Home & Kitchen
The Best Snow Blowers: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)
We compared a gas two-stage, a cordless two-stage, a gas single-stage, and a budget cordless on power, real-world clearing, and upkeep.
The short version
The Cub Cadet 2X 26" IntelliPOWER is the most capable all-around pick, chewing through deep, wet snow and the packed pile the plow leaves behind. The Greenworks 80V 24" two-stage is the smarter buy for anyone who wants real two-stage power without gas, and it's quiet enough to run at dawn. Choose the Cub Cadet 1X 21" gas single-stage only if your driveway is short, flat, and paved. Skip the Snow Joe 24V-X2-SB18: it's cheap for a reason, running short on both power and battery in anything more than a dusting. Match the machine to your snowfall and your driveway surface and you'll be happy for a decade. Best for: buyers who size the blower to their real winter, not the mildest one they hope for.
The verdict in 30 seconds
What mattered most
- Type & stages
- Clearing width
- Best conditions
- Drive system
- Startup & upkeep
- Run time
Choosing a snow blower comes down to how much snow you actually get, what your driveway is made of, and whether you want to deal with gas. We lined up four current machines that span the market: a do-anything gas two-stage, a genuinely capable cordless two-stage, a compact gas single-stage, and a budget cordless. Two are easy recommendations, one is a smart buy only for the right driveway, and one is a machine most people should walk past.
A do-everything gas two-stage that eats deep, wet, end-of-driveway snow for breakfast.
Best for: Homeowners in real snow country with long or wide driveways who want one machine that never taps out.
- Two-stage design throws heavy, wet snow and plow piles that stop smaller machines cold
- Self-propelled with multiple speeds and power steering, so a 26-inch swath still feels manageable
- IntelliPOWER engine with electric start fires up reliably in deep cold
- Handles gravel and uneven surfaces thanks to adjustable skid shoes and raised auger
- Big and heavy to store and maneuver in a tight garage
- Gas, oil, and fuel-stabilizer upkeep every season, plus fumes and noise
Two-stage clearing power without a drop of gas, and it's quiet enough to run before sunrise.
Best for: Suburban homeowners with moderate-to-heavy snow who want two-stage muscle without engine maintenance.
- Real two-stage auger and impeller clear deeper, heavier snow than any single-stage electric
- Push-button start every time with no gas, oil, spark plugs, or winterizing
- Self-propelled with power steer and bright LED headlights for early-morning clearing
- Runs quiet with zero exhaust, so you can clear a walkway without waking the block
- One of the priciest options once you factor in the two batteries and charger
- Runtime is finite per charge, so very large driveways may need a battery swap or a mid-job recharge
A light, nimble gas single-stage that's perfect for small paved drives and useless for much else.
Best for: Owners of short, flat, paved driveways in regions that see modest snowfall, not blizzards.
- Light and easy to turn, so it's far less of a workout than a two-stage
- Rubber-tipped auger scrapes close to pavement for a clean finish
- Electric start and a simple design keep it approachable for first-time owners
- Single-stage auger bogs down in deep, wet, or crusted plow piles
- Not safe for gravel or stone driveways because the auger touches the ground
- Still needs gas, oil, and off-season fuel care
A tempting budget cordless that runs out of both power and battery right when you need it.
Best for: Almost no one buying a primary snow blower; at best a light-duty backup for a short walkway.
- Genuinely affordable and light enough for a smaller person to lift
- No gas, no pull cord, and near-silent for quick touch-ups
- Narrow 18-inch single-stage auger stalls in anything past a few inches of light snow
- Short runtime per charge means it can quit before a single driveway is done
- No hope against the packed, heavy pile the plow leaves at the curb
- Owner reports frequently cite underwhelming throwing distance and clogging in wet snow
| Criteria | Cub Cadet 2X 26" IntelliPOWER Snow Blower Top pick | Greenworks 80V 24" Two-Stage Cordless Snow Blower | Cub Cadet 1X 21" LHP Snow Blower | Snow Joe 24V-X2-SB18 48-Volt Cordless Snow Blower (18") |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Buy it | Buy it | It depends | Skip it |
| Best for | Homeowners in real snow country with long or wide driveways who want one machine that never taps out. | Suburban homeowners with moderate-to-heavy snow who want two-stage muscle without engine maintenance. | Owners of short, flat, paved driveways in regions that see modest snowfall, not blizzards. | Almost no one buying a primary snow blower; at best a light-duty backup for a short walkway. |
| Price tier | $$$ · premium | $$$$ · flagship | $$ · mid-range | $ · budget |
| Type & stages | Gas two-stage | Cordless two-stage (80V) | Gas single-stage | Cordless single-stage (48V) |
| Clearing width | 26 in | 24 in | 21 in | 18 in |
| Best conditions | Deep, wet, heavy snow and plow piles | Moderate-to-deep snow, clears piles with effort | Light-to-moderate snow on paved surfaces | Light dustings on paved surfaces only |
| Drive system | Self-propelled, multi-speed, power steer | Self-propelled, power steer | Push, auger-assisted | Push, no drive assist |
| Startup & upkeep | Electric start; gas/oil upkeep | Push-button; no engine upkeep | Electric start; gas/oil upkeep | Push-button; battery care only |
| Run time | Unlimited with refueling | One-to-two driveways per charge set | Unlimited with refueling | Short; small walkways only |
| Noise & emissions | Loud, engine exhaust | Quiet, zero emissions | Loud, engine exhaust | Quiet, zero emissions |
| Price tier | $$$ · premium | $$$$ · flagship | $$ · mid-range | $ · budget |
Which one is right for you?
