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Vitamix VS Blendtec - Blender Comparison

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Vitamix VS Blendtec - Blender Comparison

Article By  Chef Austin 

Vitamix and Blendtec are two of the best-known companies when you’re talking high-power blenders. Vitamix has been around for generations making hot soups without a stove and promoting blending as a healthier way of life. Blendtec is famous for blending iPhones, marbles, and even garden rakes in their blenders. We put both Vitamix and Blendtec through everything you might make in your kitchen.

To make it easy to shop, we've also added links to shop for Vitamix and Blendtec blenders in this review so you can dive into more info on each blender to help you make your blender purchase decision! If you have more questions, you can chat with our customer service heroes online by pressing the chat icon in the bottom right of our website or on the phone at 866-852-4268.

Is a Vitamix or Blendtec blender worth it?

Why are Blendtec and Vitamix blenders so expensive? Why shouldn't I get a $50 blender from the box store? What makes Blendtec or Vitamix better than Ninja? There are many reasons why you'd want to invest in a high-powered blender like Vitamix or Blendtec. Here are some of the top reasons to choose them over cheaper blenders:

• Quality Built - Both Vitamix and Blendtec blenders are designed with restaurant-grade heavy-duty parts. The motors in each of these blenders are much larger than anything you could find in a box-store blender. Cheaper blenders like Ninja will use plastic gears and cheaper plastic jars that can break down much more quickly over time (which means you'll be buying more blenders). You can check out our Vitamix VS Ninja Comparison to see how much better a high-powered blender performs! 
• Multi-Year Warranties - Vitamix comes standard with a 10-year warranty while Blendtec has an 8-year warranty. They really stand behind their products because they know they are built to last. Other cheaper blenders may only have a 1-year warranty.
• Restaurant Results - Ever wonder why your Starbucks blended drinks taste so good or why your favorite smoothie shop drinks feel so smooth? Chances are they are using a Vitamix or Blendtec blender behind the counter. Cheaper blenders will leave chunks and un-blended ingredients behind which can ruin your smoothie experience. Only with a high-power blender can you achieve restaurant-quality results at home!
• Accessorize Your Blender - Both Vitamix and Blendtec have many different style blending jars and accessories that can expand the functionality of your blender. See their accessories below!
• Made in USA - Both Blendtec and Vitamix blenders are made right here in the USA, supporting American workers and manufacturers. 

Who has better accessories - Vitamix or Blendtec?

There is a slew of different blender jars and accessories for both Blendtec and Vitamix blenders. Here are the most popular blender accessories and which blender has them:

• To-Go Smoothie Jars - Both Blendtec and Vitamix have a single-serving sized blender jar specifically made for on-the-go blending. No need to pour a smoothie out into a separate container, the Vitamix Blending Cup or the Blendtec Travel Bottle makes the morning smoothie mess-free and fast!
• All Metal Container - Only Vitamix at this time offers an fully stainless steel blender jar. The metal jar is perfect for blending hot soups right off the stove. The Vitamix Stainless Steel Container is durable, odor-resistant & non-reactive
• Food Processor - Turn your blender into another appliance with the Vitamix 12-Cup Food Processor Attachment. Get perfect chops, slices, and shreds of veggies and cheese using the power of your Vitamix blender motor base. Save space in the kitchen by turning one appliance into two! This food processor is only available for Vitamix.
• Twister Jar - The Twister Jar is specifically designed for notoriously difficult foods to blend like nut butters, hummus, pesto, bread dough, and smaller serving sizes.  The top of the jar has a lid with attached scrappers that you twist to push thick products off the jar walls to ensure an even smooth blend. The Twister Jar is only available for Blendtec.
• Frothing Jar - Both Blendtec and Vitamix have a blender jar with a special round blade for certain culinary creations like delicate sauces such as hollandaise, muddled cocktails, and best of all cold milk foam (yes, just like Starbucks makes). Check out the Vitamix Aer or the Blendtec Frothing Jar for more info.

The Test Subjects

Build Quality

Blendtec 675 comes with its patented Wildside Jar. The Wildside Jar is so named for its unique fifth side which creates a high-powered vortex in the center of the jar that pulls the food down into the blade for a smoother consistency. Blendtec’s blades are thick, blunt safety blades with wingtips. These blades are designed to eliminate the need of a tamper while blending. Blendtec's jars are incredibly durable and can even withstand a two-story drop without so much as a crack. 

