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We've tested the Willow, Elvie, and Freemie Liberty wearable breast pumps for several months and have added some notes to this guide.

After 20 hours of background research, 36 hours testing eight different breast pumps, and expressing a total of 600 ounces of breast milk to report this guide, we think the Spectra S1 is the best electric breast pump and the Medela Harmony is the best manual one. Depending on where, why, how, and how often you’re pumping, you may want both a manual and an electric pump, or may need only one or the other. This guide has advice on both.

The quiet, compact Spectra S1 has a rechargeable battery and separate modes for suction strength and suction speed, making it more customizable and easier to use than competitors.

If plugging in is no problem, you could save money and weight with the Spectra S2, which is the same pump but without a rechargeable battery.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $160.

The Spectra S1 double electric pump extracts milk as effectively as any other breast pump we tested and is also significantly quieter and easier to use than other top double electric pumps. With separate modes for suction strength and suction speed, it’s also more customizable than competitors. Our lactating testers all preferred the Spectra to a common competitor (which became our runner-up), and we found that outside reviewers who had experience using both this pump and our runner-up also usually preferred the Spectra. If you don’t need a battery (because you are always pumping in a place where you can plug in) you can save money and weight by choosing the Spectra S2, which is the same pump but without a battery.

With a smooth, swiveling handle, the Medela Harmony is easier to grip and squeeze repeatedly than other models.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $30.

The Medela Harmony, which uses the same parts as our runner-up double electric pick, is as effective or more at extracting milk as any other manual pump we tried. It’s the only manual pump we tested that has a handle that swivels. We found this makes it more comfortable to use over longer or more frequent pumping sessions, because you can use it from whichever hand position feels best—or change hand positions frequently. It’s also reasonably priced and widely available, with easy-to-find replacement parts and accessories.

The popular Medela Pump in Style Advanced is louder than our pick and lacks separate controls for suction strength and speed, but it’s easier to find this popular pump’s parts and accessories.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $200.

If you prefer a backpack style of carrier over our pick (which is the more popular tote), this product includes the same pump hardware.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $200.

The popular, time-tested Medela Pump in Style Advanced is louder and bulkier than our pick—the pump comes attached to an included bag—and wasn’t as well-liked by our testers. But it offers a couple of advantages over the Spectra pumps. First, it has better availability of parts in brick and mortar stores—which could be crucial for frequent travelers. If you’re away from the nursing baby and lose a tiny pump membrane, that can be a very big deal. Medela replacement parts are available in stores across the US and around the world. Medela also offers a slightly broader array of breast shield sizes and more customization opportunities using products from outside companies. You can buy the pump with one of three different cases: a tote, a backpack, or what Medela calls the “metro bag,” which is the only one from which the pump can be easily removed.

Similar in price and performance to our pick, this manual pump lacks a swiveling handle, which makes it harder to grip and squeeze.

We found the Philips Avent Comfort Manual Breast Pump is just as effective at extracting milk as our manual pump pick, and at a similar price. But with fewer accessories, it’s not as customizable, and without a swiveling handle, it’s not quite as comfortable to grip and squeeze over long pumping sessions. There’s one possible advantage to the Philips Avent over the Medela Harmony: Its breast shield comes with a removable silicone liner, which some people find more comfortable than the rigid plastic of the Harmony.

When you’re nursing (or pumping) on one breast, the silicone Haakaa vessel catches letdown from the opposite breast, saving milk that would otherwise go to waste.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $17.

When suction on one breast—from a nursing baby or a pump—triggers a letdown in the other breast, the Haakaa Silicone Breast Pump collects it well. This simple, sock-shaped collection vessel works by suction. You squeeze the bell-shaped collection vessel, position the shield over the nipple, then release the base. Many people find that the lightweight silicone pump holds itself in place, hands-free. The milk collects in the bell below, then pours easily into another container.

The quiet, compact Spectra S1 has a rechargeable battery and separate modes for suction strength and suction speed, making it more customizable and easier to use than competitors.

If plugging in is no problem, you could save money and weight with the Spectra S2, which is the same pump but without a rechargeable battery.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $160.

With a smooth, swiveling handle, the Medela Harmony is easier to grip and squeeze repeatedly than other models.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $30.

The popular Medela Pump in Style Advanced is louder than our pick and lacks separate controls for suction strength and speed, but it’s easier to find this popular pump’s parts and accessories.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $200.

If you prefer a backpack style of carrier over our pick (which is the more popular tote), this product includes the same pump hardware.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $200.

Similar in price and performance to our pick, this manual pump lacks a swiveling handle, which makes it harder to grip and squeeze.

When you’re nursing (or pumping) on one breast, the silicone Haakaa vessel catches letdown from the opposite breast, saving milk that would otherwise go to waste.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $17.

