The Best Cold Plunge Tubs for 2027

The Finnmark SoulCold, a stainless steel hot and cold plunge with a cedar skirt.

For one person, get the SaunaLife S1 with its chiller. For two, the S2. If you’d rather lie back, the Finnmark SoulCold. Here’s why, plus the plunge we’d put outside for a hard winter and the one to splurge on.

Ben Burger · Cofounder, Sauna Marketplace · October 26, 2026 · 7 min read

A chest freezer and a few bags of ice will get your water cold. They won’t get you into it at 6 a.m. in February.

The plunge you’ll keep using is the one that’s already cold when you walk outside, clean when you lift the cover, and easy to get into. That comes down to two things: a tub that fits how you like to sit, and a chiller that holds the temperature, filters the water and doesn’t make you think about it.

We know what works from running SaunaShare, where we list public saunas and bathhouses down to their heat source and cold plunge, and from working with commercial bathhouse operators since 2018. Every pick below is a complete system with its chiller, and every one of them heats as well as chills. No ice runs.

Want every spec and current price side by side? That’s our cold plunge comparison. This page is the short version: what we’d choose, and why.

Our picks for 2027

• Best overall: SaunaLife S1 with the FDC-1A chiller
• Best for two: SaunaLife S2 with the AP-1 chiller
• Best for stretching out: Finnmark SoulCold
• Best for a hard winter outdoors: Icetubs IceBarrel and IceBath
• The splurge: Kohler x Remedy Place Ice Bath

· · ·

Best overall: SaunaLife S1

The SaunaLife S1 with its FDC-1A chiller.

If you plunge alone and want something that fits on a patio without taking it over, start here.

• Why we’d pick it: It’s a round, upright tub, 40 inches across, that holds 124 gallons. You sit upright in 36 inches of water, and the matching steps make getting in easy. The liner is contoured fiberglass, wrapped in thermally modified wood, the same kind of wood we like for saunas because it takes up less moisture and moves less. SaunaLife also makes the CL5G, the sauna we built on our YouTube channel.
• The chiller: SaunaLife’s FDC-1A takes the water as low as 32.5°F or heats it up to 108°F, filters it, runs ozone and connects to Wi-Fi. It runs on 110 to 120 volts through its own GFCI cord and plug.
• Know before it ships: The FDC-1A is rated for air from 59 to 109°F while it’s cooling. A covered patio in a mild climate suits it. Where winters get colder, give it a garage, a pool house or a heated room, or look at the Icetubs pair below. Natural or black finish, and it also comes as a tub only.

Best for two: SaunaLife S2

The SaunaLife S2 with its AP-1 chiller.

Same build, room for two. Plunge with your partner or your training partner, or have it to yourself and stretch out.

• Why we’d pick it: An oval tub, 66.5 inches long and 36 inches deep inside, holding 200 gallons, with the same contoured fiberglass liner and thermally modified wood outside.
• The chiller: The AP-1: water from 37 to 107°F, ozone and Wi-Fi, on 110 to 120 volts with a GFCI cord. It’s rated for air from 32 to 113°F, so it handles a cool spring or fall better than the S1’s chiller.

Best for stretching out: Finnmark SoulCold

The SoulCold on a backyard deck.

If you’d rather lie back than sit up, this is the one.

• Why we’d pick it: A 304 stainless steel tub inside a cedar skirt, 48 inches long and 28 inches deep inside, with the chiller built into the cabinet. It takes the water down to 34°F or up to 108°F, so the same tub is a cold plunge in the morning and a warm soak at night.
• What’s included: An insulated cover and a Wi-Fi app alongside the touchscreen. It plugs into a standard 120-volt, 15-amp outlet with GFCI protection. The warranty is two years for residential use in the US and Canada.
• Know before it ships: Outdoors, the touchscreen needs shade and shelter from rain, so plan a roof, a pergola or a shade over it.

Best for a hard winter outdoors: Icetubs IceBarrel and IceBath

The Icetubs IceBarrel with its engine.

Before a plunge lives outside all winter, check the chiller’s air rating, not just its water range. The water range is what the chiller can hold. The air rating is where it can live.

