13 Best Weed Grinders to Buy in 2024

It doesn’t matter whether you’re vaping, smoking or cooking with weed, if you want to get the most out of it, you’ll need a good weed grinder. Many people settle on basic, cheap weed grinders, and for many purposes this is absolutely fine. However, if you’re serious about cannabis, it’s worth investing a little more and trying to find the best weed grinder for your purposes, otherwise you’ll run into tons of annoying little issues down the line like uneven grinds and the grinder getting gunked up and stuck. Luckily, there are tons of excellent herb grinders out there, and we’ve collected some of the best ones here to help you make your decision.

The 13 Best Weed Grinders for Turning Your Buds into Bits

13 – Sharpstone Hand Crank

The Sharpstone Hand Crank costs $43.25.

While most marijuana grinders make you twist their tops to crush up your material, the Sharpstone Hand Crank is a weed grinder with a handle, literally working like a crank to grind up your bud. It has teeth on one part, but the crank turns a diamond cutting blade, which breaks up your weed as it goes around. It has four pieces, so as well as a compartment to catch your weed, it also has a pollen/kief catcher in the very bottom. It has a 2.5 inch diameter, and a clear window in the top so you can watch your weed as you crank.

Pros

CNC machined from aircraft-grade aluminum and anodized
Neodymium magnets for secure closure
Fine grained stainless steel kief/pollen screen
Knurled sections at top and bottom for easy unscrewing
Ring around top section prevents friction and ensures smooth operation
Comes with extras like a pollen scraper and protective pouch

Cons

Leads to a coarse grind, not ideal for vaping
Crank system is arguably gimmicky

12 – Marley Natural Wood Grinder

The Marley Natural Wood Grinder costs $160 (use promo “ECR20” for 20% off).

The large Wood Grinder from Marley Natural is an elegant wooden weed grinder made from sustainably sourced black walnut. It has a four-piece design, incorporating a polycarbonate window so you can see how much you’ve grinded up so far, anodized aluminum components for the teeth and a magnetically-attached screen for the kief/pollen collector. Much of the appeal comes down to the stunning design of the grinder, but the same care also went into the functionality of the grinder, with custom-machined teeth inside and a stainless steel pollen scraper slotted neatly into the bottom. It’s a little expensive, but if you’re into cool weed grinders it’s still a very tempting offering.

Pros

Four-piece design
Black walnut, anodized aluminum and shatterproof polycarbonate construction
27 precision-engineered teeth
Magnetically removable kief/pollen catcher screen
Stainless steel pollen scraper
Beautiful design

Cons

Expensive
Quite a small grinder
It isn’t ideal to clean

11 – Tectonic9 Auto Dispensing Grinder

The Tectonic9 Auto Dispensing Grinder costs $59.99 (use promo “ECR20” for 20% off).

While the Auto Dispensing Grinder from Tectonic9 isn’t a fully electric weed grinder, it has automatic dispensing which simplifies the process considerably. The grinder has three main pieces, with the top two working like any other cannabis grinder, with CNC machined, diamond-shaped teeth for grinding up your bud, and the bottom section containing the auto-dispensing system. The system works using a vibrational motor that basically channels your material out through the hole at the front of the grinder, which you activate with the press of a button.

Pros

Anodized aluminum body, with knurled sections to improve grip
28 CNC machined, diamond-shaped teeth
LED-illuminated viewing window
Automated dispensing system with flip-out spout
Charging cable and bag included
Really easy to use

Cons

Only auto-dispensing, you still grind by hand
No kief/pollen catcher

10 – Quant Premium Electric Grinder

The Premium Electric Grinder from Quant costs $79.99.

The electric weed grinder from Quant is the ideal choice if you’re looking for something to take the work out of the grinding process. It's a weed grinder pen that basically looks like a wide vape pen, but when you take the top section off it reveals something similar to a blender blade, with four angled cutting blades supported by a small rotating rod. When you add your herb and press the button, the blades rotate at 24,000 RPM, giving your bud a thorough grind within just 10 seconds. It has a nozzle under a removable cap so you can simply tap the ground material out.

