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Best Bidet for Most People
Kohler C3 455
Best High-End Bidet
Toto S7A
Runner-Up
Moen 5-Series Electronic Bidet Seat
A Cheaper Electric Bidet
Coway Bidetmega 400
Bidet seats are one of those luxuries you can live happily without until you realize what you’re missing. My first encounter came at a ramen spot on the West Coast of the US that had imported a high-end Toto washlet from Japan, where they’ve been a part of daily life for decades. I might have been an early adopter, but bidets are getting more common in the US. Toto’s American sales doubled in the first quarter of 2020 and have continued to climb since. (The pandemic and the infamous toilet paper outage surely played a role.) But maybe more people are starting to realize that American bathroom habits are … gross. Think about it: When you get something on you that smells foul and is full of germs, do you want to wash it off or smear it off with a piece of paper?
OK, I convinced you. So what should you buy? Never fear. The WIRED team has swapped out plenty of toilet seats in search of the best bidets. We spent at least one week testing each model—some for far longer—and managed the installations ourselves without the help of a professional plumber. We’ve got budget bidets, bidets with heated seats, and ones that automatically open up, happily inviting you to empty your bowels. We’ve got your bum covered.
Updated November 2023: We’ve added the new flagship from Toto, added a SmartBidet model with instant heating, and added an accessory that’s a must-have for anyone installing their bidet in a tight space. We’ve also removed Brondell as a pick, and explain why.
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What Kind of Bidet Should You Buy?
Think of the shape. Most American home toilets come in one of two standard sizes: round or elongated. A round toilet bowl is 16.5 inches long while an elongated bowl is about 18.5. The bidets on this list are generally made for one or the other. Measure twice, buy once. All bidets we reviewed are attachments that take the place of the seats on existing toilets, but there are also toilets with built-in bidet seats.
Electric seat or simple sprayer? The bidets on this list are either whole seats that you attach and connect to an AC outlet or, in the case of Tushy, a sprayer that mounts below your existing seat and taps into your water lines. The seat-top bidets are generally more expensive and have more features, but they also require electricity. You must have a shock-blocking GFCI-protected outlet within a few feet of the toilet to use them safely. The Tushy doesn’t heat the water, which will be at room temperature. The cheaper electric bidets we’ve used typically start with a quick burst of room-temperature water that quickly gives way to warm water. The best bidest—typically with a price to match—start by spraying warm water and will allow you to control the temperature within a few degrees. Most electric bidets also have fans which will help dry you off, but you’ll probably still want to have a few squares of toilet paper handy for drying.
What’s your budget? You can get an attachment that fits on your current seat and taps into the cold water line filling your toilet for about $100. Some high-end bidet attachments can cost $2,000. The sweet spot tends to be at a price point between $500 and $1,000, where you get a sturdy seat with nice features but without over-the-top extras like voice commands (yes, really) and a backup battery.
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Photograph: Kohler
Best Bidet for Most People
Kohler C3 455
After a decade of happily using Toto washlets, I was surprised to find that my favorite bidet came from Wisconsin-based Kohler. The C3 455 looks sleek and is several hundred bucks cheaper than Totos, and it has the same extra features, including backup buttons on the seat itself and a UV sanitization light. The sprayer and dryer work well and will leave you feeling fresh and clean after use. The blue UV nightlight is a game changer for using the bathroom in the wee hours too. The seat is comfortable and sturdy, and the minimalist design with almost no branding allows it to blend in anywhere. Installation is easy, and some may find the included stainless steel splitter you use to attach the bidet and toilet to your water supply more trustworthy than the plastic splitters included with the Toto.
There are some negatives. For starters, the controls aren’t super intuitive. There are five water settings controlled by one button—I could never tell whether I was making the water hotter or cooler. The placement of the hose and power plug in the middle of the right side of the seat instead of the back is also awkward, and the magnet on the remote isn’t strong, and you may worry about it falling off.
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Photograph: Toto
Best High-End Bidet
Toto S7A
The S7A is the new flagship model from Toto, the Japanese bidet maker that invented the category. The S7A takes over the mantle from the S550e and bears a strong resemblance to its predecessor, which we have also tested, offering most of the same features at a similar price. Toto has upgraded the remote and slimmed the profile down to an impressive 4 inches of height. You could easily mistake the S7A for a regular toilet seat—at least until the lid lifts and the nightlight clicks on, when the device senses your presence in the bathroom.
