The best Amazon Basics trash cans

Buy the Amazon Basics Medium 30 L if you want the line's best idea in one object: a soft-close lid, a removable inner bucket and brushed stainless, at a price the premium brands do not compete at. Buy the 32 L black metal if the can has to fit a narrow gap, because it is the only model in the range whose listing publishes its dimensions. The 60 L dual compartment is the cheapest honest way into two-stream sorting, the 6 L plastic bathroom can is the cheapest lidded can here, and the 32-gallon round pair is the right answer for a garage. What you cannot buy today is the 13-gallon kitchen size - more on that below.

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	Amazon Basics Medium Trash Can, 7.9 Gallon (30 L), Soft-Close Lid, Brushed Stainless SteelThe Amazon Basics can to buy: a 30-liter brushed stainless step can with a genuinely soft-close lid and a removable inner bucket.	Best overall	$62.99 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money
02	Amazon Basics Rectangular Metal Trash Can, 32 Liter / 8.5 Gallon, Soft-Close Foot Pedal, BlackA tall, square-footprint 32-liter can in black metal, and the one Amazon Basics model whose listing actually prints its dimensions.	Best narrow footprint	$88.55 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money
03	Amazon Basics Dual Compartment Recycling Trash Can, 60 Liters, Soft-Close Lid, Grey and SilverSixty liters split across two removable liner buckets, with one pedal and a damped lid - the cheapest honest way into dual-stream sorting.	Best for recycling	$122.39 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money
04	Amazon Basics Rectangular Small Trash Can, 20 L / 5.3 Gallon, Soft-Close Step Pedal, NickelThe 20-liter version of the same can: metal, damped, pedal-operated, in the size that fits a bathroom or a bedroom.	Best small stainless	$67.49 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money
05	Amazon Basics Compact Plastic Bathroom Trash Can, 6 L / 1.6 Gallon, Soft-Close Lid, BlackSix liters of plastic with a hands-free pedal, a quiet lid and a removable inner bucket - the cheapest lidded can in the line.	Best cheap bathroom can	$23.09 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money
06	Amazon Basics Heavy Duty Round Trash Can, 32 Gallon, Grey, Pack of 2A pair of plain 32-gallon utility containers - the cheapest way to stand up a two-stream garage or yard-waste station.	Best for a garage	$78.38 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money
07	Amazon Basics Rectangular Plastic Office Wastebasket, 7 Gallon, Black, Pack of 2Two open-top 7-gallon wastebaskets at 14.4 by 10.3 by 15 inches, for the desks and spare rooms where a lid is just something to lift.	Best for an office	$17.83 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

If you are cross-shopping rather than committed to the brand, the best kitchen trash cans is the wider field, and the best kitchen trash cans under $50 is the price bracket most of this line sits just above.

Four criteria, and the first one is unusual because the brand is unusual. We do not run a testing lab and we have not bought and side-by-side tested these cans, so every figure below is what the seller publishes, labeled as such. Our full methodology is here.

1. Is it actually in stock? This matters more with a house brand than with Glad or Sterilite, because there is no second retailer to fall back on. We checked availability on every model on November 3, 2026, and one of the most-searched cans in the line failed that check.
2. Does the lid close quietly? Soft-close is the single feature that separates a can you tolerate from one you replace, and it is the feature this line unexpectedly keeps. Where a model has it, that is most of its argument.
3. Is there a removable inner bucket? A bag leaks eventually. A removable bucket means you rinse a plastic liner out at a sink; no bucket means you carry the whole can outside and try not to scratch the finish.
4. What does the listing actually publish? This is where the brand is weakest. Two models in the range print dimensions and the rest print a capacity and a finish. A can you cannot measure before it arrives is a risk in a kitchen with a fixed slot, and we have marked every entry where the figure does not exist.

Amazon Basics is a retailer's own label, not a manufacturer. There is no brand website with a spec sheet, no support line that knows the product, and - the part that matters most for a trash can - no parts catalog. Ninestars will sell you a replacement sensor lid; Joseph Joseph will sell you a liner code; simplehuman will sell you a pedal and an air damper by part number. Amazon Basics will sell you another can.

That is a genuine cost, because the two things that fail on a pedal can are the pedal linkage and the lid hinge, and both are repairable parts on a brand that stocks them. On this line they are the end of the can. Weigh that against the price, which is the other half of the trade: a soft-close stainless step can with a removable bucket from a specialist is a three-figure purchase, and here it is not.

That last line deserves more credit than it gets. Every can in this range takes an ordinary supermarket bag in a standard size, which means no liner code to look up and no ongoing subscription to a proprietary bag. Over five years the liner bill on a premium can can exceed the gap in the purchase price, and this line simply does not have one.

Seven cans, every one of them confirmed in stock on November 3, 2026, and every one carrying a stated drawback. The line is more consistent than most house brands, so the differences between these are mostly about size and material rather than quality.

01 — Best overall

Amazon Basics Medium Trash Can, 7.9 Gallon (30 L), Soft-Close Lid, Brushed Stainless Steel

The Amazon Basics can to buy: a 30-liter brushed stainless step can with a genuinely soft-close lid and a removable inner bucket.

