Best Air Purifiers For Allergies 2023

The best air purifiers for allergies can pull out pollen, pet dander and other allergens lurking in your air without causing a ruckus or requiring much maintenance on your end. These devices allow people with allergies to breathe a little easier indoors—a crucial factor, particularly when it's allergy season. Our top choice is the Levoit Core 300 Air Purifier for its large bandwidth and quiet operation, but there are several others worth considering as well.

The best air purifiers for allergies can pull out pollen, pet dander and other allergens lurking in ... [+] your air without causing a ruckus or requiring much maintenance on your end.

Doctors generally agree that having an air purifier in your home is a good idea if you have allergies. "Pollen, animal allergens and mold spores can affect the quality of the air inside your home," says Niha Qamar, M.D., an allergist and immunologist with ENT and Allergy Associates and author of What? I Could be Allergic to That?!. "An air purifier can reduce these allergens." Allergy symptoms like itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose usually happen as a result of inhaling allergens in the air, says David Corry, M.D., a professor of medicine in the section of immunology, allergy and rheumatology at the Baylor College of Medicine. "Thus, a great way to avoid allergy symptoms is to physically remove the particles from the air using air purifiers," he says.

When selecting the best air purifier for your home, it's important to consider factors like the size of the space where you’ll be using the device, what level of filtration the air purifier has, noise level, how much space you have for the actual appliance and, of course, your budget. With that in mind, here are the best air purifiers for allergies to help you get relief inside your home. (While you’re at it, consider our lists of the best air purifiers for pets and best fake plants.)

Amazon

Despite its relatively small size, the Levoit Core 300 can filter rooms up to 1,095 square feet in an hour. It features a HEPA filter to weed out 99.97% of dust, pollen, smoke, odor, mold spores and pet dander from your air, along with a pre-filter and activated carbon filter to tackle odors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) among other things. It's also certified by an independent lab to pull 99.99% of certain bacteria and H1N1 from your air (although it stops short of saying it will prevent you from getting COVID-19). Flip between three fan settings and adjust the display light as needed. There's even a Sleep Mode you can activate at night that brings the noise down to a whisper-quiet 24dB. Worth noting: There are several replacement filters that are specially designed for certain needs—including a Smoke Remover filter to tackle wildfire smoke and the Pet Allergy Filter to pull out pet dander and odors—so you can customize your purification to your own needs.

Amazon

Honeywell's HPA100 is designed for larger rooms up to 155 square feet, making it a good choice for most bedrooms. The purifier has a HEPA filter that pulls up to 99.97% of air particles as small as 0.3 microns from your air—meaning dirt, pollen, pet dander and smoke will be removed. It also has a pre-filter to remove household odors and VOCs. The fan can filter the room up to five times in an hour, ensuring you’re always breathing clean air. The HPA100 has a control panel that gives you options. Choose from four different cleaning levels, as well as brightness levels you can adjust so it's not shining in your face at night. There's even an indicator to let you know when it's time to change the filter—all this for an affordable $101. If the HPA100 isn't big enough for you, this filter also comes in a larger HPA200 for rooms up to 310 square feet, and HPA300 for rooms up to 465 square feet.

Amazon

The Coway Airmega has more than 17,000 five-star reviews at Amazon, making it one of the most well-rated air purifiers the online retail giant sells. It features an impressive four-stage filtration system with a pre-filter, deodorizing filter, HEPA filter and Vital Ion filter to pull out 99.7% of particles, along with VOCs and bad smells. The Airmega keeps you posted on your air quality through its LED display panel, and automatically shuts itself off after 30 minutes of not detecting anything in your air to save energy. Flip between three fan settings depending on your needs. The Airmega is designed for rooms up to 361 square feet and has a fairly quiet decibel rating of 24.4 dB to 53.8 dB, depending on which setting you choose.

