Best Plastic-Free Soda & Seltzer Makers
Last reviewed September 2026
Home carbonation machines for sparkling water and seltzer - and finally, ones that carbonate into glass instead of plastic.
The short answer
The bottle is the water path, and almost every carbonator ships with PET. The cleanest escape is the standard Aarke Carbonator 3 plus its stainless To-Go bottle, which carbonates directly in place of the PET one: steel bottle, steel nozzle, one gasket. It's a separate ~$45-50 purchase and Aarke won't confirm the gasket material. If you want to see your seltzer, the glass-bottle machines - Aarke's Carbonator Pro, Mysoda's Glassy, SodaStream's E-Duo - all carbonate and store in glass, which removes the days of PET storage that dominate exposure, but all three spray through a plastic nozzle on the way in. That includes the Pro, despite its price: Aarke documents a steel nozzle on the Carbonator 3 only.
Why plastic matters in soda makers
A seltzer habit is a daily-consumption habit, and the standard soda maker design puts plastic at every step: CO2 is blasted under pressure through a PET "carbonating bottle," and the finished seltzer - mildly acidic from the carbonic acid - then sits in that same bottle in your fridge for days. Glass was ruled out for years because bare glass can't safely take carbonation pressure. That changed: machines with enclosed safety chambers (Aarke Carbonator Pro, Mysoda Glassy, SodaStream's Duo line) now carbonate directly into glass, cutting the water's plastic contact from days of storage to, at worst, seconds at the nozzle. That nozzle is usually still plastic - worth knowing, but seconds of cold contact is a genuinely different exposure from a bottle your seltzer lives in.
There is also a reason to make your own that has nothing to do with the machine: what you are replacing. Store-bought sparkling water is a known PFAS source - Consumer Reports found Topo Chico with the highest PFAS levels of the brands it tested - so carbonating filtered water at home lets you control what is in it (this is where a home water filter and a soda maker reinforce each other). And the "plastic-free" packaging people assume they are escaping to often isn't: aluminum cans are lined on the inside with a plastic (epoxy) coating, so canned seltzer is not the plastic-free win it looks like.
What to look for in soda makers
- Glass compatibility is machine-specific - glass needs an enclosed chamber or door for pressure safety, so you cannot just put a glass bottle in a PET-bottle machine
- Check the nozzle, not just the bottle - the wand that dips into the water during carbonation is plastic on most machines, including the premium glass ones. Aarke's Carbonator 3 is the only machine here with a steel nozzle the maker actually documents; a steel machine body tells you nothing about it, and neither does a high price
- Storage dwell time is most of the exposure - carbonating into glass or steel and storing there beats any amount of "BPA-free" bottle marketing
- A steel machine body means nothing for the water path on its own - Aarke's Carbonator 3 ships with a PET bottle, though its own stainless "To-Go" bottle (sold separately) carbonates directly and closes that gap
- Makers document what flatters them: if a brand brags about a steel nozzle on one model and says nothing about it on another, the silence is the answer
- All of these use standard screw-in 60L CO2 cylinders (the cylinders themselves are steel - not a plastic concern)
- Glass is not automatically "clean" - the metal cap on a glass bottle usually has a plastic (polyester/plastisol) liner that can shed microplastics, so glass reduces plastic contact rather than eliminating it entirely
Recommended soda makers
Every product here we'd actually suggest — best-in-class picks first, then the rest by how plastic-free they are.
Carbonator 3
Aarke's mainstream carbonator ships with a PET bottle, but a dedicated stainless-steel "To-Go" bottle attaches and carbonates directly in its place - steel bottle, steel nozzle, silicone-only water path. The only machine here whose steel nozzle Aarke actually documents.
E-Duo
SodaStream's glass-carafe machine - carbonates into a dishwasher-safe 1L glass carafe, though the carbonation nozzle and carafe collar are still plastic.
Glassy
Finnish glass-bottle carbonator with an automated sliding safety door and a wood-composite body; nozzle and cap materials are unverified, so assume some plastic in the path.
Carbonator Pro
Carbonates into glass and stores in glass - the real win - but the nozzle that sprays into the water is plastic. Aarke documents a steel nozzle only on the cheaper Carbonator 3.
| Product | Rating | Touches your water | Price | Made in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aarke Carbonator 3 Best Overall | ＋Requires upgrade
| Silicone ·Stainless Steel ·Stainless Steel | $$$$ | China |
 SodaStream E-Duo Most Available | Plastic ·Soda-Lime Glass | $$$$ | — | |
 Mysoda Glassy Best Value Glass Bottle | Plastic ·Soda-Lime Glass | $$$$ | Finland | |
| Plastic ·Silicone ·Soda-Lime Glass ·Metal | $$$$ | China |
Soda makers to avoid
Popular options that look plastic-free but aren't — and whole categories worth skipping.
Breville InFizz Fusion
Beautiful stainless machine and the best "carbonate anything" party trick, but the drink still lives in a plastic bottle - the steel is on the outside, not the water path.
SodaStream Terra
The mainstream soda maker, but you carbonate into and store your seltzer in an all-plastic bottle - the exact thing the glass machines exist to avoid.
Drinkmate OmniFizz
Loved for carbonating things other than water (juice, wine), but the carbonation vessels are plastic and there is no glass option. If carbonating non-water drinks matters more to you than the material, it's the niche it owns.
Common questions about soda makers
Is there a fully plastic-free option for soda makers?
Not completely. None of the 4 soda makers we recommend is free of both plastic and silicone. Aarke Carbonator 3 comes closest, being plastic-free apart from silicone parts such as seals and gaskets.
Which soda makers do you recommend most?
Of the 4 soda makers we recommend, Aarke Carbonator 3 takes Best Overall and Mysoda Glassy takes Best Value Glass Bottle.
Which soda makers should you avoid?
Among the soda makers we have reviewed, we do not recommend Breville InFizz Fusion and SodaStream Terra. We also suggest skipping Drinkmate OmniFizz.
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