Touchless Trash Cans

The best large touchless trash cans

Sensor cans cluster at 13 gallons because that is where the bags are. Going bigger means fewer options, a wider body and more battery - here is what is actually available.

By Ryder M. · Last reviewed November 10, 2026

Large kitchen with an island and bar stools

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The short answer

Buy the Ninestars 21 Gallon XL Automatic Touchless Trash Can. At 80 liters it is the only genuinely large sensor can we can recommend without reservation, it runs on standard bags, and the soft-close lid stops the biggest complaint about large sensor cans - a heavy lid dropping. The budget pick is the iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid Opening, which is not larger in volume but has a far wider aperture, which is what most people actually mean when they ask for a bigger sensor can. For premium build at size, the simplehuman 45L Semi-Round Sensor Can and the Kohler K-23825 are the two to compare.

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	Ninestars 21 Gallon XL Automatic Touchless Trash Can (80 L)The biggest sensor can most households will consider: 80 liters, a wide opening, and a manual mode that locks the lid open.	Best XL sensor can	$89.99 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money
02	simplehuman 45L Semi-Round Sensor CanThe flat-backed semi-round shape with the adaptive sensor, for kitchens where the can has to sit against a wall.	Best touchless for a wall	$124.99 · View on Amazon $160.00 · 22% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money
03	Kohler K-23825 13-Gallon Touchless Trash CanThe sensor can to buy if it has to live somewhere visible — black stainless, fingerprint-resistant, and standard bags.	Best finish	$195.49 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money
04	iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid OpeningThe slim-bodied iTouchless sensor can with the wide lid opening — for households whose trash is awkward packaging rather than food waste.	Best wide lid opening	$71.99 · View on Amazon $89.99 · 20% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money
05	iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with WheelsAn indoor sensor can on wheels, which sounds odd until you have carried a full one down a hallway every week.	Best for moving to the curb	$98.99 · View on Amazon Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

Be precise about what "large" means for you. Three different problems get described the same way: not enough volume, an opening too small to post a cereal box through, and a can that cannot be moved when full. They have different answers, and the table below splits them out.

What goes wrong when a sensor can gets big

Lid mass. A big lid needs a stronger motor and a damper, or it drops. The Ninestars XL and the premium cans have one; a cheap large can usually does not.
Battery drain. More lid to move, more current per cycle. On a can opened fifty times a day, an AC adapter stops being a luxury - touchless trash can batteries and power covers which cans accept one.
Bag availability. At 21 gallons you are out of tall kitchen bags and into 20-30 gallon liners. The best 20 gallon trash bags is the companion page.
Usable capacity. The sensor mechanism takes the top of the can. A 50-liter body holds around 10 to 11.6 usable gallons by Ninestars' own figures, and the gap grows with lid size.
Floor space. A 21-gallon body is a piece of furniture. Measure the gap, including the lid's swing.

Who each pick is for

Pick	Problem it solves	Capacity	Power
Ninestars 21 Gallon XL	Genuinely not enough volume	21 gal / 80 L	Batteries
simplehuman 45L Semi-Round Sensor	Premium build at full kitchen size	45 L / 11.9 gal	Batteries or adapter
Kohler K-23825 13-Gallon Touchless	A large can that has to look like cabinetry	13 gal / ~49 L	Batteries
iTouchless 13 Gallon Extra Wide	The budget pick - an opening big enough to post a box	13 gal / 50 L	Batteries
iTouchless 13 Gallon with Wheels	A full can that has to be moved	13 gal / 50 L	Batteries

Capacities and power options are the manufacturers' own published specifications.

The picks in full

01 — Best XL sensor can

Ninestars 21 Gallon XL Automatic Touchless Trash Can (80 L)

The biggest sensor can most households will consider: 80 liters, a wide opening, and a manual mode that locks the lid open.

Capacity: 21 gallons / 80 liters
Opening: Infrared sensor, soft-close lid
Manual mode: Yes — holds the lid open
Power: Batteries — check the compartment (see flag)
Bag retention: Removable liner ring
Body: Fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, non-skid base

A large family fills a 13-gallon can before dinner is cleared, and the failure mode is a bag stacked beside the bin. Eighty liters ends that. The throat is wide enough for a pizza box or a gallon jug without folding anything, the infrared lid means nobody touches it with cooking hands, and a manual mode holds the lid open when you are clearing the fridge. A removable liner ring hides an oversized bag, which is the usual problem at this capacity.

What we'd flag: Ninestars publishes two different battery specs for this model — 2 C cells on its DZT-80-4 product page, 3 D cells on its own CAP-4 replacement-cap listing — so open the compartment and look before you buy cells. A can this size gets opened constantly either way, so expect to change them. It is also genuinely large — measure the floor and the lid swing before you commit.

$89.99 · View on Amazon

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

02 — Best touchless for a wall

simplehuman 45L Semi-Round Sensor Can

The flat-backed semi-round shape with the adaptive sensor, for kitchens where the can has to sit against a wall.

Capacity: 45 liters / 11.9 gallons
Opening: Adaptive motion sensor
Back: Flat — sits flush to a wall
Power: Battery

Most sensor cans are rectangular boxes that stand proud of the wall because the sensor housing sits on the front face. The semi-round version keeps the flat back, so it sits flush and the sensor still has a clear line of sight to whoever is standing in front of it.

What we'd flag: 45 liters in a semi-round shape means a narrower throat than the rectangular cans. A flattened cereal box goes in; an unflattened one does not.

$124.99 · View on Amazon

$160.00 · 22% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

03 — Best finish

Kohler K-23825 13-Gallon Touchless Trash Can

The sensor can to buy if it has to live somewhere visible — black stainless, fingerprint-resistant, and standard bags.