The Vitamix Ascent Series blending jars have an updated design that makes them easier and more efficient to use. The most notable feature is the new Self-Detect wireless technology integrated into each Ascent jar. This allows the blender base to 'talk' to the jar, recognize the size of the jar, and adjust the power level and maximum blend time to avoid damaging the jars. The 64oz low-profile jar is extremely durable and will stand up to the inevitable drops and falls it'll take over the years.

Vitamix features blunt blades with a slight taper on the edges. The blade is 4-pronged and has pointed tips. Vitamix blenders use a tamper tool to push thicker blends back down into the blades while blending.

Vitamix and Blendtec both feature thick, blunt blades. Blendtec has designed their blades and jar to eliminate the use for a tamper.

The Ascent A2300 features Vitamix’s classic manual speed-dial so you can control your blends the way you want them. The A2300 also includes 3 presets for hot soup, frozen desserts, and smoothies. When a preset is selected, the new LCD timer counts down to show you how long until your blend will be done. The toggle switches for the play/pause blending and pulse function feel sturdy and satisfying to press.

The Designer 675 from Blendtec sports a sleek, futuristic, all-touch screen interface. Easily press one of its five preprogrammed cycles and walk away while it blends. There is a dedicated pulse button and manual speed touch slider for blending at any speed you choose. The numeric LCD shows how long you’ve been blending, or displays the time remaining on preprogrammed blends.

Vitamix has their classic control dial and physical switches and new LCD counter. Blendtec sports a futuristic all-touch screen interface with 4 timed presets.

Both Vitamix and Blendtec use metal for the gear coupling on their blender jars and the drive socket on the blender base. This is one big reason these blenders last so long - the metal won't wear down like plastic does in cheaper blenders like the Ninja.

Both Vitamix and Blendtec use metal for their drive socket and blade assembly. Metal parts are high quality and are designed to last for years. 

As far as raw power goes, Blendtec takes the lead with a 3.0 peak HP motor in their Designer 675, compared to Vitamix’s 2.2 HP motor. It’s worth noting that Blendtec offers an even more powerful 3. 8 peak HP motor in their higher end models! That's enough power to blend garden rakes.

We wanted to test the major functions of each blender, using real-world recipes that you can really make. We looked at how well each blender did at each task. For each round, we used identical recipes, blending for identical times unless otherwise noted. For a fair comparison, we chose Vitamix and Blendtec blenders with similar specs, the Vitamix A2500, from the new Ascent Series, versus the Blendtec Designer 675.

Hummus, everybody's favorite Mediterranean dip, is made from chickpeas, olive oil and flavored with just about anything. We had an abundance of onions, so we decided to do some caramelized onion-infused hummus. A good hummus should be thick and spreadable with no chunks or bits of food in it.

We were looking for how well each blender incorporated the ingredients to test the effectiveness of the blades and the engineering of the jar.

Recipe: Caramelized Onion Hummus

Blend time: 1 Minute

Vitamix

We loaded the Vitamix with two cans of chickpeas, some water, lemon juice and our caramelized onions. It took about 1 minute for the Vitamix to completely puree our hummus from start to finish. The olive oil was completely emulsified with the liquid, with no signs of pooling oil on top.

The hummus had a great airy, creamy texture with no signs of unblended ingredients. The final product was as spreadable as mayonnaise, and tasted every bit as good as hummus you'd get at a fancy restaurant.

Blendtec

We put Blendtec through the same test - all ingredients were blended on high speed for one minute. Just like the Vitamix, the Blendtec completely emulsified all of the olive oil into the other ingredients, and made a light and creamy, spreadable hummus. The Blendtec's hummus had a slightly less smooth mouth feel and was less airy compared to the Vitamix's hummus, but that's us splitting hairs; both blenders made excellent hummus.

Both Vitamix and Blendtec made delicious hummus; smooth, fluffy and creamy.

Winner: Vitamix - Emulsification Expert

Oil and water do not mix - but you can emulsify them. For oil and water to combine into one, oil particles have to be small enough to surround water particles in order to not separate. Both the Vitamix and the Blendtec jars can achieve full emulsification of the oil and water in the hummus, Vitamix just made a better- consistancy hummus, slightly more airy and smooth compared to Blendtec's hummus.  

Powdered Sugar Test

This one was simple: We put sugar into our blender, with the expectation of getting powdered sugar out of it. This tests the effectiveness of the blades. We're looking for a consistently fine, fluffy powder with no sugar crystals left unblended.

