Best knife sharpeners 2026: rolling, electric and manual options reviewed

The best knife sharpeners will extend the life of your knives and stop your tomatoes turning into a pile of pulp. 

We've tested popular manual and electric sharpeners from AnySharp and Global, along with rolling knife sharpeners from Horl and Novara, to see how well they sharpen a dulled knife edge.

Our tests compared knife sharpeners costing from £10 to £169 and revealed big differences across brands. We've named four Best Buys – all cost less than £25 – plus two Don't Buys that didn't cut it. 

The knife sharpeners we tested

The biggest brands and the most popular 10 knife sharpeners are listed below

Only logged-in Which? members can view the knife sharpener test results.

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A selection of the knife sharpeners we tested are listed in alphabetical order below

Only logged-in Which? members can view the best knife sharpeners from our tests.

Join Which? to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations below.

AnySharp Evo Knife Sharpener

Most recently tested January 2026

Type Pull-through

Suitable for serrated edges Yes

Replacement sharpening mechanism £5 at AnySharp

Need to know 6 x 7 x 7cm (HxWxD), includes suction pad to secure sharpener onto counter

AnySharp Knife Sharpener

Most recently tested October 2023

Type Pull-through

Suitable for serrated edges Yes

Replacement sharpening mechanism £5 at AnySharp

Need to know 7 x 6 x 6cm (HxWxD), includes suction pad to secure sharpener onto counter

Global Knife Sharpener

Most recently tested October 2023

Type Pull-through

Suitable for serrated edges No

Replacement sharpening mechanism £25 at Global

Need to know 7 x 24 x 8cm (HxWxD), coarse and fine settings

Horl 3 Rolling Knife Sharpener

Available from Horl, Borough Kitchen (£169)

Most recently tested January 2026

Type Rolling

Suitable for serrated edges No

Replacement sharpening mechanism From £49 at Horl

Need to know 5.7 x 8.7cm (DxH), two grinding angles, coarse and fine settings

John Lewis & Partners Knife Sharpener

Available from John Lewis (£18)

Most recently tested October 2023

Type Pull-through

Suitable for serrated edges Yes

Replacement sharpening mechanism Not available

Need to know 9 x 13 x 3cm (HxWxD) 

Do your knives need an upgrade? Check out the best kitchen knives and best knife sets

Joseph Joseph Rota Sharpener

Most recently tested October 2023

Type Pull-through

Suitable for serrated edges No

Replacement sharpening mechanism Not available

Need to know Open dimensions: 4 x 20 x 4cm (HxWxD), closed dimensions: 4 x 13 x 4cm (HxWxD), coarse and fine settings, folds for storage

Le Creuset 2-Stage Kitchen Knife Sharpener

Most recently tested January 2026

Type Pull-through

Suitable for serrated edges No

Replacement sharpening mechanism Not available

Need to know 6.5 x 5.2 x 19.8cm (HxWxD), coarse and fine settings 

Novara Diamond Rolling Knife Sharpener

Available from Novara (£41.99)

Most recently tested January 2026

Type Rolling

Suitable for serrated edges No

Replacement sharpening mechanism £31.99 from Novara

Need to know 10 x 8.3 x 8.3cm (HxWxD), two grinding angles, coarse and fine settings

ProCook Designpro Knife Sharpener

Available from ProCook (£10)

Most recently tested January 2026

Type Pull-through

Suitable for serrated edges No

Replacement sharpening mechanism Not available

Need to know 12.5 x 4.5cm (HxW), coarse and fine settings

Salter Electric Knife Sharpener

Most recently tested October 2023

Type Electric

Suitable for serrated edges No

Replacement sharpening mechanism Not available

Need to know 10 x 21 x 9cm (HxWxD), two slots for sharpening and honing, includes a removable magnet to collect any metal shavings

More knife sharpeners from our tests

Here are the rest of the knife sharpeners we've tested, listed in alphabetical order.

Which? Don't Buy knife sharpeners

Our tests uncover the best and the worst. If a product performs so poorly that we think you should avoid it, we name it a Don't Buy. 

Two of the knife sharpeners we tested are Don't Buys. These were unable to save our blunt kitchen knives, leaving the knife edges still severely dulled. 

To find out which they are, and which knife sharpeners were good enough to get our Best Buy recommendation, log in or join Which?.

How we test knife sharpeners

We test the most popular manual, electric and rolling knife sharpeners available at UK retailers. We buy all the products we test and rate them on everything listed below.

We regularly revisit the knife sharpeners on sale to see if there are any more popular models that need testing. When we find them, we do so.

Sharpening ability

The best knife sharpeners can quickly rescue severely dulled kitchen knives. The worst do very little to save blunt edges and will be left languishing in your kitchen drawer. We test each sharpener using the process below to precisely measure their effectiveness. 

• First, we blunt 20 identical knives using a whetstone, assigning one knife to each of the 20 sharpeners. 
• We measure the sharpness of the dulled knife using a sharpness tester scale. 
• We then sharpen the knife with its dedicated knife sharpener according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• Once the knife is sharpened, we measure the sharpness of the knife again. 
• We calculate the difference between the dulled and sharpened knife to see how effective the sharpener has been. 

