The Best Hot Tub Brands/Manufacturers and Builders of 2023

 

Picking the best of anything -- “the best car,” “the best movie” or the “best hot tub” -- has a lot of factors. 

Ferrari. Mercedes. Honda. Jeep. Hyundai. All the companies mentioned here are good car companies. Each of them could say that they make the best vehicles and pass a lie detector test. But they all are making very different kinds of cars. 

At Hydropool, we know that determining who makes the best hot tub is difficult for buyers. Quality watchdog Consumer Reports doesn’t write about hot tubs. Neither does reliability expert J.D. Power and Associates. 

We know from their queries that Hydropool customers want the best. Hot tubs work in a similar way to cars and movies: there’s a wide range of hot tub suppliers out there, each with a different emphasis. But all those companies making hot tubs adds up to one big question:

What Company Builds the Best Hot Tub? 

 

There are people who write about the best hot tub manufacturers on the Internet. Here. And here. And even Bob Villa.  

Are all sites that talk about hot tubs legitimate? We actually don’t know. We sometimes agree with some of what they write about us and our competitors, and sometimes we agree with none of it. 

One article we like is here, from Wirecutter, which is a review site backed by the New York Times and which often points to specific products to buy. Right off the bat the piece says it doesn’t pick a winner, because customers need to figure out their needs first. Instead, it explains how to buy a hot tub and what to look for, while recognizing some of the better brands. 

We have been in the industry for years and have seen great tubs and not so great tubs being made. At Hydropool, we support an overall approach that emphasizes customer knowledge. Customers need to understand what options are available so they can discover what they are looking for. In some cases, that leads to a purchase from us. In some cases, there are other manufacturers that fit their needs better. 

So our answer when people ask, “who is building the best hot tub in the world today?” is that there are a wide variety of hot tub manufacturers. Some have been in business a long time and have long-standing reputations as high-end luxury products. Some have come on the market in recent years with innovative approaches to technology. Others are smaller, handcrafted operations. Still others try to capture the value end of the market with their tubs. 

A top 10 list of brands would include some of all these types, and as we make this list, notice that we don’t include ourselves (Hydropool) on the list. After all, our first goal here is to educate. And our sense is, if we educate you enough with the most honest information in the hot tub industry, you may want to learn more about Hydropool as well. 

With that being said, here’s a list of some of the best hot tub manufacturers we’ve seen in the market. 

 

Best Hot Tub Manufacturers of 2023

Bullfrog Spas: A relative newcomer to the market, arriving in 1996, Bullfrog is based in Utah and is known for developing an innovative jet system that allows people to move jets from place to place in their hot tub. 

Sundance Spas: Born in 1979 in Costa Mesa, California – an area with a lot of hot tubs! -- Sundance Spas is a higher-end brand with factories in Grimsby, Ontario in Canada and Lake Mary, Florida. It’s owned by Jacuzzi. 

Master Spas: A U.S.-based hot tub manufacturer out of Indiana, Master Spas features the Michael Phelps Signature line of swim spas among its lineup, which is named after the most awarded Olympian of all time. The company was formed in 1996. 

Hot Spring: In business since 1977, today Hot Spring is often recognized for its salt-water hot tubs and spas, although it started out with a portable model. The original developers were brothers Jeff and Jon Watkins, but the company today has evolved into the Watkins Wellness group of spas, which owns several hot tub companies as well as Hot Spring. 

Jacuzzi: Jacuzzi is one of the largest luxury brands in the marketplace. It is the brand that started it all more than 100 years ago in California and one of the rare brands synonymous with its product: For many people, just like Kleenex is to tissue, Jacuzzi is to hot tub. 

PDC Spas: This Pennsylvania-based company started out making fiberglass pools and has been in business for more than 60 years. PDC stands for Plastic Development Company. 

ThermoSpas Hot Tubs: Based in Connecticut, ThermoSpas has been in business since 1983. Operating without a dealer network, it sells spas directly to consumers and then provides digital customer support.

Beachcomber Hot Tubs: Surrey, British Columbia in Canada is the home of this smaller hot tub company, which began as a family business in 1978 and which builds all its hot tubs by hand. 

Nordic Hot Tubs: Nordic emphasizes affordability for families and has been in business for more than 25 years. The value-oriented company with hand-built tubs is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Viking Spas: The company began in the early 1970s and remains family-run three generations later. Known for its long warranties, Viking hot tubs are also made in Michigan. 

Full disclosure: Hydropool is owned by a company that owns Jacuzzi, which also owns Sundance and ThermoSpas.

How to Choose the Right Hot Tub for You

 

This list is meant to show you the wide range of brands and backgrounds of manufacturers that are in the marketplace today. Each of these companies has slightly different priorities, builds, features and feats of engineering behind their products. 

There’s no one unequivocal best hot tub maker in the marketplace today. Instead, there’s a wide variety of manufacturers, making a lot of different kinds of tubs. While that range means there’s likely a tub out there for you, it can be a confusing arena to navigate as a buyer. Hopefully this article has at least given you a sense as to where to start if you’re looking for the best.