Amazon

Dyson has churned out some impressive air filtration technology over the past few years, and the brand's Pure Cool Link TP02 is prime example. It features a unique design that doesn't use any visible fans (so you don't have to worry about pets or kids getting injured) and can clean rooms up to nearly 1,000 square feet. The Pure Cool Link TP02 tackles 99.97% of particles down to 0.3 microns with a 360-degree HEPA filter and activated carbon layer to take out odors and VOCs. It also doubles as a cooling fan, if you want (if not, switch it to Backward Airflow). This purifier monitors your air and reacts to what it detects, and keeps you posted on the Dyson link app. From there, you can adjust the fan rate, display brightness and more. It can even sync up to your Amazon Echo, giving you voice control.

Amazon

The Blueair 411 can quickly filter rooms of 161 square feet, making it a good choice for a bedroom purifier. This device is simple to operate: Just push one button to adjust the fan speed and stop when you get to the one you like. The Blueair 411 removes up to 99.97% of airborne particles and up to 99.99% of pollen, making it a great choice for seasonal allergy sufferers. It also has a carbon filter to take on odors from pets and cooking. This air purifier is impressively quiet—operating at a mere 17 dB (less than a whisper) on its low setting. At under 3.5 pounds, this petite purifier is easily moved from room to room as needed.

Molekule

At $1,015, Molekule's Air Pro is out of range for most budgets. But, if you happen to have the means, it has a lot of bells and whistles to make your air purification process as simple as possible—and even a little fun. This purifier features PECO-HEPA Tri-Power filters which means it uses photo electrochemical oxidation (PECO) to take on odors, as well as obliterate indoor air pollutants at a molecular level. This is a smart air purifier that syncs to an app on your phone, and gives you all kinds of data such as your air quality over time. It even reacts to chemicals in your air and adjusts the fan speed (choose from six) as needed. The Air Pro tackles spaces up to 1,000 square feet, making it a good choice for your kitchen, living room, or any other large space in your home. It's also easy to relocate thanks to a built-in vegan leather handle.

To choose the best air purifiers for allergies, we consulted with three allergists for their input on important features to consider in these devices. We then tracked down the most popular air purifiers on the market and analyzed each one for elements like filtration capacity, noise and value. We also considered reviews from real users to ensure we had the best view of how these devices perform across a range of households.

Experts agree that it's crucial to choose an air filter with a high efficiency particulate accelerators (HEPA) filter. "HEPA has the most data with allergies and asthma so I would stick to that technology," says Purvi Parikh, M.D., an allergist and immunologist with the Allergy & Asthma Network. "There are other types of filters, but HEPA units are the gold standard and outperform all others," Corry says. It doesn't hurt for an air purifier to have an activated carbon element as well to help remove odors, Qamar says. You’ll also want to ensure the purifier you buy can tackle the size of the room. "Check to see that the filter has a CADR (clean air delivery rate) that matches the size of the room where you plan to use it," Qamar says.

An air purifier is not going to get rid of your allergies, but it can help reduce your symptoms inside your home. "A good, properly installed and positioned HEPA filter can revolutionize control of allergies, but also other, more serious conditions such as asthma and sinusitis," Corry says. "However, they perform better when the things you are allergic to are largely confined to the house such as pet danders, dust mites, cockroaches and molds." Keep this in mind, per Corry: "HEPA filters only work if the house is kept relatively sealed from the outside, the HVAC is run to keep the house at a consistent temperature (about 72 to 78 degrees in the summer; 65 to 70 degrees in winter), and the inside humidity is kept below about 50%, ideally closer to 40%. Depending on your house, in addition to a HEPA filter, you might also need a dehumidifier if your HVAC is not keeping humidity in these limits."

Experts say it's a good idea to have an air purifier in your bedroom, if possible. "The bedroom is the most important room to keep allergen-free as all night when we sleep, we have continuous exposure to the allergens," Parikh says. "Thus, placing the air purifier there along with dust mite covers and keeping pets out of bedroom is helpful." You also spend a lot of time in your bedroom "so reducing allergen levels in that room in particular is very helpful," Qamar says. She also points this out: "Dust mites tend to accumulate in carpeting, and many bedrooms are carpeted, making an air purifier helpful. Dust mites also are found in bed sheets which is another source of allergens in the bedroom."