The 9 Best Pill Crushers
Updated by · How we research
Hand strength needed varies widely across these nine lever, twist, mortar, electric and crank pill crushers. The MediChoice Pill Crusher System leads. When users buy our independently chosen editorial recommendations, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
Plenty of pills shouldn't be crushed, including extended-release and enteric-coated tablets, so check with a pharmacist before using any crusher. For tablets that can be powdered, a crusher turns them into powder to mix into soft food or a drink, or to give through a feeding tube. Caregivers, older adults, parents and people with swallowing trouble use them.
From the manual
- It can crush straight into a standard 1-ounce disposable medicine cup instead of its own snap-on cup. p. 2
- A change in sound tells you the crush is finished, so there's no need to unscrew the top to check. pp. 2-3
- Free-spinning it upright after the crush blows leftover powder off the grinding surface into the cup, so less of the dose stays behind. p. 3
- Cleanup is a rinse with water, and the snap-on cup can serve as a small bowl for mixing the powder into food. pp. 2, 4
From the manual
- Don't overtighten the fineness knob: the ceramic burrs touch, the crank stiffens and they can be damaged. Stop just short for the finest grind. p. 1
- Brush the burrs with water and a soft toothbrush every other week, then dry all parts; buildup coarsens the grind and makes parts stick. p. 1
- If a pill jams, turn the crank backward. For a big pill, crush it once at the coarsest setting, then again at the finest. p. 1
- Not for capsules, gel caps, gummies or soft tablets. A coated tablet can leave its coating in larger flakes. p. 1
Editor's Notes
November 5, 2026, by Ezvid Wiki Editors:
We read the Pill Mill's instructions and Maxpert's Maxgrind brochure and added what matters from them. Two peer-reviewed studies changed our advice: in one, people with weak hands rated ergonomic twist crushers highest and a lever crusher with bags among the hardest to use; the other found electric grinders made the finest powder. We also corrected a few details, including overheat protection this Cool Knight model doesn't list and the Ezy Crush's clear bottom.
October 17, 2026, by Ezvid Wiki Editors:
With a lever and a pouch doing the work, the MediChoice Pill Crusher System lets weak hands powder large tablets, and nothing from one dose touches the next, which is why it now leads. [2026 update: the small pouches can be hard for stiff fingers to open and load; the buyer's guide explains.] Half of the 2020 list had gone stale. The Medline Silent Knight, the Auvon 2nd Gen and the Kraftura Stainless are no longer available, and the Pillsteer 3-in-1 listing is gone. We also let the Carex Health Brands Ultra go. It's still sold, but it's one more plastic twist crusher, and owner reports on its durability are mixed.
The Medline Pill Crusher is the same idea from the company behind the old Silent Knight. If you'd rather spend very little, the Ezy Dose Ezy Crush is still a sensible buy.
The new picks cover the other ways to do the job: the Tera Mortar and Pestle, the CoaGu Bear and the Maxgrind, plus the Cool Knight CK-56210 for anyone who can't grip at all.
One thing matters more than the crusher. Plenty of pills shouldn't be crushed, including extended-release and enteric-coated tablets, so check with a pharmacist first. The buyer's guide explains why.
Earlier notes
November 2, 2020, by Luke Perrotta:
We removed the Equadose Grinder 2 and the Auvon Mortar and Pestle due to availability concerns. We were able to replace the latter with the newer Auvon 2nd Gen, which is made of porcelain rather than stainless steel and can be washed without any risk of rusting. We also added the Pillsteer 3-in-1, a versatile choice that can cut, crush, and store pills all in one handy device.
March 11, 2019, by Tina Morna Freitas:
The Medline Silent Knight remains a solid choice because of its heavy-duty construction and how easy it is to use. Those who struggle to grip objects will have no trouble with it, as they can use their body weight to press down on the handle and there are no parts they need to worry about unscrewing. [2026 update: in a 2023 University of Queensland study, people with limited hand function rated the Silent Knight with bags among the hardest crushers to use, and some said getting tablets into the bags was the hard part.] The Equadose Grinder also stands out due to its updated larger burr grinders that allow users to pulverize larger pills without having to break them up first.
Match The Crusher To Your Hands
People with weak hands rated a lever crusher with bags among the hardest to use, and some said opening the bags and getting a tablet in was the hard part.
Grip strength is the first question. A lever crusher puts the tablets in a sealed pouch under a long arm, so you press down with your arm or body weight instead of squeezing, and it takes several tablets at once. Makers sell them to hospitals and nursing homes, where the pouch also keeps one patient's drugs out of the next dose. They're big, heavy and expensive, though, and the pouch can be the hard part. In a 2023 study by Su Vin Lee, Kathryn Steadman and colleagues at the University of Queensland School of Pharmacy, 100 adults, 40 of them with limited hand function, each rated nine of 11 crushers. People with weak hands rated a lever crusher with bags among the hardest to use, and some said opening the bags and getting a tablet in was the hard part.
Twist crushers are the cheap, pocket-size option. You screw a ridged top down onto the pill and rock it back and forth. They need a firm grip and some wrist turning, they work best on a few small or medium tablets, and big, dense tablets take several rounds. The shape matters: in the same study, twist crushers with an ergonomic grip scored highest in both groups, well above a plain twist crusher. Wide tops, ear-shaped handles and rubbery shells are meant to make turning easier.