To research this guide, I met with Baltimore lactation consultant Angela Horman to try out pumps and review their features in person, and also talked with several other lactation consultants: Susan Burger, Tipper Gallagher, and Molly Brannigan. I spoke with Felina Rakowski-Gallagher, who until recently ran the Upper Breast Side, an independent breastfeeding resource center in Manhattan. I interviewed David Cho, a lead engineer at Medela (a top producer of breast pumps) and read pumping forums, breastfeeding forums, breastfeeding guides (including KellyMom and the dated but still helpful Pumping Rules), and product reviews. I polled friends, acquaintances, and friends of friends on their pumping experiences and several Wirecutter staff members shared their pumping stories with me.

I’ve pumped in bathrooms, on airplanes, in hotels, at my in-laws’, while abroad, in cars, and once, in a backcountry tent.

Personally, I’m a parent of two breastfed babies. With my first, I pumped exclusively. I used a hospital-grade electric breast pump for just about every ounce of milk he consumed during his first 13 months, and then some: a total of 14,000 ounces—more than 100 gallons! (He was born with a cleft palate, so he couldn’t produce the suction necessary to breastfeed directly.) I breastfeed my second baby—who was five months old when I started researching this guide—directly and I also pump bottles for him to have at daycare. I’ve had the experiences of both exclusive pumping and of pumping in tandem with direct breastfeeding. I’ve pumped while working in a corporate office and in a home office; I’ve pumped in bathrooms, on airplanes, in hotels, at my in-laws’, while abroad, in cars, and once, in a backcountry tent.

Not everyone needs a breast pump to successfully breastfeed a baby. Breast pumps are often useful tools, though, as they can extract milk to be fed by bottle, relieve and soften engorged breasts, and help prepare a food supply if the lactating parent will be unable to feed the baby directly for any length of time.

Our recommendation, after talking with several lactation consultants, is to hold off on buying an electric pump for a few months after your baby’s birth if possible. One expert we spoke with, Felina Rakowski-Gallagher—founder of the Manhattan breastfeeding-resource center the Upper Breast Side—says of the electric pumps covered in our guide: “These are for people whose babies are feeding well, and whose milk supplies are well established.”

At the beginning, you may want to start with a manual pump, which can be useful in the early postpartum period, when many people experience engorgement. When the body first begins making milk, it often overshoots its target a little—making breasts large, sore, and hard. Engorgement can be painful, and latching a new baby to an engorged breast can be tricky, too. A manual pump can relieve pain, soften the breast, and make it a little easier for the baby to latch. (It is often possible to hand-express that milk, too, but some people find manual pumps collect the milk more efficiently and, with an attached bottle, make it easier to collect for feeding to a baby.) Later, even if a double-electric pump enters the picture, a manual is often still useful tossed in a suitcase as a “just in case” travel companion—perhaps you’re traveling with the baby in tow; you can leave the bigger electric pump at home, then use the manual if you’re briefly apart from the little one. Compared with electrics, manual pumps are also quieter, easier to control, and can be more efficient if needed for short sessions (such as on a very short work break) because they require less setup and cleanup. A manual can also coax the last ounces of milk from a breast the baby doesn’t fully empty—making it key for clearing clogged ducts and avoiding mastitis (when a clog in a milk duct becomes infected). Counterintuitively, some people simply find that they are able to extract more milk with a manual pump than with an electric one.

If you can, hold off on buying an electric pump until after your milk supply is well established. You may want to try starting with a manual, which can often relieve pain, soften the breast, and make it a little easier for the baby to latch.

Electric pumps (or “double electrics” for those used to pump both breasts at once) are generally more efficient than manual pumps and make it easier to do something else while you’re pumping, especially if you pair your pump with a dedicated pumping bra. After your milk supply is established, if you know that your baby’s needs or your own schedule will require to you pump both breasts daily, you will likely find that a manual pump is no longer enough and a double electric pump is what you need instead. You will also know (earlier on, but still after the birth) if you need something more than the moderately priced double electrics covered in this guide. If the baby can’t latch well—because of, for example, a tongue tie—or if milk supply has been difficult to establish, you may be a candidate to rent a hospital-grade or “multiuser” pump (such as the Medela Symphony or Ameda Platinum). Manufacturers’ websites typically list places that rent their multiuser pumps.

Also, consider insurance. The Affordable Care Act mandated that insurance companies cover pumps. If possible, check with your insurance company before the baby arrives to find out what they pay for and when. Depending on your provider, you may need to request the pump through the insurance company or directly from the manufacturer. There will often be limits on what choices are covered with, for example, an insurance plan offering a choice of just a couple of double electric options or offering to pay for a stripped-down model, or a discount on a more expensive model equivalent to the cost of the cheaper pump.

Note: This guide is intended as a general introduction to breast pumps and how to use them. A lactation consultant can give far more personalized help.

