Written by Jessica Kasparian, who has spent four years testing makeup, hair, and skin care products.
Updated May 7, 2024
We put our feet through a lot. We jam them into ill-fitting shoes that cause blisters, walk in paper-thin sandals, and squish around wearing damp sneakers in the rain. They endure a lot, with little gratitude beyond the occasional sandal-season pedicure. Enter the foot spa.
Foot spas circulate warm water with vibration or jets to massage the feet, softening hardened dead skin in preparation for removal. Some have additional features like rolling massagers, vibrating massagers, or heaters to keep the water warmer for longer.
To find the best foot spas available, we spoke with a podiatrist about the benefits and potential issues before testing several top-rated models. Our top pick, the Ivation Foot Spa Massager (available at Amazon has all of these features and makes for a comfortable, relaxing experience.
If you just want to soak your feet in warm water (maybe with some soap or essential oils), you can do that without a motorized foot bath. But having one (especially the right one) makes the experience more pleasurable and spa-like.
Best Overall
Ivation Foot Spa Massager
- Dimensions: 16.5” x 14.9” x 9.2”
- Weight: 6.7 pounds
- Heat: Yes
Every pair of feet (and their owners) has different needs and preferences. The best foot spa overall must have enough options to suit a wide range of preferences, and the Ivation Foot Spa Massager does just that.
This foot spa is packed with great features that give you the most for your foot bath money: adjustable heating, massage rollers, water jets, and a timer. What’s more, the control panel lets you manage each function individually rather than lumping certain features together. (For example, other baths had massage rollers and bubbles in one function.)
The Ivation bath has tightly-intertwined, ridged massage rollers located on each side of the bath. This feels far more comfortable than other rollers with bumps or nodules sticking out. These feel less like being jabbed and more like, well, a massage.
The heat controls display the temperature in Fahrenheit, while others simply offer an on-and-off button or no heat at all. When I turned on my preferred hot water temperature, the bath quickly warmed to it and maintained the temperature for the duration of my testing. The maximum temperature is 122 degrees, though 100 degrees is the upper limit for people with many health conditions.
This bath is easy to carry with or without water, as the cleverly designed splash guard transforms into a handle. It was also one of the easiest to clean. The textured bottom has enough space in between the bumps to maneuver a paper towel across it. Other baths didn’t have this spacing, so the towel got shredded as it glided over the texture.
A panel of four coworkers all loved this foot bath, with three of them giving it raves. One cited this bath as the most comfortable, saying the massage rollers actually scrubbed the bottom of her feet for a smoother feel.
To enhance the experience even more, the bath comes with a pumice stone, should you need extra exfoliation. You can rub the stone along the heel, sole, and ball of the foot to soften calluses and remove dead skin.
Despite having more features than other foot spas on this list, the Ivation is easy to use and customizable for the user, making it an easy choice for the best foot spa.
Pros
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Adjustable heating
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Includes massage rollers
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Splash guard transforms into a handle
Cons
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None that we could find
Buy now at Amazon
$79.99 from Home Depot
$89.06 from Walmart
Best Value
Conair Foot Spa/Pedicure Spa
- Dimensions: 7.5” x 14.63” x 16.63”
- Weight: 11.2 ounces
- Heat: Yes
If you're looking to spend less, Conair is your best option. For under a third of our top pick’s price, it hits the high notes of a good foot spa but with less nuance. It lacks bubbles, massage rollers, or inserts and has just one button for heat and vibration, making it the few-frills alternative to pricier options without just being a bucket. (We also tested those; more to come in a bit).
The heat function didn’t increase the heat of the bath, but it did slow down the cooling process. It lost 11 degrees over 25 minutes. In the same amount of time, a regular plastic bucket lost 16 degrees.
Of our picks, this is the easiest to clean. The bumps on the bottom surface are practically flat and provide no friction against a paper towel. You also don’t have to work around massage rollers or clean any inserts. The splash guard is removable, so it can be taken out of the way and rinsed independently.
The Conair has a massage attachment situated on the top center of the spa, designed to provide extra pressure on the foot when grazed over. Several others have similar accessories but we opted not to test these, instead focusing on the main features of the bath.
Pros
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Easy to clean
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Good budget buy
Cons
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Heat function not very strong
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Lacks frills such as massage rollers and bubble options
$31.17 from Amazon
$31.17 from Home Depot
$34.18 from Walmart
Best Feature
HoMedics Bubble Spa Elite Footbath
- Dimensions: 15.5” x 14.75” x 6.75”
- Weight: 4.75 pounds
- Heat: Yes
The HoMedics foot spa is unique among the options we tested for its “seagrass” inserts. These rubber inserts attach to the floor and lightly tickle your feet if you move them. All of our testers enjoyed the sensation. This bath was the most memorable, and it's the one I'd purchase for myself, which is why we named it one of the best foot spas.
For about a third less than Ivation’s price, this HoMedics foot spa has fewer features and they aren’t as customizable. A single button combines the heat controls and bubbles into one function instead of separate controls. It also lacks a digital thermostat.