Pros

Effective electric grinder operating at 24,000 RPM
Takes 10 seconds to grind up enough material for multiple sessions
1,100 mAh battery capacity good for days and days of grinding
Very portable
Comes with USB charging cable
Magnetic dispenser cap

Cons

A little expensive
Difficult to remove all the material sometimes

9 – Kingtop Herb Grinder 3.0 Inch

The large Kingtop Herb Grinder costs $17.99.

If you struggle to find a marijuana grinder that can cope with the amount of material you want to grind up, the 3-inch diameter Kingtop could be the best herb grinder for you. The design is fairly straightforward, in that it’s a plain-looking metal grinder with a circular shape and some knurled edges on the top and bottom to help you grip onto it and get a good grind. The size is huge, though, perfect for anybody who goes through a lot of bud and doesn’t want to have to grind constantly. It has 45 teeth in total and turns smoothly even after many uses thanks to its glide rings.

Pros

4-piece grinder with a mesh kief/pollen catcher
Great size: 3” diameter gives you plenty of room to work with
45 diamond-shaped teeth
Zinc alloy construction
Glide rings for smooth operation
Great price

Cons

Simple grinder with few extra features
Generic appearance

8 – Higher Standards Aerospaced (Four Piece)

The Aerospaced 4 piece cannabis grinder from Higher Standards costs $26.95.

Higher Standards’ Aerospaced grinder is a unique marijuana grinder, with a completely toothless design. Instead, inside the magnetically-connected upper section it has a series of grooves that keep your material in place while the cutting edges on their sides give your material something more of a shred than a grind. They call it “coaxial turbine” technology, but basically it’s a set of spiraling trenches that turn against each other to break up your bud. This is impressively efficient, though, offering an easy, smooth grinding experience and rewarding you with coarsely-ground weed collecting in the bottom section. If you’re looking for something to use with a portable vaporizer, you might need something with teeth, but for smoking the unique design works perfectly.

Pros

4-piece grinder, with kief/pollen catcher and a mesh screen
Choice of sizes, 2 inch included
Cool toothless turbine-style design with cutting edges
Smooth, low-resistance grinding experience
Good price

Cons

Leads to a coarse grind – not ideal for vaporizers

7 – Banana Bros. Otto

The Banana Bros. Otto costs $199 (use promo “ECR20” for 20% off).

The Otto from Banana Bros. isn’t just a grinder; it’s an electric blunt roller and a grinder! The grinder section sits on the top, with a slightly diamond shaped body that opens up to reveal a mini grinder that feeds into a filling funnel, and leads straight to one of the pre-made cones stood underneath it. The idea is that you just fill the grinder, load in a cone and let it go to work, producing 20 to 30 cones on a single charge. This is perfect for people who can’t roll or don’t like to, and while the grinder itself is small, it’s just right for a single cone per time. This isn’t something you’d get if you’re purely looking for a weed grinder, but as a tool it has more potential for the right person.

Pros

Electric blunt roller and grinder in one
Single-button operation
Spill-free loading
20 to 30 cones filled per charge
Cones, charger, multi-function tool and measuring cup included
Detects the consistency of your material
Perfect if you don’t want to roll

Cons

Need to buy replacement cones
The grinder itself isn’t anything special

6 – iaso Four Piece Stainless Steel Grinder

The iaso Four-Piece Stainless Steel Grinder costs $129.99.

The 4-piece grinder from iaso is a strong contender for the title of best weed grinder thanks to very high-quality manufacturing and only the best materials being used throughout. It’s a stainless steel grinder, using medical-grade steel because it was originally intended for medical marijuana patients with concerns about aluminum. It has sharp diamond-shaped teeth intended to last you a lifetime of use, and a special “labyrinth” seal around the edges designed to prevent the build-up that makes grinders stick. It has a slightly small 1.75 inch diameter, but this is great for anyone looking for a small grinder.

Pros

100% medical-grade stainless steel grinder
Diamond-shaped teeth
Labyrinth seal designed to prevent build-up
4-piece grinder with rounded kief/pollen catcher
Knurled lid
Easy to clean

Cons

Labyrinth seal reduces space inside
Expensive

5 – Phoenician Medium Grinder

The Medium Grinder from Phoenician costs $89.99.