Capacity: 13 gallons
Opening: Hands-free motion sensor
Finish: Fingerprint-resistant white stainless steel (K-23825-STW)
Bag compatibility: Standard 13-gallon bags

Kohler builds kitchen fixtures, and it shows in the finish quality and in the fact that the black stainless genuinely resists marks rather than showing every touch. Like Kohler's step can, it takes ordinary 13-gallon bags, so the running cost is supermarket-bag money.

What we'd flag: you are paying a finish premium. Mechanically it is a conventional infrared sensor can, not an adaptive one.

$195.49 · View on Amazon

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

04 — Best wide lid opening

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid Opening

The slim-bodied iTouchless sensor can with the wide lid opening — for households whose trash is awkward packaging rather than food waste.

Capacity: 13 gallons / 50 liters
Dimensions: 12.7" L x 10.7" W x 27.3" H (35.7" with the lid open)
Odor control: AbsorbX activated carbon filter included
Power: 4 x D cells, or an optional AC adapter (sold separately)
Bags: Standard 13 gallon, retainer ring

Capacity is rarely the constraint; the size of the hole is. This is the long-running iTouchless 13-gallon that pairs a large lid opening with a body only 10.7 inches wide, so a pizza box or a cereal carton goes in without folding while the can still sits in a 12-inch gap. The AbsorbX carbon filter is included rather than an upsell, the bag retainer ring hides the liner edge, and it takes ordinary 13-gallon bags.

What we'd flag: it runs on four D cells, which is a lot of battery, and the AC adapter is sold separately. If the can lives somewhere you cannot reach a socket, budget for alkaline D cells rather than the cheapest multipack.

$71.99 · View on Amazon

$89.99 · 20% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

05 — Best for moving to the curb

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Wheels

An indoor sensor can on wheels, which sounds odd until you have carried a full one down a hallway every week.

Capacity: 13 gallons / 50 liters
Wheels: Yes
Odor control: AbsorbX activated carbon filter
Lid lock: Yes

Wheels on a 13-gallon can are for the fifteen feet between the kitchen and wherever the bags go — a garage, a back door, a bin store. Full kitchen bags are heavier and more awkward than people expect, and this removes the carry entirely.

What we'd flag: wheels on a kitchen floor mean the can moves when you lean into it. On tile it will creep away from the wall over a few weeks.

$98.99 · View on Amazon

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

Living with a large sensor can

Put it where the lid has room. A large lid that catches a worktop edge on every cycle will fail early.
Use the mains adapter if the can takes one. It removes the single biggest annoyance in the category.
Do not fill it to the top. A 21-gallon bag of household waste is heavy enough to be a two-handed lift, and a bag that will not come out is worse than a can that is too small.
Keep the sensor clear. Big cans sit near traffic, and a lid that cycles every time somebody walks past is flat batteries by the end of the month - a touchless trash can that keeps opening.

If budget is the binding constraint, the best touchless trash cans under $100 includes the Ninestars XL and is the price-led version of this page. For the whole category without a size filter, the best touchless trash cans is the main roundup.

The two that answer the question most often: the Ninestars XL for real volume, the extra-wide iTouchless when the opening is the actual problem.

Best XL sensor can

Ninestars 21 Gallon XL Automatic Touchless Trash Can (80 L)

The biggest sensor can most households will consider: 80 liters, a wide opening, and a manual mode that locks the lid open.

$89.99 · View on Amazon

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

Best wide lid opening

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid Opening

The slim-bodied iTouchless sensor can with the wide lid opening — for households whose trash is awkward packaging rather than food waste.

$71.99 · View on Amazon

$89.99 · 20% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #ad How we make money

Common questions

What is the best large touchless trash can?

The Ninestars 21 Gallon XL Automatic Touchless Trash Can. At 80 liters it is the only genuinely large sensor can we would recommend outright, and it has a soft-close lid rather than a dropping one.

What is the largest touchless trash can you can buy?

In the mainstream market, around 21 gallons / 80 liters. Above that you are into commercial containers, which are not made with sensors.

Do large sensor cans use more batteries?

Yes. A bigger lid needs more current per cycle, so a large can opened constantly benefits far more from a mains adapter than a 13-gallon one does.

What bags fit a 21-gallon touchless can?

A 20-30 gallon liner rather than a tall kitchen bag. The 13-gallon bags most households keep will not reach the rim.

Is a wider lid opening better than more volume?

Often, yes. A lot of people asking for a larger sensor can actually want an aperture big enough to post a box through, which the extra-wide models solve for much less money.

Why is usable capacity lower than the stated size?

The sensor lid mechanism occupies the top of the can, and the gap grows with lid size. Ninestars publishes 10.2 to 11.6 usable gallons on a 50-liter body.

Sources

Every specification on this page traces to one of these, checked at the time of writing. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, the page says so rather than estimating it.

The short answer

What goes wrong when a sensor can gets big

Who each pick is for

The picks in full

Ninestars 21 Gallon XL Automatic Touchless Trash Can (80 L)

simplehuman 45L Semi-Round Sensor Can

Kohler K-23825 13-Gallon Touchless Trash Can

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid Opening

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Wheels

Living with a large sensor can

Ninestars 21 Gallon XL Automatic Touchless Trash Can (80 L)

iTouchless 13 Gallon Sensor Can with Large Lid Opening

Common questions

What is the best large touchless trash can?

What is the largest touchless trash can you can buy?

Do large sensor cans use more batteries?

What bags fit a 21-gallon touchless can?

Is a wider lid opening better than more volume?

Why is usable capacity lower than the stated size?

Sources

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