Lomi vs Mill vs Vitamix FoodCycler: None of Them Makes Compost, and That Decides Which One You Should Buy
Countertop food recyclers dry and grind scraps. They do not compost them: Lomi calls its output pre-compost, Mill says its grounds are not compost yet, and Vitamix warns against putting animal protein into soil. Compare price, capacity, cycle time, energy, filters and where the output goes.
The short answer
Countertop food recyclers went viral on Instagram and TikTok for a satisfying reason: a bucket of banana peels and coffee grounds goes in at night, and a small pile of dry, brown crumbs comes out in the morning. The volume disappears, the smell disappears, and the kitchen trash stops leaking.
What they do not do is make compost, and the manufacturers are upfront about it. Lomi’s product page says its output is, technically speaking, pre-compost. Mill’s page says its grounds are not compost yet. Vitamix calls the FoodCycler’s output a recycled food compound and treats it as a soil amendment that needs time in the ground. EPA defines composting as the managed, aerobic, biological decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms. A machine that heats and grinds food for a few hours is drying and shredding it, not decomposing it.
That one fact reorganizes the whole comparison. The real question is not which machine is best. It is where the output goes next:
- You garden, and the output goes into your own soil: Lomi 2 or a Vitamix FoodCycler, used with the dilution and waiting rules below.
- You do not garden and want it to go somewhere useful: Mill with its Pickups add-on.
- Your city already collects food scraps: you may only need a sealed countertop bin.
Check countertop food recyclers on Amazon
The comparison table
All figures below are manufacturer-published. Prices are listed at the time of writing (September 2026); check the current price.
| Lomi 2 | Mill (Essential / Plus) | Vitamix FoodCycler Eco 5 | Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listed price | $599 | $999 / from $1,149 | $599.95 | $399.95 |
| Capacity | 3 liters | 6.5 liters | About 5 liters | About 2.5 liters |
| Cycle time | Eco-Express 3–5 hours; Grow 16–20 hours | Median 4–5 hours, runs overnight on its own | 4–9 hours | 4–8 hours |
| Energy | Eco Express under 0.60 kWh | About 0.7 kWh per day | Under 1.5 kWh per cycle | About 0.8 kWh per cycle |
| Odor filter | Replace every 3 months or 45 cycles; $29.99 per refill | Up to 6 months (Essential) / 12 months (Plus) | Refillable carbon pellets | 2 carbon filters |
| What the maker calls the output | ”Pre-compost” (Lomi Earth) | Grounds that “aren’t compost (yet)“ | Fine, dry powder | Recycled food compound, a soil amendment |
| Where it can go | Your soil at 1 part to 10 parts soil | Your soil, curbside compost, or Mill Pickups to farms | Your soil, per the manual | Your soil at 11:1 after 1–4 weeks; not if it contains animal protein |
Lomi’s cycle times come from Lomi’s own guidance on its modes, first published for the original Lomi. The Eco 5 and FC-50 cycle and energy figures are from FoodCycler’s model comparison, except the FC-50’s 4-to-8-hour processing time, which is from the Vitamix manual. Vitamix prices are list prices; when we checked Vitamix’s US store, the FC-50 was marked retired and the Eco 5 was out of stock.
Why “not compost” matters more than any spec
Composting needs microbes, oxygen, moisture, and time. A recycler removes the moisture and chops everything small, which is a great head start: the output is stable, dry, and easy to store. But it is still food that has not broken down.
That is why every manufacturer attaches instructions to the output:
- Lomi suggests mixing one part Lomi Earth to ten parts soil, or adding it to a compost pile or green bin to age further.
- Vitamix’s FC-50 manual recommends 11 parts soil to 1 part output by volume, says to delay planting by 1 to 4 weeks so the material can break down, and says not to put any output containing animal protein into soil, because high sodium can harm plant growth.
- Mill lists four uses: mix into soil, pour into curbside compost about once a month, supplement chicken feed, or send it to Mill’s farm partners.
