The 11 Best Grow Lights to Help Your Plants Thrive, Based on Testing (2024)

What We Tested

We tested 16 grow lights in the real world, rating them for effectiveness at facilitating plant growth/health, design, and brightness. For more about how we tested grow lights, see our testing process below.

Value is the name of the Leoter Grow Light’s game, earning it the top slot as the best grow light overall. The positives begin with a simple setup—simply plug it in. The four gooseneck arms are able to be bent and maneuvered in seconds as positions, heights, and plants change.

There are many ways to customize your growing experience, which is impressive at this price point. A remote/switch on the wire clearly shows you what to press for timed intervals so plants get consistent and controlled light exposure. (It does need to be reset if the light is powered off, though.)

More options include 10 levels of light intensity and three spectral modes for different growth stages—warm white, red and blue, or all three—created by 80 LED lights consuming 40 watts. During testing, we found them bright enough to illuminate the room with no other lights on, but not bothersome.

When evaluating the growth between plants with the grow light and plants without, we noticed that it was definitely beneficial for the tomatoes and seemed to be helping the spinach as well, though the basic didn’t grow much in either setting.

No AC power plug? No problem. Connect it to a USB instead. Also worth noting: the heat sink dissipates the heat generated by the lamp into the atmosphere, as confirmed during testing when we put a hand under the grow light and didn’t feel a temperature change.

Product Details: Dimensions: 13.46 x 5.71 x 3.27 inches | Color: Red, blue, and full spectrum | LED: Yes | Wattage: 40 watts | Special features: Dimmer, timer, spectral modes, adjustable arms

Most grow lights are all about function, and designed without consideration to form—the Soltech Aspect is the exception. Choose from a matte white or matte black fixture, and use the 15-foot fabric braided cable to hang it just like any standard pendant you might install.

Installation took us 20 minutes, and the light didn’t require any assembly. Very clear instructions were included, explaining what to use depending on what kind of wall (drywall, stud, wood, etc) you’re attaching your hook to.

Because you can simply plug and unplug the grow light, the analog outlet timer isn’t required, but setting it up only took a few minutes. If desired, you can connect a different timer, such as a digital or smart option, to it instead.

The 40 watt 3000K LED bulb is warm like a regular light, yet extremely—and noticeably—bright. You can’t dim the light or adjust the spectrum, and because of this we recommend that you play around with the placement a little bit until you find the right fit for your space.

To adjust the light you can raise it up and down by hanging it from a different part of the braided cable. Raising it up, for example, allows it to support a large collection of small indoor plants. Our tester noticed no meaningful level of heat coming from the light when it was on.

In natural light, the basil we tested died shortly after sprouting, while the one under the light grew to 2.5 inches. We saw the largest difference with tomatoes: the plant under the light grew to 8 inches, and the plant without only grew to 2.5 inches.

While this grow light is on the expensive side, we love that it’s both design-forward and incredibly effective, especially if your plants are displayed in your main living areas, though a shade to help keep the bright light from reaching other parts of the room would be nice to have.

Product Details: Dimensions: 6.5 x 4 inches, Cord: 15 feet | Color: 3000K | LED: Yes | Wattage: 40 watts | Special features: Timer

When you’re growing multiple small plants, it definitely makes more sense—and is less expensive—to purchase the AeroGarden Trio Grow Light with three arms rather than three separate grow lights.

Because the arms are bendable, you can easily move the lights closer to or further from your plants—between 11 and 17 inches high. It’s intended to sit on a tabletop, and AeroGarden only recommends it for plants up to 12 inches tall.

The other thing to keep in mind is that it can easily tip over if the arms aren’t evenly spaced.

Though not necessary to the light’s function, an app allows you to set a timer, schedule the dimmer, choose from four full-spectrum light modes (white, warm, and cool), and more.

The modes can also be selected by tapping on top of the light, which is also how it turns on.

We estimated the 5-watt lights (15 watts total) as having about a 20-inch radius, which remained focused mainly on the plants and emitted little to no heat.

With all three plants—basil, tomato, and spinach—the set under the grow light set grew better—2 versus 1.5 inches, 4 versus 3.5 inches, and 3.25 versus 2.25 inches, respectively.

Product Details: Dimensions: 14.88 x 6.46 x 6.46 inches; Cord: 6 feet | Color: Full-spectrum | LED: Yes | Wattage: 5 watts each; 15 watts total | Special features: Smart, timer, dimmer, light modes, sunrise/sunset setting

Flowering plants thrive best with red lights, which the Mars Hydro has plenty of. The updated model has a new diode layout of 354 TS1000 full-spectrum LED lights that’s dense in the center with less on the sides, designed to create a more uniform light distribution (150 watts total).

In testing, the light covered an approximate 4 x 4 foot area, thanks in part to the 120º angle white reflector design, which was more than enough space for the test plants. (It’s worth noting that flowers will thrive best in the middle 2 x 2 foot area.)