The controls work in the same intuitive way as other Toto washlets, with buttons to adjust the position, intensity, and angle of the sprayer. There is also a button to make the spray oscillate. The controller now allows pre-programming for four people instead of two. If there’s any weak point on the S7A—and this is a stretch, this bidet is nearly perfect—it’s that the drying fan seems a little weaker than on the previous model, perhaps due to design compromises made when shaving down the height.
Toto has also improved what was already a great system for pre-misting the bowl to lessen the required cleaning. The S7A uses the company’s system for making electrolyzed water, which uses a mild electrical charge to turn the chloride in municipal tapwater into a slightly alkaline substance that is an effective cleaner. It’s a wildly effective tool—when I swap a Toto with EWATER+ for another bidet in my testing I’m always amazed at the difference over a week. You could likely get away with not scrubbing this bowl for months at a time.
If you’ve got the money for the best bidet on the market right now, the S7A is a great buy. Given Toto’s impressive track record of reliability (I had my previous Washlet for a decade) it’s a solid investment.
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Photograph: Moen
Runner-Up
Moen 5-Series Electronic Bidet Seat
This Moen electric bidet came with an overwhelmingly big manual, but after watching a YouTube video, the installation was pretty easy and took less than 20 minutes. The seat does not automatically lift up, but that’s the only feature it’s missing. It has it all—temperature controls for the seat, water, and dryer, where you can change it from cool, lukewarm, and warm. There’s also a night light, along with varying water pressures and nozzle positions. There are even backup buttons on the side of the seat in case the remote dies at the worst time. The highest water pressure setting is a little choppy, and my wife and I both wish we could adjust the nozzle a tiny bit more, but we’ve been thoroughly happy not relying on toilet paper anymore.
You can mount the remote holster onto your wall, and the remote sits in the cradle, with a bit of magnetism to keep it in place. It’s super intuitive to use, and there are beeps that change the tone to indicate when you’re already at the highest or lowest setting. Speaking of, the bidet does beep when you sit down on it. I’ve seen some customers complain about this, but I’ve been using it since July and barely even register the sound. —Julian Chokkattu
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Photograph: Coway
A Cheaper Electric Bidet
Coway Bidetmega 400
The Bidetmega 400 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) packs a lot of features into a bidet that often costs under $500. WIRED reviewer Parker Hall says it awes every visitor who enters the tiny bathroom in his home. The high-end, heated (both seat and spray) bidet is friendly and easy to use, plus it has a night light so you don’t need to blast your eyes with harsh bathroom lighting for a late-night tinkle. Three seat and water temps (cold, medium, and medium-hot) allow you to customize your experience à-la-commode, with front and rear spray options for the ladies. The remote is easy to use and intuitive, so you don’t need an instruction manual.
The Bidetmega comes up short, however, in its chunkier size. It’s not nearly as sleek as others on this list. The build quality also isn’t as sturdy as those from legacy fixture-makers like Kohler and Toto.
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Photograph: Amazon
For Unlimited Warm Water on a Budget
SmartBidet SB-3000
There are a few things about SmartBidet’s SB-3000 that betray its status as a mid-range option from an upstart brand. This is the loudest bidet I’ve tested and, despite the noise, has the least effective fan. I love the design of the controller that hangs with the help of a magnetic block, and having quick controls on the side is always nice, but the controller’s prompts are not especially intuitive and something about a “turbo” mode for a bidet sprayer is disconcerting. Also, an auto-lifting seat is a nice feature to have once you get into the $500 range.
The trade-off is that after a very short burst of cooler water you have an unlimited supply of warm water that’s heated on demand. The sprayer works very well (turbo mode is great, as it turns out!) meaning this bidet does what bidets are meant to do as well as any, and for longer than most.