To get five stars, a sharpener must be the very best and restore a blade to the optimum sharpness of 400g or less on the sharpness tester scale. Anything above this threshold means the knife still needs maintenance, and the sharpener won't get our top score.

Ease of use

We rate each knife sharpener on how easy it is to set up and use, plus how easy the instructions are to follow.

The best are intuitive, even for complete beginners, but the worst will have you poring over a manual (if there even is one) to figure out how they work. 

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Should I use a rolling, manual or electric knife sharpener?

Manual sharpeners are generally cheaper and simpler to use than electric sharpeners, especially if you're a beginner. However, they require more effort, so they may not be ideal for people with limited hand grip or arm strength.

Electric sharpeners are powerful and tend to sharpen faster. Using them takes practice, though, as their high speed means they can wear down your knife blade faster if used incorrectly. They're also pricier and noisier. 

Rolling sharpeners are an increasingly popular alternative. They use a magnetic block to hold your knife at a fixed angle (usually 15 or 20 degrees) while you roll a double-sided sharpening cylinder along the blade. They give the precision and control of a whetstone without the difficult manual technique. While they take slightly longer to master than a pull-through or electric sharpener, they give you more control over how much pressure is used, which helps to reduce unnecessary wear. 

How to sharpen a knife

How to use a knife sharpener

If your sharpener has more than one setting, the coarse one is for sharpening. The fine or honing setting is for everyday knife maintenance.

To start, place the blade into your knife sharpener at the point where the knife blade meets the handle. Pull the knife towards you.

• For pull-through sharpeners: Use enough gentle force that you can hear a grinding noise. 
• For electric sharpeners: The motor does the work for you, so it’s important to guide the knife through with a steady motion rather than pushing down hard.
• For rolling sharpeners: Attach the knife to the magnetic block and roll the cylinder back and forth along the blade.

Repeat this action three to six times – three if your blade is just a bit dull, and more if it's blunter. If your sharpener has a fine or honing setting, run the knife through that once or twice after the coarse setting. Do this in the same way, but with less force. To keep your knife sharp, use the fine setting once after every couple of hours' use.

Always rinse and dry the knife after sharpening. 

A sharpener is only as good as its sharpening mechanism, which will eventually need replacing. Some manufacturers offer replacements, which we highlight in our reviews. For example, depending on how often you use your sharpener, Robert Welch recommends you change the sharpening wheel after 12-24 months to maintain your knife's cutting edge.

How to use a whetstone

Whetstones, also known as sharpening stones, are a different way of sharpening knives. They're basically a two-sided block of coarse stone (one side coarser than the other) and a base/holder. 

A whetstone is much harder to use than a knife sharpener. To get a good result, you need skill, practice and considerable patience.

1. Soak the whetstone for around 10 minutes (or the time stated in the accompanying instructions). 
2. Start with the coarser of the two sides facing up. 
3. Hold the knife at about a 22-degree angle to the stone. 90 degrees is your knife placed on the stone as if you were going to cut through it. Tilt the knife halfway between that and the whetstone, and you'll be at 45 degrees. Then tilt it halfway between that and the stone, and you'll be at about the right angle.
4. Apply moderate pressure and slide the knife forward at that angle 10 times. 
5. Switch to the fine-grit side and stroke the knife down the stone at a 22-degree angle 10 times.
6. Finish with a honing steel for best results. Rinse and dry the knife. You may also need to clean up the area around the whetstone.  

How to use a honing steel

A honing steel, sometimes also called a honing rod or a sharpening steel, doesn't exactly sharpen your knife. Instead, it realigns the cutting edge to smooth out microscopic bumps and jagged edges. 

1. Hold the steel with the tip resting on your countertop.
2. Place the heel of the blade (where it connects to the handle) against the steel, with the knifepoint angled slightly upwards. 
3. Tilt the blade to around a 15-degree angle.
4. Keeping it at that angle, pull the knife down the honing steel while pulling the handle towards you.
5. Do this on both sides of the blade around eight to 10 times. 
6. A rasping sound means you're applying too much pressure. It should be more like a 'ting' sound.

A whetstone combined with a honing steel gives the best results (better than knife sharpeners). But – and it's a big but – use this method only if you know what you're doing. Otherwise, you risk damaging the cutting edge of your knife.

When to sharpen your knives 

How often you need to sharpen depends on factors such as the quality of your knife and the type of chopping board you use. 

Professional chef James Adams, owner of specialist shop Knives for Chefs, explains: 'With proper care, such as avoiding glass chopping boards, you can usually wait about six months before the first sharpening and then every three months thereafter.'

Glass boards quickly dull and chip the blade. To protect your knife, stick to wooden or plastic boards, which are much gentler on the blade.

Can I sharpen a bread knife with a knife sharpener?

You can’t sharpen a serrated blade, such as a bread knife, the same way as a standard kitchen knife. Pull-through and rolling sharpeners are designed for straight edges. Using them on serrated knives will only hit the tips of the teeth, missing the curved grooves in between.

As a result, most manual and rolling sharpeners aren't suitable for the task. While some, like the AnySharp Evo, are claimed to work on wide-toothed serrated knives, we haven't tested this. Similarly, some electric models have bread-knife settings, but none of the sharpeners in our test are suitable. 

To sharpen a bread knife properly, you usually need a ceramic sharpening rod to sharpen each groove individually.