Best Essential Oil Diffusers: Reviews & What I Use

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I’ve posted before about why we don’t use scented candles and what we use instead. One of my favorite alternatives is to use an essential oil diffuser, and many people asked what type of diffuser I use and recommend.

I’m not an herbalist or aromatherapy expert, but I have tried many types of diffusers and I wanted to share the pros and cons of the ones we’ve tried.

From my experience, not all diffusers are created equal and some work much better than others. I wish that I’d read a review like this before deciding which to purchase and I hope my experience will be helpful to you.

Benefits of Diffusing Essential Oils

So what does diffusing essential oils mean exactly, and why would you do it? Diffusers use various methods to disperse essential oil containing water droplets through the air in a fine continuous mist.

Far from being just a natural substitute for air freshener and nothing more, each type of essential oil contains powerful chemical properties (the “essence”) from its parent plant. These chemicals bind to our olfactory receptors (how we smell) and have an actual effect on our limbic system. These nerves in our brains control our hunger, emotions, anger, sleep, and more, so it makes sense diffusing oils can have a real effect.

There are a number of studies (plus a whole lot of anecdotal evidence) that diffusing essential oils can produce the following benefits, depending on the type of oil:

  • reduces stress
  • improves mental clarity
  • uplifts the mood
  • calms and promotes a sedative effect (useful before sleep)
  • purifies the air

In fact, essential oils are so much more than air fresheners that we need to be cautious about how we use them around our homes and our children.

Types of Essential Oil Diffusers

There are a few different types of essential oil diffusers which is one reason why narrowing down to the right one can feel a little overwhelming. The ones I’m aware of include:

  1. Nebulizer Diffusers
  2. Ultrasonic/Humidifying Diffusers
  3. Heat Diffusers
  4. Evaporative Diffusers

In addition to researching them, I’ve tried each type of diffuser and have learned what I like and what I don’t about each.

1. Heat Diffuser

A heat diffuser, as it sounds, uses heat to turn water with a few drops of essential oil into a gas that disperses into the air. These can be electric or use the heat of a candle/flame.

I have not found a heat diffuser that worked nearly as well as even the worst nebulizer or ultrasonic diffusers I’ve tried, so I can’t make any recommendations on these types of diffusers. Since heat affects the beneficial properties of the essential oils, I definitely don’t recommend this method for diffusing oils in general.

2. Evaporative Diffusers

These diffusers use a fan to increase airflow across an essential oil soaked pad or lining. As the liquid evaporates, the scent (and its properties) move into the air.

Another type of evaporative diffuser is diffuser pendant jewelry. The theory is that the essential oil will naturally evaporate and permeate the air and skin.

I don’t find this type of diffuser nearly as effective as the remaining two.

3. Nebulizing Diffusers

Nebulizing diffusers are often considered the most powerful type of diffusers, and with good reason. They do not need water or heat to get the essential oil into the air and they work by using an atomizer to create fine, airborne particles of essential oils and blowing them into the air.

If you can’t tell, nebulizing diffusers are my favorite type of diffuser. If anyone gets sick they can keep a near-continuous stream of essential oils in the air and can fill a room of many square feet.

Here’s my thought process and experience with this type of diffuser:

Pros:

  • Attaches directly to the bottle of essential oil and can be turned on with the flip of a switch
  • No water or set-up required
  • Strong concentration of essential oils released into the air
  • Timers control run time and rest time let you control how long it runs and provide an option other than continuous use
  • No light so they can be used at night, since we avoid night lights

Cons:

  • Noise level is louder than ultrasonic diffusers
  • Uses oils more quickly than ultrasonic or other diffusers since they attach directly to the diffuser
  • More expensive than most ultrasonic diffusers (though not by much)

We useThis Advanced Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser from Amazon. I’ve now saved up and ordered a couple of these because they work so well. Even just diffusing for 15 minutes will leave a lasting essential oil scent for hours.

4. Ultrasonic Diffusers

Ultrasonic diffusers work in a similar way to nebulizing diffusers by creating a fine mist. The difference is that ultrasonic diffusers use water and essential oils to create an ultrasonic cool mist of water/oils that releases into the air. They double as a humidifier, so they are beneficial in winter, but they don’t put out as strong of a concentration of essential oils since they also use water.

Note: It is not recommended to use citrus essential oils with this type of diffuser as they can cause the parts to erode.

