Best Leaf Blowers (2026): 6 Picks

The best leaf blower for most yards is the EGO POWER+ 650 CFM Blower, because it is a 56-volt cordless blower that moves up to 650 CFM at the nozzle and comes with a 5.0Ah battery and a charger. For a bigger yard without a backpack, the Greenworks 80V 770 CFM Blower; for long sessions, the EGO 600 CFM Backpack Blower; to vacuum and shred leaves, the Greenworks 40V Blower/Vacuum; for Makita 18V battery owners, the Makita XBU02PT; for a small yard within reach of an outlet, the corded WORX TURBINE 600 Leaf Blower. Gas blowers, noise and what to do with the leaves come after the picks.

Start here: which leaf blower for your yard

• Most yards, on one battery: EGO POWER+ 650 CFM Blower (pick 1).
• A bigger yard, still in one hand: Greenworks 80V 770 CFM Blower (pick 2).
• Long sessions, with the weight on your back: EGO POWER+ 600 CFM Backpack Blower (pick 3).
• Leaves to vacuum and shred for compost or mulch: Greenworks 40V Blower/Vacuum (pick 4).
• Makita 18V batteries already on the shelf: Makita XBU02PT (pick 5).
• A small yard within reach of an outlet: WORX TURBINE 600 Leaf Blower, corded (pick 6).

Three things sort them: how much air a blower moves (CFM), how long its battery lasts, and how much weight you carry and where. The table further down puts all six side by side.

The picks, by job

Specs on the cards below come from the makers.

1. EGO POWER+ 650 CFM Blower: our pick for most yards

A 56-volt handheld blower with a brushless motor: up to 650 CFM at the nozzle with the turbo button, and up to 180 MPH with the tapered nozzle on (160 MPH without it). The kit linked here, the LB6504, comes with a 5.0Ah battery and a charger. Its manual gives approximate run times on that battery of 200 minutes on low, 30 on high and 15 in boost mode, and a weight of 4.77 pounds without the battery.

Why it is our pick: It pairs 650 CFM at the nozzle with a battery and charger in the box, and the 5.0Ah battery weighs 4.9 pounds, so blower and battery come to about 9.7 pounds (4.77 plus 4.9). It also comes with a stated noise level, 64 dB, one of only two cordless figures on this page.

Good to know: No method is given for the 64 dB figure. A dial sets the airflow from 225 CFM up, with a lock-on button to hold it, and the turbo button gives the full 650. It takes any EGO 56V ARC Lithium battery, and it carries an IPX4 weather-resistance rating. Limited warranty: 5 years on the blower, 3 on the battery and charger.

2. Greenworks 80V 770 CFM Blower: our pick for a bigger yard without a backpack

An 80-volt handheld blower with a brushless motor, rated at 770 CFM and 180 MPH, with a variable-speed trigger, cruise control and a turbo button. The kit comes with an 80V 4.0Ah battery and a charger, with a charge time of 60 minutes. Run time is up to 80 minutes, and it weighs less than 10.56 pounds with the battery.

Why it is our pick: 770 CFM is the most air of the six picks, against pick 1's 650, and it stays a one-hand blower: less than 10.56 pounds with the battery, against about 9.7 for pick 1. Its maker credits its high-speed turbo mode with loosening wet leaves.

Good to know: No noise figure is given, and no speed for the 80-minute run time. The battery fits over 75 other Greenworks 80V tools. Limited warranty: 4 years on the blower and battery if you register it, online or by phone.

3. EGO POWER+ 600 CFM Backpack Blower: our pick for long sessions

A 56-volt backpack blower: up to 600 CFM and 145 MPH, with variable speed from 260 CFM, a turbo boost button, an adjustable tube length and an adjustable harness with a waist belt. The kit linked here, the LB6003, comes with a 7.5Ah battery with a fuel gauge and a charger. On that battery its manual gives approximate run times of 180 minutes on low, 33 on high and 23 in boost.

Why it is our pick: The weight rides on a harness and waist belt instead of one arm, and the 7.5Ah battery in the box gives the longest high and boost times of the two picks with run times listed by speed: 33 and 23 minutes, against pick 1's 30 and 15. The blower weighs 12.5 pounds with its tube and without the battery, and that battery weighs 6.3 pounds: 12.5 plus 6.3 is about 18.8 pounds on your back.

Good to know: At 600 CFM it moves less air than picks 1 and 2, and on low its manual gives 180 minutes against pick 1's 200. No decibel figure is given. Both EGO picks take the same EGO 56V ARC Lithium batteries, so their batteries swap. Limited warranty: 5 years on the blower, 3 on the battery and charger.

