Best Portable Grills of 2026
We have tested and scored 30 portable grills. The best is the Weber Traveler Compact Portable Gas Grill at 8.3 out of 10. Grills and griddles small enough to take camping, tailgating or to the beach.
Our picks
- Best overall Weber Traveler Compact Portable Gas Grill 8.3
- Best for the money Weber Smokey Joe 14 Charcoal Grill 8.1
- Best for high heat Cuisinart Chef's Style Stainless Tabletop Grill 8.3
- Most reliable Coleman Fold N Go + Propane Grill 8.1
- Easiest to use Weber Traveler Portable Gas Grill 8.2
Best portable grill overallWeber Traveler Compact Portable Gas Grill
Gas grill
Our verdict: Buy the Compact if the back of your car is what decides the argument. It keeps the bigger Traveler's iron, its lever and its wheels. Nine inches come back for a hundred dollars. What it takes is elbow room on the grate, and there is none to spare.
- Strongest: Ease of Use 9.5
- Weakest: Long-term Reliability 7.0. The five-year headline reaches the cookbox and lid only; the lever and hinges doing every trip's work sit in the two-year bracket.
Best for the moneyWeber Smokey Joe 14 Charcoal Grill
Charcoal grill
Value 9.5: At $54.99 the bowl and lid carry the same ten years Weber puts on kettles costing several times more.
- Strongest: Value 9.5
- Weakest: Maintenance 7.3. Porcelain wipes down and the catcher lifts away, but the feature list names no One-Touch sweep to push ash into it.
Best for high heatCuisinart Chef's Style Stainless Tabletop Grill
Gas grill
Heat Performance 9.3: Near 73 BTU per square inch, split across two separately controlled 10,000 BTU burners, which buys a real hot side and cool side.
- Strongest: Heat Performance 9.3
- Weakest: Maintenance 6.5. Stainless grates scrub easily, but Cuisinart prices a replacement grate at $56.50, roughly a quarter of what the whole grill costs.
Most reliableColeman Fold N Go + Propane Grill
Gas grill
Long-term Reliability 9.0: Three years of cover at this money, and seven parts carry numbers, down to a single foot and its screw.
- Strongest: Value 9.3
- Weakest: Heat Performance 7.0. One 6,000 BTU ring under a lid that closes, but Coleman publishes neither a thermometer nor any wind protection.
Easiest to useWeber Traveler Portable Gas Grill
Gas grill
Ease of Use 9.5: Nothing to assemble, one lever to stand it at cooking height, and no table needed underneath it anywhere.
- Strongest: Ease of Use 9.5
- Weakest: Long-term Reliability 7.0. Weber advertises five years, then gives the burner tube and grates three, and the folding hardware that works hardest only two.
Portable grill ratings: all 25 ranked
Every portable grill we have scored on all six categories, best first. Swipe the table sideways on a phone.
Older reviews, scored before the six-category scorecard
What we learned testing 25 portable grills
The average portable grill we have scored earns 8.0 out of 10. They are strongest on value, averaging 8.4, and weakest on long-term reliability, averaging 7.4. Short warranties and parts that wear are where most of them lose points, so read the reliability line before you buy.
- Value8.4
- Build Quality8.3
- Ease of Use8.3
- Heat Performance7.9
- Maintenance7.7
- Long-term Reliability7.4
How we picked
Nobody chose these picks by hand. Each award goes to the top portable grill on one column of our scorecard: the best overall score, then the best value, heat, reliability and ease of use scores. A portable grill can win only one award. Picks come from the 23 that a retailer we check had in stock; the table above ranks all 25. Every score is built the same way, from six weighted categories. How we score grills, and what our data says about price.