Pros:

  • Less expensive than nebulizing diffusers
  • Doubles as a humidifier (beneficial in cold months)
  • Many options to choose from
  • Doesn’t use heat
  • Water tank has a large capacity

Cons:

  • Can’t use citrus essential oils
  • Need water to operate
  • Must be cleaned occasionally
  • Some have lights that can’t be turned off
  • Not as effective as nebulizing diffusers

What we use: Several different types of ultrasonic diffusers and I’ve found that some work better than others. These were our favorites:

  • The Noor Litemist Aromatherapy Diffuser – This simple cone-shape design diffuses for several hours and has an option to turn the light on or off for night time use. (Just please don’t use any LED color-changing lights at night… here’s why!)
  • The Allay Litemist Diffuser – Very similar and slightly cheaper than the Noor Litemist, but it doesn’t seem to have a way to turn off the light which makes it unusable at night (for us).
  • Car Diffuser – I’ve tried smaller models but got tired of repeatedly filling their tiny water reservoirs! This one does take up a cupholder but I like the intermittent/constant control and the sleek design.

Other Ways to Freshen Indoor Air

Essential oils are a great way to freshen indoor air with natural scents but they are definitely not the only way! We keep our indoor air clean naturally with:

Bottom Line: Choosing an Aroma Essential Oil Diffuser

Essential oils may seem like mix-and-match perfumes, but in reality they are powerful essences from plants with medicinal effects. I think using a diffuser is a great step, but urge everyone to do their homework. If you have a family, make sure to diffuse only kid-safe essential oil blends and take breaks by buying a model with controlled mist settings.

This article was medically reviewed by Madiha Saeed, MD, a board certified family physician. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you talk with your doctor.

Have you ever used a diffuser? What did you like or not like about it? Share below!

A comparison of the most popular essential oil diffuser types: ultrasonic diffusers, nebulizing diffusers, heat and evaporation diffusers and others.
Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

249 responses to “Best Essential Oil Diffusers: Reviews & What I Use”

  1. Stephanie Avatar

    Katie,

    thank you for your review on the oil diffusers. I found it very informative. You mentioned that one of the drawback of nebulizer diffusers that use only essential oils without water is that they use too much essential oil compared to other diffuser? From your own experience and from your own reserach could you please share what’s the average quantity of essential oils used with nebulizer (cold air/no water) diffusers compared to others?

    I would highly appreciate it.
    thank you.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      It depends on the setting used… you can set the nebulizer to only run for about 5 minutes every 20+ minutes and reduce the output but you attach the whole bottle. At the lower settings, a bottle can last for days, but a water diffuser only uses 15-20 drops at a time and can run for up to 8 hours…

  2. Teresa Avatar

    Dollar store spray bottle.
    Add water and few drops of essential oil. Shake and spray. Done.

    Other options for the budget conscious:

    Invest in a glass spray bottle or personal size spritzer bottle (still cheap and no worry of EO deteriorating plastic, although sometimes plastic parts are present.)

    Warm water and a few drops of EO in an uncovered pot of water on the stovetop or uncovered crockpot.

    Place a few drops in a glass or mug of water and put on an electric mug/candle warmer (Google that if you don’t know what they are. Usually less than $10 in stores). Works well in an office setting.

    Put a few drops on a tissue or cloth (EO may stain) and place in a glass or ceramic dish. Place dish next to a forced air vent or heat source to speed evaporation.

    1. Stephanie D. Avatar
      Stephanie D.

      But, since oil and water don’t mix, do you not run the risk of getting a burst of concentrated oil or conversely, just water/steam into the air? What about not using heat because it changes the composition of the oils? And from what I understand, the oils evaporate rather quickly anyway, which is why perfume companies have to add other ingredients to make the scent last a long time. These sound like low-cost ways, but they sound like low-efficiency ways, too.

  3. Christina Avatar
    Christina

    I was hoping to diffuse oils while my children are sleeping. I was hoping to help strengthen their little immune systems to avoid all of these bugs! I was wondering if anyone can offer any insight into which are the best oils for this and which diffuser might be the best for their bedroom. My daughters share bunk beds and I want to make sure the oil reaches the top bunk. I can’t seem to get a straight answer on this and am very new to essential oils! Thank you for any advice!

  4. jo Avatar

    I am wondering if you have heard of any concerns about the white dust issue with ultrasonics? I always have avoided ultrasonic humidifiers because they can spread a fine white dust throughout the air with their mist. My understanding is that this is just the minerals in the water being broken down and diffused, however I don’t know that nature intended for those minerals to be regularly breathed into our lungs in such a way? What are your thoughts/research on this? Unfortunately I do not want to use the nebulizer-type because we have three young children and I would like to be cautious about not over exposing them to oils.
    Finally I have had some great success in using the doterra on-guard as a steam treatment during times of early illness. However, I would prefer to go as pure as possible with oils and I am uncertain whether this is the right brand for my personal long term use. So my final question is can you recommend a comparable blend by any company that might offer a purer oil or do you have any oil recipes to suggest that would be as effective as on-guard? Thanks a million!