The medium-sized weed grinder from Phoenician is a grinder that innovates both inside and outside, while still keeping the basic structure of a 4 piece grinder intact. The first thing you’ll notice is the slightly octagonal shape, with eight little pairs of bumps sticking off the edges helping you get a grip on the grinder. But there’s more underneath the hood, with the lid containing razor-sharp cutting blades that work alongside the teeth on the corresponding part that sheers your cannabis flower rather than crushing or shredding it, maintaining a fluffy texture. It also has a completely threadless design that helps maintain smooth operation for longer.

Pros

Medical grade anodized aluminum body
4 piece design with kief/pollen catcher with removable screen
2.47” diameter
Quick lock design prevents threading issues
Doesn’t shred or crush your weed
Large trapezoid drop-down holes
Ergonomic design

Cons

Gives a coarser grind than some options
Expensive

4 – Santa Cruz Shredder

The Santa Cruz Shredder 4-Piece Grinder costs $79.

The Santa Cruz Shredder is often mentioned in countdowns for the best weed grinder because while it has a fairly standard design, they’ve taken care of every aspect of the design to produce something that’s easy to use, effective and dependable. The perfect example of this ethos is the magnets they use, which are full rare Earth magnets rather than the basic ones most cannabis grinders use, with a triple layer of coating to ensure no pieces flake off into your material. The teeth on the grinder are strongly-made and designed to cut in both directions, making it more efficient than many other grinders.

Pros

Anodized aluminum body
4-piece grinder with pollen/kief catcher
Multiple sizes available
Knurled grips – more textured than many other grinders
Lifetime warranty included
Teeth cut in both directions
Smooth operation

Cons

A little expensive
Not very unique in terms of design

3 – The Brilliant Cut Grinder

The Brilliant Cut Grinder costs $75.

The Brilliant Cut Grinders from Grinders for Life put quality above all else, and are well worth consideration if you’re looking for the best marijuana grinder. With a 7075 aluminum alloy construction and a CNC cut diamond design on the top and bottom, they have a classy but understated look, with the option to mix and match color for the three pieces of the grinder. It is a three-piece, so there’s no kief catcher, but it’s butter smooth to operate and the teeth have been carefully designed to leave your bud fluffy rather than crushing it. You can also choose a central piece (or get alternatives) for coarse, medium and fine grinds. It doesn’t have everything but it’s about as classy as a cannabis grinder can get.

Pros

Beautiful design
Three piece grinder
7075 aluminum construction
Choice of coarse, medium or fine middle plates
All magnetic connections
Impressively smooth operation
2.2 inch diameter

Cons

No kief catcher
A little pricey

2 – Qubus Grinder

The basic Qubus grinders cost $99.99.

The Qubus herb grinder stands out from the crowd immediately thanks to its cube shape, which is designed to improve comfort in use thanks to easily grip-able corners. This central innovation is supported by the thread-less design to prevent issues with sticking or cross-threading when you’re using the Qubus, with the unique magnetic lock system. It’s a 3 chamber grinder, with a changeable mesh section for the kief/pollen catcher, CNC machined teeth in the grinder section and an O-ring to produce an air-tight seal between the different sections. It might have just been beaten on this list, but many tokers would consider this the best herb grinder on the market.

Pros

Cube shape dramatically improves comfort in-use
CNC machined and hand-assembled in the US
4 piece design with replaceable mesh for kief catcher
Smell-proof and waterproof airtight seal
Lifetime warranty
Thread-less magnetic lock system
Well-designed teeth keep your bud fluffy after grinding
Customizability options

Cons

O-ring needs replacement and maintenance (one spare included)
Much more affordable options out there

1 – HØJ KLIP Grinder

The HØJ KLIP costs $120.

The KLIP from HØJ (“high” in Danish) is a 4-piece weed grinder with the motto: slice, don’t grind. And this sums up the key feature of the KLIP, which has two sets of blades that slice your weed as you turn them rather than crushing it. This is intended to keep more of the trichomes on your bud, giving you a better high while still having a kief catcher at the bottom for anything that does get knocked loose. The grinder is the smoothest we’ve ever tried, making use of magnetic levitation for a basically frictionless grind, and the main bud chamber opening with just a 10-degree rotation. It’s a carefully-designed and undeniably high-end metal grinder, working efficiently and smoothly every time.