Zipper cables make adjusting the height easy—the brand recommends 12-18 inches of space between the light and flowering plants. We detected no heat under the lights and just a little heat on the top transformer, though it was still able to be touched.

We noted a few details that would have been beneficial to include, like an internal timer and cable management for excess cord. However, being able to easily daisy chain up to 50 of these grow lights together is a big pro for serious growers who want to operate multiple at the same time.

The grow light also has an independent dimming button on the external driver, so you can adjust the brightness depending on the growth stage of your plants, and a temperature gauge with the humidity and time listed as well.

Both the grow light and natural light plants experienced a solid amount of growth during testing, but we noted that the ones under the grow light were healthier and stronger—and, ultimately, taller.

Product Details: Dimensions: 14.17 x 13.25 x 1.36 inches | Color: TS1000 | LED: Yes | Wattage: 150 watts | Special features: Dimmer knob, thermometer

The Gardener’s Supply Company LED Stack-n-Grow Light Stand Base Unit is the best grow light for seedlings by far starting with the fact that it’s designed specifically for seed starting, growing herbs indoors, and helping other small plants thrive.

Because it runs more horizontal than vertical, you can stack on up to two add-on units to make room for more plants. Building this grow light wasn’t difficult thanks to the clear and concise instruction manual, but because of the size and a few tricky parts, it took 34 minutes.

Each USA-made grow light is only 7 pounds (made up of powder-coated aluminum), yet can hold up to 110 pounds. There are two 36-inch full spectrum LED lights, which looked very white and reminded us of hospital lighting.

The brightness was contained to about 3 feet around the grow light. No timer is included, but you can plug the cord into one to control the amount of light plants receive versus manually turning it on and off every day.

When it came to growth, the plants under the grow light were the clear winners. Those under natural light sprouted, grew too tall, and then collapsed and died, while those under the grow light had much stronger roots and stalks.

The lights can be moved up and down about 8 inches, but we recommend having two people get the job done to make it easier. When holding a hand beneath the light after it’d been on for over eight hours, we could detect some warmth but no intense heat.

Product Details: Dimensions: 31 x 15.5 x 21 inches | Color: Full-spectrum | LED: Yes | Wattage: Not listed | Special features: Stackable

If you need flexibility, the LBW Grow Light with Stand is the best grow light for you. With the ability to extend it anywhere from 15 to 63 inches depending on your plants’ needs, you can put the tripod on a table as well as the floor.

You can also choose between six different models: large single head with or without a timer, medium single head with or without a timer, medium dual head with a timer, or medium tri head with a timer. The good news is that the price only goes up nominally as you upgrade size and function.

The models with timers allow you to program one of three different intervals: four, eight, or 12 hours for the medium and large single heads, as well as three, six, and 12 hours for the medium dual and tri heads. This means you’re able to control exactly how much light your plants receive.

You can also control the brightness—there are six levels ranging from 10% to 100%. With the medium dual and tri heads, you can even choose the amount of lights that are on at any given time. Having so many options is a pro, but you have to read the product descriptions very carefully.

All we had to do was tighten some screws by hand to put parts together. Extra parts are included if you want to mount the light to a ceiling rather than the included tripod. You can maneuver the full spectrum LED lights with the 360º gooseneck arms.

We found them very bright but not disruptive, especially if we tilted the lights downward. While we could clearly see that the grow light was on, it didn’t light up any other parts of the room. We didn’t notice a significant change in temperature under the light, either.

While all the plants sprouted at the same time, the rate of growth for the spinach and tomatoes under the grow light was significantly faster compared to the ones on the windowsill. The basil was slow to grow under both lights.

Product Details: Dimensions: 5.11x 5.31 x 16.7, 5.31 x 5.11 x 16.7, 16.26 x 8.39 x 3.82, or 16.61 x 8.39 x 3.98 inches | Color: Full spectrum | LED: Yes | Wattage: Not listed | Special features: Adjustable tripod stand, gooseneck, choice of dimmer and timer, and individual switches

If you prefer a bare bones operation or already have a grow light stand, the GE Grow Light LED Bulb is a great buy. Installation couldn’t be easier: You just need a socket to plug it into, though it wouldn’t hurt to also get an adjustable stand to rig it onto and a timer to control it.

The instructions are very simple and include height recommendations (both visual and written) for high and low light plants. We observed that the bulb casts a wide area of light when turned on, but considering it’s described as a floodlight, that’s to be expected.

We also appreciated that, while the light does have a red/blue light spectrum, it doesn’t appear harsh and cold to the human eye. Instead it’s designed like a familiar incandescent bulb while using less energy and producing little heat.

We felt that, based on the height of the seedlings alone, the results were inconclusive, but the stems seemed thicker and the leaves more substantial on the plants under the light. Though not overly disruptive, we did notice a high pitched hum when the bulb was on.