First, some terminology on types of pumps and their parts. A breast pump is a device that extracts human milk. Most pumps work by creating a vacuum around the nipple that sucks milk out of the breast. The details of how the pump creates that vacuum—basically, how well it mimics a baby’s suck—governs the pump’s effectiveness. Suction pumps consist of three main parts. The breast shield (also called the flange) fits over a breast and funnels milk away from the nipple. The bottle (or bag) collects milk and is separated from the breast shield by a valve that closes when the pump is sucking, then opens to allow milk through. The pump mechanism generates the suction in the first place. (There are also pumps that compress the breast to push milk out rather than using a vacuum; because they are not yet widely available, no compression pumps are included in this guide.)

Double electric pumps are either battery operated or plug into a wall, and they can extract milk from both breasts at once. Their suction is created with an electric motor that generates the vacuum. Manual pumps are small, handheld affairs that extract milk from one breast at a time. Their suction is created by squeezing the handle, so they don’t need a pump mechanism as described above; your fist is the pump.

We also considered single electric pumps, which are typically less expensive than double electrics but empty only one breast at a time. Because most people will be looking to collect milk from two breasts, we concluded that a double pump is better for most people who need an electric pump, because it cuts pumping time in half and costs just a little more than a single electric pump.

The term “hospital-grade” is typically reserved for very high-quality, multiuser pumps that are more often rented than bought (there’s no official definition of what constitutes a hospital-grade pump). These pumps have suction finely enough tuned that, for many people, they can establish and maintain a milk supply even if a baby never nurses directly. Typically hospital-grade pumps cost more than a thousand dollars to buy, but are available as rentals from pharmacies or other sources.

Pumps are medical devices, and manufacturers classify their consumer-grade double electric pumps as single-user items. That means giving them away or reselling them typically voids the warranty. It also means that once the box has been opened, they can’t be returned. We hope this guide helps readers make the best choice on what can be a somewhat tricky purchase.

After interviewing experts, including four lactation consultants, consulting forums for breastfeeding and pumping parents, and considering the features and reviews of 42 different breast pumps, we determined any good breast pump should have:

Our research told us there are a couple of additional qualities that are specific to electric pumps. These models should have:

We found there are also a couple of qualities unique to manuals. They should be able to:

After researching 40 double electric and manual breast pump models online, we narrowed our testing list to eight pumps that seemed to best meet our criteria. Our double electric pumps were:

I spent several months testing our eight pumps over the summer of 2017, enlisting two lactating Wirecutter colleagues to help distinguish between the finalists. I personally typically used each pump for at least a full week to allow my body to adjust to the new device (a practice recommended by the experts I spoke with).

For each pump, I began by following the instructions for sanitizing the pump parts (typically, submerging everything in boiling water for 10 minutes). Then I assembled the pump, noting the total number of parts. I tried assembling each pump incorrectly, testing whether I could hook tubes to the wrong places or insert valves backward. Once assembled, I used the pumps as I normally would, taking them apart only as much as necessary to store milk and wash the parts before the next use.

Before the start of each pumping session, I would predict how much milk I expected to extract from each breast, based on its size. (After more than 1,600 carefully tracked sessions as an exclusive pumper with my first baby, I’m pretty confident in predicting my milk output.) Then, I would pump. For double electrics, that meant inserting the breast shields into a pumping bra and turning the pump on. For manuals, that meant holding the pump against one breast at a time, and squeezing (the pump, not the breast). In both cases I would set a timer if the pump didn’t have one built in. For electric pumps, I also used the NIOSH decibel meter app (recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), placed three feet away, to measure how loud the motor was.

For each session, I noted how long it took the pump to trigger a letdown (when milk is stimulated from the breast and flows quickly), how long it took the pump to empty the breast, how the pump felt—basically, if the sense of suction inside the breast felt like a nursing baby—and how much milk the pump extracted.

Once finished, I disassembled the parts, noting if it was easy to spill milk in the process. Then I stored the milk and cleaned the pump parts, noting the ease of cleaning.

When I was finished with my own assessment I sent my two finalists in the double electric category to two lactating Wirecutter staff members to test head-to-head. Each mom—one pumping for her first baby, who was about eight months old at the time and the other for her third child, who was then about five months old—compared the two pumps over several weeks of testing (both women were breastfeeding directly as well as pumping regularly at the time).

The quiet, compact Spectra S1 has a rechargeable battery and separate modes for suction strength and suction speed, making it more customizable and easier to use than competitors.

If plugging in is no problem, you could save money and weight with the Spectra S2, which is the same pump but without a rechargeable battery.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $160.

