If you are weighing the two biggest names at the full-size end, here is the honest bottom line: both the Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor and the KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor are excellent, and neither is a mistake. Buy the Cuisinart for simple, proven, buy-it-for-life reliability at a friendlier price. Buy the KitchenAid if you want built-in versatility — variable slice thickness without swapping discs, and a feed tube that swallows whole vegetables — and you do not mind paying more for it. This is a choice between simplicity and features, not good versus bad.
The quick answer
Most kitchens are well served by either machine, so the decision comes down to how you cook and what you value.
Choose the Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor if you want the workhorse that testers have leaned on for years: a big 14-cup bowl, plain on/off/pulse controls, a durable design, and the better price. Fewer features means fewer things to break.
Choose the KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor if you slice a lot and want to change thickness on the fly, love the idea of a 3-in-1 feed tube that takes whole fruits and vegetables, and want the extra discs and a storage caddy — accepting that you pay a step up for the convenience.
Everything below explains where those two paths actually diverge.
Head-to-head
| Cuisinart Custom 14 | KitchenAid 13-Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Bowl | 14-cup | 13-cup |
| Controls | On / off / pulse (simple) | Adjustable ExactSlice lever + speeds |
| Feed tube | Wide, single | 3-in-1 (whole fruit/veg) |
| Slicing | Fixed-thickness disc | Externally adjustable, thick to thin |
| Included | Core blade + basic discs | More discs + storage caddy |
| Reputation | The decade-long benchmark | Feature-forward alternative |
| Price | $$ | $$$ |
The table tells the short version, but each row hides a real decision.
Bowl. The two are within a cup of each other — 14 versus 13 — so capacity is effectively a tie. Both handle a big batch of pie dough, a full bowl of shredded cheese, or a party’s worth of hummus without complaint.
Controls. The Cuisinart keeps it to on, off, and pulse. The KitchenAid layers in speeds and the ExactSlice lever. That is the single largest difference between them, and it gets its own section below.
Feed tube. The Cuisinart uses one wide chute. The KitchenAid’s 3-in-1 tube adjusts to fit small, medium, or whole items, so a whole tomato or a block of cheese goes in with less pre-cutting.
Slicing. The Cuisinart slices at a fixed thickness set by the disc you install. The KitchenAid changes thickness from a lever on the outside of the bowl — no disassembly.
Included accessories. Both ship with a core S-blade and the discs you need to start. The KitchenAid adds more discs plus a caddy to keep them organized.
Reputation. The Cuisinart is the machine testing consensus has treated as the benchmark for more than a decade. The KitchenAid is the well-built, feature-forward alternative.
Controls and slicing: the biggest real difference
If you remember one thing from this comparison, make it this. The Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor is deliberately simple: an S-blade, a couple of discs, and three buttons. To change slice thickness, you stop, open the bowl, and swap in a different disc. For most home cooks that happens rarely, and the simplicity is a feature — there is almost nothing to learn and very little to go wrong.
The KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor answers a different question. Its ExactSlice lever sits on the outside of the bowl and lets you dial slice thickness from thick to thin while the machine is assembled — no stopping to change discs. Pair that with the 3-in-1 feed tube, and you can slice a cucumber thick for a salad, then nudge the lever thinner for delicate potato gratin, all in one session. If you slice often and care about the exact result — even rounds of zucchini, uniform potatoes, precise cabbage for slaw — that adjustability is the reason to spend more.
Neither approach is better in the abstract. If you mostly chop, puree, and shred, the Cuisinart’s fixed disc will rarely feel like a limitation. If slicing is a regular, particular part of your cooking, the KitchenAid earns its premium here.
Capacity, feed tube, and included discs
On raw capacity the two are close enough to call even: 14 cups for the Cuisinart, 13 for the KitchenAid. Both are true full-size processors built for batch prep, dough, and long shredding jobs.
The feed tube is where daily convenience shows up. The Cuisinart’s single wide chute is generous and handles most produce with light trimming. The KitchenAid’s 3-in-1 feed tube adjusts its opening, so whole fruits and vegetables — a tomato, a small onion, a wedge of cheese — often drop in without being cut down first. Over a lot of prep, that saved knife work adds up.
Accessories follow the same pattern as the rest of this matchup. The Cuisinart comes with the core blade and basic slicing and shredding discs — everything you need, nothing extra. The KitchenAid includes more discs out of the box plus a storage caddy to corral them, which is a genuine quality-of-life touch if you have ever hunted through a drawer for the shredding disc. Whichever you buy, the technique is the same: use the S-blade for chopping, pureeing, and dough, and the discs for slicing and shredding. For the full walkthrough, see our guide on how to use a food processor.
Price and reliability
The Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor sits at a friendlier price band ($$) than the KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor ($$$). Part of that gap is the KitchenAid’s extra hardware — the adjustable lever, the 3-in-1 tube, the additional discs and caddy — and part of it is simply where each lands in the market.
On reliability, the Cuisinart has the longer, clearer record. Wirecutter has kept the Custom 14 as its food-processor pick for more than ten years, and that kind of standing usually reflects a design that holds up. Its simplicity helps here too: fewer moving parts means fewer points of failure. That is not a knock on the KitchenAid, which is solidly built and widely liked — it just carries more features, and more features are, by definition, more things that can eventually need attention. If your priority is the machine most likely to still be running in a decade with the least fuss, the Cuisinart is the safer bet. If you want the features and trust the brand, the KitchenAid is a sound long-term buy.
The verdict: who should buy which
Buy the Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor if you want the proven, simple workhorse with the strongest track record, a big bowl, and the better price. It is the easiest machine to recommend to a first-time buyer, and the one least likely to develop quirks. Fewer features, fewer things to break.
Buy the KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor if you slice a lot and want to change thickness on the fly, love the 3-in-1 feed tube that takes whole produce, and want the extra discs plus a caddy — and you are fine paying more for that convenience.
Both are genuinely good. Pick the one whose strengths match your cooking, and you will not regret it.
Beyond these two
These are the two names most people compare, but they are not the only strong options. If you want the full field — including a premium pick, a value pick, and a budget pick — start with our roundup of the best food processors. Shopping tight? See the best budget food processors. And if you mostly need a small machine for herbs, garlic, nuts, and dressings rather than a full-size processor, the best mini food processors is the better list for you.
Not sure you need one?
Before you choose between these two, it is worth confirming a full-size food processor is the right tool at all. A processor shines at chopping, slicing, shredding, and short doughs; a blender is the machine for smooth liquids like smoothies and soups; and a stand mixer is what you want for whipping, creaming, and heavy bread dough. If you are still deciding, read do you need a food processor? and, for the processor-versus-blender question specifically, our blender vs food processor breakdown.
