Best air purifiers for allergies—get cleaner air that's easier to breathe with these top models

The best air purifier for allergies can help to create cleaner, more breathable air in your home, and go a long way towards relieving symptoms.

Because no matter how frequently we vacuum our floors, air particles and pollutants will always remain in our homes – which is where the addition of the best air purifier for your budget can help enormously. If you or anyone else in your household suffers from asthma, pollen or pet allergies, plugging in an air purifier can really help. As an added benefit, this smart piece of kit is also ideal for removing smoke, excess dust and odours from your rooms, too.

Air purifiers work by using a fan to suck the air from your home, drawing it through high-efficiency particulate arrest (HEPA) filters and trapping particles, before recirculating the particle-free air back into the room. As a result, all of our picks are HEPA models.

Before buying an air purifier for allergies, make sure you check it has the capacity to purify the size of the room you want to use it in. Also, think about whether you really need an air purifier for allergies or, if no one in your home suffers with allergies - consider that you may actually need the best air purifier for dust instead. Maintenance can also vary between models, so ensure you know how to clean your air purifier before committing.  Plus, if you’re going to be using it in an open-plan space or rooms that are often in use, its noise levels could be a key factor. You’ll also want to know how easy it is to use, how well it performs, along with whether it offers good value for money. We’ve covered all that and more, so read on to find an allergy-busting purifier that’s right for you and your home.

The best air purifiers for allergies to buy now

This air purifier from Dyson is one of the best around because it’s essentially three things in one: a purifier, heater and fan. As well as being a great model for allergy sufferers, the stand-out features of this design are its capability to purify the air in a very large space – 81sq m to be precise – and the sensors that automatically detect airborne particles and gases, reporting them back to you in real time. You can also monitor your air quality with the Dyson Link app and operate the Hot+Cool with voice control – clever, right? The activated-carbon filters remove gases while sealed HEPA filters capture 99.95% of ultra-fine particles, making it certified asthma and allergy friendly. Another plus is, if you don’t want it directed towards you, the diffused air is diverted through the back of the machine. 

If you’re one of the many people who has an open-plan kitchen (shop our best food processors if you're in the market for one) /living room, this air purifier is for you. It cleans the air in a 28-square-metre room and features four cleaning levels – germ, allergen, general clean and turbo – depending on what you need at any given time. It’ll remove 99.97% of microscopic allergens and its activated carbon pre-filter helps reduce odours. We like that it cleverly adapts to the volume of pollutants in the air, so the higher the tobacco smoke, pollen or dust numbers, the faster the unit filters the air. This machine is small but mighty, at a good price.

Ideal for a bedroom or home office, the Blue Pure 411 can filter a space up to 15sq m, and it does just that every 12 minutes – super speedy! The HEPA filter removes at least 99.97% of all airborne particles, and it uses just 1.5W of energy on its lowest setting – that’s less than most LEDs. It’s also very simple to operate with just one button and three settings.

See our full Blueair Blue Pure 411 Air Purifier review 

This model is a good all-rounder as it’ll purify a medium-sized room (20 sq m) quickly in just eight minutes when in fast mode. Additionally, when you’re not around to manually change the speed of the fan, the auto mode monitors and automatically reacts to changes in air quality. The digital display shows real-time indoor air-quality levels, including allergen, particle and gas levels, and the filters will remove 99.97% of airborne allergens. It can also be paired with an Amazon Alexa for voice-activated control.

See our full Philips AC3033/30 Expert Series 3000i Connected Air Purifier review 

As well as the usual HEPA filters, this Homedics model also includes two PetPlus odour filters, so it’s a great choice if you’ve several pets in the home, especially if they’re long-haired ones. Granted, this isn’t the best-looking air purifier, but it’s tall and narrow in design, making it fairly discreet and also lightweight at 5.5kg. It’ll filter a room up to 17.5 square metres and remove 99.97% of airborne allergens. 

This air purifier has a separate SensorPod that, when placed away from the purifier, monitors air quality across the room to give the best clean-air delivery throughout your room. It’s also very user friendly, with a colour-coded illuminated ring that lets you know when the air quality is good, moderate or poor, and has a UV light that kills germs and bacteria that can get trapped in the filter. With five speed settings it has more options than most.