Pros

Incredibly smooth operation
Cutting blades to slice your weed rather than grind it
4-piece grinder with three kief screens included
Comes with 3 different “control” discs for fine, medium or coarse grinds
Magnetic locking system makes it threadless
Anodized aluminum, brass and stainless steel construction
Lifetime warranty
2.1” diameter – holds 2 g of material

Cons

One of the most expensive grinders
Blades and changeable components add some complexity

What Should I Look for When Buying the Best Weed Grinder?

After reading this guide, you might have noticed that the world of grinders is a little more complicated than you might expect. So shopping for a weed grinder can get a bit hands-on if you’re trying to get the best one you can. Luckily, there are a few key areas you can focus on to make sure you get something efficient that does exactly what you want it to, without over-spending or getting features you’ll never use.

Material: Generally, you’ll have a choice between getting a metal grinder, a plastic weed grinder or one made from wood. There are other possibilities – you can even find a ceramic grinder in some places – but these are the most common and generally you won’t need anything else. Plastic/acrylic is cheapest and the lowest quality, metal is effective and still not too expensive, and wood tends to use metal teeth but be more expensive. Overall you should generally stick with metal (stainless steel or anodized aluminum) or wood.
Size: A bigger grinder is really useful if you’re going to regularly get through large amounts of bud, and especially if you’ll need large amounts ready at the same time. If you’re a solo or small group smoker, a standard 2.5 inch diameter option is probably fine, but if you’re likely to need large amounts often, go for something 3 inches across or bigger.
Number of Compartments: Two-piece grinders have one compartment, so your ground bud ends up in the same part as the main grinder. Three piece grinders have a separate compartment to collect the cannabis after grinding, and four-piece ones have an additional compartment to catch kief/pollen. If you don’t want a kief catcher, then you can get by with a two or three-piece option, but really there is no reason not to have one – otherwise you’re just wasting material.
The Teeth: The grinder’s “teeth” are what do the grinding work. Generally speaking, more teeth mean a better grinder, provided they’re equally distributed around the grinder. For example, around 40 teeth for a 2.5 inch grinder is a good number, but as low as 30 is acceptable. The shape of the teeth also matters, with diamond and pyramid-shaped teeth working really well overall. Other shapes can work too, but looking for something with either of these is a good idea.
The Mesh Screen: The mesh screen that catches your ground bud and lets the kief fall through is an important part of a four-piece pot grinder. This can be difficult to assess, but check reviews and try to determine the quality of the screen (especially to see if it clogs). Screens are numbered based on the number of threads per inch, with 40 or 60 per inch being great for most purposes. If you want very sifted material (to make oil, for example), you can go up to 80 or 100 to get a high-quality result.
Electric or Manual: With the continual advances in technology, it’s no surprise that you can also find an electric weed grinder if you want, which either grinds the material for you or sometimes just dispenses it. An ordinary hand grinder is fine for most people, but if you want to minimize your workload, electronic ones can work really well (just at a higher cost).
Price: Of course, as much as it would be nice to shop based on quality alone, price is an important factor. As always, you get what you pay for. If you want something that will last a long time, you shouldn’t really pay less than $40 for a marijuana grinder. However, if you want something good but not for long-term use, you can get something good for $20.

Guide to Weed Grinders

If you’ve just started using cannabis and are looking to pick up your first weed grinder, you might have a lot of questions about what to get, why to get it and why some of the options out there are so expensive. The short answer is that grinding is a simple enough job, but one you have to do all the time if you use cannabis, so getting the best weed grinder can save you a lot of headaches in the future. Yeah there are a lot of different features and bits of terminology thrown around, but ultimately the whole point is to give you the lowest-effort, best-result approach to turning your buds into bits.

Using ground cannabis flower to roll a blunt

What is a Weed Grinder?