The Vitamix warning deserves attention because it mirrors EPA’s home-composting advice, which says not to put meat, fish, bones, cheese, or dairy into backyard piles, partly because they attract animals. A countertop machine that happily grinds a chicken carcass has not changed what that chicken is. If your family eats a lot of meat, the output needs a destination that can handle it, which is one of the strongest arguments for Mill’s pickup route.
Lomi 2: the gardener’s machine
Lomi 2 is $599, holds 3 liters, and runs on 110V North American power. Lomi lists its Eco Express mode at under 0.60 kWh per cycle, and its mode guidance, written for the original Lomi, puts Eco-Express at 3 to 5 hours and the slower Grow mode at 16 to 20 hours; the Lomi 2 product page does not list cycle times. Lomi says the unit weighs 19 to 20 pounds and runs under 60 dB, which it compares to a dishwasher.
The spec that actually shapes ownership is the filter rule. Lomi says its filters perform best when replaced every 3 months or 45 cycles, and one refill is $29.99, or $26.99 on a subscription. Run it daily and you hit 45 cycles in about six and a half weeks, so the real schedule is closer to eight refills a year, about $240 at the one-time price. Run it every other day and the two limits line up at about three months, which halves that. Budget for the filters before the machine.
Buy Lomi if you have a garden or houseplants that can absorb the output, want a machine you start manually, and are fine diluting what comes out.
Check Lomi food recyclers on Amazon
Mill: the bin plus a place for the output to go
Mill is built differently. It is a larger, 6.5-liter bin that you keep adding to; Mill says it runs overnight on its own and knows how much you have added, and that it reduces food volume by 80 percent so you can keep filling it for weeks. It is also the priciest: $999 for Mill Essential and from $1,149 for Mill Plus, which adds a foot-pedal lid, a child and pet lock, and a carbon filter rated for up to 12 months instead of 6.
Mill’s energy disclosure is unusually specific. Its November 2024 post says the second-generation bin uses about 0.7 kWh per day, around $4 a month at the national average rate, with a median cycle of 4 to 5 hours that can be as quick as 2.5 hours.
What makes Mill a different category is Pickups. For $192 a year, including prepaid shipping, you pack dried grounds into a box that holds 2 to 3 full Mill buckets and send it back; Mill says it turns the grounds into food for chickens delivered to small farms. For an apartment dweller with no garden and no curbside compost program, that is the only option here where the output has a job waiting for it.
Mill sells direct at mill.com, so check current pricing and Pickups availability there.
Vitamix FoodCycler: the lower-cost route, with an availability check
The FoodCycler line, sold under the Vitamix name in the US, is the budget entry point. The FC-50 still shows a list price of $399.95 on Vitamix’s site, with a 2.5-liter bucket, 500 watts at 120V, and a 4-to-8-hour processing time. The Eco 5 doubles the bucket to about 5 liters at $599.95, and Vitamix says it reduces food waste volume by up to 90 percent into a fine, dry powder.
Two cautions. First, the FC-50 manual is the strictest about inputs: no large pork or beef bones, pits, nuts, hard shells, candy, or gum, and avoid high concentrations of starchy, sugary, or saucy foods. Second, check availability and consumables before you buy. When we looked, Vitamix’s US store marked the FC-50 itself as a retired product with no add-to-cart option, showed the Eco 5 as out of stock in both colors, and listed the FC-50 replacement filter set and the Eco 5 carbon refill as temporarily out of stock. Replacement odor filters are the part you need forever, so confirm they are available for the model you choose.
Check Vitamix FoodCycler models on Amazon
Where to put it and how to plug it in
These are heated appliances with motors, and the manuals treat them that way. The FC-50 manual says to keep the unit at least 6 inches from walls and surfaces to ventilate steam, to use only a grounded outlet, and not to use an adapter or an extension cable. It also warns to let the unit cool for about 35 minutes after a cycle before opening it, because the bucket and handle get hot. Plan a counter spot near a grounded outlet with room behind it, not a cramped corner under the cabinets.