The popular, durable, modern-looking Spectra S1 extracts milk as effectively as any other breast pump we tested and is also quieter and easier to use than other top double electric pumps. All three of our lactating testers clearly preferred the Spectra to the much more common Medela Pump in Style Advanced (our runner-up). Through carefully scouring online forums and product reviews, we concluded that many people who have used multiple, similar double electric pumps also prefer the Spectra. Nearly 2,000 Amazon reviewers give the pump an average of 4.3 stars, and BabyGearLab also ranked the Spectra S1 top pump. “I almost looked forward to using the Spectra, which I never felt before with a breast pump,” one tester said. “I am loving the Spectra S1. Much more than the Medela,” another said.

At 3.3 pounds, the Spectra S1 is relatively small and portable, and the built-in rechargeable battery means it’s easy to set up anywhere, regardless of plug proximity (our runner-up can run off eight AAs, which is far less convenient). Even a tester who works from home appreciated the ease of toting the S1 from room to room. The Spectra S2 is the same pump without the battery; it usually costs at least $30 less than the S1 and is a good option for people who know they’ll always be somewhere they can plug in while they’re pumping. Spectra has a car adapter for both the S1 and S2 models.

The Spectra S1 is the least expensive of the four double electric pumps we tested. Insurance plans that cover Spectra pumps typically pay for the S2 (the cheaper plug-in-only model)—but allow you to chip in extra for the S1 if you choose.

We liked that the Spectra has separate controls for vacuum (suction strength) and cycle (suction frequency), which allows you to adjust it to more closely mimic the nursing pattern of your own baby. No other pump we tested included this feature.

The Spectra is also highly customizable. Though the pump comes with two 24 mm and two 28 mm breast shields, there are a total of four sizes available; the others are 20 mm and 32 mm. (The measurement refers to the diameter of the hole in the breast shield. Some sites erroneously recommend choosing a shield that matches your nipple diameter, but it’s more about tissue elasticity, said lactation consultant Angela Horman, who advised that some people need to try several shields to find the right one.) Spectra also sells silicone liners that fit inside the hard plastic shields. Lactation consultants advise that some people find hard plastic more effective and comfortable, and others have better luck with softer silicone. Having both available to purchase—as both the Spectra and our runner-up do—is key.

Of the electric pumps we tested, the Spectra was the quietest: 28 decibels from 3 feet away, and its sound was a not-unpleasant whirring (a “ch-ch-ch-chick”). “I pumped during a work phone call and next to my sleeping baby, which I would never do with the Medela,” one tester said.

“I pumped during a work phone call and next to my sleeping baby, which I would never do with the Medela,” one tester said.

Several other features endeared the Spectra to testers: The plastic is smooth, the design is round and friendly, and the carrying handle is comfortable and feels secure to use. (The Medela Pump in Style Advanced lives in an included tote bag, so it’s also easy to transport, though bulkier.) We liked that the Spectra remembers settings between sessions (as the Medela Sonata also does, but the Medela Pump in Style Advanced does not) and also appreciated the built-in stopwatch that tracks session time. A night-light and backlit digital readout make it easy to use the Spectra in the dark without waking a baby or partner sleeping nearby.

The Spectra comes apart relatively easily for cleaning. Its wide-mouth collection bottles (two are included with the pump) are easy to fit a bottle brush into, and the silicone membranes are large enough to wash easily. Our runner-up has smaller parts that are trickier to wash; cleaning the two other double electrics we tested was just as easy as cleaning the Spectra.

The Spectra takes approximately the same number of pieces (17) to fully assemble as the other models we considered. Its silicone membranes—which account for six of those pieces—cleverly separate the breast shields from the pump itself. That means milk is fully isolated from the motor (what some manufacturers call a “closed system”). In theory, the design prevents bacteria from building up in the pump system, though Spectra does still consider the S1 and S2 to be single-user items and doesn’t condone sharing or reselling its pumps.

Note that if you order a Spectra pump from Amazon it will come with four breast shields, two at 24 mm and two at 28 mm. If you opt to buy the pump directly from the company’s site, you can choose from 20 mm or 32 mm breast shields instead. Newly purchased pumps have a two-year warranty.

The Spectra brand isn’t sold in stores, which means a replacement part has to be ordered online. (For people who travel a lot, that flaw could be a dealbreaker.)

Though toggling between stimulation and letdown modes is easy, the pump inexplicably starts in letdown mode, which one of our testers found “always a bit too shocking even just for the couple seconds before I managed to switch to stimulation mode.” The initial stimulation of milk flow requires an extra button push at the start of each session.

Because the Spectra S1 is relatively new—it’s been sold since 2013 (Medela has offered the Pump in Style Advanced since 2003)—it’s not as easy to customize this pump by buying different shields from companies other than Spectra.

Though the pump is relatively easy to take apart and clean, one tester found the membrane assembly, which separates the breast shield from the pump mechanism, infuriatingly fussy. “One of them was always popping off and coming loose while pumping,” she said. “Several times I had to go searching for it because it fell off in transit from upstairs to downstairs.”

