Entering your home should feel like a breath of fresh air—literally. But the truth is, many homes, especially older builds, are actually filled with allergens, mold, and pet odors that are polluting your living space. The best way to tackle these issues? Finding the best air purifier on the market to filter your home’s unique pollutants and prevent them from wreaking havoc on your health.
While most air purifiers offer a multi-stage filtration system, you number one priority should be purchasing an air purifier with a True HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter. The U.S. Department of Energy has a HEPA standard, which requires every certified filter to stop 99.7% of all particles that are at least 0.3 micrometers in size.
A HEPA filter won’t stop viruses or VOCs (like cigarette smoke or acetone) from circulating in your home—you’ll have to look at other filtration stages in your air purifier to stop these air quality concerns—but they’re still critical for filtering out allergens, mold, and pet dander.
Most air purifiers also have a carbon filter built into the filtration system, which reduces odors like cigarette smoke or overpowering kitchen scents. Some advanced builds also feature UV lights to kill germs, or ionic functions to help break down odors and particles.
No matter your primary air concerns or budget, there’s an air purifier out there that’s perfect for your home. So to help you find your perfect match, we’ve scoured reviews from real customers and found the best air purifiers that are currently on the market. Whether you’re looking for the best air purifier for allergies, mold, odors, or pet dander, we’ve included options that address every specific need, so you’ll have no trouble finding the right fit for you. Read on to tackle bad air quality—and in turn, improve the health of your home and it’s inhabitants— once and for all.
Here, the 10 best air purifiers for 2020:
- Best Overall: LEVOIT Air Purifier LV-H132
- Best for Allergies: GermGuardian True HEPA Air Purifier
- Best for Mold: Alen BreatheSmart 45i Air Purifier
- Best Eco-Friendly: Coway Mighty Air Purifier
- Best for Pets: Winix HR900 Pet Air Purifier
- Best Portable: Pure Enrichment PureZone Air Purifier
- Best for Large Spaces: Honeywell True HEPA Allergen Remover
- Best Budget-Friendly: JINPUS Air Purifier with HEPA Filter
- Best for Sleeping: Eureka Instant Clear Air Purifier
- Best for Odors: Winix 5300-2 Air Purifier
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Best Overall: LEVOIT Air Purifier LV-H132
This compact air purifier may seem tiny, but its impact will be felt around your entire home—just ask over 3,000 Amazon reviewers. It uses a three-stage filtration system to purify 99.97% of all airborne contaminants in the air, so your space will not only feel cleaner but also smell better. The rapid purification process takes the air through a fine filter that traps large particles (like hair and lint) first, then through a true HEPA filter for small particles (like dust mites and pollen), and finally, through a carbon filter that removes odors. Even though its powerful enough to circulate the air in one room over four times per hour, the purifier is also quiet enough that you’ll be able to get a full night’s rest if it’s in your bedroom—there’s even a night mode that dims all the lights.
One five-star reviewer raved that Levoit “hit the nail on the head with this purifier,” which he praised for noticeably catching dust and dirt in the filter in just two weeks. Their only regret? Not buying this air purifier sooner.
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Best for Allergies: GermGuardian True HEPA Air Purifier
Common allergens—including pollen, pet dander, mold, and dust—are zapped from the air with this ultra-quiet purifier through a combination of UV-C light and filters. The included charcoal filter reduces the scent of powerful odors (like last night’s dinner), before the HEPA filter removes dust as small as .3 microns and purifies the air around it up to 167 square feet. One longtime allergy-sufferer called it a “godsend”, while another five-star reviewer raved they would 100% recommended this to any allergy sufferers— it “made such a difference” they wrote, that they don’t even need their allergy medication anymore.
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Best for Mold: Alen BreatheSmart 45i Air Purifier
This elegant purifier may look like a chic home accessory, but it actually houses a super powerful HEPA purification system that removes dust, bacteria, and chemicals from up to 800 square feet of space. The streamlined design stands out from other purifiers because the HEPA filter is coated in an antimicrobial compound that stops bacteria and fungi growth, making it a top pick for homes or apartments with mold issues. Plus, the smart purifier gives you real-time air quality updates through an LED color display that shifts between red, orange, green, and blue to reflect the range of dirty to clean air.
You’ll even want this purifier in your bedroom. It emits soft pink noise that lulls you to sleep, and can be ordered in seven different wood and metal colors to perfectly match your room decor. An artist with mold and seasonal allergies wrote on Amazon that this “works amazingly well” in his attic studio and quickly clears the air of toxic fumes from paints, stains, and other chemicals.
