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Best essential oil diffuser

Are you looking at purchasing an essential oil diffuser and feeling overwhelmed by the tons of different types of essential oil diffusers out there?

Essential oils are hugely popular.

I’m betting just about every mom you know either knows about essential oils or they are full-on essential oil users. I will be honest, I was confused when I first started looking at maybe using essential oils. There are just so many options out there and trying to pick the right type of essential oil diffuser for your personal use can be just as confusing as picking the brand of oils you want to use.

*This post contains affiliate links to the essential oils and other products I talk about in the post. Purchasing them here from my blog is no extra cost to you but I do earn a commission that helps in the cost of running this blog. Thanks for your support!

If your curious (or in a hurry):

✅This specific essential oil diffuser model is the most popular non-membership diffuser with over 26,000 5 star reviews!

(meaning you don’t need a wholesale/retail membership with a company like Young Living)

It’s an excellent essential oil diffuser, yet you will also find it’s one of the cheaper essential oil diffusers online. Looking at the purpose of essential oil diffusers, this one hits most of the important features and has almost 43,000 reviews with over 70% in 5-star reviews. (check current price & read reviews) I even own one!

✅This specific essential oil diffuser model is the most popular wholesale/retail diffuser.

It comes with lots of Features and EXTRA BONUSES!! It has my vote as the best essential oil diffuser available at wholesale on the market. (see it in action and check the current price here. Sign up for a free wholesale membership and get it 25%off!! Plus lots of other great free stuff.)

By Oily Design Readers have spoken and these are their TOP 10 Essential Oil Diffuser picks.

I think they made some great picks this year! For example, This diffuser was one of the top choices – and it’s a good one!

If you can get it under $29, grab it! That’s one heck of a deal on a GOOD diffuser.

On this page, you can read reviews, compare prices AND see which of the Top 8 diffusers that are available on Amazon are on sale TODAY.

Two of their favorite Essential Oil Diffusers are available at Wholesale prices from Young Living and include a fabulous starter kit of oils with the diffuser. On this page, you can check out the great wholesale pricing for the premium starter kit.

 

There are so many types of essential oil diffusers, how do you choose?

I know what you are thinking…

That's a lot of diffusers, I'm still overwhelmed.

Maybe you are even still questioning…

Do essential oil diffusers work?

Is it worth the investment to get the best essential oil diffuser on the market? Or should you go cheap?

Is there a diffuser type that is better for the type of essential oil diffuser recipes you want to diffuse?

And what is this essential oil membership/ non-membership thing about and why could it affect the diffuser I want to buy??

Is there a perfect essential oil diffuser for sleep that will go all night long? How about essential oil diffusers for large rooms? Or an Essential oil diffuser for the car?

These are all great questions to ask before selecting your diffuser.  

Stick with me and I will show you how to use these questions and a few more to select just the right diffuser for your needs.

In this post, not only am I going to review some great diffuser options but I’m also going to answer all the other questions on your mind regarding diffusers!

– How do essential oil diffusers work

– How to choose your essential oil diffuser

-Are essential oil diffusers safe

-what to do when you find your essential oil diffuser not working

– Essential oil diffuser and humidifiers is there a difference?

I will also cover the best features you will want in the perfect diffuser and the models that have these features.

Intermittent misting, lights, candles, led lighting, good for Sleep, capacity for large rooms, essential oil diffusers made out of wood and or glass, diffusers for the car, and great options of essential oil diffusers for kids.

It's a lot of info to be coming at you but I promise I will be simplifying a lot of it.

My plan is to have you buying your essential oil diffuser with confidence.

Because this is going to be a very large post feel free to use the table of contents here to skip to the info you need!

Now let’s get to the fun part and review some diffusers to see which is best for you.  

Reviews on essential oil diffusers based on features

I've divided up the diffusers based on their strongest features and selected only the top-rated.

My criteria for these reviews- 4 stars or better on customer reviews and no less than 1000 reviews.

I wanted to make sure the diffusers I share in this review are really the best essential oil diffuser for your needs.

Where to buy your essential oil diffuser

The diffusers I'm sharing in this post can be found on Amazon or can be purchased from Young Living as part of a wholesale or retail membership with Young Living. You will find Essential Oil diffusers for sale in other stores like Walmart, Cosco, Target, TJMaxx, Wholefoods and other retail stores.

Personally, I buy just about EVERYTHING from Amazon except for my essential oils.  I want those to be high quality from a brand I trust.

The Free Shipping alone lets me know I am getting a great deal and I’ve found the prices to be consistently competitive.