Finally, the Spectra doesn’t include a carrying case of any kind—it’s just a pump with a handle. One tester expressed some annoyance at having to find her own bag, though another was glad not to be tethered to Medela’s built-in tote.

The popular Medela Pump in Style Advanced is louder than our pick and lacks separate controls for suction strength and speed, but it’s easier to find this popular pump’s parts and accessories.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $200.

If you prefer a backpack style of carrier over our pick (which is the more popular tote), this product includes the same pump hardware.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $200.

The Medela Pump in Style Advanced is louder and bulkier than our pick (it’s attached to an included bag) and wasn’t as well-liked by testers. But it offers a couple of key advantages over the Spectra S1: Namely, better availability of parts in brick-and-mortar stores—which could be crucial for frequent travelers—and more customization using products from outside companies. Medela is the dominant brand when it comes to breast pumps and the Pump in Style Advanced has been sold since 2003 (the original version, the Pump in Style, was introduced in 1996). You can buy the pump with one of three different cases: the tote, a backpack version, or what Medela calls the “metro bag,” which is the only one from which the pump can be easily removed.

The most significant advantage the Pump in Style Advanced has over the Spectra is that its replacement parts are readily available. If you’re away from the nursing baby and lose a pump membrane, that can be a very big deal. Medela replacement parts are available in stores across the US, and indeed around the world—while testing pumps for this guide, I replaced a collection bottle at a Paris pharmacy. Spectra parts, by contrast, are mostly available online. A few brick-and-mortar stores carry them, but in general, it’s not possible to walk into the nearest Babies “R” Us or Target and replace Spectra parts.

The Medela is also easier than the Spectra pump to customize. Companies that make specialty breast shields—such as the Pumpin’ Pal flanges—or other equipment typically make products compatible with Medela pumps and bottles first, and Spectra later, if at all. Plus, Medela makes breast shields in five different sizes, from 21 mm to 36 mm (the Spectra has four shield sizes, from 20 mm to 32 mm). You may need to try several if the standard size included with the Medela pump—24 mm—doesn’t seem to work well.

Like the Spectra S1, the Medela Pump in Style Advanced can run on battery power or be plugged in. But the Medela Pump in Style Advanced relies on eight AA batteries, which feels like more of an ordeal, especially when they need to be replaced. Medela does sell a dedicated car adapter for powering the Pump in Style Advanced on the go, as does Spectra.

Every tester noticed how much louder this pump was than the Spectra: It averaged 35 decibels from 3 feet away, compared with the Spectra’s 28 decibels. The levels were tolerable, but someone who needs to be discreet or pump near a sleeping baby would likely prefer the Spectra.

Unlike the Spectra pumps, the Medela Pump in Style Advanced does not include separate controls for suction strength and frequency. (Again, not many electric pumps do.) Instead, it slows slightly in suck frequency when it’s pulling harder at the nipple. At its lowest suction, we measured the Medela at 66 cycles per minute, a rate that dropped to 52 cycles per minute at the highest suction—nearly constant, but not quite. For comparison, the Spectra tops out at 54 cycles per minute and can drop as low as 38, independent of suction strength.

The Pump in Style Advanced does include both stimulation and letdown modes—as all the models we considered do—and a single button switches between them. Horman said she advises her clients to change often between stimulation and expression to empty the breast more quickly, and she likes the Pump in Style Advanced for its easy toggle. The Spectra pumps also have a single button to switch between the two. But again, the Spectra starts in letdown mode, while the Pump in Style Advanced starts with stimulation—logically, what a pump should do to mimic a baby.

With narrower-neck bottles and smaller membranes, the Medela Pump in Style Advanced is a little harder to wash than the Spectra S1 and S2. But like that pump it’s fairly easy to assemble, and it has fewer parts than the Spectra (14 pieces, versus 17 for the S1).

The Pump in Style Advanced has a long track record, the flip side of which is that it lacks many features found on newer pumps. For one, suction strength is controlled by a small analog dial on the side, rather than by a button with a digital readout, like what’s found on the Spectra. The pump doesn’t remember settings between sessions (our pick does), though that’s a flaw that can be solved with a pencil marking on the dial.

Several testers mentioned the carrying bag was too small to fit much into beyond the breast shields and bottles. The Pump in Style Advanced is also bulkier than our pick—it weighs about 6 pounds (versus 3.3 pounds for the Spectra S1).

The Medela’s price is usually around $200. During the time we were reporting this guide the Pump in Style was usually more expensive than the Spectra S1, though the prices have varied considerably over time. Some version of the Pump in Style Advanced is covered by many insurance plans. The pump mechanism has a one-year warranty.

With a smooth, swiveling handle, the Medela Harmony is easier to grip and squeeze repeatedly than other models.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $30.