But though you can’t set the temperature, you can turn up the heat. In testing, the bath cooled from 106 to 103 degrees before I turned on the heat, then rose to 107 degrees in about 13 minutes. That’s a bit high for some people, per our expert podiatrist’s recommendation, but it felt nice to me. The bath doesn’t list vibration as one of the features, but there is a vibration along with the heat and bubbles.
Be careful not to overfill this bath (or any of them), as a bit of water leaps out of it when the jets churn. If you have larger feet, the water will rise quite a bit, even if you fill below the maximum line.
The removable inserts make this bath extremely easy to clean. It has a handle so you can easily carry it to the sink, wash the inserts separately with soap and water, then wipe the whole interior with a soapy cloth.
Pros
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Seagrass inserts that tickle your feet
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Less expensive
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Easy to clean
Cons
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No digital thermostat
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A single button controls heat and bubbles
$49.99 from Amazon
$49.99 from Target
$69.99 from Home Depot
$49.99 from Best Buy
Great Bubbles
Kendal Foot Massager
- Dimensions: 17” x 13” x 10”
- Weight: 5.3 pounds
- Heat: Yes
The Kendal Foot Massager is one of the best foot spas we tested. It’s easy to use and has heat, bubbles, vibration, lights, and massage roller inserts. You can use the vibration and light together, heat and bubbles together, or all of them at once. However, you cannot choose any one setting independently or in any other combination.
I appreciated the power behind the bubbles in this bath. Some other baths’ bubble functions barely worked or weren’t all that useful except for ambiance. The bubbles in the Kendal actually felt like a soothing, massaging tool.
For a more intense massage, you can insert rollers into the bottom of the bath, which you can rub your soles across. However, I didn’t like using them, because the tops of my feet stuck out of the water when atop the rollers.
The texture at the bottom of this bath was slightly pointier (not painful, don’t worry!) than others and caused my paper towel to shred while I was cleaning it. Other than that, the foot spa is easy to rinse, transport, and store.
Pros
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Strong bubbles
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Easy to rinse and transport
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Includes vibration
Cons
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Massage rollers too tall
Buy now at Amazon
$60.99 from Walmart
Best Foot Soaking Tub
Lee Beauty Professional Large Foot Soaking Tub
- Dimensions: 18” x 16” x 2”
- Weight: 2.75 pounds
- Heat: No
This “foot spa” is a fancy bucket. As far as buckets go, though, it’s a fabulous one for soaking your feet. The collapsable silicone basin has foldable plastic legs and a plastic floor that offers structure and support while you’re using the bath. When I first unpackaged it, I worried I would break it while popping it into shape, but it’s surprisingly easy to maneuver, fill, and transport.
The bottom of this bath feels soft and nice on the feet, plus the space is deep enough to soak up to the ankle bones. Surprisingly, the bath retained heat well, too, only dropping 4 degrees in 25 minutes, compared to the other bucket that lost 16 degrees in that time.
The heat retention beats out other baths, too, including some that actually offer heat settings. Thus, we named it one of the best foot spas if you’re just interested in soaking. If you’re strapped for storage space and just want to soak your feet or prep them for a DIY pedicure, this is a good option for you.
Pros
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Retains heat well
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Easily collapses for storage
Cons
-
Can only be used for soaking
Buy now at Amazon
Belmint Foot Spa Bath Massager
- Dimensions: 15” x 12.5” x 5.5”
- Weight: 3.5 pounds
- Heat: No
The Belmint foot spa claims to be for the feet and calves, but the water level only reached my ankles. While this model’s heater was fine, the massage rollers were squeaky and loud.
Each side of the bath has three ridged rollers that are almost the length of my foot (I wear a size 8.5 women’s sneaker). These are tightly intertwined, much like the Ivation ones, but hurt my feet after consistent use. In order to not have these hurt or squeak, I had to lift my feet off of the rollers, which meant not being able to relax my muscles.
Pros
-
Heaters worked well
Cons
-
Rollers irritate feet after a while
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Rollers are obnoxiously squeaky
$63.99 from Walmart
How We Tested
The Tester
Hey there, I'm Jessica. As the former beauty editor here at Reviewed, I tackled all things beauty and health, and foot spas fall between the two. I spent years of my childhood tagging along to the nail salon with my mom, where she generously let me get my nails and toes done beside her.
Those trips to the nail salon taught me that feeling clean and polished (pun intended) is how I feel my best, and that pampering yourself is a good thing. In more recent years, I received a foot spa (the Conair) to use at home.
At Reviewed, I focused on products designed to pamper us, to bring us relief and joy in our everyday lives. I’m passionate about reviewing at-home spa-like products because I want you to treat yourself, too.
The Tests
I scoured the internet for a healthy variety of different features and price points. The list of test subjects ranged from a $16 bucket with zero bells and whistles to a $180 “spa-quality” bath with water jets, heat, motorized massage rollers, a remote control, and red lights (that supposedly boost circulation).