Plus, it sure beats GOING out to buy an essential oil diffuser sold in stores where I have to tote my kids around with me. I’d rather my UPS guy BRING it to me…lol!

 

✅Best essential oil diffuser for sleep

For me, there are two main features you want in a diffuser you will use while asleep. It needs to be whisper quiet and the lighting needs to be soft or dimmable and also have the option to run the diffuser with no light. Pretty much every diffuser I’ve seen has the ability to run with no light. These two diffusers are known for how quiet they work and they have run times that last most of the night.

VicTsing Essential Oil Diffuser

VicTsing Essential Oil Diffuser, 300ml Oil Diffuser with 7 Color Lights and 4 Timer, Aromatherapy Diffuser with Auto Shut-off Function, Cool Mist Humidifier BPA-Free for Bedroom Home

The VicTsiing is a reader top pick with over 10K reviews and the reviews praise how quiet this diffuser is. It hits the selling points of a diffuser for sleep with a Large 300ml water capacity that lasts up to 10 hours with aroma coverage of 160 sq ft and humidify of  65-82 sq.ft. Timer settings: 1 hour/3 hours/6 hours/steady on; automatic shut off once the water runs low; BPA free material

One reviewer states- there isn't that much noise when the diffuser is running. it is actually one of the more quiet diffusers I have owned. 

Laura

“No Noise” Operation: The humidifier works quietly with no extra sounds; perfect for use at bedroom, living room, baby room, office, yoga room, SPA shop, fitness room, hotel, or hospital 

Young Living's Desert Mist Diffuser

Young Living’s Desert Mist essential oil diffuser is one of my favorite all-around diffusers. This diffuser is custom designed to diffuse continuously for 5–6 hours on High mode, 8 hours on Low mode, and 10 hours on Intermittent mode. It also offers 11 individual light settings, including a candle-like flicker mode. The Desert Mist is a whisper-quiet diffuser and the candle-like flicker mode makes it relaxing sleep.

Young Living Desert Mist diffuser purchase comes with a starter kit that contains 11 high-quality oils and a wholesale membership with Young Living.

I own this diffuser and can say it's has become my favorite. I also like that the top is so easy to lift for refills and adding oils.

 

✅Best essential oil diffusers for large rooms

The key to buying the best diffuser for your large room is looking at a larger water capacity and a strong mist setting. Most diffusers work for rooms about 300 sq ft. In this essential oil review, my goal was to find the best diffuser for large rooms over 400 sq ft.

UrPower Square Diffuser

URPOWER Square Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser Humidifier, 700ml Large Capacity Modern Ultrasonic Aroma Diffusers Running 20+ Hours 7 Color Changing for Home Office Bedroom Living Room Study.

The Urpower 700ml diffuser is a best seller with 85% 4 star and 5-star reviews It has an easy to open non-screw off top. So you can just lift the top and fill with water and oil. With the large capacity, you can refill less often.  The Urpower 700ml has a mist control for strong or weak mist. Setting it on strong will help you fill your larger room quicker with your essential oil. This diffuser covers 430 square feet for aromatherapy and 269 square feet for humidification. It also comes with the option to run with a timer or continuous. 

Reviewer comments on how well the Urpower 700ml diffuser works in a large room:

• I have it in my classroom which is about 900 sq. ft. and this diffuser does a great job throughout the room.
• My apartment is 1,170 sq ft. I have it in my bedroom with my door closed but you can smell it throughout the house. Very pleasant to come home to.
• The first floor of my home is pretty open and around 900sq ft. I could smell my essential oils that were being diffused in every room. It was great!

I found this great video review of the Urpower square aromatherapy essential oil diffuser humidifier-It really showcases how this diffuser works.

URPOWER Essential Oil Diffuser, 400ml Wood Grain Aromatherapy Diffuser Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier

 

URPOWER Essential Oil Diffuser, 400ml Wood Grain Aromatherapy Diffuser Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier with Color LED Lights Changing and Waterless Auto Shut-off for Bedroom, Office, Home, Baby Room, Yoga Studio. Classic Wood Grain Finish: Natural wood grain look and unique vase-shaped design. It makes you feel relax with its zen-style outlook. The URPower Diffuser 400ml is designed to be a showpiece that fits any decor.

Rated 4.5 stars with over 4,000 reviews

Runs up to 12 hrs

Coverage area: Around 500 square feet

Check out my favorite diffuser blends for parties and get-togethers.

✅Best essential oil diffuser and humidifier

Not all diffusers are able to also be labeled as a true humidifier. In reviewing these I wanted a diffuser that could produce humidifier type outputs with the mist. These diffusers do just that. If you want more info on diffusers vs humidifiers I've got a whole post that goes into the pros and cons of each and do diffusers really humidify the room.