The Medela Harmony is at least as effective—or more effective—when extracting milk compared with other manual pumps we tried. It’s also the only manual pump we tried that has a handle that swivels, which we found makes it more comfortable to use over longer or more frequent pumping sessions, because you can adjust your grip to use it from whichever hand position feels best. The handle also swivels a full 180 degrees, moving the pump into stimulation mode. There, pumping with the smaller side of the handle, it's easier to create the quicker, shallower strokes that trigger a milk letdown. The Medela manual pump is also generally more reasonably priced and widely available than similar models, with an ability to use the same commonly found parts as our runner-up double electric pick.

This pump’s handle’s action is smooth, so it’s easy to modulate suction strength by squeezing more or less. Horman emphasized that a manual pump should be easy to squeeze just halfway, to keep the suction comfortable (and as a corollary, effective). The Harmony was her pick in that regard.

The Harmony has a few features that make it more appealing than the Philips Avent manual, our runner-up manual pump. A small divot just below the breast shield helps to make the pump comfortable and intuitive to grip. Small yellow bumpers keep the handle from clacking annoyingly against the bottle. It’s also relatively easy to assemble.

As with our runner-up electric pump (the Pump in Style Advanced, also by Medela), the Medela Harmony manual breast pump and any necessary replacement parts are easy to find in brick-and-mortar stores, as well as online. The breast shields, membranes, valves, and collection bottles are the same as for our electric runner-up, which makes the Harmony an appealing option for someone who already owns another Medela pump.

The Harmony pump comes with the standard 24 mm breast shield, as well as a single collection bottle. You can swap in other breast shield sizes, ranging from 21 mm to 36 mm. The pump has a 30-day warranty.

One lactation consultant reported that some of her clients with small hands have found operating the Harmony a little tricky.

The Harmony, which uses the same breast shields, membranes, valves, and collection bottles as the double electric Pump in Style Advanced, shares a drawback with that pump: It’s not the easiest to clean. The parts on our runner-up, the Philips Avent Comfort Manual Breast Pump, are larger and easier to disassemble for washing.

Similar in price and performance to our pick, this manual pump lacks a swiveling handle, which makes it harder to grip and squeeze.

We found the Philips Avent Comfort Manual Breast Pump is just as effective at extracting milk as our manual pump pick, and at a similar price. But it’s not as customizable, and without a swiveling handle, it’s not quite as comfortable to use. The Philips Avent’s main advantage over the Medela Harmony is that its breast shield comes with a silicone liner, which some people find more comfortable than the rigid plastic of the Harmony. The silicone liner can be removed—also important because, as New York lactation consultant Susan Burger told us, “I’ve seen silicone liners rub skin raw, while other people love them.”

Out of the box, the action on the handle doesn’t feel as smooth as the Medela’s, though in testing—when the pump is actually suctioned to a breast—we found the fine control on the suction action nearly matches the Harmony’s. But it’s not as comfortable to squeeze for longer pumping sessions because the handle doesn’t pivot like the Harmony’s does, and the neck of the bottle—which you brace your hand against—is wider on the Philips Avent than on the Medela, making for a slightly less comfortable grip. Because the handle lacks a bumper, it clacks against the collection bottle if squeezed all the way.

As with the Medela Harmony, replacement parts for the Philips Avent Comfort Manual Breast Pump are widely available in US stores and abroad. And with larger components, it’s a little easier to disassemble and wash than the Harmony.

The pump has just one size of plastic shield, and comes with one 25 mm silicone liner. But without other sizes of plastic shield available, the Philips Avent won’t work for people whose breasts require especially small or large shields—which depends on a mix of nipple size and elasticity; a lactation consultant can help if the out-of-the-box setup isn’t working. Several online reviewers found the pump just didn’t work for their breasts, and they ended up using the Medela Harmony instead. Other reviewers note the slightly squeaky noise of this mode, which is louder than the Harmony (though both are far quieter than electric pumps, which some of the same reviewers say are less efficient for them than this manual).

The Philips Avent Comfort Manual Breast Pump includes a breast shield, silicone liner, and collection bottle. The pump doesn’t have a warranty.

When you’re nursing (or pumping) on one breast, the silicone Haakaa vessel catches letdown from the opposite breast, saving milk that would otherwise go to waste.

*At the time of publishing, the price was $17.

When suction on one breast (from a nursing baby or a single pump) triggers a letdown in the opposite breast, the one-piece Haakaa Silicone Breast Pump can catch milk that might otherwise go to waste. It works by the simplest possible suction—squeeze the bell-shaped collection vessel, position the shield over the nipple, then release the base. Many people find that the lightweight silicone pump holds itself in place, hands-free. The milk collects in the bell below, then pours easily into another container.