  5. Tara Avatar

    Dave cana – what problems have you experienced with diffusers? Have you looked in to the Scentsy one? It has a lifetime warranty regardless of whose oils you use in it. Yes, it is manufactured in China, but I haven’t heard of any others that give that peace of mind 🙂

  6. Dave cana Avatar
    Dave cana

    As an aisle, I am involved in lots of wellness activities with a lot of people whose names you would recognize, but wellness mama; you are amazing! Keep doing what you are doing and sticking by your ethical guns. It’s refreshing. And not many out there like you.

  7. Dave cana Avatar
    Dave cana

    Seems there are hundreds of different diffusers most probably made by 3-4 companies. They all seem to have issues. It’s utterly numbing to try and do research for these. Does anyone know a diffuser not made in China?

  8. Jessica Smith Avatar
    Jessica Smith

    Hi there,

    I live in a damp/humid environment and have developed some conditions due to the dampness. I’ve been advised to use pine needle oil and cedar oil so I’m now in the market for a diffuser. My concern is buying one that will apply more dampness and moisture to the air…something we definitely don’t want. Can you suggest a brand or model for people living in a damp environment? Thank you! Appreciate your help.

    1. Marilena Avatar

      Look for a nebulizer which diffuses oil right out if the bottle without heat or water. They are more expensive but also give more scent to the air, and they use more oil.

      1. Stephanie Avatar
        Stephanie

        It depends what kind of diffuser you use. As someone just mentioned here most of them use a lot of essential oils- some could go through a whole bottle of oil within 2-3 hours, which could be very expensive. I found one on Amazon and it’s great, that doesn’t uses water or heat. It only uses 1 ml of oil /hour which is extremely low (1 oz=30 ml- just to give you an idea how little that is). It’s more expensive, but based on my calculations, this will become free after 2 months of use, and then it will save me over $1000 in a year in essential oils. It’s the best I ever owned.

  9. arleen Avatar

    Hello,
    Thank you for what you do! I have questions regarding essential oils in a cool mist ultrasonic diffuser. I would like to use one in my main living area and have considered using one in my children’s room too.
    I really like some of the oils like peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary, but it sounds like that could be dangerous for my children?
    I do intend to use cinnamon, vanilla, and possibly balsam fir too. Am I putting my children at risk?
    I do not intend to use these directly on their skin, ever…but now I am worried that using them in a diffuser could be dangerous based on what I am reading. Can you tell me your thoughts?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      I am more cautious about those oils, but when I don’t have very young babies, I will use those oils in combination in a diffuser in very diluted amounts. For instance, I might add one drop of peppermint or eucalyptus with 10 or more drops of a less potent oil. Definitely do your own research though and make sure you are truly comfortable with whatever you decide.

  10. Den Avatar

    MUJI (the Japanese company) makes a great ultrasonic diffuser in two sizes for 50-80 USD. Variable lighting (High, low, and off) and a built in timer (160, 120, 60, 30 mins) and a simple, cute design puts out a lot of oil and also makes for a pretty solid night-light if that’s something you’re into.

  11. Blanca Avatar

    Hi Katty, thank you for the review of this oil diffusers. I recently bought a Ultrasonic oil difuser and it says to use only tap water. Do any of yours use tap water? I want to use it to purify the air in my house, but I know tap water has a lot of chimicals.

  12. Jessica Avatar

    Not even sure if this thread is still active. But since I just got a diffuser from ArOmis Aromatherapy via Amazon, I’ve been searching through posts. Funny how no one mentioned this diffuser since it’s the only one I found with NO plastic parts touching the oil. It’s solely glass touching the oil and with a wood base it looks like a piece of art. With the timer function 10 on 10 off and and an hour cut off time, I’m not worried about it eating up a ton of EO. Which I monitor by actually adding to the glass vial instead of screwing in. I make my own mixtures so that’s no problem for me. I’ll have to see how well it works though. It does have way better reviews then doTerra’s nebulizer. And it’s a little cheaper on sale.

    The other thing I wanted to add is about the EO’s on the market today. Honestly I don’t want to start any fights or anything this is just my two cents and for anyone who wants another option. I don’t do any online orders (only a buy at local heath food store when desperate) from doTerra, YL, or other major EO companies because of all the hype around them, I think they are overpriced, and I do side on the fact that CTGO is a marketing tactic. It doesn’t mean anything really. I’ve talked to a few companies who have CTGO’s and some of them did in fact add carrier oils (be it natural or orginic it’s still a filler). This I found out ONLY by stating that I have severe allergies and could be sent to the hospital if I had a reaction to an unlabeled ingredient. Since I was told when I just asked outright “Do you add any carrier or filler oils?” – All of our EO’s are pure and CTGO (by several companies). That makes me a little upset.

