The best simplehuman trash cans

Buy the simplehuman 45L Rectangular Step Can with Liner Pocket if you want one can to be the right can for a decade — it is the model the rest of the range is measured against. Buy the 58L Sensor Can only if touchless is the specific thing you are paying for. Every other model here is a shape answer rather than a better can: slim for a gap, under-counter for a cabinet, recycler for two streams, 4.5L for a bathroom.

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	simplehuman 45L Rectangular Step Can with Liner PocketThe kitchen can that solves bag fit properly, with a pedal rated for 150,000 steps and a liner pocket that ends the hunt for the box under the sink.	Best overall	$149.99 · View on Amazon Price as of October 16, 2026.  #ad How we make money
02	simplehuman 58L Sensor CanThe touchless can that gets the sensor right — it reads how long you are standing there rather than running a fixed timer.	Best touchless overall	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
03	simplehuman 58L Step RecyclerThe cleanest answer to trash-plus-recycling in one unit: two compartments behind a single lid and a single pedal.	Best dual-compartment overall	$148.00 · View on Amazon Price as of October 16, 2026.  #ad How we make money
04	simplehuman 45L Slim Step CanFull kitchen capacity in a can narrow enough to live in the gap beside a fridge or at the end of a run of cabinets.	Best narrow full-size can	$109.00 · View on Amazon Price as of October 16, 2026.  #ad How we make money
05	simplehuman 30L Under-Counter Pull-Out CanThe single-bucket version, for a household that recycles elsewhere and wants all the cabinet volume for trash.	Best single-bucket pull-out	$99.99 · View on Amazon Price as of October 16, 2026.  #ad How we make money
06	simplehuman 4.5L Round Step CanA proper step can shrunk to bathroom size, with the same damped lid rather than the sprung flap most small bins use.	Best small bathroom can	$29.99 · View on Amazon $35.00 · 14% off · Price as of October 16, 2026.  #ad How we make money

We have not lived with all six. What we did is rank them against the three things simplehuman does that almost nobody else in the category does — publishes a pedal cycle rating, sells a liner cut to each specific can, and damps the lid as standard rather than as a premium upgrade. A model that uses all three well ranks above one that does not. Methodology, disclosure.

We ignored star ratings and review counts entirely. They are not comparable across retailers and quoting them would imply we had verified them. Every model here is one we confirmed simplehuman currently sells.

We also left models out. The butterfly-lid cans, the open-top bins and the mini recycler are real products that suit specific rooms, and they appear elsewhere on this site where they are the right answer. This page is the six that cover the overwhelming majority of households.

Every simplehuman can carries a code letter, and the company sells a liner cut to that code. The liner is not a marketing accessory — it is the reason the can looks the way it does when the lid is open. A fitted liner sits flush under the rim with no overhang, no slumping, and no four inches of plastic flapping over the outside of a $200 can. A generic bag physically works and undoes exactly that.

So the honest way to price a simplehuman is as a can plus a subscription. Over five years the liners are a real line item, and for some households they are the reason to buy something else. We did that arithmetic in full on is simplehuman worth it.

If you would rather not be tied to a code at all, that is a legitimate reason to buy a Kohler or an EKO instead, both of which take ordinary tall kitchen bags. Fitted liners versus standard bags, in full.

Two of those rows have cheaper answers that are nearly as good, and we would rather say so. A sensor can from iTouchless or Ninestars does the same job for a fraction of the money with a less forgiving sensor — the touchless roundup ranks them all. And in a bathroom, a 4.5-liter can is a lovely object and a very expensive one. The bathroom roundup has the alternatives.

A pedal with a number attached to it

simplehuman states 150,000 steps for its pedal mechanisms. That figure is a manufacturer claim rather than an independent test result, and at twenty opens a day it works out to roughly twenty years, which no kitchen can actually survives. Treat it as evidence of intent: a brand willing to print a cycle number is a brand that expects the linkage to outlast the finish. EKO prints a higher one, which is a fair point against simplehuman and one we make on the EKO comparison.

A lid that does not clap

Every can here has a damped lid. In an open-plan kitchen, or a galley under a bedroom, lid noise is the single most common reason a perfectly working can gets replaced early. A damper is a real mechanical part and it is the first thing deleted from a budget can.

A liner pocket, on the models that have one

The pocket stores the liner roll inside the can and dispenses the next bag as you lift the full one out. It sounds like a gimmick and it is the feature owners mention first, because it removes the one annoying part of taking the trash out — the bit where you are holding a dripping bag and hunting under the sink with your other hand.

What it does not buy

A published warranty length. simplehuman does not state one on the product pages we checked, and Brabantia publishes ten years on the Bo range. We are not going to quote a figure the manufacturer has not published, and if a long written guarantee is what you want, Brabantia is the honest answer.