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Photograph: TUSHY
Best Budget Bidet (Nonelectric)
Tushy Classic 3.0
The Tushy is minimal in both its setup and features. It doesn’t require hot water or an electrical outlet, so it’s a great choice for anyone who doesn’t have an outlet in the bathroom. Even with simple controls—it has a single knob for water pressure—it’s a great bidet that packs a lot of water power. It comes with a few different colors and knob finishes to best fit your bathroom (though we’d be shocked if anyone found the blue or pink a perfect match to their toilet).
Since it’s nonelectric, there’s no warm air dryer. After a year of use, WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell says the Tushy is showing some cracks on the rotating flanges inside of the housing (which you’d only see if you removed it), and the foam cushion surrounding those flanges is falling out. But it still works great.
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Photograph: Toto
Another Good Bidet
Honorable Mentions
We’ll continue to test more bidets as they find their way into our bathrooms, but not every one of them deserves a spot above. Given the current competition, this one doesn’t quite make the grade.
Toto C5 for $400: This is the successor to the C200, which is what I happily used for a decade. The C5 has a great reputation—other sites have named it the best bidet—with a strong record of reliability. But after testing the new class of bidet seats on the market, I was left underwhelmed. For $400 or more, you’re getting only the most basic features. The pre-mist function wasn’t effective, and my toilet required far more cleaning. Without a night light, I had to turn on my bathroom lights and blind myself to pee in the middle of the night. The C5 is a fine classic bidet, but you can do better these days.
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Photograph: Brondell
Avoid These Bidets
You Can Do Better
Not every bidet is a winner. Stick with our recommendations above.
Brondell Swash BL97 for $282: WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell swapped her personal bidet out for this entry-level electric model from Brondell, and she was not a fan. The seat is tiny, and the water is weak and slow-reacting compared to bidets like the Tushy. The BL97 hose also fit poorly on her toilet and caused a leak. It does, however, have a warm seat, and the controls work well, albeit slowly.
Brondell Thinline T44 for $700: Nena also tried this bidet, and while she originally liked it and recommended it for its thin profile and easy installation, the hardware is also thin and snapped after only a few months of use. You can get our top pick from Kohler for the same price, or the Tushy for something nearly as discreet and easy to install.
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Photograph: Amazon
A Must-Have Bidet Accessory for Tight Spaces
BIXFE THU9090R
I replaced the old-fashioned round toilet at my 80-year-old house with a modern elongated toilet when I started testing bidets for WIRED. In order to fit a longer seat in the same space, I ended up with a taller tank that sits snug to the wall. If you’re installing an elongated toilet in an older home, chances are you will be making the same decision. And if you are, please save yourself hours of headache by buying this short hose extension by BIXFE.
You probably need to order it on Amazon because if your local hardware stores are like mine (and the Amazon reviews on this product suggests they are!) they don’t have this simple hose in the right size for a bidet. I even went to a dedicated plumbing supply warehouse and came up empty after crudely drawing what I needed on a sheet of paper for a perplexed Midwestern man.
The THU9090R hose has male and female ends of the same size. It screws onto the inflow valve coming out of the bottom of your toliet tank and offers the same connection 6 or 9 inches away, giving you some space to maneuver when connecting the T-shaped splitter that will divert water to your bidet seat. If you have any doubts about having enough space to get your seat on and off, spend the $17.
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Photograph: TUSHY
How to Install a Bidet
It’s Not That Hard!
If you’re handy and your toilet is a few inches from the wall, a bidet installation can be done in less than 15 minutes. Follow your model’s instructions, but you’re essentially disconnecting the water hose that feeds your toilet tank and attaching a splitter that sends some of the water to the seat and the rest to the tank. In the case of Toto and our other top picks, the seat heats that water. If your toilet sits snugly against the wall, it will be a tougher job. (This short YouTube video takes you through the complete process on a Toto.) Then, it’s a matter of removing the bolts that attach the seat to the toilet and affixing the new plastic mounting plate. The bidet will click on and off this plate. That’s it!
Installing these toilet-top bidets is a job anyone can do, but most people would probably prefer to do it only once, given that there are toilet water and bath towels involved. That just means you want to choose wisely. You can also hire a plumber or TaskRabbit to install these seats, but it will cost more.
If you’re worried about your electricity bill, you can always plug your bidet into a smart plug and shut off power to the whole thing when it’s not in use. This might eliminate certain features though, like a heated seat right when you plop down.