    I do order from a fantastic company called New Directions Aromatics. They are fantastic! The prices are great at whole sale costs. Plus the company states right on their site, “As far as possible, we source our products from organic growers and distillers. Certificate of Analysis, Specifications and MSDS are available on request. All of our essential oils are ethically produced and are free from pesticides or chemical fertilizers.” I have yet to see another company so willing to offer information about their essential oils. Their essential oils are also labled as to where they are sourced from. I’ve been very happy with this company!

  13. Carole Avatar

    My naturopath gave me these criteria for selection the best quality EOs:

    Authenticated Only (original fingerprint / organic)
    Authenticated oil is the key to getting quality product. “Suresource guarantee” backed by 3 key documents—origin signature (verifies a botanical expert has checked expert has personally inspected the ID, growing conditions and proper distillation) phyto signature (finger print taken at distillation), NSP signature (exact match to their original finger print found at distillation). This absolutely verifies authenticity back to cultivation. Certified Organic, Organic and Wild Grown in addition to the authentication are the key factors indicating high quality EOs.

    Avoid
    Fractioning/Adjusting/Standardizing
    The majority of oil companies skip those steps mentioned above. They buy from large brokers and look at just a couple of compounds the industry considers most desirable like menthol in peppermint, cineole in eucalyptus, and d-limonine in grapefruit. This practice leads to widespread fractionating, adjusting and standardizing essential oils. They rate oils acceptable though they are not exactly matched to their original fingerprint.

    Terms Used for Marketing Hyp – therapeutic / standardized
    Some marketing hyp terms to avoid are “therapeutic grade” or any kind of label indicating an exact standard. There is no official guideline for that and when the oils are promised to have exacting recipe, then the natural state of the oil must be altered to reach that state. This actually takes away from the authenticity of the oil as they must include additives to create what nature didn’t.

    So far, Nature’s Sunshine is the only brand I’ve found with authenticated organic oils. It can be purchased retail online, and after placing the first order they send a lot of great discounts.

    If anyone knows of other EOs that meet that criteria let me know. Since so many have recommended doTERRA and Young Living , I reviewed their web sites. I couldn’t find anything showing they apply the selection criteria as suggested by the naturopath. Did I miss that somehow?

  14. Brittany Avatar
    Brittany

    Hi!

    I have purchased the The Noor Litemist Aromatherapy Diffuser and I was wondering if I used an oil blend that had a some lemon in it if it would be okay since it is not all lemon? Or do you think it would still erode away at the diffuser?

    Thank you!

  15. Mo Avatar

    So, according to this, you use no less than 7 diffusers? Just wondering if any of the brands listed compensated you in any way?

  16. Rivera Lemon Avatar
    Rivera Lemon

    I get all my oils from Mountain Rose Herbs and Native American Nutritionals. Mountain Rose is a bit less expensive, but Native American has some blends that Mountain Rose doesn’t have. I trust the quality and feel those companies offer the best value for my money. I am learning to make my own blends; it isn’t that difficult, and is a small fraction of the cost of buying blends. I have serious distrust in MLM companies, after having been involved with Creative Memories, Amway and Genesis Pure. I see many of the same issues with EO MLMs.

    1. Lynda Avatar

      I’m still curious why some people mentioned that young living and DoTerra have problems with each other, so they do not buy their oils! I use the DoTerra and would like to know if there is something wrong with them so I can change or look for some other type of oils! You do not have to do the selling if you choose not to, you can just buy them regularly! They also set up schools and help the natives in different areas to have sanitary conditions and also to pay the people who work with them and give them better living conditions and build schools ! I thought this was a reputable company! They may be a little more expensive then the Young living but sometimes you have to pay more to get the best! Someone said it was because of all the pettiness that went on between the two companies, so I was wondering if this was not a good company ! Thank you for any help!

  17. Sam Avatar

    Hi!
    I’ve just purchased an ultrasonic diffuser and I was wondering if anyone could answer a question for me?
    I have seen various other blog posts about using diffuers as insect repellents (not a planned use for mine), but some have actually stated the diffuser and certain oils may kill insects rather than preferably just repelling them, is this true?
    Thanks,
    Sam.

  18. Mark Avatar

    All the Amazon reviewers go on and on about how noisy it is and how you can’t really smell the oils very well. Are you sure this is the best model out there right now? Has anything changed since your review?

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