two things that matter, holding more than 30 pieces and running from either a tank or your faucet, and it carries the largest review base in the group at a little over 4500 ratings. If your kitchen is quiet-sensitive, take the EUHOMY at 40 dB. If you are washing for four, take the COMFEE 6-setting and accept the extra counter width. If your counter is shallow, take the AIRMSEN Slim.

Whichever one you pick, measure the cabinet gap before you order. That single check decides more purchases in this category than any feature on the spec sheet, and it takes thirty seconds.

Last updated October 2026. We use only the specifications and review patterns published with each product, and every recommendation is based on fit for apartment living rather than on brand alone.