• Why we’d pick it: The Icetubs engine is rated to run in air as cold as 23°F, and up to 104°F. It holds the water anywhere from 37.4 to 100.4°F, filters it and runs ozone, on a 110-volt supply.
• Upright or reclining: The IceBarrel is upright: the Standard is stainless steel and holds 92.5 gallons, and the XL holds 113.6 gallons in a fiberglass tub, with stairs as an option on both. The IceBath reclines, in stainless steel at 106.7 gallons (Standard) or 132.1 (XL).
• Know before it ships: Leave 20 inches around the engine for airflow. The warranty is two years for private use.

The splurge: Kohler x Remedy Place Ice Bath

The Kohler x Remedy Place Ice Bath.

Kohler built this one with Remedy Place. It’s an 85-gallon reclining bath, about 79 inches long, in Avonite Flex with laminate exterior panels, holding the water from 39 to 104°F with the filtration and the cover built in.

It needs a 120-volt, 20-amp circuit with Class A GFCI protection, so bring your electrician in early. It arrives by white-glove delivery, and the warranty is two years for residential use.

· · ·

Hot and cold in one tub

Every complete system on this page heats as well as chills. That’s how a cold plunge also becomes a warm soak on the nights you don’t feel like being brave.

What none of them does is hot and cold at the same time. One tub runs one temperature at a time. If you want hot and cold side by side, that takes two, and the classic pair is a sauna and a plunge. Hot, cold, rest, repeat. Planning the sauna too? Design it free in SaunaDesignPro and see it in 3D before you buy a board.

Ben Frizzell tries a cold plunge on for size at HUUM’s demo park in Estonia.

What to sort out first

• Power. The SaunaLife chillers, the SoulCold and the Icetubs engine run on 110 to 120 volts. The Kohler wants a 20-amp circuit with Class A GFCI protection. Have your electrician look at the spot you’ve picked.
• A level, solid base. A full S2 holds 200 gallons, which is more than 1,600 pounds of water before anyone gets in.
• The air, not just the water. Check the chiller’s air rating against your winters, or plan to give it shelter.
• A cover and some shade. A cover keeps leaves and dirt out and holds the temperature. The SoulCold includes one; the SaunaLife covers are an option.
• Where the water goes. Know how you’ll drain and refill it before it’s full.

Questions we hear

What’s the best cold plunge tub for a home?

For one person, the SaunaLife S1 with its FDC-1A chiller. For two, the SaunaLife S2. If you’d rather lie back, the Finnmark SoulCold.

How cold does a cold plunge get?

The FDC-1A goes as low as 32.5°F, the SoulCold 34°F, the AP-1 37°F, the Icetubs engine 37.4°F and the Kohler 39°F.

Can a cold plunge stay outside in winter?

Some can. Check the chiller’s air temperature rating. The Icetubs engine runs in air down to 23°F and the AP-1 down to 32°F; the FDC-1A wants 59°F or warmer.

Can I plug a cold plunge into a regular outlet?

The SoulCold plugs into a standard 120-volt, 15-amp outlet with GFCI protection, and the SaunaLife chillers come with their own GFCI cord and plug. The Kohler needs a 20-amp circuit with Class A GFCI protection.

Do I need a chiller?

If you want cold water without buying ice, yes. A chiller holds the temperature and filters the water, and every system on this page also heats.

How cold should I start, and is it safe?

Start in the 50s °F for a minute or two.  Most recovery studies used water between 50 and 59°F, and colder water wasn’t more effective at easing soreness (Jeon 2026).  The main danger is the first minute: cold shock makes you gasp and breathe fast and sends your heart rate and blood pressure up, and it’s thought to cause most cold-water deaths, ahead of hypothermia (Tipton 1989).  Never plunge alone, get in slowly with your face out of the water, and don’t hold your breath on the way in.  Your core temperature can keep falling after you get out, so warm up gradually.  If you have heart disease or high blood pressure, ask your doctor first.

Lifting for strength?  Plunge before the workout or on another part of the day.  In a 12-week trial, men who took a 10-minute cold bath after each strength session gained about a third as much muscle as men who did an active cool-down (Roberts 2015).

Tell us where it’s going

Send us the spot, who’s plunging and how cold your winters get, and we’ll tell you which one we’d pick. That’s the whole idea behind Sauna Marketplace: if your best friend was a sauna expert.

Building the sauna side too? Here’s our guide to the best electric sauna heaters for 2027.