6 Best Kitchen Trash Cans of 2026, Tested and Ranked

The EKO Madison does most of what our top pick does for a lot less money, and on one specification it goes further: its steel pedal is rated for 200,000 presses, against 150,000 for the simplehuman. That’s the number that made us look twice. The difference you feel instead is heft — 14 pounds here against 16.5 there — and that is most of what the extra money buys on the top pick.

Capacity is 13.2 gallons, so standard 13-gallon bags work, and the body is 16.9 by 14.3 inches at the base and 25.4 inches tall, narrow enough for the end of a counter run. The damper opens and closes the lid slowly in both directions, which we appreciated more than we expected when scraping a plate one-handed, and a catch holds the lid open for longer jobs. A removable inner bucket lifts out for bag changes, the fingerprint-resistant finish stays presentable, and there’s a small deodorizer compartment in the lid.

The savings show in the gauge of the steel. It’s lighter metal than the simplehuman’s, and a solid knock against a corner can leave a ding that stays. Against a wall or at the end of a run where nothing swings into it, that never comes up, and you’re left with the same quiet close and the same standard-bag fit for a lot less.

When a 13-gallon can is full by Tuesday, the answer isn’t a better bag, it’s a bigger can. The Glad 20-gallon stainless bin holds roughly half again as much as a standard kitchen can, and it’s the one we point big families and shared houses toward. It stands 29 inches tall and 16 inches square, which is worth checking against a low counter overhang before you order.

The bag system is the part we didn’t expect to care about. Rings inside the rim hold the slack so no plastic hangs over the edge, and the rear compartment stores a roll of spare liners and dispenses them from the sides without moving the can — a small thing that saves a walk to the cupboard every time. The lid closes on a damper, the brushed finish is fingerprint resistant, and the odor protection is built into the lid and its frame rather than added as a cartridge.

Twenty gallons of trash is heavy trash. A full load takes two hands and a straight back, so line the can loosely and take it out at three-quarters full rather than pressing the last bag down; the rings make relining quick. That’s the bargain a big household makes for fewer trips to the bin, and it’s the right one when the alternative is a daily chore.

Ten inches is the whole story. At 10.1 inches wide, this simplehuman slides into the slot between the fridge and the counter that a full-size can can’t use, and at 24.9 inches tall it tucks under most overhangs. It takes the same standard 13-gallon bags as the wider cans, folded over the rim, so nothing about your routine has to change to fit the smaller body.

The built-in wheels are the detail we appreciated most. Rather than dragging a loaded can across the floor, you tip it and roll it out to the bin, which matters more as the bag gets heavy. The slide lock is the other feature worth having: push it across and the lid stays shut against a dog or a determined toddler, and it’s a two-second job to release when you’re cooking. A stay-open lid and a five-year warranty round out the useful parts.

Plastic rather than steel keeps the weight and the price down, and the matte black finish doesn’t show the smudges that stainless collects, though it won’t hide a scuff the way brushed metal does. Our real reservation is the lid: it can stop closing flush, and when that happens the can sits slightly open until you reseat it. In a tight galley where the can is out of the way that’s a tolerable quirk; in the middle of a kitchen you’ll notice it.

The plastic bucket inside this steel shell is why we kept coming back to it. Lift the bucket out by its carry handle and you take the whole load to the curb in one go — no wrestling a swollen bag up out of a deep can, no liner snagging on the rim on the way. It’s the sort of thing you notice only when a can doesn’t have it, and it’s the reason this one earns a place below the winners.

At 50 liters, or 13.2 gallons, it takes standard 13-gallon kitchen bags, and the satin-nickel finish is smudge resistant enough to survive a week of fingerprints. The footprint is about 16.7 by 14.7 inches and the can is 25.9 inches tall, with a lid that holds itself open while you scrape a plate. No batteries, no sensor, no switch — a foot pedal and a damper do all of it.

Where it gives ground to the picks above is in the hardware and the feel. At 12.4 pounds the body is lighter than the simplehuman’s, so it shifts when you bump it, and the whole thing reads as a good value rather than an heirloom. In a rental kitchen or as a first stainless can, that’s exactly the right trade.

Twenty matching liners come in the box with this stainless step can, which tells you what kind of purchase it is: everything you need on day one, at a budget price. It holds 13 gallons, stands 25.9 inches tall and measures 11.5 inches wide, so it fits a narrow gap beside a cabinet without looking like a compromise.

For the money you get a genuine stainless body with an anti-fingerprint brushed finish, an ABS base that doesn’t skate, and a removable inner bucket with handles, a combination that usually costs more. The damper closes the lid slowly rather than letting it clap down, and the pedal has a solid feel underfoot rather than the flex you get on cheap plastic bins.

The lid is where the budget shows. If the liner bunches under the rim, the lid can catch and stay partway open until you lift it and reset the bag; fit the liner snug around the bucket’s edge and it doesn’t happen. Otherwise this is a can that does the weekly job without asking anything of you, and the spare liners mean you aren’t shopping for bags in your first week.