As the heat of the water is paramount to the benefits of a foot soak, I filled each bath with hot water from the office sink and then plopped three heat sensors inside. One went in the shallowest part of the bath, one in the deepest part, and one right underneath my big toe.
These sensors gauged how the foot spas retained heat throughout the 30 minutes (or longer) I was soaking my feet. If the bath had special features (heat, vibration, light, massage rollers), I slowly added them to the settings, allowing each one a full 10 minutes to see if it affected the water temperature in the bath and to evaluate the experience subjectively.
Reviewed’s senior scientist wrote a list of questions about the overall bath experience. These included the feel of the water and how soothed I felt, alongside practical concerns like portability. Since many of these questions are subjective, I answered them for myself and then called for reinforcements.
We selected the top four-foot spa choices from my testing and asked four Reviewed coworkers to test each one for 15 minutes each. These testers came with their own preferences: Melissa has ticklish feet, Lee has colder feet due to reduced circulation from his diabetes, Kyle doesn’t like any massage rollers, and Betsey is down for all of it. They answered the same survey questions I did, based on their own experiences with the foot spas.
I also tested how easy each one is to clean. The cleaning instructions were similar, making it easy to standardize the cleaning tests. I washed the basin with a sturdy paper towel soaked in water and dish soap. I rinsed the basin a few times to fully rinse the soapy water, then dried it with another towel.
How do foot spas work?
Foot spas are nifty devices that combine heated water, bubbles, and massagers to soak and relax your feet. You can add bath salts or essential oils for added ambiance and combine a foot bath with an exfoliating treatment using a brush or pumice stone to improve circulation and remove dead skin.Using a foot spa regularly has both short- and long-term benefits for your feet and overall stress.
Short-term benefits of foot spas
Foot spas feel pleasant and soften skin, but they also promote circulation in the feet. This can relax muscles and reduce strain and swelling. “Our veins become progressively more tired as the day goes on because of the accumulative effect gravity has on fluid retention in our lower extremities,” says Cunha.
When we heat up our feet, like in a foot spa, the veins dilate. This increases blood flow to deliver more oxygen, nutrients, and growth factors (vitamins or hormones that stimulate growth in living cells).. In turn, that soothes achy muscles and tendons. To enhance the short-term experience, you can even add bath salts—also called Epsom salts—to reduce swelling and alleviate stress.
Long-term benefits of foot spas
The benefits of a foot spa may appear temporary—soak your feet and get instant relief. But as Cunha says: “The long-term benefit is the stress relief...if a foot spa helps you reduce your stress levels, then the benefit of a regular foot spa is worth it in the long term."
Foot Spa Temperature
The foot spas we test offer options ranging from “no heat at all” to “temperatures up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Dr. Miguel Cunha, a podiatrist and the founder of Gotham Footcare in New York City, suggests keeping the bath between 92 and 100 degrees, especially if you have any ailments that make you sensitive to heat. “Anything above 100 degrees is considered unsafe for people with certain conditions, such as poor circulation, diabetes, and pregnancy,” he says.
Aside from your feet? Adding bath salts or essential oils to your foot spa can create an even more relaxing atmosphere while you soak. You can also add Epsom salts for their stress-relieving effects.
That being said, always check the manufacturer’s guide before adding anything extra to your spa. While many are designed to be used with bath salts, the salts and oils may clog some tubs, so err on the side of caution.
Can you put bath bombs in a foot spa?
It may be tempting to pull out the bath bombs once your feet get soaking, but you’re probably better off using a small amount of bath salts instead. Bath bombs are designed for full-size tubs, so using them in a small foot spa will likely make the water too sudsy.
Investing in some mini bath bombs may do the trick, but if all you have are full-size fizzies, you may want to skip it.
There are many features to consider when purchasing a foot spa—features that we took into consideration when ranking our top picks. Some priorities may include range of temperature, any massage features, and how easy it is to clean.
While we ranked foot spas by quality of features overall, if you have one in mind that outranks the others—for example, if you want the hottest temperature available or the bubbliest of tubs—it can help you narrow down your search.
How to clean a foot spa
You should clean your foot spa after each use to maintain a sanitary tub. Start by removing any parts that you can, like filters or jet heads, and soak them in a disinfectant solution. You can then scrub the interior of your spa with a sponge or a brush and mild dish soap or other cleaning agent.
You can find disposable tub liners on Amazon should you want extra protection, say, if you share your foot spa and don’t have time to clean in between sessions. And if you’re ever in doubt, check the user manual for cleaning tips.
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Meet the tester
Jessica writes and edits beauty content as a member of Reviewed's commerce team and manages a beauty TikTok called Beautorial. She's spent four years testing makeup, skincare, hair care, and body care products, and she acts as Reviewed's beauty expert.
Jessica represented Reviewed's beauty section at CES in-person and virtually for four years, and she was nominated for and graduated from the Gannett Emerging Leaders 2021-2022 program.
Jessica holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism from Emerson College, and she's written for Scary Mommy, 7News, Boston.com, Citizine, and Boston Common Magazine.
See all of Jessica Kasparian's reviews
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