Recipe: Powdered Sugar

Blend time: 30 seconds

Vitamix

We added 1-1/2 cups of sugar to the Vitamix and cranked it up to the highest speed for 30 seconds. That's all it took to create perfect powdered sugar. We sifted through it did not find any full sugar crystals left over, it was a nice, white, sugary dust, as powdered sugar should be.

Blendtec

After 30 seconds at the highest speed in our Blendtec, we also ended up with a pile of snow-like powdered sugar. We sifted through and could not find any full sugar crystals. Blendtec makes a great mill for turning granular sugar into powdered sugar.

Snow-like powdered sugar falls through the sifter dusting our test slate. Both blenders are excellent at milling.

Winner: Vitamix & Blendtec - Masters of Milling

Both blenders excelled at breaking down full-size sugar crystals into powdered sugar. Both Vitamix's and Blendtec's blade design incorporate thick, blunt blades. These blades spin so fast, they actually crush ingredients because there is more surface area for those tiny sugar particles to hit. This, along with the food-grabbing vortex, ensures all of the food you put into your blender gets pulverized. This also makes Vitamix and Blendtec great for milling whole grains for flours.

Hot Soup

Vitamix is famous for making hot soups without you ever turning on your stove. They’ve been known for this feature for so long, my vintage Vitamix from 1992 still churns out hot soup! How this occurs is brilliant in its simplicity: Those super-fast blades create so much friction, food heats up while its blending. Blendtec also advertises the ability to create hot soup sans stove. So who makes the better soup?

Recipe: Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Blend Time: 5 minutes 45 seconds

Vitamix

We filled our blender jar full of cheddar-broccoli soup ingredients then pressed the Hot Soup preset and stepped back. In a mere 5 minutes and 45 seconds, we had perfectly pureed cheddar-broccoli soup clocking in at 162°F degrees - it was literally steaming. Vitamix delivers on its claim of making HOT soup.

Blendtec

We used the same recipe in both blenders, and Blendtec’s Hot Soup preset button. We stepped away and 3 minutes later, we had soup at about 135°F. Now, the soup was steaming and technically "hot," but not as hot as we think a serving temperature should be. If you were to put this soup into a cold bowl, the soup would cool down quickly and be more room-temperature. Given that the Blendtec, with its Hot Soup preset, only blended for half the time as the Vitamix, we ran the preset once more and came back to a much hotter soup, at around 170°F degrees, similar to the Vitamix results. Now the soup was hot and ready to serve.

Friction from the blades in a tight space creates enough heat to make a hot soup.

Winner: Vitamix - Hot Soup, No Stove Required

Although the Blendtec created a hotter soup in the same amount of time as the Vitamix, we're declaring Vitamix the winner here because its Hot Soup preset gave better results the first time around, for an easier user experience. Both Blendtec and Vitamix passed with flying colors on making hot soup, you just have to do a little more work with the Blendtec to get an eating-temperature soup.

Ice Cream Test

Yes, we were looking forward to this test especially. We love ice cream. We were looking for how well the blenders crush ice and how well the liquid ingredients freeze around the crushed ice, because that’s what creates a blended ice cream. The smaller the ice crystals and the faster they're moved around, the more frozen and creamy the ice cream.

Recipe: Chocolate Ice Cream

Blending Time: 1 Minute

Vitamix

Vitamix has a dedicated Frozen Dessert preset function for ice cream. We added 4 cups of ice along with milk, cream, vanilla extract, and cocoa powder to the Vitamix and started blending. The ice quickly crushed and started to freeze up on the jar sides, so we used the tamper to push everything back down into the blades. After only one minute, we had thick soft-serve chocolate ice cream. The ice cream had very small ice crystals so it was smooth instead of "crunchy," and held its shape nicely.

Blendtec

Blendtec’s Frozen Dessert function works similar to Vitamix, starting to blend at a slow speed and then cranking up the power to crush ice. At first, Blendtec was doing great, but after only 20 or 30 seconds, the ice cream started to freeze on the sides of the jar and no longer blend. We had to stop and push the frozen ice cream back into the blade to continue blending.

After blending, the ice cream turned out pretty good. The ice crystals were small, but some chunks of ice were still there. All in all, Blendtec made a tasty chocolate ice cream and passed the test.

Both blenders made ice cream in their own way. It's interesting to see the texture difference caused by the blade design.