- Homeowners in real snow country with long or wide driveways who want one machine that never taps out. Buy it Cub Cadet 2X 26" IntelliPOWER Snow Blower
- Suburban homeowners with moderate-to-heavy snow who want two-stage muscle without engine maintenance. Buy it Greenworks 80V 24" Two-Stage Cordless Snow Blower
- Owners of short, flat, paved driveways in regions that see modest snowfall, not blizzards. It depends Cub Cadet 1X 21" LHP Snow Blower
- Almost no one buying a primary snow blower; at best a light-duty backup for a short walkway. Skip it Snow Joe 24V-X2-SB18 48-Volt Cordless Snow Blower (18")
How we judged the field
We don’t run our own snow-testing lab. Instead, we synthesize independent testing, expert teardowns, and a large volume of owner reports to figure out which machines actually earn their keep across a full winter. For snow blowers, a few things matter more than the spec sheet.
First is the match between the machine and your snow. A blower that’s perfect in a light-snow climate is miserable in a place that gets buried, and vice versa. Second is the driveway itself: length, width, slope, and whether it’s paved or gravel all change the answer. Third is the part nobody thinks about in July: the end-of-driveway pile the municipal plow packs at your curb, which is dense, heavy, and the true test of any blower. We also weighed startup reliability in deep cold, real-world run time, maintenance burden, and how the machine feels to maneuver when you’re tired and it’s dark out.
Cub Cadet 2X 26” IntelliPOWER Snow Blower — buy
This is the machine to buy if you want to stop thinking about whether your blower can handle the storm. As a two-stage unit, it uses a raised auger to break up snow and a separate impeller to throw it far and fast, which is exactly what deep, wet, and crusted snow demands. Independent testing consistently shows two-stage designs like this clearing the packed plow pile that stops single-stage and light electric machines outright.
Owners report that the electric start is dependable in hard cold, the self-propelled drive with power steering keeps a wide 26-inch machine from feeling like a wrestling match, and the adjustable skid shoes make it safe on gravel. The trade-offs are the ones every gas two-stage carries: it’s large to store, and it needs seasonal oil, fuel care, and the occasional belt or shear-pin check. If you have the space and the snowfall to justify it, none of that is a dealbreaker.
Greenworks 80V 24” Two-Stage Cordless Snow Blower — buy
For a long time, “cordless snow blower” meant “underpowered.” This one breaks that pattern. It’s a true two-stage machine on an 80V platform, and reviewers and owners alike report that it clears moderate-to-deep snow and even end-of-driveway piles with far more authority than any single-stage electric. You get a self-propelled drive, power steer, and LED headlights, wrapped in a package that starts with a button and never needs gas, oil, or winterizing.
The honest caveats are cost and run time. Because it ships with two batteries and a charger, it lands at the top of the price range here. And while a charge is plenty for a typical suburban driveway, a very large lot may require a battery swap or a pause to recharge. For most homeowners who want two-stage capability minus the maintenance and fumes, that’s a trade worth making.
Cub Cadet 1X 21” LHP Snow Blower — it depends
The 1X is a good machine aimed at a specific person. As a compact gas single-stage, it’s light, easy to turn, and its rubber-tipped auger scrapes right down to the pavement for a clean finish. On a short, flat, paved driveway in a region that gets modest snow, it’s a pleasant, low-effort tool with electric start.
Step outside that lane and the story changes. Single-stage augers bog down in deep, wet, or hard-packed snow, so the curb pile the plow leaves can defeat it. And because the auger touches the ground, it must never be used on gravel. It also still needs the same gas and oil upkeep as its bigger sibling. Buy it if your driveway genuinely fits its strengths; if you’re unsure, you probably want a two-stage instead.