The New Zealand-based company first sold the Haakaa in March 2016 and introduced it to the US in June 2016. Since then, it’s gained devotees quickly: Several parents we spoke with wished it had been available when they were breastfeeding, and two of the lactation experts we consulted went out of their way to mention it. “One of my clients LOVES this thing,” Horman said. An online reviewer wrote that she uses a Haakaa under a shawl when nursing in public. Another uses it each morning on her more productive breast while the baby nurses on the other side, and stashes away 2 or 3 ounces a day. “It’s like, the perfect lazy pump,” she writes.

Because the silicone squeeze pump attaches while nursing, it can be a low-hassle way for someone who is primarily breastfeeding to build up a modest supply of extra milk. It can also save milk from leaking into clothing (or onto tissues or pads)—making for less waste and less mess. And it’s useful as a backup pump; I was able to use it on one breast, with an electric pump hooked up to the other, when I forgot a part while traveling and could use only one side of the electric pump.

The Haakaa squeeze pump is a single piece of silicone and can’t be customized—in other words, if it doesn’t work, you’re pretty much out of luck. It’s also a little top heavy, and can knock over easily. But as an innovative, relatively inexpensive device that extracts milk that otherwise would go uncollected, we’re fans. There are similar models out there but we recommend the Haakaa based on its history of positive reviews. We hope to compare like models in future testing.

The Haakaa is easy to clean with a bottle brush, or even in the dishwasher.

In our tests, we found the Medela Sonata shares many of the user-friendly features of the Spectra S1. It’s smaller than the Medela Pump in Style Advanced, has a built-in rechargeable battery, and a membrane separates the pump mechanism from the milk collection, creating a closed system. The motor creates two different suction modes, which means more people may find success with it. But at $400, it’s too expensive for us to recommend for most people, especially because insurance typically doesn’t cover it and it doesn’t have any significant advantages over the less-expensive Spectra S1.

We also tested the Philips Avent Comfort Double Electric Breast Pump. It has two features to recommend it: It’s small, and it includes a kit to convert the breast shield and collection bottle into a manual pump (our runner-up manual pump)—a pretty brilliant idea. But the pump itself is the loudest of any we tested—45 decibels from 3 feet away—and at least one tester found it painful to use, pinching the nipples. Plus, with only one size of breast shield available (with two possible sizes of silicone liner) it was the least customizable of any double electric pump we tried.

The Medela Symphony is a quiet, effective pump that can be used exclusively (meaning, without also nursing a baby directly) to maintain milk supply. But as a very expensive hospital-grade pump typically available as a rental, it fell outside the scope of this guide.

The Medela Freestyle is a small, portable, battery-operated pump. But lactation consultants we spoke with reported their clients haven’t had success with it over the long term (one of our testers, who has used it outside the scope of testing for this guide, agreed), and at $340, it was too pricey to consider given its reported performance.

The Lansinoh Signature Pro Double Electric is a popular double electric pump that we researched but decided not to test. It's moderately priced, but the Spectra and Medela models we recommend were consistently better reviewed. And Rakowski-Gallagher at the Upper Breast Side doubted this pump's ability to maintain milk supply in the long run.

The innovative but expensive Naya Smart Breast Pump uses water, rather than air, to create its vacuum; the breast shields massage the breast with water (sealed in a separate chamber from the milk) and the pump can be controlled via an app using Bluetooth. “It feels more like you’re nursing a baby versus nursing a machine,” company co-founder Janica Alvarez told The New York Times (parent company of Wirecutter) in 2016. The California-based startup started selling the pump in mid-2016 but has struggled to find sufficient funding. Though at least one early reviewer found the water-suction method far more comfortable, and Rakowski-Gallagher at the Upper Breast Side told us she thinks the pump could be a game-changer, we reviewed all the comments about the Naya on the Exclusively Pumping Mamas and Working Pumping Moms Facebook groups and found they were overwhelmingly negative, and included reports that the pump is not particularly quiet, has an annoyingly bright charging light, and has components that can leak. Though the company’s approach is appealing, at $650, we think the Naya is way too pricey to be the best pump for most people, especially because it seems to have mixed early reviews, has a single flange size and so won’t fit everyone, is generally not covered by insurance, and has often had significant shipping delays. Naya started taking orders for its Essential Breast Pump, a less expensive, stripped-down version of its Smart Breast Pump that doesn’t have a rechargeable battery or Bluetooth connectivity, just as we were finishing this guide. We hope to compare that pump with our current favorite double electrics in the future.

We tested the Lansinoh Manual, which is a relatively popular and widely available manual pump. It offers multiple sizes of breast shield, which is a plus, and is fairly inexpensive. But its suction was more difficult to control than our top pick or runner-up. Lansinoh redesigned this pump a few years ago, and many online reviewers (and one of our testers) who had used both preferred the old model. Lactation consultants we spoke with also told us that their clients hadn’t had as much luck with this newer model as with other manual pumps.