Winner: Vitamix - Ice Cream Anytime

Vitamix is the big ice cream winner. With the use of the tamper, Vitamix made a better consistency ice cream without having to start and stop. Blendtec advertises that their blender is tamper-free, which makes blending and storing the blender a lot easier, but in this particular application, a tamper would have been beneficial. For very thick blends, the tamper helps move food back down into the blender blades, and that's what helped Vitamix win this test.

Bread Dough Test

Both Vitamix and Blendtec advertise their blenders can make bread dough. We tested this claim with a dough recipe that is mixed and kneaded right in the jar, not by hand.

Recipe: White Yeast Bread

Vitamix

As expected by this point in the test, Vitamix did a great job at mixing dough. All flour was thoroughly incorporated and there was a good amount of gluten development.

Blendtec

Mixing bread dough is something Blendtec is also very good at. Like Vitamix, all the dough was well kneaded and created a nice, stretchy bread dough as shown below. 

You can see the nice stretchy gluten development in both doughs. This dough is on its way to becoming fresh baked bread!

Winner: Vitamix & Blendtec - Kneads Your Dough

Both blenders did an excellent job making dough right in the blender jar without having to knead anything. There were no big differences in the quality of the doughs produced in this test. We can recommend both Vitamix and Blendtec for making your favorite doughs for bread.

Smoothie Test

Smoothies are what most folks make most often in their blenders. If this is the same with you, you'll want your blender to do the best job making those nutrient- dense, sippable meals. That means no chunks, no strings, and no grainy, gloppy messes to try to choke down. For this test we wanted to see how small Blendtec and Vitamix got all of our green smoothie ingredients.

Recipe: Green Smoothie

(1 Apple, 1 carrot, 3 brussel sprouts, 1 oz of kale, 8 oz water, one frozen banana

Blending Time: 1 Minute

Vitamix

Our Vitamix Ascent A2500 had a dedicated smoothie button that ran for 60 seconds. No tamper was needed for the smoothie, the Vitamix did a great job with his vortex effect blending all the ingredients.

As you can see in the below photo, there are no distinguishable bits of carrot, apple or kale - it's all one nice, consistent green color. This made for a smooth mouth feel, the pulp was very fine and didn’t feel grainy when we drank the smoothie.

Blendtec

We used Blendtec's dedicated Smoothie button, and in 60 seconds we had a nutrient-dense green smoothie ready for drinking. The Wildside jar pulled down all of the hearty ingredients and pulverized everything until it was unrecognizable. There were more tiny air bubbles in the Blendtec's smoothie, that's really the only difference we noticed.

Close-up of each green smoothie. Completely pulverized green ingredients from both blenders. Blendtec had some tiny air bubbles in it's smoothie. Both make a silky smooth drinkable meal.

Winner: Vitamix & Blendtec - Professional Quality Smoothness

As far as smoothies go, both Blendtec and Vitamix deliver excellent results. I’m not the biggest green-smoothie fan, I mostly drink them for the nutrition, not so much the taste, but I will say both blenders made drinking a green smoothie an enjoyable experience. There was no grittiness, strings of kale, or chunks of carrot left over in either smoothie. Looking at the smear test, there's almost no discernible difference between the two. You won’t be disappointed with either blender when you’re making your morning breakfast-in-a-cup smoothie.

After using both the Vitamix and the Blendtec, I can absolutely recommend either of them as a great choice for your wildest blending desires. Both blenders passed every single test and handled every single recipe we threw into them, and we're not disappointed with any of the results. We will say that Vitamix does a better job at some tasks, like making smoother hummus and hotter soup, but that's splitting hairs when talking about the overall quality.

When choosing between the two, take into consideration what kind of blending experience you prefer. Vitamix features physical control dials and switches that are easy to use and understand. Blendtec has a sleek, futuristic, all-touch screen and multiple timed presets that allow you to select, walk away, and come back to a perfect smoothie or creamy hummus.

Both Blendtec and Vitamix offer multiple sizes of blending jars to expand the versatility of the blender. Create single-serve dishes and smoothies with smaller blender jars from Blendtec and Vitamix, or check out Blendtec’s Twister Jar to efficiently create difficult-to-blend foods like nut butters.

Personally, I like the Blendtec a little more than Vitamix. The back-lit touch screen looks so sleek and provides a fun user experience while blending. I am also a fan of the Wildside Jar, which for just about every application works great, no tamper required. If you like a versatile, high-powered blender, you won't be disappointed with either Blendtec of Vitamix. Both blenders have lengthy warranties and exceptional commercial-quality build, so they'll be blending smoothies and hummus for years to come. 