VicTsing 300ml essential oil diffuser great for using as a humidifier

The VicTsing 300ml, I've talked about it before but this diffuser is so awesome I couldn't help but included it again seeing it is so great at humidifying a room.

VicTsing 300ml Cool Mist Humidifier Ultrasonic Aroma Essential Oil Diffuser for Office Home Bedroom Living Room Study Yoga Spa – Wood Grain

This diffuser has over 13,000 customer reviews with an 70% 5 star rating.

• LARGE CAPACITY AND GREAT MIST OUTPUT. This aroma diffuser can hold up to 300ml of water and produce up to 30ml of moisture per hour. It can run up to 10 hours of continuous output. Automatic power off when water used up, which ensures safety.

URPOWER 300ml

Check out this Amazon Pick– Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser, URPOWER 300ml Wood Grain Ultrasonic Cool Mist Whisper-Quiet Humidifier with Color LED Lights Changing & 4 Timer Settings, Waterless Auto Shut-Off for Spa Baby (Urpower)

Over 4,000 reviews  Highly Rated: More than 90% 4 star and 5-star reviews

Check out the reviewers' comment on humidifier use-

I have this diffuser (among several others) and I can adjust the stream by holding down the right button till it gives an extra beep. The stream in regular mode seems equal to my others but is a good humidifier on strong stream

Wood-grain design but made from PLASTIC. The top is an easy lift top. 

I think you will be very surprised at the amazingly affordable price for this diffuser.

URPOWER 500ml Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser

VicTsing Essential Oil Diffuser, 300ml Oil Diffuser with 7 Color Lights and 4 Timer, Aromatherapy Diffuser with Auto Shut-off Function, Cool Mist Humidifier BPA-Free for Bedroom Home

With this diffuser you will find-

• Large 500ml water capacity that can continue use up to 10 hours each time. When time is up or there is no water, it will turn off automatically. Press the “Mist” button, choose the timer from 60 mins, 120 mins, 180 mins or ON. Can be used as a humidifier. Provides moisture for dry room & dry skin.
• Aromatherapy: 430 Sq ft / Humidification: 269 Sq ft

 

✅Best essential oil diffusers for the car

Taking a long ride with the kids or need essential oils to soothe your mind during a commute? When it comes to picking the best essential oil diffuser for your car you have several great options.

InnoGear USB Car Essential Oil Diffuser Air Refresher Ultrasonic Aromatherapy Diffusers with 7 Colorful LED lights for Office Travel Home Vehicle Snag it if the price is under $20

I have this Car diffuser and I LOVE it. The InnoGear USB Car Essential Oil Diffuser has the highest reviews of any of the car diffusers on Amazon. With over 1,200 customer reviews.

It has a USB Port & Vehicle Cup Holder Design: Plug in your car, it is portable to be taken anywhere and fits perfectly to any vehicle cup holder. You can even use this essential oil diffuser in your office or hotel room. Great diffuser for people who travel. Comes also with 7 Color Changing LED Lights – Beautiful mood light to relieve tiredness while driving. You have the option of just using the diffuser without the light.

If cupholder space is a premium in your car you will want to check out the EconoLED with its swivel head and plug into your DC jack. swivel your unit the direction you want to spray, The EconoLED Car Diffuser works both as an air humidifier and aroma diffuser. Will run for 2 hrs before automatic shut off.

It even comes with a one year “Peace of Mind” replacement guarantee!

✅Best essential oil diffusers wood grain look

I love the all natural wood look for diffusers. It helps add to the overall spa feel that using essential oil diffusers can give. Here are a few great options showcasing the wood look.

InnoGear Real Bamboo Essential Oil Diffuser

InnoGear Real Bamboo Essential Oil Diffuser Ultrasonic Aromatherapy Diffusers with 7 LED Colorful Lights and Waterless Auto Shut-off, 160ml has an outer shell made from exotic bamboo wood and is BPA free. This is a small capacity diffuser so it will be great for a bedroom setting.

Here is a really good Video review of the InnoGear Real Bamboo Diffuser

InnoGear 200ML woodgrain Diffuser

 

Another great option for the Essential oil diffuser with a wood grain look- InnoGear Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser Wood Grain Ultrasonic Cool Mist Diffusers with 7 Color LED Lights Waterless Auto Shut-Off, 200ml

This is a smaller sized diffuser but has amazing reviews.