The Ameda One Hand Breast Pump and the Nuk Expressive Manual Pump are two other popular manual pumps we considered, but did not test. We dismissed them because their reviews were not as consistently strong as those of the Medela, Philips Avent, or Haakaa manuals. Two lactation experts said they were not as well-built for long-term use as our picks.

When the Willow breast pump was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2017, it was heralded as a major innovation in the category. Unlike the other electric pumps covered in this guide, the quiet, battery-powered, tube-free Willow pump consists of two cups that sit directly in your bra, collecting the milk into integrated cups (in either single-use plastic bags, or reusable containers). In theory, you can wear the Willow unobtrusively under clothing, allowing you to pump any time or place. The Elvie pump, which became available in spring 2019, has a design similar to the Willow, but only offers reusable plastic milk containers. The Freemie Liberty, another pump meant to sit inside your bra, has tubing and a blockier shape that makes it not quite as portable or “wearable” as the other two.

We’ve been testing both the Willow and Elvie for several months. For now we can say that both pumps have the potential to significantly improve the pumping experience, but are unlikely to work well for everyone, and each come with significant learning curves. In fact, if you already have a pump and a pumping routine that works for you, we think it’s unlikely that it’ll be worth the time, effort, and spilled milk often required to figure out how to get these to work as well as our picks. Both the Willow and Elvie depend on often glitchy apps that can introduce problems that you’d never encounter with a simpler pump like the Spectra S1. But they’re worth considering if you need a pumping option that won’t keep you tethered to one spot. Both the Willow and Freemie are about twice as expensive as the pumps we recommend in this guide, and neither are widely covered by insurance (some plans may offer reimbursement), but you can purchase them using HSA/FSA funds.

For both manual and electric pumps, wash everything that comes in contact with breast milk after every pumping session. We’ve found handwashing with warm soapy water works best—a bottle brush and nipple cleaner will get milk out of all the crevices in a pump’s many parts. Some parts are dishwasher safe. Medela also makes cleaning wipes that work well on pump parts and bottles (and just about any other plastic surface you encounter, baby-related or no)—very useful if you’re pumping without access to a sink.

In its breast pump cleaning guidelines, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it’s not possible to fully sterilize pump parts at home—even with boiling water. But frequent washing, combined with occasional sanitizing in a microwave steam bag or a pot of boiling water, is probably sufficient.

For information on safe handling of breast milk itself, see these guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Our goal with this guide is to identify the best breast pumps for most people, but breasts and pumping experiences vary wildly. Professional lactation consultants can provide detailed guidance, tailored to your particular body and history. They can also help address supply problems and nursing issues, as can local support groups organized by La Leche League leaders and others. Baby-supply stores that double as resource centers, such as Yummy Mummy in New York City, the Pump Station in Los Angeles, Nurturing Expressions in Seattle, Natural Resources in San Francisco, Waddle n Swaddle in New York’s Hudson Valley, and Baby’s Sweet Beginnings near Buffalo often offer classes and/or allow you to see several pumps in person before committing to one.

Pump manufacturers designate the pumps covered by this guide as single-user items, meaning they’re not intended to be shared or reused. According to this guide to new and used pumps on the breastfeeding web site KellyMom, the motors on most single-user electric pumps are designed to last only a year or so anyway, so a used pump may not last long. Multiuser pumps are much more expensive models (sometimes referred to as “hospital grade,” though the FDA does not define the term) that work for years and can be shared because the milk collection system is fully separate from the pump mechanism, meaning it can't cross-contaminate between users.

Angela Horman, lactation consultant at Baltimore Breastfeeds, in-person interview, June 27, 2017

Felina Rakowski-Gallagher, owner of the recently defunct breastfeeding resource center the Upper Breast Side, phone interview, June 20, 2017

David Cho, lead product development engineer at Medela USA, phone interview, September 13, 2017

Susan Burger, lactation consultant at Lactescence NYC, phone interview, June 16, 2017

Tipper Gallagher, lactation consultant at The Boob Geek (Minneapolis-St. Paul), email interview, May 29, 2017

Molly Brannigan, lactation consultant at East Bay Lactation Associates, email interview, June 7, 2017

Juliet Spurrier, MD, and BabyGearLab Team, The Best Breast Pump Review, BabyGearLab

Breast Pumps, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Catherine D’Ignazio et. al., A Feminist HCI Approach to Designing Postpartum Technologies: "When I first saw a breast pump I was wondering if it was a joke," (PDF), MIT Media Lab

Nancy C. Lee, MD, Breast Pumps and Insurance Coverage: What You Need To Know, WomensHealth.gov, September 30, 2014

New Benefits for Breastfeeding Moms: Facts and Tools to Understand Your Coverage under the Health Care Law, National Women’s Law Center, May 8, 2014

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