What Vitamix should I buy? Which Blendtec to buy?

Ready to learn more about what blender you should buy? Check out our Blendtec Blenders Shopping Guide or our Vitamix Ascent Blender Shopping Guide to see the differences between models of Blendtec and Vitamix blenders.

Which Makes the Better Blender?

If you like piña coladas ... you'll probably like a blender. In the world of high-powered, high-end blenders, two names sit at the top of the list: Vitamix and Blendtec. Both offer supremely efficient and durable blending, especially compared to cheaper, budget brands, but which is right for you? To find out, we compared the most popular blenders from each brand — the Vitamix 5200 ($450) and the Blendtec Classic 575 ($420)— to figure out which blender should find its way to your counter.

Vitamix 101

Courtesy

As of 2021, Vitamix has 100 years of production under its belt. But the brand didn't start off with blenders (a can opener was its first runaway hit). The original blender was called the Vita-Mix and was born from its founder's desire to live a healthy lifestyle through whole-food nutrition. Essentially, founder William Grover Barnard and his family lived a vegetarian lifestyle, and they found that blenders could give them tasty meals (smoothies, blended soups, etc.). The brand is now almost entirely focused on making blenders, ranging from wallet-friendly options to those with the latest innovations.

Blendtec 101

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Blendtec doesn't have as much time on its hand as Vitamix, but 46 years is still a long time to continually innovate upon a powerful blender. Founded by Tom Dickson, Blendtec gained notoriety for its Will it Blend? marketing campaign in which Dickson would put non-food items — like phones, toys and other miscellaneous items — into a Blendtec blender to, well, see if it would blend.

Features

The Vitamix 5200 features a 64-ounce jar atop a motorized base with 10-speed manual control. When it comes to features on a blender, the 5200 is pretty standard – no bells or whistles, not even preprogrammed settings. On the other hand, the Blendtec 575 is packed with added features. It has fewer speed options — just five compared to the Vitamix 5200's 10 — but it also has four preprogrammed settings: a smoothie mode, a 60-second blend cycle, a 90-second blend cycle and a clean function, in which you basically run the 575 with water and dish soap, cleaning the blender.

Design

Courtesy

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The biggest difference between the design of the 5200 and 575 blenders is the design of their blades. The Vitamix 5200 uses alaser-cut, stainless-steel hammermill and cutting blades, while the Blendtec 575 uses a blunt blade. On inspection, the two blades couldn't be any more different. The 5200's blade is sharp as hell, and you'd better be careful you don't cut yourself on it; the 575's blade is dull and works by pulverizing instead of slicing.

The jars of the two blenders also differ. The Vitamix's jar is tall and made of glass, with an opening to use the additional tamp. The Blendtec 575 comes with the option of two style of jars, both made of plastic. The first jar is known as the FourSide Jar, which is squared off and designed to generate more friction, which Blendtec recommends for making hot soups. The pricier Wildside Jar has a wide base and a fifth side, which are meant to work in conjunction to create a blending vortex that more efficiently blends without the need for a tamp — which the Blendtec does not include with its blenders.

Performance

Vitamix

The differences in design between the two blenders ultimately affect the way they perform. By and large, the Vitamix is one of the most efficient and effective blenders out there. It creates smooth blends, and while there is some clumping, the tamp is a helpful tool to get things going smoothly. It has 10 speeds, which makes customizing blends easy, especially since you can adjust the speend mid-blend. The Blendetc blender is a decent blender. The biggest issue with it is its steadfast belief that a tamp is not necessary. According to the brand, Blendtec's blades and jars are designed to never clump up, removing the need to scrape the sides during blending. That's just not how blending works. Things will come out smooth from the 575, but you better account for all the times you'll have to stop its operation to get an even blend.

Verdict

As interesting as Blendtec's Will it Blend? series is, its blenders pale in comparison to Vitamix blenders. Blendtec is too caught up in its own marketing — No tamp necessary! It can blend your phone! — whereas Vitamix lets the power and efficiency of its blenders speak for itself. Depending on which two blenders you compare from the brands, one may be more expensive than the other, but at the end of the day, it's the Vitamix's variable speed control and extra-sharp blades that make you think Vitamix first when you want to shop for a high-end, high-powered blender.