5 Alternatives to the Ninja Air Fryer MAX PRO 6.2L — Cheaper, Bigger, or Better for Batch Cooking

The Ninja Air Fryer MAX PRO AF180UKCP is a very likeable all-rounder: 6.2L capacity, a roomy square basket, and a premium feel that suits UK kitchens where worktop space and plug placement matter. But at £129.99, it’s not the only sensible buy. Here’s how the best alternatives stack up in real-world use.

1) COSORI Air Fryer TurboBlaze, 6L — £99.95

This is the closest value-for-money rival, and it undercuts the Ninja by about £30.04 while still landing at a generous 6L capacity and a 4.8★ rating. On paper, the capacity is slightly smaller than the Ninja’s 6.2L, but in practice the difference is modest for most households. The COSORI’s big selling point is its 9 functions and 5 auto fan speeds, which give you more control over airflow and cooking style than a basic single-drawer fryer. It also runs from 30°C to 230°C, so it covers low-temp drying-style jobs and high-heat crisping, plus it’s marketed as quiet and energy-saving.

Compared with the Ninja, the COSORI feels more feature-rich for the money, but the practical trade-off is that it’s not quite as instantly straightforward. Ninja models tend to win on “grab-and-go” usability: load food, set time and temp, and you’re off. The COSORI is still easy to use, but you’ll get more out of it if you like tweaking settings. Build quality is strong for the price, with a non-stick, dishwasher-safe basket, though Ninja still has the edge for that slightly more robust, premium appliance feel. Verdict: choose the COSORI TurboBlaze if you want a cheaper, very capable air fryer with excellent versatility and don’t mind a slightly less premium brand feel.

2) Ninja Air Fryer MAX, 5.2L — £99.00

If you like the Ninja way of cooking but don’t need the extra size or the copper-accented premium styling, this is the obvious step down. It’s £30.99 cheaper than the MAX PRO, and that saving is meaningful if you just want solid Ninja performance without paying extra for the newer, larger model. The 5.2L basket is smaller than the 6.2L MAX PRO, so it’s better suited to couples, small families, or anyone cooking side dishes, chips, chicken portions, or frozen food rather than huge tray-style batches.

Feature-wise, the AF160UK gives you 6-in-1 cooking: Air Fry, Max Crisp, Roast, Bake, Reheat, and Dehydrate. That’s a very practical spread, and the Max Crisp function is one of Ninja’s strongest selling points for frozen food and chips. The MAX PRO’s larger square drawer is better if you want more room for a full family portion, and the included silicone tongs with the AF180UKCP are a nice extra, but they don’t change the cooking performance. Build quality is what you’d expect from Ninja: sturdy, reliable, and dishwasher-safe basket parts. The main trade-off is capacity, not quality. Verdict: choose the Ninja MAX 5.2L if you want the best-value route into Ninja cooking and you’re happy to sacrifice some basket space.

3) Ninja Foodi MAX Health Grill & Air Fryer 5.7L with Digital Cooking Probe — £399.99

This is not a like-for-like alternative; it’s a premium upgrade for people who want an air fryer plus grill in one machine. At £399.99, it costs a massive £270 more than the MAX PRO, so you only buy this if you’ll actually use the grill plate and probe. The 5.7L capacity is slightly smaller than the Ninja MAX PRO, but the real appeal is the cooking style: you can air fry, grill, bake, roast and more, with the digital probe helping you hit precise doneness for meat.

In practical UK kitchen terms, this is for people who want one appliance to do a lot of heavy lifting, especially if you cook steaks, burgers, chicken breasts or kebabs and want better browning than a standard air fryer can deliver. The build quality is excellent and feels more like a serious countertop cooker than a simple air fryer. However, it is larger, more expensive, and less convenient if all you want is quick chips, sausages, and frozen snacks. It also makes less sense if your worktop space is tight, because this kind of hybrid grill-air fryer needs room and ventilation. Verdict: choose the Ninja Foodi MAX Grill if you want the most versatile premium appliance here and you’re happy to pay for it; avoid it if you simply want a family air fryer.

4) Cosori Dual Air Fryer, 10L Flexible Capacity — £189.95

This one is for households that regularly cook full meals rather than just one basket at a time. It’s £59.96 more expensive than the Ninja MAX PRO, but you’re getting a much bigger 10L dual-zone layout with flexible capacity. That means you can cook two different foods at once, or use the space more like a mini oven for bigger portions. For families, that can be a game changer: chips in one side, chicken in the other, and everything ready together.

The key difference versus the Ninja MAX PRO is workflow. The Ninja is a single-drawer machine, which is brilliant for simplicity and for foods that benefit from being tossed or shaken together. The Cosori Dual Air Fryer is better for complete meals and timing two components independently. It also claims Dual Blaze heating for faster and even results, which should help reduce the usual dual-drawer compromise where one side can sometimes feel less intense than the other. Build quality should be good at this price, with Cosori’s usual non-stick and energy-saving positioning, though it’s naturally a larger appliance and will take more worktop space. Verdict: choose this if you want to cook proper family meals in one go and value flexibility over the Ninja’s single-basket simplicity.

5) Cosori TurboTower Dual Air Fryer 10.8L — £189.99

This is the most space-efficient way to get a big-capacity dual air fryer. At £60 more than the Ninja MAX PRO, you’re moving into a very different category: a stacked dual-drawer design with 10.8L total capacity and 3-layer cooking support. That makes it ideal if you want to cook more food without spreading sideways across your worktop, which is a big plus in many UK kitchens where depth and width are both at a premium.

The practical advantage here is meal-building. A tower-style air fryer lets you cook more components at once while keeping the footprint relatively compact compared with some wide dual-zone models. TurboBlaze tech is designed for faster, even crisp results, so it should handle family favourites like chips, sausages, chicken goujons, roasted veg, and party food with less faff. Compared with the Ninja MAX PRO, it’s more complex and more expensive, but also far more capable for batch cooking. The trade-off is that tower designs can be a bit less intuitive for people who prefer a single large basket they can shake and inspect easily. Build quality should be solid, and the dishwasher-safe parts make cleanup easier, but this is still a more advanced appliance than the Ninja MAX PRO. Verdict: choose the TurboTower if you cook for a family, want more capacity than the Ninja, and need to save horizontal worktop space.

Bottom line: the Ninja Air Fryer MAX PRO is still one of the nicest single-drawer options around, especially if you want a roomy basket without jumping into dual-zone complexity. But if you want the best value, the COSORI TurboBlaze is the strongest cheaper alternative, while the Cosori dual models make more sense for bigger households that cook full meals in one go.