The Best Nail Clippers (2024)

If you think you might appreciate nail clippers that work better than cheap drugstore models, you almost certainly will.

You’ll often see two types of clippers at the drugstore—standard, thumb-sized ones with a fold-up handle (lever style) and plier-like nippers with longer handles. For this guide, we focused on the more-common, lever-style clippers.

Many people snip their fingernails and their toenails with the same pair of clippers. However, if you have particularly thick toenails—and you’re certain their thickness is not due to fungus, trauma, or other conditions that require medical care—investing in a larger pair with more leverage might be worth it. Two of our picks come in “small” and “large” versions, marketed for use on fingernails and toenails, respectively.

“In theory, nails should not be difficult to cut,” said podiatrist Tracey Vlahovic, a clinical professor of podiatric medicine at Temple University. “However, I have seen some bad bathroom surgery.”

Most people can safely groom their own nails at home. There are some notable exceptions, though, including:

• If you have mobility issues, consider whether they limit your dexterity, and thus safety, while clipping fingernails or toenails.
• If you have nerve damage or impaired eyesight, it can be difficult to feel pain or see what you’re clipping.
• Think twice if you have very thick nails. Even though our top pick might be able to slice through your nails, thicker-than-normal nails often signify a fungal infection, trauma, or other condition best managed by a medical professional.

In these scenarios, it’s important to see a dermatologist (for fingernails) or a podiatrist (for toenails). They can advise you on proper nail care, and they can also diagnose and treat any issues you might be dealing with.

This review covers nail clippers for adults. In coming reviews, we plan to address universal nail clippers—including alternatives to traditional, lever-style models—and the best nail clippers for babies and kids.

Based on our expert interviews and our own collective experience (decades of nail trimming), we concluded that quality nail clippers have the following qualities:

• They should have sharp blades that line up evenly, with a curved cutting surface.
• Clippers should cut cleanly, without sending cut nails flying every which way.
• They may or may not include a nail file (experts prefer standalone emery boards for larger jobs).

Some nail clippers are equipped with a nail catcher, usually made of plastic lining the arms; we found this generally unnecessary, though some people prefer using a nail catcher. During testing, we clipped our nails over a trash can.

Over the past six years, we’ve tested 14 of the most popular and acclaimed nail clippers to gauge cutting performance and ergonomics. For professional insight on the clippers, we sent top contenders to a nail technician who has more than a decade of experience.

In addition to clipping peoples’ fingernails and toenails, we also tested nail clippers on hotel key cards and acrylic fingernails and toenails.

We’ve been long-term testing all of our picks to keep an eye on rust and other signs of wear.

Testers preferred the stainless steel Green Bell G-1205 clippers to all other models we tested. “They had a good weight,” our nail-tech tester said about the Green Bell nail clippers. “I had good control, and I didn’t have to tip around at an angle to get a clean cut.”

The Seki Edge SS-112 pair is the same product, with different branding. Get whichever pair is available and cheaper.

They cut cleanly and require little effort. The Green Bell G-1205 set consistently clipped fingernails and toenails the most cleanly, without requiring much force. The curved cutting surface also easily snipped the hotel key card and fake nails we used as controls in our testing, without producing any spidering around the edges—indicating sharpness. One tester, who typically files her nails after clipping them to smooth out the edges, found post-trim filing unnecessary with the Green Bell clippers, considering how cleanly they cut.

They’re well made and comfortable to use. We like that these clippers are solidly constructed and feel satisfyingly heavy. The Green Bell clippers are also ergonomically designed—they feel smooth, and there’s a thin filing strip down the center of the handle’s interior.

Clippings don’t fly everywhere during use. Our testers liked that the Green Bell clippers left fingernails and toenails without jagged edges, as well as that they trimmed without clippings flying every which way.

For years, we recommended the Green Bell G-1008, which has been discontinued for sale in some countries due to an abundance of counterfeit versions, according to the manufacturer. While the G-1205’s handle design is slightly different (it has a curved end, which is slightly more comfortable to hold compared with the G-1008’s pointy end), the manufacturer told us that the stainless steel blades are exactly the same. There’s also a G-1305 model, which is the same G-1205 clipper but with a removable metal nail catcher; this model is often the same price as (and occasionally less expensive than) the G-1205 pair.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The Green Bell G-1205 and Seki Edge SS-112 are often out of stock; even when available, they’re frequently only sold on Amazon by third parties or standalone websites. This can mean mercurial prices with varying shipping fees.

Counterfeits exist. A representative for the parent company behind Green Bell and Seki Edge confirmed that the company supplies the Amazon seller Signature Brands.

If our top pick is unavailable, or if you’d like stainless steel clippers with a slightly smaller cutting edge, consider the Seki Edge SS-106 clippers; they performed nearly as well in our testing.

They’re almost as sharp as our top pick. We’ve found that the Seki Edge SS-106 blades are curved and sharp enough to cleanly trim fingernails and toenails with single snips.

The nail-clipping experience feels slightly less comfortable than with our top pick. Although the Seki Edge SS-106 clippers have a nice heft to them and are easy to grip, our testers ultimately preferred the feel and slightly larger cutting edge of the Green Bell G-1205 and Seki Edge SS-112 clippers.

They lack a file. If you want clippers with a built-in nail file, consider one of our other picks.

They’re usually slightly more expensive than our top pick (though they’re generally easier to find). If our top pick is unavailable, the Seki Edge SS-106 clippers are a suitable replacement.