Snow Joe 24V-X2-SB18 Cordless Snow Blower — skip
This is the machine we’d steer people away from. On paper, a lightweight, quiet, no-gas blower at a budget price sounds ideal. In practice, the narrow 18-inch single-stage auger struggles with anything beyond a few inches of light, dry snow, and owner reports repeatedly flag short run time, weak throwing distance, and clogging in wet conditions. Against the dense plow pile at the end of a driveway, it simply doesn’t have the muscle.
The deeper problem is expectation. People buy it as a primary snow blower and are let down the first time a real storm arrives. As an occasional backup for a small walkway it can squeak by, but for the money you’re far better served by a proper single-stage or, if you can stretch, the cordless two-stage above.
Cub Cadet 2X 26” IntelliPOWER vs Greenworks 80V 24” Two-Stage: which should you buy?
These are the two machines worth arguing over, and the tiebreaker is gas versus battery. The Cub Cadet 2X 26” is the more capable machine in absolute terms: a wider swath, unlimited run time as long as you keep fuel in it, and the raw grunt to power through the deepest, wettest storms without hesitation. If you live where winter means business and your driveway is long or wide, it’s the safer bet.
The Greenworks 80V 24” gets remarkably close to that capability while erasing the parts of gas ownership people hate. No pull starts in the cold, no oil changes, no fuel to stabilize, no fumes in the garage, and quiet enough to clear at 6 a.m. without complaints. Its limits are price and per-charge run time. Our rule of thumb: pick the Cub Cadet if maximum capability and unlimited run time matter most, and pick the Greenworks if you have moderate snow and value quiet, maintenance-free convenience.
What to look for
- Stages: Two-stage for deep, wet snow, plow piles, and gravel; single-stage only for light-to-moderate snow on paved surfaces.
- Driveway surface: Never run a single-stage on gravel; you need a two-stage with adjustable skid shoes.
- Clearing width and drive: Wider is faster but heavier; self-propelled drive matters a lot on anything longer than a couple of car lengths.
- Gas vs. cordless: Gas gives unlimited run time and power; cordless gives quiet, push-button, maintenance-free operation with a finite charge.
- Startup: Electric start on gas models is worth it in deep cold; cordless is button-and-go.
- Safety features: Look for a clean-out tool that stows on the machine and clearly marked controls you can operate with gloves on.
Our final take
There is no single “best” snow blower, only the best one for your winter and your driveway. If you get real snow and have the room, the Cub Cadet 2X 26” IntelliPOWER is the machine that simply gets the job done, storm after storm. If you’d rather never touch gas and your snowfall is moderate, the Greenworks 80V 24” two-stage is the standout, delivering serious clearing power quietly and with almost no upkeep. The Cub Cadet 1X single-stage is a fine, affordable choice for a small paved driveway and a poor one for anything harder. And the Snow Joe 24V-X2-SB18 is the one to skip: buy it and the first heavy storm will make you wish you’d spent a little more. Size the blower to the winter you actually get, and you’ll be glad you did for a decade.
Questions, answered
How do I safely clear a clogged chute?
Never clear a clogged chute or auger with your hand, even when the machine is off. Shut the engine or motor down, wait for all moving parts to stop completely, and use the clean-out tool that clips to the machine (or a sturdy stick) to push the packed snow free. Keep your hands and feet well clear of the auger and impeller at all times. The impeller can hold spring tension and snap around suddenly, which is how most serious snow-blower injuries happen.
Single-stage or two-stage: which do I need?
Single-stage machines scrape close to the ground and work well on flat, paved driveways with light-to-moderate snow, but the auger touches the surface so they can't be used on gravel. Two-stage machines have a raised auger plus an impeller that flings snow much farther, handle deep and wet snow and heavy plow piles, and can run on gravel. If you routinely get big storms or have a long or gravel drive, go two-stage.
Is a cordless electric snow blower powerful enough to replace gas?
A cordless two-stage like the Greenworks 80V can genuinely rival a gas two-stage for most homeowners, with the trade-off being finite runtime per charge. Cordless single-stage units are best for lighter duty. If your driveway is very large or you regularly face deep, wet snow, keep spare charged batteries on hand or stick with gas for unlimited run time.
Can I use a single-stage snow blower on a gravel driveway?
No. Single-stage blowers, including the Cub Cadet 1X, have an auger that contacts the ground to scrape snow, so on gravel or stone they will pick up and throw rocks, which is dangerous and damages the machine. For gravel, choose a two-stage model with adjustable skid shoes that let you set the auger above the surface.
What maintenance does a snow blower actually need?
Gas models need fresh oil, a good spark plug, fuel stabilizer or draining before storage, and occasional belt and shear-pin checks. Cordless models skip almost all of that; you mainly keep the batteries charged and stored in a mild-temperature spot and clear packed snow off the machine after use. Whatever you own, wipe it down and let it dry before storing so parts don't rust or freeze together.
