The refrigerator water filters worth buying in 2026
Five cartridges cover the large majority of US refrigerators. What separates them is not filtration quality — all are NSF certified — but housing design, chip requirements and how much the replacement costs over five years.
01
LG
LG's high-capacity cartridge for French door and side-by-side refrigerators built around the LT1000 housing.
40 models · 200 gal · 3 certifications
02
Samsung
The most widely used Samsung refrigerator cartridge, fitted to RF22 through RF30 and most RS side-by-side models.
34 models · 300 gal · 2 certifications
04
Whirlpool
everydrop Filter 4 — the cartridge Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Amana and JennAir all share.
10 models · 200 gal · 2 certifications
05
GE
A slim GE cartridge used in a limited set of side-by-side models, often confused with MWF..
0 models · 300 gal · 2 certifications
06
GE
The pre-2019 GE cartridge, still found in a large installed base.
0 models · 300 gal · 2 certifications
07
GE
GE's older slim cartridge, largely superseded but still in service in top-freezer models..
0 models · 300 gal · 2 certifications
08
Whirlpool
everydrop Filter 1, the shorter cartridge used in a large share of Whirlpool side-by-side and top-freezer refrigerators..
0 models · 200 gal · 2 certifications
09
Samsung
Samsung's shorter cartridge for older French door and side-by-side models.
0 models · 300 gal · 2 certifications
10
Samsung
The cartridge for Samsung's newer Bespoke-era and large-capacity French door refrigerators, sold as HAF-QIN.
0 models · 300 gal · 3 certifications
11
Whirlpool
everydrop Filter 2, fitted to mid-size Whirlpool French door refrigerators.
0 models · 200 gal · 2 certifications
12
LG
The LT800P sits between the LT700P and LT1000P in LG's line-up and is fitted to a number of 2016-and-later French door models, including several InstaView builds..
0 models · 200 gal · 3 certifications
13
GE
The round SmartWater cartridge used across GE side-by-side and top-freezer models for well over a decade.
0 models · 300 gal · 2 certifications
14
LG
The oldest cartridge still in common use in LG refrigerators.
0 models · 200 gal · 1 certifications
15
Whirlpool
everydrop Filter 3, the long push-in cartridge that lives in the base grille of Whirlpool side-by-side refrigerators.
0 models · 200 gal · 2 certifications
16
LG
The cartridge LG used across its 2010–2016 French door range, and still the most common LG filter in older homes.
0 models · 200 gal · 2 certifications
17
LG
An older LG cartridge, still sold for side-by-side refrigerators from the mid-2000s.
0 models · 200 gal · 1 certifications
How this list was built
It is ordered by how many refrigerator models in our reference set accept the cartridge, not by preference. That is a coverage measure, not a quality score — every cartridge here is NSF certified, and none of them is a bad filter.
Where two cartridges are close, the deciding factor is fit rather than performance: a housing either accepts a cartridge or it does not. Use the refrigerator lookup if you already know your model.