A weed grinder is a device used to crumble buds of cannabis flower into small pieces that can be smoked, eaten or put into a vaporizer. At minimum, they need two pieces, both covered in “teeth” that pretty much fill the internal area when both bits are put together. By putting your pieces of weed in the grinder and twisting the pieces, the teeth break up the chunks of weed and turn it into something you can easily spread through a joint.

Of course, a two-piece grinder is just the beginning. With extra layers, you get somewhere for the weed to collect when it’s been ground down, and there are many other little improvements you can make to the basic formula along the way.

What are the Most Common Types of Weed Grinders?

There are quite a few different ways you can split the different options for marijuana grinder into types, but doing so by size, operation, build material or number of pieces can be useful.

By Size:

Big weed grinders can be considered anything 3 inches and over, with these being the best choice if you want to grind up large amounts of weed.
Medium weed grinders are anything from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, which includes the vast majority of grinders out there.
Small weed grinders basically include anything smaller than this, and while they’re much more portable, they’re not as common as medium ones because they only hold relatively small amounts of weed.

By Operation:

Hand grinders include any weed grinder where you have to turn the top by hand to grind up your cannabis. The vast majority of grinders out there fall into this group because it’s much cheaper to produce but still convenient.
Crank grinders are really a variant of hand grinders, except rather than twisting the top you turn a hand crank attached to the top section of the grinder. It’s still work but much easier for you than classic hand grinders.
Electric grinders take care of the entire turning process for you, automatically moving the teeth to grind up your bud without you having to do anything. Some also just dispense the weed automatically after you’ve ground it up.

By Build Material:

Stainless steel marijuana grinders are the gold standard in a lot of ways, with the durable material staying in good quality through multiple uses and having the strength to continually grind up your bud without dulling or weakening.
Wooden grinders look great and pretty much offer all the benefits of steel grinders. The inside of a wooden grinder is basically the same as any stainless steel grinder, just with a metal insert rather than a continuous piece. The outside gets the benefit of the natural wooden look but the inside gets the strength and reliability of metal.
Plastic weed grinders are the cheapest and probably the most widely available type of grinder. However, as you may expect they aren’t the best in terms of quality. You can certainly find a good plastic grinder but if you’re looking for the best herb grinder then you shouldn’t get a plastic one.

Number of Pieces:

2 piece weed grinders are the simplest types out there, with two pieces containing the teeth and nothing else. You grind up your material and tap it back out when you’re done.
3 piece weed grinders combine the two necessary parts with a lower section, where your ground up cannabis drops through and is collected in a more convenient place.
4 piece weed grinders add an extra layer to the three piece, basically giving two pieces for grinding, one part with a mesh screen to catch the main pieces of weed and one part below this to catch “kief,” the basically pure cannabinoids that break off during the grinding process.

How Do You Use a Weed Grinder?

Marijuana grinders are really easy to use. On a basic two-piece system, you have two halves that have teeth dotted across them and usually a little magnet in the center of each. All you have to do is break off a piece of cannabis flower or find an appropriate bud, push it onto the teeth (just not in the middle where the magnet is), and close up the grinder. Then, grab the bottom section with one hand and the top with the other, and twist them back and forth. I do this with my weaker hand holding the base steady and use my strong hand to twist the top, but as long as you get the teeth moving the weed will get ground up.

The collection process is where three or four-piece herb grinders come in handy. For two-piece grinders, you pretty much just have to open it up and tap it to get your bud out from the spaces in the teeth and edges. More complicated systems add holes into the lower part of the grinder, so when your weed is ground up small enough, it just drops through into a collection section. Then you just unscrew the bottom to get it.

The details will come as you go: you get better at estimating how much weed to grind, the motions become second-nature and you’ll learn the quirks of the grinder you’re using. But the basics are very straightforward.

How Do You Grind Weed Without a Grinder?

But what if you already have weed but you haven’t made your grinder purchase yet? There are luckily many things you can do depending on what you have on hand. If you have something like a coffee grinder, pepper grinder, a pizza cutter (or just a knife), scissors, a cheese grater, pestle and mortar, or even just a hammer and a paper bag, you can grind your weed.

Most of these work best if your weed is a little dry, and you need to thoroughly clean whatever you use (especially coffee and pepper grinders) before and after. You can also use a pair of scissors, over a chopping board or in something like a shot glass.