If twisting is out, an electric grinder runs at the press of a switch, and a hand-crank burr mill uses the crank's leverage. A stainless steel mortar and pestle has no moving parts at all, but it takes wrist work. Whatever you choose, check that its opening fits the largest tablet you take. If you also need to halve tablets, the NEWT Guidelines note that a tablet splitter cuts more accurately than a knife, which is the point of cutter-and-crusher combos.
Ask First: Some Pills Must Stay Whole
Many tablets shouldn't be crushed. Extended-release and modified-release pills, often marked ER, XR, SR, CR, XL or LA, are built to release a drug slowly, and crushing one can release the whole dose at once. Enteric-coated tablets have a coating that protects them, or your stomach, until they pass into the intestine. Tablets meant to melt under the tongue or in the cheek lose their effect when swallowed as powder. The NEWT Guidelines lay out each group, and GoodRx keeps a plain-language list. Pharmacists use the Institute for Safe Medication Practices list of oral drugs that shouldn't be crushed, now hosted by ECRI.
Some drugs are hazardous to the person doing the crushing, including many chemotherapy pills and some hormones. NIOSH advises against crushing hazardous drug tablets, and St. Jude tells families not to crush chemotherapy unless the care team says so.
So ask a pharmacist before you crush anything new. Often there's a liquid, a dissolving tablet or a smaller pill that solves the problem without a crusher.
Fine Powder, Feeding Tubes And Clean-Up
For a feeding tube, the powder has to be fine. St. Jude's instructions say to crush each tablet to a fine powder with a pill crusher, mix it with water, give each medicine by itself and flush the tube with water before, between and after doses. NEWT warns that poorly crushed tablets can clog a tube. In a 2022 lab comparison by Herman Woerdenbag and colleagues in the University of Groningen's pharmaceutical technology department, most screw-cap crushers left a coarse powder with larger chunks, while grinders, and electric ones most of all, made powder fine enough for a tube. The same paper notes that powder can cling to a crushing bag, and that rinsing the bag or cup with a little water and giving that too cuts the loss.
By mouth, many people stir the powder into a spoonful of applesauce or pudding. The University of Mississippi Medical Center suggests a creamy food such as applesauce, which has little effect on most medicines, and advises against fruit juice. The UK's Specialist Pharmacy Service notes that crushed coated tablets can taste bitter.
Crush one medicine at a time, and clean the crusher between drugs so powder from one doesn't end up in the next. Pouch crushers avoid the problem because the pill never touches the machine. Twist crushers and mortars rinse under warm water; dry them fully before the next use. Replace a plastic crusher once it cracks, and keep it out of reach of children, since the small parts are a choking hazard.
How we researched this
We compared 21 pill crushers, including every item on our previous list, across lever, twist, mortar, electric and hand-crank designs. We read the Pill Mill's instruction sheet, Maxpert's Maxgrind brochure, the Cool Knight and Apothecary Products (Ezy Dose) product pages and package directions, two peer-reviewed studies of pill crushers from the University of Groningen (2022) and the University of Queensland (2023), neither of which covered these exact models, and clinical guidance from NEWT, St. Jude, NIOSH and the NHS. Searches of FDA device recall records, the CPSC and Health Canada found no recall of the nine picks; the nearest entry is a 2022 FDA Class 2 recall of Medline pill splitters, a different item.
Sources (17)
- NEWT Guidelines: administration of medicines through enteral feeding tubes
- NEWT Guidelines: swallowing difficulties
- St. Jude Together: how to give medicines through a feeding tube
- GoodRx: do-not-crush medication list
- ECRI: ISMP resources
- NIOSH: managing hazardous drug exposures (2023)
- University of Mississippi Medical Center: pill tips
- NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service: checking if tablets can be crushed
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: recalls
- Pharmaceutics (2023): perceived usability of tablet crushers, University of Queensland
- Pharmaceutics (2022): performance of tablet splitters, crushers and grinders, University of Groningen
- FDA: Class 2 recall of Medline pill splitters (2022)
- Maxpert Medical: Maxgrind brochure (PDF)
- Pill Mill: Pill Crusher instructions (PDF)
- Pill Mill: Pill Crusher
- Cool Knight: electric pill crusher (hold-down switch)
- Apothecary Products: Ezy Dose Ezy Crush
Frequently asked questions
Can every pill be crushed?
No. Extended-release, enteric-coated, under-the-tongue and some hazardous drugs must stay whole. Ask a pharmacist before crushing any new medicine, and ask whether a liquid form exists.
What is the best pill crusher for elderly people?
It depends on the hands. A lever crusher needs little force, but stiff fingers can find its small pouches hard to load, and in a 2023 University of Queensland study, people with limited hand function rated ergonomic twist crushers highest. An electric grinder that runs from a switch needs no grip at all.
Which pill crusher makes the finest powder?
Electric grinders, in a 2022 University of Groningen lab comparison; most screw-cap crushers left larger chunks. Among hand tools, a burr mill lets you set the grind, and the Pill Mill's maker suggests a second pass through the mill for finer powder.
How do I crush pills for a feeding tube?
Crush each tablet to a fine powder, mix it with water, give each medicine separately and flush the tube with water before and after, as St. Jude's instructions describe. Check first that the drug may be crushed.
What can I mix crushed pills with?
A spoonful of applesauce or pudding is common. Use a small amount so the whole dose gets taken, and ask a pharmacist, since some drugs react with certain foods.
Do I need to clean a pill crusher between pills?
Yes, when you crush different medicines. Residue from one drug can end up in the next dose. Rinse and dry it between drugs, or use a crusher with disposable pouches.