The aesthetically pleasing wood grain, coupled with a low, sleek design gives you the ability to hide this away, or show it off in any room.But, I’d have to say the BEST feature about this diffuser HAS GOT to be the 18 MONTH WARRANTY!! And that, my friends, is the ultimate way to “feel more relaxed”.

Josh

One thing I want to point out is with this an all diffusers you need to make sure you are cleaning them out weekly or they will stop working.

✅Best essential oil diffuser with sound

How cool is it to have essential oil diffuser with music playing capabilities as a feature?

Young Living’s Aria is hands down the winner for this one. It’s not only a gorgeous diffuser with its glass dome but it has a ton of top of the line features you will love. With the music feature, you can play the spa music that comes with the diffuser or hook up the cord and attach to your phone to listen to your own personal playlist. This diffuser comes with a remote so you can easily control it from anywhere in the room.

Young Living Aria

The Aria™ diffuser is a unique, stylish way to bring the benefits of essential oils into your home. It features a solid American maple base and remote, glass dome to direct the essential oil vapor, relaxing multicolored LED lights and a selection of soothing, built-in sounds.

Choose from 12 minutes of relaxing music played through internal speakers or plug in your own personal music player with the provided AV cord and listen to any music you choose.

The only noise from the Aria is the slight rippling of the moving water and soft hum of the internal fan pushing out the essential oil vapor. I find this sound so relaxing

If your looking for the top of the line diffuser this is the one for you. This is a great video showcasing how to use an Aria Diffuser

Young Living Aria diffuser purchase comes with a starter kit that contains 11 high-quality oils and a wholesale membership with Young Living.

Smart Wifi Essential Oil Aromatherapy Diffuser

Smart Wifi Essential Oil Aromatherapy Diffuser – Alexa & Google Home Compatible – 400ml Dark Wood Grain Ultrasonic Aromatherapy Diffuser & Humidifier – LED & Timer Settings

This Diffuser didn't match my requirements for the reivew of over 1000K customer reviews a 4-5 rating but I wanted to include it so you have two options to compare Diffusers with sound that you could play from your iphone. Pretty much these are the only two I could find.

✅Best essential oil diffuser for kids

When looking for an essential oil diffuser for my kids my first thought is durability. Kids are rough and I wanted a diffuser that could take a licking and keep on going. I started my essential journey with these two diffusers and they are still working great 3 years later in my girl's rooms. Sure there are some other cute options but these rank high with my readers and with reviewers on Amazon.

InnoGear Upgraded 150ml

InnoGear Upgraded 150ml Aromatherapy Essential Oil Diffuser Portable Ultrasonic Diffusers Cool Mist Humidifier with 7 Colors LED Lights and Waterless Auto Shut-off for Home Office Bedroom Room

This diffuser is perfect for small rooms. I like the fact that the night light is not too bright. My girls love the purple light option. I love that it has an intermittent mist option so I know they are just getting a light amount of oils. It has a small water well so this diffuse if run continuous will run out in a few short hours but for a kids room I'm okay with that.

This Diffuser has over 13,000 reviews and is a best seller. You will be shocked at the great buy this diffuser is!

*** Note***You should always leave the bedroom door open to allow fresh air in a child's room while you are diffusing.

Young Living Dewdrop

The Young Living Dewdrop is a great diffuser. It functions as a humidifier, atomizer, and aroma diffuser in one simple-to-use product. I have this diffuser and we have dropped it multiple times on hardwood floors and it hasn't missed a beat. It's super easy to use and clean with its lift off top. It makes zero sound as it diffuses. It's a great diffuser for large and small bedrooms as it diffuses up to 300sq ft and runs about 4 hrs.

This diffuser is one of Young Living's most popular diffusers.

Young Living Dewdrop diffuser purchase comes with a starter kit that contains 11 high-quality oils and a wholesale membership with Young Living. This way you know you are only diffusing high-quality essential oils safe for kids.

Check out my favorite Diffuser recipes for kids

 

How do essential oil diffusers work?

The purpose of an essential oil diffuser is to disperse essential oils into the air by creating a fine mist that the essential oil is carried on. This kind of Essential oil use is called Aromatic use and is one of the easiest ways to use essential oils.  

What do essential oil diffusers do to get this oil and mist in the air?

Well, that depends on the type of essential oil diffuser you use.

Nebulizer or Ultrasonic

Most people choose to use the Ultrasonic type of essential oil diffusers. Inside each Ultrasonic diffuser is an electronic vibrating plate. This plate vibrates the water and oils inside the diffuser to create a mist that is then released into the air. There is no heating of the water involved. Ultrasonic diffusers require water to work. They are the type of essential oil diffuser that most beginners prefer to use.