Product Details: Dimensions: 5.2 x 5.2 x 5.94 inches | Color: White | LED: Yes | Wattage: 9 or 9 and 32 watts | Special features: None

When you’re short on space or you like to move your plants around, clip-on grow lights make life easier with their small footprint and (literal) flexibility.

Full setup of the GooingTop LED Grow Light took only two minutes. All we had to do was clip the light to something, plug it in, and pick a setting. Attached to the underside of the cabinet, it took up very little room.

The two gooseneck arms can be moved around 360º, which we found especially useful with different size pots and as the plants grew. The LED bulbs have a color temperature of 6000K (akin to the sun at noon) and you can pick between the 10-watt and 36-watt options.

The dimmer provides five brightness levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, or 100%), while the timer can be set for four, eight, or 12 hours of light a day. If the grow light loses power, your timer settings will be erased and need to be reprogrammed.

A big pro that makes this one of the best grow lights is its USB capabilities: you can power the light using a regular plug, but you can also power it via USB. This is ideal if you’re on the go or your plant is stationed far from an outlet.

Neither the basil nor the spinach sprouted, but even though the tomatoes using natural light ended up taller, the ones using the grow light had thicker stems and thicker and greener leaves.

Product Details: Dimensions: 22 x 14 x 7.9 or 5 x 3 x 10 inches | Color: 6000K | LED: Yes | Wattage: 10 or 36 watts | Special features: Gooseneck, dimmer, and timer

The Soltech Grove light first caught our eye because of the slim and sleek design, available in white and black, that also maximizes space with its ability to be mounted.

The three-minute installation involved applying the included adhesive patches to the wall, bracket, and light. Despite its light weight, however, the grow light kept falling off the wall (and peeling off the paint) until we put it up with Command strips cut to size.

The other option is to hang it with the screws and mounting hardware, but the bonus to using Command strips is that you’re better able to move the light around on the fly.

To use the timer, you pull out the pins associated with the hours you want the lights on and leave the others alone. There’s a switch you can use to manually turn the light on and off, but it’s also touch sensitive, which means you can press it to turn it off or adjust the brightness.

The longer you hold the body of the fixture, the dimmer it gets. At the highest setting, we found the light distracting, but we got used to it eventually and it was ultimately successful at helping grow the plants.

Neither spinach plant grew at all, and the basil plant under natural light didn’t either. Both of the tomato plants grew, but they were much taller under the grow light.

Product Details: Dimensions: 18 x 1 x 1.5 inches; Cord: 6 feet | Color: Warm white | LED: Yes | Wattage: 11 watts | Special features: Touch control, dimmer, timer

Beginner growers don’t need all the bells and whistles. The iGrowtek 2ft Grow Light is the best pick for new plant parents because it’s fairly compact; only 2.3 inches deep (great for shallow surfaces and storing) and 19.7 or 41.7 inches tall, depending on which model you select.

Assembly was a breeze during testing and didn’t at all require the included instructions. You basically just connect the bar to the feet, use the straps to decide how high or low you want the light to be, and then plug it in.

Adjusting the height only takes a minute, but depending on what model you select and what you choose to grow, you might run out of room and likely have to switch to a bigger light. Our plants responded well to the extra bright light, which is a good thing, because there’s no way to dim it.

There’s also no timer included, which is crucial for controlling how much time your plants spend under the light without having to manually turn it on and off every time. You can always pick up your own, but for the price, we thought one would have been included.

The tomato and spinach plants under the grow light were in better health, sprouting faster with more leaves and even appearing greener. Under natural light, the basil never grew.

Product Details: Dimensions: 27.2 x 2.3 x 19.7 inches | Color: Full spectrum | LED: Yes | Wattage: 10 watts | Special features: Adjustable light height

With 5 square feet of vegetative coverage, 4 square feet of flowering coverage, and the ability to daisy chain more than the four included panels together, there’s no doubt the Spider Farmer light was designed with serious growers in mind.

Setup took an hour in part because you have to drill holes for a ceiling-mount system. The instruction book is highly detailed and includes recommendations for height and brightness during the germination, seedling, and vegetative stages, which was appreciated.

Adjusting the height is fairly easy, but does take a little time since it’s a platform suspended by four cables with a ratchet. There are more diodes around the edges and fewer in the middle, which is intended to support optimal light absorption and result in higher yields.

Altogether it consumes 450 watts and covers the full spectrum of colors (white, blue, red, and IR). When we put their hand under the light, they noticed the air felt noticeably warmer.

The on/off knob is marked with percentages for brightness, with the recommended level for germination and seedlings being 60%. The plants we grew under the light were so much healthier than the others that they looked like an entirely different species.

Protective covers for the cables is a small detail that stands out, the lack of timer is disappointing at this price point. The ability to control how much light your plant gets via automation is all but expected and really should really just be included.

Product Details: Dimensions: 21.1 x 25.3 x 1.95 inches | Color: Full spectrum | LED: Yes | Wattage: 450 watts | Special features: Dimmer