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Best Eco-Friendly: Coway Mighty Air Purifier
This eco-friendly air purifier makes the air inside your home feel just as fresh as the great outdoors with a powerful four-stage filtration system. The built-in air quality sensor indicates the air pollution level, and you can control the strength of the purification system with three different fan speeds or even set a timer for maximum purification. It also uses the sensor to trigger ‘eco mode’—when no pollution is detected in the air for 30 minutes, it stops the fan to save energy and money on your bill. One happy reviewer raved about about how energy-efficient the purifier was, and claimed continuous use (even when they were at work) didn’t increase their energy bill.
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Best for Pets: Winix HR900 Pet Air Purifier
If your pet’s scent is the first thing to greet you when you walk in the front door, then it’s officially time to invest in an air purifier. While the five-stage filtration system makes this a great choice for any home, it’s actually designed with pets in mind—the washable pre-filter captures pet dander before air even enters the true HEPA filtration. Then, a carbon filter with advanced odor control captures household and pet-specific odors (while also extending the life of the pricier true HEPA filter). Called a “must-have” by a five-star Amazon reviewer with five pets, the power of this device to disguise pet odors and reduce dander in the air was also praised in 32 additional reviews.
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Best Portable: Pure Enrichment PureZone Air Purifier
Small enough to move from room-to-room in your home, this compact purifier uses a three-stage filtration system—an odor-reducing carbon filter, a true HEPA filter, and a sanitizing UV-C light—to rapidly clean the air. Quiet enough to use in a bedroom or nursery, it’s still powerful enough to purify up to 200 square feet and can even be used on a power-saving auto-timer function. Plus, it comes with a five-year warranty, so you won’t have to worry about a replacement anytime soon. The portable find also has a near-perfect five-star rating on Amazon with over 2,800 reviews. One shopper even called it “one of the best investments for good health.”
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Best for Large Spaces: Honeywell True HEPA Allergen Remover
Already powerful enough to purify up to 465 square feet of space, this heavy-duty air purifier also offers a “turbo” setting that quickly captures pet dander, pollen, dust, mold, and smoke. It sends polluted air through a carbon pre-filter (that absorbs gasses and odors) and a HEPA filter, before recirculating the air back into your space up to five times an hour. The best option for purifying large rooms or spaces (like a garage or basement), you’ll love that the machine helps you breathe easier (just ask over 1,500 five-star reviewers) and is super easy to maintain. Plus, a handy filter light reminds you when it’s time to replace the pre-filter (every three months) and the HEPA filter (once a year)—and thankfully, no tools necessary!
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Best Budget-Friendly: JINPUS Air Purifier with HEPA Filter
While most budget purifiers ditch the critical HEPA filter to save on costs, this affordable find still uses a three-stage filtration system (including a true HEPA filter) to purify spaces up to 161 square feet. This streamlined model offers two modes: a sleep mode, which reduces brightness and automatically turns off after 8 hours, and a normal mode. The compact machine runs off USB power (you’ll have to supply your own plug adapter) and needs a HEPA filter replacement every six months. While the product only has 115 reviews on Amazon so far, over 100 of them are positive and come from happy owners who praise this small-but-mighty machine’s ability to get rid of smoke, pet odors, and allergens. Plus, the under-$50 price point really can’t be beat.
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Best for Sleeping: Eureka Instant Clear Air Purifier
Even though the sound of subtle white noise can help soothe you to sleep, it shouldn’t be an air purifier necessity. Luckily, this model has a built-in sleep mode that turns off any lights and reduces the sound to just 32 decibels (about the noise level of a whisper)—so if you’re super sensitive to lights or sounds, you’ll have no trouble falling asleep with this option in your bedroom. The air still goes through a three-step purification process—including a carbon filter, true HEPA filter, and UV light—but you’ll barely be able to hear the machine. One five-star reviewer confirmed how quiet the sleep mode is, claiming they “honestly cannot hear it running on low setting” and only know it’s running because they “can feel the slight breeze.” Plus, the energy-efficient model has a built-in filter replacement light, so you know when it’s time to order a new set of filters.
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Best for Odors: Winix 5300-2 Air Purifier
You’ll be able to *smell* the difference in your home from the moment you kickstart this air purifier’s three-stage filtration system. The Plasma Wave filter breaks down odors (along with other allergens and chemical vapors) at a molecular level using ions, so your indoor air is not only cleaner, but actually smells better, too. You can use this purifier in manual mode (with four speed options) or opt for sleep mode, which dims indicator lights and reduces the fan speed. Powerful enough to purify up to 360 square feet, it also has a built-in sensor to report on your room’s air quality. Best of all, one owner compared the purified air in his home to “country fresh air” before confirming that “it really does eliminate odors.”