They come in two sizes. If you prefer larger clippers or a dedicated set for clipping your toenails, consider the Seki Edge SS-107. It’s the same set, but bigger.

The small Muji Nail Clippers are inferior to the Green Bell and Seki Edge clippers. But the Muji clippers are still of much better quality than most drugstore varieties, and they’re a few dollars less than our other picks.

They’re nickel-plated (instead of stainless steel, like our other picks). The Muji clippers are a basic, no-frills pair. But they are still solidly constructed, despite being made from less-durable material. Like the Green Bell G-1205 and Seki Edge SS-112 clippers, the Muji clippers have a curved cutting surface and an onboard filing strip for use in a pinch. The nail-care professional we recruited as a tester said she wouldn’t use these clippers again. However, another one of our testers liked their simple rectangular shape, and he said this pair felt comfortable in his dominant and non-dominant hands.

They’re easy to use. Compared with other clippers around the same price, the Muji clippers snip cleanly and without needing much force.

They may be more likely to rust. Some customer reviewers have reported that their Muji clippers rusted. However, a long-term tester who has owned the clippers for five years has reported no signs of rust.

They come in two sizes. We tested the small version of these clippers, which are roughly the same size as the Seki Edge SS-106 pair. For a larger cutting surface, consider the large size.

Dermatologist Chris Adigun told us that nail-care tools aren’t usually the issue when something like an ingrown nail leaves a patient in pain. “Problems I encounter with my patients do not tend to stem from the type of nail clippers they are using, but rather how they are clipping their nails,” she said. Even if you have the best clippers, take care to use them correctly.

“No matter what Google says, cut straight, and file the edges,” said podiatrist Ebonie Vincent, star of the TLC show My Feet Are Killing Me. Clipping into the curve is the main cause of painful and problematic ingrown nails.

Be especially careful not to cut your nails too short. This is one of the most common issues Adigun has seen in her practice. “Clippers that clip only the nail and not the surrounding skin or cuticle, and clip in a predictable way, are ones that I prefer,” she said. “That means fewer accidents, such as the common, ‘I had no idea I was cutting that short.’” Vincent said that instead of clipping nails too short, people should clip them more often, to avoid taking too much off at one time.

Never clip your cuticles. “Clipping cuticles, as a rule, is bad for the health of the nail unit,” Adigun said. “Cuticles provide necessary protection from infection and insulation from water loss.”

Both doctors advised that you avoid sharing clippers with other people, even within a household. As with many personal-hygiene tools, with nail clippers it’s easy to transmit fungal and yeast infections between individuals (and complete disinfection isn’t always possible without an autoclave). “I had a 6-year-old patient who got a nail fungus from using his grandpa’s clippers,” Vladhovic warned.

Finally, take care of your nail clippers. Dropping them or letting them bang around in a toiletry bag can throw off the factory alignment, and the friction can dull the blades. Make sure they’re stored in a dry environment, to avoid rusting.

Clyppi clippers performed well in our testing, but they’re not as comfortable to work with because of their shorter lever. One tester found them to be less effective on his toenails.

The Feather PaRaDa (Medium) clippers feel a lot more expensive than they are. They’re built quite solidly, and they come with a built-in nail catcher, which slides back nicely when you need to empty it. These clippers performed well across our testing and have an onboard nail file. However, they cost more than our top pick, and one tester indicated that the opening might not be large enough to easily clip thicker toenails.

The Harperton Nail Clipper Set did not cut as cleanly as our picks.

The Kai 0718 clippers are nearly identical to the Mehaz 660 clippers, except much larger. The Kai blades are just as sharp, and the clippers’ overall size brings an even longer handle (and thus offers even more leverage). But this pair is a tad more cumbersome and probably bigger than most people will need.

Klhip’s Ultimate Clipper is $80. And this pair is impressive. The textured grip for your thumb, the sharp blades, and the carrying case all amount to probably the best home nail-clipping experience we’ve had. Is the experience $65 better than using our pick? We don’t think so, but if you’re looking to assemble the finest toiletry kit possible, you might consider these clippers to be worth the splurge.

The Mehaz 660 Professional Nail Clippers couldn’t beat our picks in terms of sharpness and ease of use.

We quickly eliminated from our consideration the original Revlon nail clippers (as well as countless lookalike models from big-name cosmetics brands), instead favoring heftier clippers with sharper blades. The Revlon Catch-All nail clipper, made of stainless steel, represents an upgrade over the brand’s lighter-weight offering. But compared with our picks, these clippers are duller and less precise.

Compared with more-expensive clippers we’ve tested more recently, the clippers in the Tweezerman Combo Clipper Set felt lighter and cheaper, and their handles were harder to turn. And when it came to the hotel key-card test, these clippers literally didn’t cut it.

The nail clippers from Victorinox were attractive and sharp, but they were some of the smallest fingernail clippers we tested. For the same price, we think our top picks are a much better value.

Another luxe-feeling option is the Zwilling J.A. Henckels Pour Homme clipper, from the venerable German knife maker. We tried this pair and liked it. But we found that many of the less-expensive models we tested produced cleaner cuts.

Medea Giordano and Erica Ogg contributed reporting.

This article was edited by Tracy Vence and Kalee Thompson.

1. Tracey Vlahovic, clinical professor of podiatric medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, phone interview, January 16, 2024

2. Ebonie Vincent, podiatrist in private practice at OC Podiatry in Orange, California, phone interview, January 16, 2024

3. Chris G. Adigun, dermatologist in private practice at Dermatology & Laser Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina