We compared current outdoor pizza ovens from Gozney, Ooni and Solo Stove on fuel type, pizza size, heat-up time, measured stone temperature, weight and how forgiving each is for a beginner.
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Best overall
Suits Regular backyard pizza nights with less turning
Best budget
Suits First oven for small households, 12-inch pies
Best premium
Suits Hosts cooking for six or more, 16- to 18-inch pies
Best for wood-fired flavor
Suits Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza in a portable oven
From spec sheets and independent tests. The best result in a row is tagged.
| Feature | Gozney Arc PropaneBest overall | Solo Stove Pi PrimeBest budget | Ooni Koda 2 ProBest premium | Ooni Karu 2Best for wood-fired flavor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel | Propane | Propane | Propane or natural gas | Wood, charcoal, optional gas |
| Max pizzamanufacturer | 14 in | 12 in | 18 in Best | 12 in |
| Stone temperaturemeasured; TechGearLab average unless noted | 871°F | 841°F | 940°F reached (Pala Pizza) | 825°F |
| Heat-upmaker or tester; Koda per Taste of Home, Pala Pizza | Not published; plan 30+ min | About 15 min (Solo Stove) | 30 to 35 min (testers) | 10-12 min to 750°F (Tom's Guide) |
| Burner layout | Side burner, rolling flame | Rear burner, marked dial | Two side burners | Live fire; gas burner extra |
| Temperature readout | Yes: Built-in digital display | No: None; use an IR thermometer | Yes: Bluetooth hub + food probe Best | Partly: Gauge reads air, not stone |
| Weightmanufacturer | 47.5 lb | 30 lb Best | About 66 lb | 33.6 lb, folding legs |
| Warranty | 5 years with registration | Lifetime Best | 5 years with registration | 5 years if bought from Ooni |
| On Amazon | Check price on Amazon(paid link) for Gozney Arc Propane Pizza Oven (14 in) (opens in a new tab) | Check price on Amazon(paid link) for Solo Stove Pi Prime Propane Pizza Oven (12 in) (opens in a new tab) | Check price on Amazon(paid link) for Ooni Koda 2 Pro Gas-Powered Pizza Oven (18 in) (opens in a new tab) | Check price on Amazon(paid link) for Ooni Karu 2 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven (12 in) (opens in a new tab) |
Who each one is for, and what to know before you buy.
01Best overall
The gas oven to buy if you want restaurant-style pizza with the shortest learning curve and have a permanent spot for it. Skip it if you need to carry the oven around or cook 16-inch pies.
Pick it ifFamilies who want regular backyard pizza nights with minimal burnt crusts and a built-in temperature readout
Skip it ifCampers and tailgaters who need a light oven, and anyone who wants wood fire or 16-inch pizzas
Why it made the list. A 14-inch propane oven whose side-mounted burner rolls flame across the ceiling, so pizzas need little turning, plus a built-in digital thermometer. TechGearLab measured an average stone temperature of 871°F and named it Editors' Choice; Pala Pizza called it the easiest oven its editor had used. It weighs 47.5 pounds and belongs on a stand, not in the car.
02Best budget
The best-value gas oven for couples and small families: independent tests found it nearly as consistent as ovens a price class up. Skip it if you want pizzas larger than 12 inches or a built-in thermometer.
Pick it ifFirst-time pizza oven buyers and small households who want fast, consistent 12-inch pies from propane
Skip it ifHosts who need 14-inch or larger pizzas, cooks with a natural gas line, and anyone who wants a temperature readout
Why it made the list. A 30-pound, 12-inch propane dome with a dial marked for the ideal range, about 15 minutes of preheat and a lifetime warranty. TechGearLab gave it its Best Buy award after measuring 841°F at the stone and 90-second pizzas, and found its results close to the Arc's. The trade-offs are the 12-inch limit and no thermometer.
03Best premium
Buy it if you cook for groups or want 16- to 18-inch pizzas from gas with even heat and a real temperature readout. Skip it if you need something light or have a small patio.
Pick it ifHosts who cook for six or more, New York-style fans who want 16- or 18-inch pies, and cooks who want a food probe for steaks and roasts
Skip it ifAnyone who moves the oven often, small balconies, and cooks who only make 10- to 12-inch Neapolitan pizzas
Why it made the list. An 18-inch gas oven with two lateral burners, a 20 mm stone, a 320 to 950°F range and a Bluetooth hub with a food probe, sold in propane and natural gas versions. Taste of Home and Pala Pizza both found the stone heated more evenly than the old Koda 16. Expect about 66 pounds, a 30- to 35-minute preheat and a hot exterior.
