The best knife sharpeners of 2026, tested and reviewed

If you find that your chef's knife can no longer cut a tomato without resistance or smoothly dice an onion , it's probably overdue for a knife-sharpening session. Although electric and manual knife sharpeners require initial practice, they can quickly restore a razor-sharp edge to your German or Japanese knife. Some may even help bring damaged knives back to life!

I researched hundreds of at-home sharpeners and chose to test the ones that seemed easiest for home cooks to use. Ultimately, I tested nine sharpeners and two honing rods. While professional chefs may tell you that using a whetstone (aka sharpening stone) is the best way to sharpen your knives, this method isn't practical for most people. It can be challenging to get the angle right and maintain it in the process. Instead, the best knife sharpeners offer a simple solution to reviving your dull knives. Here are electric and manual sharpeners that I found to be a cut above the rest.

Best knife sharpeners for 2026

What to look for when choosing a knife sharpener

You want a sharpener that restores knives to as close to new as possible, but you should also consider these factors:

• Ease of use:If you're an experienced cook familiar with various types of sharpeners, you'll be able to experiment to find the one you prefer. But if you're a sharpening novice, choose one that takes the guesswork out of the equation. I love the Chef'sChoice 1520 for this reason.

• Compatibility:Do you have both Western/German knives and Eastern/Japanese knives that require sharpening? If the answer is yes, you should only choose a sharpener that can accommodate both types of knives.

• Abrasive material:The best sharpeners use the toughest materials to create the perfect edge — namely diamond and tungsten. There are many sharpeners out there that use abrasive paper or ceramic blades. These will be less effective, but they also cost less.

• Stability/safety:Whatever sharpener you choose should enable you to protect your fingers and offer a stable base. If it's wobbly, it's not safe.

How we tested

First, I chose two excellent chef's knives — the Mercer Culinary Genesis 8-Inch Chef's Knife (a German/Western-style knife) and the MAC Knife 8-Inch Chef's Knife (a Japanese-style knife) — both of which I included in our guide to the best chef's knives . Against all my instincts, I dulled and damaged the blades by running them over both coarse and fine sandpaper.

Then I brought out the knife sharpeners, following the manufacturer's instructions for using each one. Some sharpeners accommodated both types of knives and some only Western-style knives. A few boasted that you could use them to sharpen serrated knives and/or scissors, but I did not use those utensils in this round of testing.

After using each sharpener, I sliced a piece of paper with the knife to see if it would cut cleanly or tear. I then sliced tomatoes to see if there was resistance or pressure needed to move through the delicate flesh and diced carrots to see if the blade would cut through in one go, or if the carrot would break.

Other knife sharpeners we tested

Work Sharp Electric Culinary E2 Kitchen Knife Sharpener :This sharpener was a runner-up in the electric category. It's easy to use and I had no trouble gliding my knife through the angled guides that house the ceramic abrasives. But the automatic shut-off function, which at first seemed like a plus, didn't end up working for me. I didn't feel I was finished sharpening when the machine turned off and therefore I had to run my knife through the cycle several times, which ended up taking longer than the Chef'sChoice 1520.

Presto EverSharp 2-Stage Electric Knife Sharpener :I'd be hard-pressed to recommend this electric sharpener, as it took a while for me to get the hang of it. When the knife hit the abrasive wheel at the wrong angle, the wheel stopped repeatedly. I finally gave up on it.

Smith's CCKS 2-Step Manual Knife Sharpener :This little guy is so inexpensive at under $15. It's not a powerhouse or particularly stable, but it would come in handy in a pinch on a camping or road trip when a dull knife threatens to ruin dinner under the stars.

Royal Craft Wood Whetstone Sharpening Kit :Whetstones can range in price, and although I didn't test sharpening stones for this story, I appreciate that this one from Royal Craft Wood falls under $25 and comes with a non-slip base and angle guide to help users find a 15- to 20-degree angle. While whetstones have a learning curve, this affordable option is designed with ease of use in mind if you want to give this sharpening method a go.

Tumbler Rolling Manual Knife Sharpener :I like the idea of this rolling sharpener, which uses a powerful magnet to keep your knife at an exact 15- or 20-degree angle. It works on both Western and Japanese knives and appeals to me in a fancy-gadget sort of way. It seems like a great gift for a knife enthusiast, but it didn't feel easy enough to warrant inclusion in our best list for the average home cook.

How to use a knife sharpener

Each manufacturer will include instructions and often a virtual tutorial on how to use its knife sharpener. Before you start sharpening, we highly recommend you read and watch these materials. But generally speaking, here's how you sharpen a knife:

• For an electric knife sharpener:Turn it on, then slowly run your knife from the base of its blade to the tip through each section several times.

• For a manual knife sharpener:Obviously, skip plugging it into an outlet, but then the process is the same otherwise. Both Longzon and Zwilling recommend you run your knife from base to tip through each coarse and fine setting multiple times. Make sure to go in one direction and apply even pressure.

Knife sharpener FAQs

How often should you sharpen your knives?

On this topic, I have two things to say: You'll know it when you see it! And, a dull knife is a dangerous knife. If you encounter resistance when cutting through vegetables or proteins or if your knife slips when you're trying to slice through something, it's time to sharpen it. The frequency depends on how often you use your knives. For daily home cooks, it's probably about once a month. To maintain a knife's edge, you may want to run it over a honing steel several times every few days.

What is a sharpening stone or whetstone?

A whetstone or sharpening stone can be made of various materials (both natural and manmade) and is used to sharpen the edge of knives through grinding or honing. Most stones are rectangular and come in different grades, which refer to their level of grit or abrasiveness (usually denoted in numbers from 100 to 5,000). The lower the number, the coarser the grit. Some stones have two sides, a coarser side for regaining the angle of the blade and a finer side for polishing.

Update, March 13, 2026: We checked all product prices and availability. Our No. 1 pick remains unchanged, but we removed two knife sharpeners from the others we tested section because they are currently out of stock.

We received complimentary samples of some products and purchased others ourselves, but we reviewed all products using the same objective criteria.