If you’re cutting the weed, you just basically split pieces into smaller pieces and repeat the process. With a chopping board you can essentially treat it like chopping any other food – just pile it up when you’re done and use it as you would. The more blunt methods (a hammer and a bag or a pestle and mortar) require drier weed and you have to be careful you don’t completely pulverize it – check on it regularly and it’ll be fine.

How Do You Grind Weed With Your Hands?

The worst case scenario, but still a possibility, is using your fingers. You essentially go through a process of splitting a chunk, splitting the ones you get and on and on, just picking off little pieces, making them smaller until they’re a good size to put into your bong, joint, vaporizer or whatever you’re using. For weed vaporizers especially hand-grinding isn’t ideal because smaller pieces work much better, but regardless of your situation you can do it. There’s no real trick to it, it just takes time and some precise work with your fingernails.

And of course, you should thoroughly wash your hands before and afterwards.

How Much is a Weed Grinder?

If you’ve looked over the list above, you’ll have realized that the price of weed grinders can vary quite wildly. You can easily get a grinder for $20, or even under $10, but at the same time, you can pay upwards of $100 if you want something really special. For an average cost, something from $30 to $50 is a good estimate, which will get you something high enough quality without being overly expensive. Really you can stay at the lower end or even as little as $20 if you just want something to do the job.

Where to Buy a Weed Grinder?

With marijuana being more openly encouraged in the US and grinders being sold openly around much of the world, it’s generally not that difficult to find somewhere to buy a grinder. If you want a high quality cannabis grinder, though, the best idea is to look around online. There are so many options for stores, from big names like SmokeCartel and GrassCity through to smaller, vaping-focused retailers like vapor.com that still stock plenty of good options.

The best option is to look for the specific herb grinder you want and search based on that – usually you can use the official site and get a good price. However, if you have a local dispensary or head shop you like, or if you’ve used a specific online store before and had a good experience, then you can look through what they have on offer and there will usually be something at least good enough.

How Should I Clean a Herb Grinder?

Your herb grinder will need to be cleaned every so often to keep it working efficiently, otherwise the sides will get clogged up and it will stick when you try to twist it. Most of the issue comes from compacted bits of weed and the bits of resin that inevitably end up covering the surface, and if you’ve ever skipped your regular herb grinder cleaning session, you’ll know how hard it can be to remove. But there are still a few things you can do to get it back in good working condition.

Clear any debris you can. First off, you don’t want to waste your bud, so disassemble the herb grinder and get anything you can out of it. A little tool like a toothpick or a small brush can really help here if you want to get the most out of it.
(Optional) Freeze the grinder before clearing. If you want to do a deeper clean, you can try putting your grinder in the freezer for half an hour or more before you try scraping more debris free. This helps the material clump together and makes the cleaning process easier. As above, a toothbrush or soft brush helps you get more material free. It’s worth taking more time over the scrubbing if you’ve gone through this step – be thorough and get as much kief and compacted weed as you can.
Soak it in isopropyl alcohol. Put the pieces of the grinder in a container like a zip-lock bag or a jar and submerge it in isopropyl alcohol. This will help free up all the pieces stuck to the surfaces and make the next stage much easier. The only issue here is that it’s only really a good idea to do this with metal grinders, because plastic and wood would both be damaged by the process.
Scrub it. Remove the grinder from the alcohol and scrub the pieces thoroughly with a firm-bristled toothbrush. You need to be sure to get right in all the spaces around the edges and between the teeth, and cover each chamber in the process too.
Rinse the grinder and dry it. Your weed grinder should be looking pretty good now, so you can just rinse it under warm water and either dry it with a towel or leave it to dry. Make sure to thoroughly rinse it to remove any alcohol leftover. When it’s dry it’s ready to use again.

Conclusion

Weed grinders might be simple in principle, but there are many innovative companies who have turned the humble herb grinder into a feat of engineering, with tons of little design choices adding up to a big difference in quality. If you’re a basic smoker, you might not be interested in spending over $100 for the best weed grinder, but finding something high quality is important if you’ll be using it a lot, and luckily there are plenty of dependable options out there for essentially any budget.