Capacity

7.9 gallons / 30 liters

Lid

Soft-close

Pedal

Foot lever

Inner bucket

Removable

Finish

Smudge-resistant brushed stainless, satin nickel

Bag size

8 gallon / 30 liter

Soft-close is the feature that decides whether a can is tolerable in a room you sit in, and it is normally the first thing a budget can drops. This keeps it, adds the smudge-resistant satin nickel finish so fingerprints are less obvious, and uses a removable inner bucket so a leaked bag sits in plastic rather than against the steel. At 30 liters it takes an ordinary 8-gallon drawstring bag, which means no proprietary liner and no code letter to look up.

What we'd flag: there is no published pedal cycle rating, no published warranty term on the listing, and Amazon Basics does not run a spare-parts store - so a snapped pedal is a new can rather than a part. Treat it as a three-to-five year can bought at a three-to-five year price.

$62.99 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

02 — Best narrow footprint

Amazon Basics Rectangular Metal Trash Can, 32 Liter / 8.5 Gallon, Soft-Close Foot Pedal, Black

A tall, square-footprint 32-liter can in black metal, and the one Amazon Basics model whose listing actually prints its dimensions.

Capacity

8.5 gallons / 32 liters

Dimensions

14 in L x 14 in W x 25.3 in H (listing figure)

Lid

Soft-close

Pedal

Foot lever

Inner bucket

Removable

Finish

Fingerprint-resistant black

Fourteen inches by fourteen inches by 25.3 inches tall is the published figure, and it is the reason to choose this over the 30-liter: it finds its volume in height rather than width, so it slots into a 15-inch gap beside a fridge or at the end of a run of cabinets. The black fingerprint-resistant finish is the other argument - black metal hides marks that brushed stainless advertises, which matters on a can at hand height.

What we'd flag: 25.3 inches is tall enough to foul a counter overhang when the lid swings back, so measure your vertical clearance before you buy. Painted metal also chips where a stainless can scratches, and a chip on black metal shows.

$88.55 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

03 — Best for recycling

Amazon Basics Dual Compartment Recycling Trash Can, 60 Liters, Soft-Close Lid, Grey and Silver

Sixty liters split across two removable liner buckets, with one pedal and a damped lid - the cheapest honest way into dual-stream sorting.

Capacity

60 liters total, two compartments

Lid

Soft-close

Pedal

Foot lever

Liner buckets

Removable, one per compartment

Finish

Fingerprint-resistant grey and silver

A dual-compartment can is the rare upgrade that makes your trash smaller rather than bigger: pull the dry recycling out of the main stream and what is left is both less bulky and less smelly. Doing that normally costs three figures from the specialists. This does it with removable liner buckets, which is the detail that matters, because the compartment you use for rinsed containers is the one that eventually needs washing out.

What we'd flag: 60 liters split two ways is two 30-liter compartments, so each side holds less than a standard 13-gallon kitchen bag's worth. It is also the most expensive can in the Amazon Basics line and the one with the most moving parts, with the same no-spare-parts problem behind it.

$122.39 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

04 — Best small stainless

Amazon Basics Rectangular Small Trash Can, 20 L / 5.3 Gallon, Soft-Close Step Pedal, Nickel

The 20-liter version of the same can: metal, damped, pedal-operated, in the size that fits a bathroom or a bedroom.

Capacity

5.3 gallons / 20 liters

Lid

Soft-close

Pedal

Foot lever

Inner bucket

Removable

Finish

Smudge-resistant nickel

Dimensions

Not published on the listing

Small cans are where the category gets cynical - most 5-gallon bins are plastic with a swing lid or a spring pedal that clatters. This is the same mechanism as the larger models in a body that fits beside a vanity, which makes it the obvious choice if you want the bathroom can to match the kitchen one. Twenty liters takes an ordinary 4-to-6-gallon bag.

What we'd flag: it costs very nearly what the 30-liter costs, which makes no sense on a volume basis and only works if the footprint is the constraint. The listing publishes no dimensions, so you are buying a 20-liter number rather than a measured width.

$67.49 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

05 — Best cheap bathroom can

Amazon Basics Compact Plastic Bathroom Trash Can, 6 L / 1.6 Gallon, Soft-Close Lid, Black

Six liters of plastic with a hands-free pedal, a quiet lid and a removable inner bucket - the cheapest lidded can in the line.

Capacity

1.6 gallons / 6 liters

Lid

Soft-close

Pedal

Foot lever

Inner bucket

Removable

Material

Plastic, black

This is the pick where Amazon Basics is genuinely hard to argue with. A soft-close lid and a removable inner bucket on a 6-liter bathroom can is specification you normally pay several times as much for, and the removable bucket is the part that matters most on a small can, because a small can is the one that gets a leaking bag in it. Plastic is also the right material next to a shower, where stainless water-spots.