4. Greenworks 40V Blower/Vacuum: our pick for vacuuming and shredding leaves

A 40-volt handheld that blows at 505 CFM and up to 230 MPH, then converts to a vacuum that mulches leaves into a bag, at a 12:1 mulch ratio. It has a variable speed dial, a turbo button and cruise control. The kit comes with a 5.0Ah battery and a charger, with a run time of 30 minutes and a weight of 9.92 pounds without the battery.

Why it is our pick: Vacuuming: no other pick here does it. Small leaves and twigs get shredded in the fan housing on the way to the bag, so it fills with shredded leaves for a compost pile or a mulch layer instead of whole ones.

Good to know: It picks up light material such as leaves; stones and sticks are not collected. Empty the bag after each use, since a full bag can obstruct the airflow and cut the mulcher's performance. No noise figure or weight with the battery is given. Limited warranty: 3 years on the blower/vacuum and battery if you register it, online or by phone.

5. Makita XBU02PT: our pick for Makita 18V battery owners

A 36-volt blower that runs on two Makita 18V LXT batteries: up to 473 CFM and 120 MPH from a brushless motor, with a 6-stage selection dial and a variable speed trigger. The kit comes with two 18V 5.0Ah batteries and a dual port charger, and it weighs 9 pounds with the batteries. Run time is up to 28 minutes a charge at mid-speed.

Why it is our pick: It runs on the same 18V LXT batteries as other Makita 18V tools, so a Makita owner can share them between tools. Its sound pressure is rated at 61 dB(A), to the ANSI B175.2 standard.

Good to know: At 473 CFM it moves the least air of the six, and its 28 minutes is at mid-speed, not full power. A maker's decibel rating is not what reaches your ears; see the noise section below. Limited warranty: 3 years on the tool, batteries and charger.

6. WORX TURBINE 600 Leaf Blower: our pick for a small yard near an outlet

A corded 120-volt, 12-amp blower (model WG520) with variable speed control: 320 to 600 CFM and 60 to 110 MPH, at 6.4 pounds. It runs on an extension cord, held by a cord retainer, so no battery or charger comes with it.

Why it is our pick: With no battery to charge and a weight of 6.4 pounds, it is the lightest of the six picks, yet it has the same 600 CFM as the backpack (pick 3).

Good to know: Use an outdoor extension cord heavy enough for 12 amps: by its manual, at least 16 gauge at 50 feet, 14 at 100 and 12 at 150. Keep it off wet surfaces and out of the rain, and store it indoors. No noise figure is given, and it does not vacuum. Limited warranty: 2 years, or 3 if you register it online within 30 days of purchase.

How we chose these

This page sticks to battery and corded electric blowers for a home yard. We read the product page, spec sheet or manual of every model, and kept the ones that list the airflow, the air speed, a weight and, for a battery model, the battery and charger in the box. Noise, hearing protection and what to do with the leaves come from the federal and extension sources in the Sources list. The table and chart put those listed figures next to each other; we did not clear leaves with these blowers ourselves.

Our editorial policy says how we find, check and number the picks in every buying guide.

Also considered

EGO POWER+ 765 CFM Blower (LB7654). More air than pick 1, but its product page gives up to 200 MPH and its manual 195 MPH with the tapered nozzle, and neither lists a noise level.

EGO POWER+ 880 CFM Blower (LB8803-2). Up to 880 CFM on two 4.0Ah batteries, but its product page lists no weight and no noise level, so two columns of the table would be blank.

Husqvarna 350BT. A 50.2cc gas backpack blower, listed at 692 CFM in the housing but 494 CFM at the nozzle, 22.5 pounds, and 94 dB(A) at the operator's ear. We left gas out of the picks; see the gas section below.

WORX WG583. A 40V blower, vacuum and mulcher. Its product page gives up to 340 CFM and up to 210 MPH in one place, and 350 CFM and 185 MPH on high in its specifications, so we left it out of the table.

Greenworks 24V 515 CFM Blower. 515 CFM and 130 MPH at 4.4 pounds, but its product page does not say whether that weight includes the battery.

BLACK+DECKER 9 Amp Electric Axial Leaf Blower (BEBL750). A corded blower that is faster than pick 6, up to 140 MPH against up to 110, but moves less air, up to 450 CFM against up to 600, and weighs more, 7.3 pounds against 6.4.

Sun Joe SBJ597E. A 6-amp electric blower at 3.9 pounds, but at 260 CFM it moves less than half the air of pick 6, and its maker sizes it for light-duty jobs such as porches, patios and decks.

RYOBI 40V HP Brushless WHISPER SERIES 730 CFM Blower Kit (RY404100). 730 CFM and up to 190 MPH with its speed tips, but its maker lists the same blower at 6.5 pounds on one page and 9.4 on another, and neither says whether the battery is counted.