Another type of essential oil diffuser is a Nebulizer diffuser. It requires no water to work but uses a wick placed in a supplied jar that pulls just the pure essential oil that you place in the jar.

The Essential oil diffuser instructions that come with your diffuser will go more in-depth with how much water, type of water (tap vs distilled) and how many drops of oils can be used.

Essential oil diffuser and humidifiers is there a difference?

I get asked all the time, can I put essential oils in my humidifier? My answer is no.

Because of the concentration of oil, it is best not to use essential oils in a humidifier because it could cause your humidifier to break down and release harmful toxins into the air. And humidifiers are not cheap why ruin one.

Plus, if it is a warm air humidifier you especially don’t want to place oils in it because oils should never be heated.

If you are looking for the benefits of both an Essential oil diffuser and humidifier there are models out there that are labeled as diffuser humidifier combo so you can get the best of both worlds picking a model with this feature.

How to choose your essential oil diffuser

When I’m shopping for an essential oil diffuser I first look at the area I plan on using the diffuser and why I want to use it.

For example…

If it’s a diffuser for my bedroom, I’m going to look for a diffuser with the following features-

1. led lighting that can turn on and off. If I need a night light, I want it to have a dim setting.  
2. A diffuser with a remote so if I’m feeling lazy I don’t have to get out of bed.
3. I also would want an essential oil diffuser with intermittent mist so I’m overdoing the oils.
4. A large capacity diffuser so it will last most of the night.
5. A quiet diffuser so it doesn’t keep me up.

Once I have my list of must-have features I start to narrow down my search by looking at how the diffuser looks and price.

The process of wading through all the types of essential oil diffusers can be long and frustrating but I hope with this post I can eliminate some of that.

Just a little note on are essential oil diffusers safe.

The key to how to use an essential oil diffuser safely is using a diffuser that is sized properly for the room and then controlling the amount of oil you use in the diffuser. I always suggest starting out with only one or two drops of oil until you, your family and pets are comfortable using oils.

When I’m diffusing oils around my kids and pets, I always keep a door open to the room so fresh air is available or they can easily leave the area where the oil is being diffused.

When in doubt stop using the oils until you are comfortable.

I'm all about using essential oils safely- you can find a list of safe essential oils to diffuse here

What to do when you find your essential oil diffuser not working

I’m adding this to my essential oil diffuser reviews because there are some major points to think about when your essential oil diffuser is not working.

Did you know some diffusers have a year warranty and they will replace them without question?

Did you know that some diffusers have replacement parts that can easily get a diffuser back up and running?

I’ve found that most diffusers quit working because the ultrasonic plate that causes the mist has broken. This can happen from improper cleaning of the diffuser or using tap water when the diffuser instructions say distilled water only. (You should only use water and rubbing alcohol to clean a diffuser NEVER vinegar or household cleaners.) The only brand of diffuser I know of that has a year warranty and replacement parts is Young Living.

If you can still see the mist from your diffuser but have no smell from the oils you add, the problem may be a dirty ultrasonic plate. The plate can be cleaned gently with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab.

This video shows you steps to troubleshoot your diffuser to see why your essential oil diffuser is not working.

Buying a diffuser from a local store or from Amazon compared to buying an essential oil diffuser with wholesale membership to Young Living.

I have bought diffusers from Amazon and from Young Living and have been happy with both.

The diffusers from Amazon while less expensive they typically do not have a one year warranty and they do not include high-quality oils.

I’ve also found that retail purchased diffusers usually don’t offer diffuser replacement parts for cords, easily broken pieces like glass domes, remote controls, and ultrasonic plates.

I look at retail diffusers as sort of buy and throw away. While the more expensive wholesale membership diffusers are more about investing in the long haul.

While at first glance essential oil Wholesale diffusers may look like an expensive option you really are getting a great deal as you are purchasing a collection of oils to go with your diffuser. And any other future purchases while a wholesale member are at a discount.

When buying a Young Living Premium Starter Kit you are getting an amazing buy. To buy everything in the kit individually it would cost you over $300 but signing up for the free membership and purchasing a kit gets you all 11 oils and the diffuser of your choice at $160 or more depending on the diffuser you choose.

Check out the prices for the By Oily Design reader's picks for essential oil diffusers

With all this diffusing going on your probably going to need some great diffuser recipes. Check out these posts for essential oil diffuser recipe inspiration.

Do you own any of the types of essential oil diffusers I reviewed? I'd love to hear your thoughts on how they have performed for you! So leave me a comment with your thoughts.

Essential oil diffuser guide

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