What we'd flag: 6 liters is small - a bathroom bin, not a bedroom one - and standard 4-gallon bags will overhang it noticeably. There is no published dimension on the listing, and plastic hinges on a cheap can are the first thing to go slack.

$23.09 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

06 — Best for a garage

Amazon Basics Heavy Duty Round Trash Can, 32 Gallon, Grey, Pack of 2

A pair of plain 32-gallon utility containers - the cheapest way to stand up a two-stream garage or yard-waste station.

Capacity

32 gallons each

Sold as

Pack of 2

Material

Molded plastic, grey

Lid

Not stated on the listing

Liner

30-33 gallon

A garage can does not need a mechanism, a finish or a damper. It needs volume, a body that survives being dragged, and a price that lets you buy two so trash and recycling are separated at the source. That is exactly what this is. Thirty-two gallons is also the size the rest of the hardware world is built around, so lids, dollies, straps and 30-33 gallon liners all fit it.

What we'd flag hardest: the listing states the capacity and the material and little else - it does not state that a lid is included, so budget for a separate lid or a strap if the can lives outside. It is also only sold as a two-pack, which is wasted money if you want one.

$78.38 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

07 — Best for an office

Amazon Basics Rectangular Plastic Office Wastebasket, 7 Gallon, Black, Pack of 2

Two open-top 7-gallon wastebaskets at 14.4 by 10.3 by 15 inches, for the desks and spare rooms where a lid is just something to lift.

Capacity

7 gallons each

Dimensions

14.4 in L x 10.3 in W x 15 in H (listing figure)

Sold as

Pack of 2

Lid

None, open top

Material

Plastic, black

An open-top basket is the right answer wherever the waste is dry - paper, packaging, a dead pen - because there is no odor to contain and no lid to slow you down. This one publishes its dimensions, which is the thing you need when the can has to fit in a desk cubby or a cupboard, and it comes as a pair so the home office and the spare room are both solved at once.

What we'd flag: no lid means no fly barrier and no odor containment, so this is the wrong can for anything with food in it. It is a 7-gallon basket, which takes an 8-gallon bag with overhang - there is no 7-gallon bag size.

$17.83 · View on Amazon

Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

Amazon Basics does make a 13.2-gallon, 50-liter version of its stainless step can - the same soft-close lid, the same removable bucket, in the size most American kitchens actually use. We have a page on it and it is a good can. On the day we checked for this roundup, its listing was quoting a shipping estimate of one to two months.

That is not out of stock and it is not discontinued, but it is not a can you can order on a Tuesday because your old one broke on Monday. We are telling you rather than quietly ranking it first, because an availability problem you discover at checkout is worse than one you read about here. If the estimate has improved by the time you read this, it is the pick of the line on capacity alone.

The 50-liter model, for reference. Check the shipping estimate on the listing before you plan around it.

Best cheap soft-close

Amazon Basics 13.2 Gallon (50 L) Soft-Close Step Trash Can

The cheapest way to get a genuinely damped lid: a 50-liter brushed stainless step can with a removable inner bucket.

$79.99 · View on Amazon

$89.99 · 11% off · Price as of November 14, 2026.  #ad How we make money

If you need 13 gallons this week, the honest answer is to look outside the brand. The best 13 gallon trash cans covers the size properly, and the best Glad trash cans and the best Sterilite trash cans are the two house-brand-adjacent lines that compete with this one on price and are reliably stocked.

The useful comparison is not Amazon Basics against simplehuman - those are different purchases. It is Amazon Basics against the other cans you would actually cross-shop at the same price, which is Glad's stainless step cans, Sterilite's plastic range, and the cheaper end of the sensor-can field.

The pattern: this line is at its strongest where the competition is plastic and at its weakest where the competition publishes numbers. If your last can broke at the pedal and you want to know this one will not, nothing here answers that question - is simplehuman worth it is where that argument gets made properly.

• Main kitchen, normal household. The Medium 30 L. Eight gallons emptied daily beats thirteen emptied every third day on smell, and this is the size the line does best.
• Kitchen with a narrow slot. The 32 L black metal, because it is the one model that publishes 14 by 14 by 25.3 inches so you can check before you buy. Measure the vertical clearance too - a lid that swings back under a counter overhang needs it.
• Kitchen that recycles seriously. The 60 L dual compartment. The best dual compartment recycling cans is the wider field if you want to compare it.
• Bathroom. The 6 L plastic. It is the best-value object in the line and plastic is the right material next to a shower.
• Bedroom or guest room. The 20 L small stainless, if you want it to match the kitchen. The 7-gallon plastic basket if you do not.
• Home office. The 7-gallon open-top pair. Dry waste needs no lid, and the pair is the cheapest way to solve two rooms at once. The best trash cans for home offices has the alternatives.
• Garage or yard. The 32-gallon round pair, with a separately bought lid if it lives outdoors and a 30-33 gallon liner rather than the 20-gallon bags a kitchen can takes. The best garage trash cans covers the cans built for that job.

And the one we would not buy: the 20 L small stainless at close to the price of the 30 L. Pay the same money for 50% more can unless the footprint is genuinely the constraint.