04Best for wood-fired flavor
The portable oven to buy if wood-fired flavor is the point: its larger fuel tray and insulated door make wood firing practical, and a gas burner is an option for weeknights. Skip it if you want set-and-forget cooking.
Pick it ifCooks who want real wood-fired Neapolitan pizza in a portable oven and are willing to learn fire management
Skip it ifBeginners who want gas-only convenience from day one, and anyone who needs pizzas larger than 12 inches
Why it made the list. A 12-inch, 33.6-pound oven that burns wood or charcoal, with an insulated glass door, a larger fuel tray and an optional gas burner. Tom's Guide reached 750°F at the stone in 10 to 12 minutes on charcoal and wood, and TechGearLab called it the first portable oven it enjoyed firing with wood. It demands practice.
Fuel decides how you will use the oven more than any other spec. Gas ovens run on a propane tank or, for some models, a natural gas line: turn a dial, wait, cook. That is why three of our four picks are gas: the Gozney Arc, the Solo Stove Pi Prime and the Ooni Koda 2 Pro. Of those, only the Koda 2 Pro is sold in a natural gas version; the Arc and Pi Prime are propane only.
Wood and charcoal give a flavor and a live flame that gas cannot copy, but you manage the fire yourself: feeding fuel, watching the temperature swing, opening and closing vents. Multi-fuel ovens such as the Ooni Karu 2 burn wood or charcoal as delivered and accept a bolt-on gas burner, sold separately, for nights when you just want dinner. TechGearLab found the Karu 2 reached higher temperatures on wood than on its gas burner at full, and cooked crusts more evenly on wood, but it was easier to be consistent on gas.
Wood pellets sit in between: more predictable than logs, but they still need tending. If you want wood flavor with less work, a multi-fuel oven that also takes gas is the more flexible buy.
Pizza size is really a question of how many people you feed and how fast. A pizza oven bakes one pie at a time in 60 to 120 seconds, and the stretching, topping and launching take longer than the cook. Taste of Home's expert source makes the point that feeding twelve people from a small oven can keep you at it for an hour.
Twelve-inch ovens, such as the Pi Prime and Karu 2, are lighter and cheaper and suit two to four people; TechGearLab planned on one pizza per person when cooking for a group in the Pi Prime. Fourteen inches, as in the Arc, is the comfortable family size. Ovens with 16-inch and larger stones, such as the Koda 2 Pro, let you make New York-style pies or two small pizzas at once, but they weigh far more and need a bigger peel. Also remember that the opening limits you as much as the stone: the Pi Prime's is 13 inches wide.
The number that matters is the temperature of the stone, not the air. Neapolitan pizza wants a stone in the 750 to 900°F range; New York style bakes lower and longer. Ovens with thin stones reach temperature quickly but lose heat with each pizza; thick stones take longer and hold steadier. Here is what the makers claim and what independent testers measured.
| Pick | Fuel | Max pizza | Stone temperature measured | Heat-up | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gozney Arc | Propane | 14 in | 871°F average (TechGearLab); 813 to 864°F (Pala Pizza) | Not published; plan on 30 minutes or more | 47.5 lb |
| Solo Stove Pi Prime | Propane | 12 in | 841°F average (TechGearLab) | About 15 min (Solo Stove); 15 to 20 min (Taste of Home) | 30 lb |
| Ooni Koda 2 Pro | Propane or natural gas | 18 in | 940°F reached (Pala Pizza) | Within 30 min (Taste of Home); about 35 min (Pala Pizza) | About 66 lb (Ooni) |
| Ooni Karu 2 | Wood, charcoal, optional gas | 12 in | 825°F average (TechGearLab) | 10 to 12 min to 750°F on charcoal and wood (Tom's Guide); 30 min advised (TechGearLab) | 33.6 lb |
Two cautions. Maker heat-up figures are best cases; wind and cold stretch them. And a built-in thermometer usually reads the air near the ceiling, not the stone: the Karu 2's gauge measures air temperature, and Pala Pizza found the Arc's display lagged well behind the stone during preheat. The Arc's display became reliable once the oven was hot, according to TechGearLab.
Where the flame sits decides how often you turn the pizza. A single burner at the back cooks the rear of the pie first, so you rotate it constantly; Taste of Home describes exactly that with the first-generation Koda 16's L-shaped rear burner. Side-mounted burners roll the flame across the ceiling instead: the Arc uses one, the Koda 2 Pro two, and TechGearLab, Taste of Home and Pala Pizza all report less turning and more even browning as a result. The Pi Prime keeps a rear burner but vents excess heat out the back, and TechGearLab found it forgiving thanks to the marked dial. Raw heat is not the same as ease: TechGearLab's Ooni Koda 2 ran hot enough to cook very fast, and that speed demanded constant attention and frequent turning.
