I tested the Ninja Creami, TikTok's favorite ice cream maker, to see if it lives up to the hype

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The Ninja Creami Ice Cream Maker took TikTok by storm; our feeds blew up with custom vegan-friendly, dairy-free ice cream to protein-packed "healthy" frozen treats. I've tested my fair share of ice cream makers over the years, so I had to get my hands on the Creami and the new soft-serve Ninja Swirl.

After making pint upon pint of frozen treats, I think the Ninja Creami is great, but not exactly a game-changer. Both the Creami and Swirl are great for people with dietary restrictions or who want to invent new recipes. Read on for my experience testing the Creami and Swirl, who should buy them, and what alternatives you may want to consider instead.

Getting started

The Ninja Creami comes with the main unit, two pint containers, and a recipe book. I came into testing expecting my 11-year-old son and I could just pop in the ingredients and have ice cream in minutes. Unfortunately, like many other countertop ice cream machines, there's a waiting period: 24 hours in the case of the Creami.

The first step is to create an ice cream mixture. Then you pour the concoction into one of the Ninja pint containers and freeze it for 24 hours. After it's frozen solid, you install the container in the machine's outer bowl, select the proper setting, and watch it mix.

Ninja Creami performance

The Ninja Creami works by spinning the frozen ingredients for two to five minutes, which introduces air and gives the ice cream its texture. I was surprised by how loud the unit is. I held a sound meter nearby, and it registered 80 decibels, which is about as loud as heavy traffic.

My first attempts at making ice cream came out too soupy. It still tasted great, but the texture was off. After looking at the directions, I realized I needed to turn my freezer to its coldest setting. Also, I learned that you need to turn the machine on before installing the bowl. Otherwise, it doesn't recognize it.

While it was rarely a problem with my family, if you don't finish your pint, you can simply flatten the remainder, put the cover back on, and put it back in your freezer. When you're ready to eat it again, just run the same program you used originally.

Ice cream

As I mentioned earlier, the texture was way too soupy at first. Once I adjusted my freezer temperature, the resulting ice cream was excellent. I found it helped to run the respin feature after the initial spin to achieve the perfect texture. This adds about two minutes to the mixing time, but the results are creamier and less chalky.

After spinning the ice cream, you can add mix-ins by scooping out a hole that reaches the bottom of the container. Then, you add cereal, cookies, chocolate chips, or other treats to the hole and spin again with the mix-in program.

Dairy-free ice cream

To me, one of the biggest selling points of the Creami is the ability to create frozen treats to suit your dietary preferences. The dairy-free ice cream was a hit in my home. My 22-year-old vegan kid loved that they could easily get dairy-free ice cream with the machine. They even took the initiative and started making their own original recipes.

Sorbet

I like that Ninja Creami creates amazing sorbets with very few ingredients, making it an excellent budget vegan option. You just mix water, sugar, and flavoring. My vegan kid said the sorbets were their favorite because they were fruity and light with minimal creaminess.

I made a sweet and tangy lemon sorbet using the Costco-sized lemon juice that's always in our fridge. You can also transform fruit cups and canned fruit into frozen fruity desserts.

Cons to consider

What I liked least about the Ninja Creami is the 24-hour wait time for your ice cream base to freeze. I suggest purchasing extra pint bowls so you can prepare several flavors at once and keep them ready in your freezer.

Plus, you may need to adjust your freezer temperature to get the best texture. Try making an ice cream without changing any settings and see how it goes — if it's soupy like ours was, then you need to set your freezer to the coldest temperature.

At 80 decibels, the Creami is quite loud, though comparable to that of the best blenders and food processors. You may want to skip it if you live in an apartment with thin walls, and I wouldn't recommend running it while your family is trying to sleep.

Ninja Creami vs Swirl

The Ninja Swirl builds on the Creami's basic technology. It features the same learning curve, 24-hour freeze time, and 80-decibel loudness, but adds the ability to make soft-serve ice cream and frozen yogurt.

Like the Creami, you spin your frozen batter, but when it reaches your desired consistency, you slot the bowl into the soft serve dispenser. Pull the handle on the side, and soft serve flows into your ice-cream cone or bowl below, much like at a frozen yogurt shop.

The Swirl has 13 programs versus the Creami's seven, including Soft Serve, Fruit Whip, Frozen Custard, and CreamiFit (for high-protein snacks). I really liked that you could transform store-bought ice cream into soft serve without having to wait 24 hours for an original concoction to freeze.

Ninja Creami vs Deluxe

While we haven't had a chance to test the Ninja Creami Deluxe yet, we have an idea of the differences and similarities based on the designs. At $50 more than the baseline Creami, the Deluxe has a more powerful motor, larger tubs (24 ounces versus the Creami's 16 ounces), and more programs, including Creamiccino, Italian Ice, and Slushi.

The Deluxe relies on the same technology as the Creami, spinning the frozen batter to create your desired treat. However, it features dual processing for mix-ins, so you can have one mix-in on top and a separate one on the bottom. One negative is that the Creami tubs are incompatible with the Deluxe.

What are your alternatives?

My all-time favorite ice cream maker is the Cuisinart ICE-100. It's built-in compressor freezes your treat as it churns, so you don't have to wait 24 hours for it to freeze. The resulting ice cream is always delicious, and cleanup is a breeze. The main negative is it costs $100 more than the Creami. Read my full Cuisinart ICE-100 Ice Cream Maker review.

The Cuisinart ICE-30 Pure Indulgence is an excellent budget-friendly option that tops our guide to the best ice cream makers. It only costs $80 and makes two quarts of ice cream at a time, four times more than the Creami. You still need to freeze the mixing bowl for 12 to 24 hours, and it takes 30 minutes to churn the batter.

The bottom line

Vegans, diabetics, and other ingredient-conscious individuals will appreciate the level of customization. My vegan kid loved the Creami.

As someone who eats anything, I didn't think the convenience outweighed the drawbacks of adjusting my freezer temperature and waiting 24 hours for my mixture to freeze. Going forward, I'll likely only reach for the Creami to make unique flavors or dairy-free concoctions that you can't find in the store.