Store Your Favorite Foods Efficiently With These Top Upright Freezers

If your kitchen refrigerator isn’t large enough to hold all your family’s food, an upright freezer may be a worthwhile investment for your home. Similar to chest freezers, these appliances offer ample storage space for frozen goods, yet they’re more convenient to access thanks to their upright orientation and inner shelves.

Upright freezers come in a variety of styles and sizes, ranging from compact under-the-counter options to extra-large models with upwards of 40 cubic feet of storage space. Finding the right upright freezer for you depends on everything from budget and storage needs to personal aesthetics, and we cover all this and more along with our recommendations for the best upright freezers currently on the market.

Looking for more food cooling solutions? Check out our stories on the best deep freezer chests, the best built-in refrigerators, and the best mini fridges.

The Best Upright Freezers

What to Consider

Capacity

One of the main decisions you’ll need to make when shopping for an upright freezer is how big you want it to be. On the small end of the scale, there are compact freezers with just a few cubic feet of storage space, as little as one cubic foot. Some smaller models are designed for under-the-counter installation, which is an excellent solution for tiny kitchens or if you have the space for a home bar.

However, if you’re looking to maximize storage—and have the extra square footage to do so—you might want a larger model. Generally speaking, compact and small models cap off at about five cubic feet; midsize upright freezers run up to roughly 10 cubic feet; large options go up to 19 cubic feet; and anything with more capacity is considered extra large.

Storage Options

The freezer’s interior configuration is another important consideration. Most have a combination of shelves, drawers, and door bins, so choose a model that best suits your intended use, whether it’s a mini-bar in your finished basement or a place to store meal preps.

Defrost Style

Upright freezers come in two main defrost styles: manual and automatic. If you buy a manual-defrost freezer, you’ll need to periodically empty out the appliance and allow the ice crystals to melt. Many upright freezers on the lower end of the price spectrum need to be manually defrosted, so decide if that’s something you’re willing to take on.

The other option is auto-defrost, also called a frost-free freezer. These appliances cycle on and off periodically, allowing ice crystals to melt and preventing them from building up. No intervention is required on your part, but keep in mind that these models use more energy and are often noisier than their manual counterparts.

Location

Any model can be installed within your home, but if you’re planning to put it in a garage or other unheated out-building, you’re going to need a special “garage-ready” appliance. These freezers are designed to perform in a wider ambient temperature range, meaning they will still keep your food frozen on hot summer days, as well as during the coldest winter months.

How We Selected

To find the best upright freezers for every home, we researched a wide range of top-rated models from well-known brands like GE, Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Samsung, and more. We evaluated each freezer on its capacity, size, layout, and features, and took into account user reviews for each model to get a sense of their overall performance and reliability. We aimed to include a wide selection of sizes and styles to suit different needs across multiple price points to suit every budget.