Should you skip the machine entirely?
Be honest about which problem you are solving. If your city collects food scraps at the curb, your scraps already go to real composting, and the machine only improves the week between pickups. If the real complaint is a smelly bin and fruit flies, a sealed countertop bin with a carbon filter addresses that for a small fraction of the price. A recycler earns its cost when you value the volume reduction and odor control every day, or when you have no other destination for food scraps at all.
Check countertop compost bins with carbon filters on Amazon
Bottom line
None of these machines makes compost. They dry and grind food into a stable, low-odor material, and each manufacturer tells you it still has to break down somewhere. Choose by destination. With a garden, Lomi 2 at $599 or a Vitamix FoodCycler (if you can find one in stock) works, as long as you follow the dilution rules and keep animal protein out of the soil, and budget Lomi’s filters by cycles, not months. With no garden, Mill at $999 plus $192-a-year Pickups is the only option where the output reliably goes somewhere useful. With curbside compost already available, a sealed bin may be all you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Is the output of a Lomi or Mill actually compost?
- A: No, and the manufacturers say so themselves. Lomi's product page says its output is, technically speaking, pre-compost, which it brands Lomi Earth. Mill's page says its grounds are not compost yet. EPA defines composting as the managed, aerobic, biological decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms, which takes weeks to months in a pile. These machines heat, dry, and grind food in hours. What comes out is dried, ground food: much smaller, much less smelly, and useful, but it still has to break down in soil, a compost pile, or somewhere else before it becomes compost.
- Q: Can I put meat and bones in a countertop food recycler?
- A: It depends on the machine and on what you plan to do with the output. Mill says it can handle almost anything, from turkey bones to avocado pits. Lomi lists meats and dairy among accepted foods. Vitamix's FoodCycler FC-50 manual is stricter: do not cycle large bones such as pork or beef bones, pits, nuts, or hard shells, and do not mix any output that contains animal protein into your soil, because the sodium can harm plants. EPA gives similar advice for backyard piles, warning against meat, fish, bones, and dairy. If your household eats a lot of meat, plan where that output will go.
- Q: How much electricity does a food recycler use?
- A: Per cycle, about as much as one dishwasher load or less; Mill cites 1.2 to 1.8 kWh for a typical dishwasher load. Lomi lists its Eco Express mode for the Lomi 2 at less than 0.60 kWh. FoodCycler lists the FC-50 at approximately 0.8 kWh per cycle and the Eco 5 at under 1.5 kWh per cycle. Mill says its second-generation bin averages about 0.7 kWh per day, which it estimates at about $4 a month at the national average electricity rate. Multiply your machine's figure by the number of cycles you actually run and by your own utility rate. For most households, filters and subscriptions cost more per year than the electricity.
- Q: How often do Lomi filters need replacing, and what does that cost?
- A: Lomi says its filters perform best when replaced every 3 months or every 45 cycles, and a single refill is $29.99, or $26.99 on a quarterly subscription, at the time of writing. The catch is the word or. If you run Lomi every day, you hit 45 cycles in about six and a half weeks, well before three months are up. At that pace you would use about eight refills a year, roughly $240 at the one-time price. Run it every other day and the two limits line up at about three months, cutting that to four refills a year. Plan the filter budget around how often you will actually run it.
- Q: Do I need a food recycler if my city has curbside compost pickup?
- A: Probably not for waste diversion, since the city program already sends your scraps to real composting. Where a recycler still helps is between pickups: dried, ground scraps do not smell, do not attract fruit flies, and take up far less room. Mill says it reduces food volume by 80 percent and suggests pouring the grounds into curbside compost once a month. If your main complaint is a smelly kitchen bin between weekly pickups, a sealed countertop bin with a carbon filter is the far cheaper fix, and a recycler is a convenience upgrade rather than a necessity.