Leaf blowers side by side

Read the airflow column with care. Of the six, only pick 1's manual says where its airflow is measured: at the nozzle. That matters, because one gas backpack is listed at 692 CFM in the housing and 494 at the nozzle: the housing figure is about 40 percent higher for the same machine. Run times and noise figures do not line up either: each maker states a different speed or method, or none. Every figure is the maker's; we measured nothing ourselves.

Cordless or gas leaf blower?

For a home yard, we left gas out: five picks run on batteries and one on a cord. In a federal field study of landscape crews, gas leaf blowers exposed workers to significantly more noise and carbon monoxide than battery ones did: noise averaged 96.9 dBA with gas leaf blowers against 86.4 dBA with battery leaf blowers, and carbon monoxide during the task 25.1 ppm against 1.4 ppm. Several cities, including Washington, DC, have banned gas leaf blowers, so check local rules before buying one.

The trade-off is run time. On high, the two picks with run times listed by speed last about 30 and 33 minutes a charge, so a big yard may call for a spare battery. A corded blower (pick 6) has no battery to run down, but needs an outlet and an extension cord. If you already own one maker's batteries, a blower on that platform can share them, as pick 5 does for Makita 18V tools.

CFM or MPH: which matters more?

CFM, cubic feet per minute, is the volume of air a blower moves; MPH is the speed at which the air leaves it. High-CFM blowers tend to move a large volume of air at relatively low speed, which clears a large area in a shorter time; a higher air speed helps move heavier debris, and MPH is usually the more important figure on a blower/vacuum. For a lawn full of dry leaves, compare CFM first, then check the MPH and which nozzle it was measured with.

How much CFM a yard needs has no agreed answer: even one maker's own sizing guides differ, and none says where its CFM is measured. For a smaller yard, their figures for what is usually enough run from 150 to 500 CFM, and every pick here is rated at 473 or more. For most yards, or an acre or more, the figure is probably 400 to 700 CFM: five picks are rated at 473 to 650, and pick 2 at 770. The top figure, 800 to 1,000 CFM or more for over half an acre, especially with wet leaves, is beyond every pick here. For a big lot, pick 2 moves the most air, and a backpack (pick 3) suits large jobs, since a handheld can be taxing on a long one; for wet leaves, air speed matters too.

How loud is a leaf blower? Do you need hearing protection?

Wear hearing protection with any leaf blower, battery models included. In the same field study, noise with battery leaf blowers still averaged above the recommended exposure limit of 85 dBA (set as an 8-hour average), which the study's authors say shows the need for hearing protection. A maker's decibel rating is a different kind of number. The makers here state theirs in different ways: one to an ANSI standard, one with no method, and one gas maker at the operator's ear. The two cordless ratings on this page, 61 and 64 dB, sit well under the 86.4 dBA the study measured with battery leaf blowers, so do not read a low rating as a reason to skip ear protection.

What should you do with the leaves?

Get them off the lawn. Fallen leaves left on the ground can quickly kill a lawn: they can get heavy, and they block out sunlight. On the lawn itself you can skip the blower: a mulching blade on the mower chops the leaves up instead of raking them. Do not wait for a thick pile; mowing once a week should do the trick, and you keep at it until the leaves are off the trees.

Blow the rest into piles for compost or mulch. Dry leaves are a carbon-rich brown for a compost pile; keep a pile of them outside as a steady supply to mix with food scraps. Chopped leaves bagged from the mower can start their own pile and should be ready for the garden beds by the next spring. Shredded leaves are a common mulch too, and the blower/vacuum (pick 4) shreds them into its bag. For a bin, see our compost bin guide; for mulch against weeds, see getting rid of weeds naturally.

Checklist: buying a leaf blower

• Airflow: the CFM, and where it was measured; at the nozzle reads lower than in the housing.
• Air speed: the MPH, and which nozzle it was measured with.
• Battery or cord: the volts and amp-hours, whether a battery and charger come in the box, and whether a battery you already own fits; for a corded blower, an outdoor extension cord of the gauge its manual calls for.
• Run time: at which speed the maker measured it.
• Weight: with the battery, and whether it hangs from one arm or rides on a harness.
• Noise: the maker's figure and how it was measured; wear hearing protection either way.
• Warranty: the years on the tool and on the battery, and whether you must register it.
• The leaves: blow only, or vacuum and shred them for compost or mulch.

Related guides

• Compost bins and tumblers, including a pick for fall leaves.
• Wheelbarrows and garden carts, including a dump cart for mulch and compost.
• Getting rid of weeds naturally, with shredded leaves among the mulches.
• How to grow carrots, which in many areas can stay in the ground over winter under straw or shredded leaves.
• How to grow garlic, mulched over winter with straw or leaves.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best cordless leaf blower?

