These Top-Tested Garden Hoses Won't Tangle or Spring a Leak

We updated this article in August 2022 to ensure all picks tested and vetted by the Good Housekeeping Institute were in stock, available and correctly priced.

You can spend $15 on a garden hose or ten times that amount. Given the basic task of a hose — transporting water from a spigot to a spray nozzle so that you can water the lawn, wash the car or douse the kids on a hot, summer afternoon — it’s tempting to go with the least expensive option. But after testing a slew of garden hoses, the experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute found serious variations in performance, ease of use and durability. While our top overall pick was the most expensive, other moderately priced picks performed nearly as well, and might even be the better choice depending on your situation.

To arrive at this roundup of winners, our experts spent more than 20 hours reviewing technical data, assembling the hoses and putting them through their paces at our backyard testing locations. We also checked in with landscape professionals who handle hoses all the time. “Each garden has different needs, so you need to choose your hose accordingly,” says Jim Russell, a horticultural instructor and garden creator who works throughout the northeast.

Our hands-on testing focused on usability, including how easily hoses connected to the spigot and nozzle. Testers also assessed maneuverability, noting any tendencies toward kinking or cracking, as well as the ease with which the hoses reeled in for storage. Durability was a third criterion, driven largely by material and construction. In the end, we settled on six top-rated garden hoses. They’re not all suited to every application, but somewhere in the mix is the perfect garden hose for you.

Our top picks