We pick the Traeger Woodridge Pro
Spend the $350 on the Woodridge Pro if you cook low and long. The Westwood XL is a large grill with a small grill's equipment: 823 sq in fed from 18 lb, a 450 F ceiling, no Super Smoke and nothing watching the hopper. The Woodridge Pro puts 970 sq in behind a 24 lb hopper that reports its level in 5% steps, adds Super Smoke between 185 and 225 F, and reaches 500 F. The XL makes sense only for big daytime cooks where nobody needs to sleep.
What actually differs
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A bigger grate the XL cannot keep fed unattended
The XL carries the same 18 lb hopper as the smaller Westwood and no pellet sensor. The Pro holds 24 lbs and pushes an app alarm before it runs dry. On a brisket, that is the difference between sleeping and setting an alarm.
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Smoke as a button, or as a lower number
The Pro's Super Smoke sits on the controller face. The XL has no smoke mode, so more smoke means dialing down and waiting. If smoke is why you want a pellet grill, this is most of the $350.
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The warranty gap is smaller than it looks
Ten years against seven, but both long terms cover sheet metal against rust-through and nothing else. The controller, auger and fan get three years on both, and the igniter one. Do not pay the difference for the headline.
The scorecard, side by side
Both reviews are scored on the same six weighted categories, each bar on the same 0–10 scale, and every cell carries the reason that review gave. A row is marked won only where the two differ by a tenth or more. How we score →
The smaller Westwood's 180 to 450 F range and controller, with no Super Smoke and no added insulation, so the same score.
Super Smoke and a two-rack 970 sq in barrel, though the published ceiling stops at 500 F and there is no sear station.
Traeger's table gives the 7 years to sheet metal against rusting through; the auger, fan and controller get 3.
Ten years covers rust-through only; the controller, auger and fan carry three years, and the hot rod and cord one.
Shelves rated at 40 and 60 lb and a standard accessory rail, on a body whose material Traeger never names.
Load-rated shelves, casters and staging hooks at 174 lbs, but Traeger publishes nothing at all about the steel.
The full WiFIRE controller, app and probe support, held back only by a build the maker wants two people for.
WiFIRE control, a pellet sensor reporting in 5% steps with app alerts, and one-touch Super Smoke and Keep Warm.
$799.99 buys 823 sq in where $699.99 buys 653, though not one extra feature row comes with it.
$250 over the base Woodridge buys the flavor feature, two shelves and 110 sq in; the next step buys a cabinet.
A hopper clean-out door and lift-out internals, against a drip tray whose warping Traeger excludes from cover.
Grease and ash share a single keg, but the manual still asks for a firepot vacuum after about 20 hours of cooking.
Published figures that differ
Quoted from each maker's own specifications, as each review records them. Figures the two products publish identically are left out — only the differences are listed.
Which one is for you
You feed a crowd in daylight, at 450 F or below, and want 823 sq in for $799.99.
Check price →You smoke overnight and want Super Smoke, a pellet sensor and the bigger hopper.
Check price →More head-to-heads
Every score and figure on this page comes from our own reviews of these two products, linked above. We have not tested them side by side in one place; the comparison is between two full reviews, each built from the maker's published specifications and documentation. Prices move, and the ones quoted are the ones each review checked on its own date.