Decide first whether the oven will travel. Under about 35 pounds, with folding legs or a compact round body, the Pi Prime and Karu 2 can go to a campsite or a tailgate. The Arc at 47.5 pounds and the Koda 2 Pro at about 66 pounds are patio fixtures; TechGearLab recommends a stand for the Arc. Every oven here needs a stable, heat-safe table, and reviewers disagree on how hot the outsides get: TechGearLab was comfortable using the Pi Prime near a wooden deck, while Taste of Home found the Koda 2 Pro's shell hotter than other Ooni models.
Most of the kit sold with pizza ovens is optional. What you do need: a launching peel sized to your largest pizza, a smaller metal turning peel, and an infrared thermometer if your oven has no stone reading, which covers the Pi Prime and Karu 2. Add a cover if the oven lives outdoors, because a wet stone can crack when fired, and a stiff brush for the stone. A full propane tank, or dry hardwood and lumpwood charcoal for the Karu 2, completes the list. The Karu 2's gas burner and a stand or table are worth buying only if you know you will use them. If you are unsure you want an outdoor oven at all, an electric indoor model such as the Breville Smart Oven Pizzaiolo is the alternative; TechGearLab measured 756°F at its stone, well short of the gas ovens, but it runs on a kitchen outlet.
Models we considered, and why each one did not make the list.
A current compact gas oven, but it scored lowest of the gas ovens in TechGearLab's test: very fast cooks that needed constant turning to avoid burning. The Arc is easier at the same size.
A compact portable oven with an optional wood burner, but TechGearLab found its rear-mounted control and side thermometer awkward and measured the lowest stone temperature of the outdoor ovens it tested, 748°F.
The XL is the 16-inch version of our top pick; buy it if you want Gozney's burner in a larger size. The Arc Lite is a newer 12-inch model; Tom's Guide measured 15 to 20 minutes of heat-up on gas.
The 16-inch multi-fuel sibling of the Karu 2. Worth a look if you want wood fire and 16-inch pies, but we found fewer independent measurements for it, and the Koda 2 Pro covers large pizzas with less work.
The first-generation models that the Koda 2 range succeeds. Taste of Home notes the Koda 16's single L-shaped burner heated back to front less evenly than the Koda 2 Pro.
A grill with a pizza oven section, recalled in 2026 by the CPSC because the oven's glass window can shatter.
Units like the Presto Pizzazz Plus reached only about 212°F in TechGearLab's test; they are warmers, not pizza ovens.
For crust and char, very close: TechGearLab's top gas ovens measured stone temperatures of 840 to 870°F and produced leopard-spotted Neapolitan crusts. What gas cannot give you is the wood smoke flavor and the ritual of the fire. If those matter, choose the Karu 2 and add the gas burner for busy nights.
Only the Koda 2 Pro is sold in a natural gas version. Solo Stove says the Pi Prime is propane only, and Gozney's page does not list a natural gas option for the Arc. Never convert an oven with parts the maker does not sell.
Popular Science measured about a pound of propane per hour for the Pi Prime at full output, so a standard 20-pound tank covers many pizza nights. Larger ovens with two burners use more.
For the Pi Prime and Karu 2, yes if you want repeatable results, because neither shows stone temperature. The Arc and Koda 2 Pro include digital readouts, though a thermometer still helps during preheat.
Prime Big Deal Days run October 6 to 7 and Black Friday is November 27, 2026. Pizza ovens and bundles are often discounted around both, so waiting a few weeks is reasonable if you are not cooking this weekend. Check that the listing matches the model and fuel type you want.
We compared current outdoor pizza ovens from Gozney, Ooni and Solo Stove on fuel type, pizza size, heat-up time, measured stone temperature, weight and how forgiving each is for a beginner. The short answer: the Gozney Arc for most households, the Solo Stove Pi Prime on a budget, the Ooni Koda 2 Pro for big pizzas and big groups, and the Ooni Karu 2 if you want to cook with wood.
The shortlist started from ovens that independent testers measured with thermometers and cook-time logs, chiefly TechGearLab's pizza oven test (updated November 2025), Taste of Home's long-term reviews and Pala Pizza's reviews, with Tom's Guide and Popular Science as second opinions; every spec was then checked against Gozney, Ooni and Solo Stove product pages. We have not cooked in these ovens ourselves, and every result is attributed to its source. Electric countertop ovens, grill-top inserts, first-generation models that have been succeeded by newer versions and any oven under a current safety recall were excluded, and each pick had to be a current model listed on Amazon.