For most yards, the EGO POWER+ 650 CFM Blower, which moves up to 650 CFM at the nozzle and comes with a 5.0Ah battery and charger. For a bigger yard without a backpack, the Greenworks 80V 770 CFM; for long sessions, the EGO 600 CFM Backpack Blower; to vacuum and shred leaves, the Greenworks 40V Blower/Vacuum.

What is the best corded leaf blower?

For a small yard within reach of an outlet, the WORX TURBINE 600 Leaf Blower: 600 CFM and up to 110 MPH at 6.4 pounds, with no battery to charge. Use an outdoor extension cord; for 100 feet, its manual calls for at least 14 gauge.

Do you need hearing protection with a battery leaf blower?

Yes. In a federal field study of landscape crews, noise with battery leaf blowers averaged 86.4 dBA, still above the 85 dBA recommended exposure limit, and the authors say that shows the need for hearing protection. Gas leaf blowers averaged 96.9 dBA.

Is CFM or MPH more important in a leaf blower?

For clearing a lawn of leaves, compare CFM first: it is the volume of air moved, and high-CFM blowers tend to clear a large area in a shorter time. MPH is the speed of the air; a higher air speed helps move heavier debris, and MPH is usually the more important figure on a blower/vacuum.

How many CFM do I need for my yard?

For a smaller yard, 150 to 500 CFM is usually enough; for most yards or an acre or more, probably 400 to 700 CFM. The top sizing figure, 800 to 1,000 CFM or more for over half an acre, especially with wet leaves, is above the picks here, rated at 473 to 770 CFM.

How long does a cordless leaf blower battery last?

About 30 to 33 minutes on high and about 180 to 200 on low, by the two EGO picks' manuals. The Makita XBU02PT is rated for up to 28 minutes at mid-speed, and the two Greenworks picks for up to 80 and 30 minutes, with no speed named. A spare battery extends a session.

Should I blow leaves off the lawn or mow them?

Either works, but get them off: fallen leaves can quickly kill a lawn by their weight and by blocking out sunlight. A mulching blade on the mower chops them up, and mowing once a week should do the trick. Bagged, chopped leaves can go on a compost pile.

Can a leaf blower vacuum and mulch leaves?

A blower/vacuum can. The Greenworks 40V Blower/Vacuum (pick 4) converts to a vacuum that mulches leaves into a bag at a 12:1 mulch ratio; stones and sticks are not collected. The shredded leaves suit a compost pile or a mulch layer.

Sources

• "EGO: POWER+ 650 CFM Blower"
• "EGO: 650 CFM Blower (LB6500) operator's manual"
• "EGO: POWER+ 600 CFM Backpack Blower"
• "EGO: Backpack Blower (LB6000) operator's manual"
• "EGO: POWER+ 5.0 Ah battery"
• "EGO: POWER+ 7.5 Ah battery"
• "EGO: POWER+ 765 CFM Blower"
• "EGO: 765 CFM Blower (LB7650) operator's manual"
• "EGO: POWER+ 880 CFM Blower"
• "EGO: POWER+ Leaf Vacuum and Mulcher"
• "Greenworks: 80V 770 CFM Cordless Battery Blower"
• "Greenworks: 80V blower operator manual"
• "Greenworks: 40V 505 CFM Cordless Battery Leaf Blower/Vacuum"
• "Greenworks: 24V 515 CFM Cordless Battery Brushless Blower"
• "Greenworks: Warranty for all 80V, 60V, 40V, 24V and AC"
• "Greenworks: CFM vs. MPH for leaf blowers (2024)"
• "Greenworks: What is leaf blower CFM and why does it matter? (2025)"
• "Makita: XBU02PT 36V (18V X2) LXT Brushless Blower Kit"
• "Husqvarna: 350BT"
• "WORX: WG583 40V blower, mulcher and vacuum"
• "WORX: TURBINE 600 Electric Leaf Blower (WG520)"
• "WORX: 12A Electric Blower (WG520) owner's manual"
• "BLACK+DECKER: 9 Amp Electric Axial Leaf Blower (BEBL750)"
• "Sun Joe: SBJ597E All Purpose Electric Blower"
• "RYOBI: 40V HP Brushless WHISPER SERIES 730 CFM Blower Kit (RY404100)"
• "RYOBI: 40V HP Brushless WHISPER SERIES 730 CFM Blower, tool only"
• "NIOSH: Hazardous exposures and engineering controls in the landscaping services industry (2025)"
• "N.C. Cooperative Extension: Dealing with fall leaves"
• "NC State Extension: Extension Gardener Handbook, Weeds"
• "US EPA: Composting at home"