The 5 Best Garage Door Openers (2023 Review)

Garage door openers are wall-mounted devices that open your garage doors with the push of a button. They require some installation, but once they’re assembled, they make opening and closing your garage doors easy. In the guide below, we discuss the best garage door opener options on Amazon as well as important factors to consider before purchasing one.

Top 5 Garage Door Openers

• Best Kit: Chamberlain B970 Smartphone-Controlled Garage Door Opener
• Best For Light Doors: Chamberlain B550 Smartphone-Controlled Garage Door Opener
• Best Voice Assistance: Genie 7155-TKV StealthDrive Connect Smartphone-Controlled Garage Door Opener
• Easiest Installation: beamUP The Workhorse BU100 Sectional Garage Door Opener
• Best Sensors: Skylink Atoms ATR-1611C Garage Door Opener

Best Kit: Chamberlain B970 Smartphone-Controlled Garage Door Opener

Pros and Cons

✔ Comes with a battery backup to keep opener working during a power outage
✔ Has a remote range of up to 1,500 feet
✔ Works in heat, humidity, and other extreme weather conditions

✘ The smartphone app requires a subscription to use some of its features
✘ Has a somewhat older-looking design

What Customers Are Saying

Positive reviews highlighted that this garage door opener was easy to install and convenient and reliable to use. Many reviews noted that it was ultra-quiet and worked well in cold weather. Negative reviews criticized this product for requiring a subscription to use certain features on the smartphone app.

Best For Light Doors: Chamberlain B550 Smartphone-Controlled Garage Door Opener

Pros and Cons

✔ Comes with a wireless keypad
✔ Remote-access accessories send an encrypted code to the opener to prevent hacking
✔ Comes with online videos to make installation easier

✘ Does not come with a battery backup
✘ Some customers found the installation instructions to be confusing

What Customers Are Saying

Satisfied customers pointed out that this smart garage door had excellent motion detection and a minimal noise level. Many noted that it was easy to install as well. However, other customers didn’t like that they had to purchase a subscription to use all of the functions in the included app. They also said that the installation instructions were difficult to understand.

Best Voice Assistance: Genie 7155-TKV StealthDrive Connect Smartphone-Controlled Garage Door Opener

Pros and Cons

✔ Includes five lithium batteries
✔ Comes with two pre-programmed remotes
✔ Motor has lifting power equivalent to 1.25 horsepower

✘ Has a higher price point than other garage door openers
✘ Some customers found that the connection to Amazon Alexa was weak

What Customers Are Saying

Positive reviews highlighted how quiet this garage door opener’s motor was and how high-quality its materials were for the money. In addition, many said that it was easy to install. However, some customers had issues connecting it to or using it with Amazon Alexa.

Easiest Installation: beamUP The Workhorse BU100 Sectional Garage Door Opener

Pros and Cons

✔ Is strong enough to work on single- and double-garage doors
✔ Comes in multiple styles
✔ Has a sleek white design

✘ Some customers had issues connecting the device to HomeLink
✘ Comes with fewer accessories than some other garage door openers in this review

What Customers Are Saying

Positive reviews raved about this garage door opener’s easy installation and quiet DC motor. Many also said that they were pleased with the company’s customer service. Unsatisfied customers noted that this garage door opener model wouldn’t connect to HomeLink. Some customers were also missing installation pieces and accessories.

Best Sensors: Skylink Atoms ATR-1611C Garage Door Opener

In addition to a one-button remote and keychain fob, this garage door opener comes with two infrared sensors. These sensors snap onto your garage door to ensure that there aren’t obstructions that would prevent the door from opening or closing. The opener also has an integrated LED light for better garage visibility.

Pros and Cons

✔ Is less expensive than some other, similar garage door openers
✔ Includes a fab that attaches to your keychain
✔ Works with in-car remotes without extra hardware

✘ The backup battery is sold separately
✘ Does not feature smart technology

What Customers Are Saying

Positive reviews raved about this opener’s minimal noise, sensitive motion detection, and easy installation. Other reviews believed that this garage door opener was high-quality considering its cost. In contrast, negative reviews said that their model stopped working after a short period of time.

Buyer’s Guide

In addition to choosing the two main components of your garage door opener—the drive and the motor—you’ll also want to consider power, control, and installation.

Drive Type

The drive is the mechanism that lifts your garage door. There are four drive types of garage door openers, but only the first three are used in homes.

• Chain: Chain drive garage door openers are typically the least expensive type, but requires periodic maintenance to ensure the chain still works.
• Direct/screw: This type is slightly more expensive than a chain drive, but it doesn’t require maintenance and has quiet operation.
• Belt: Belt drive garage door openers often have a high price point, but they can be worth the extra cost because of their durability, lack of maintenance requirements, and smooth and silent operation.
• Jackshaft: This type of drive is used in commercial settings with heavy doors. They’re secure, but they are loud and require maintenance.

Motor Type

Garage door openers have two types of motors: AC and DC.

• AC: AC motors have been used in garage openers for years. They’re cheap and reliable, but they can be large and noisy.
• DC: Newer garage door openers have DC motors that improve upon AC motors by being smaller and quieter.

Power

Garage door openers with AC motors measure their power in horsepower (HP). DC motors technically can’t be rated using HP, so they use horsepower similar (HPS) or horsepower comparable (HPC). These measurements allow you to compare AC motors to DC motors when looking at several models next to each other. Below, we break down power into categories and explain what types of garage doors these categories can handle.

• ¼ HP: These motors are only powerful enough to open light aluminum doors slowly.
• ½ HP: This type of motor works well with a variety of garage door materials except for solid wood.
• ¾ HP: This type of motor smoothly and quickly opens residential garage doors of every material.
• 1 HP: These are most often found in commercial settings, but you can find residential ones if you have a particularly heavy door.

Control

Keyless entry is the norm for residential garage door openers, so you’ll usually receive at least one remote and one keypad with your purchase. The remote goes inside of your garage, allowing you to open your garage from within your home. If you have more than one remote, you can leave the extra ones on your keychain, in your car, or in your bag. The keypad is usually placed right outside of the garage door. To use your keypad, you can lift its cover and type in the code. Newer garage door openers often have smart features and are sometimes compatible with Wi-Fi and can be controlled with a smartphone app or by smart devices like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

Installation

Garage door openers come with step-by-step instructions for easy installation. If you have trouble installing the opener, contact the manufacturer for help or get a professional to install it for you.

How To Replace a Garage Door Opener

Replacing a garage door opener once you’ve bought a newer model can be tricky if you’re looking to DIY. Thankfully, Scott Caron over at ThisOldHouse.com has you covered with detailed instructions about how you can swap out your garage door opener in no time.

• The first thing you should do is to ensure the power to the garage is turned off at the circuit panel
• Next, unplug your existing garage door opener and loosen the brackets securing it. Gently lower it down from the ceiling.
• Using an open-ended adjustable wrench, loosen the bracket and remove the bracket on and above the door.
• Next, using a screw gun, install the bracket that comes with the opener over your garage door
• Slide the track into the bracket and secure it with a wrench
• Using your wrench, screw in the new motor into the existing brackets on your ceiling
• Following that, connect the lifting arm from the door to the track
• Next, wire the keypad inside of the garage
• Run the wire through a conduit to connect it to the garage door motor
• Using a screw gun, mount the wireless keypad outside of the garage
• About six inches from the floor in the inside of the garage, mount the electric eyes
• Finally, plug the motor into a power outlet and turn the power back on. Test it to make sure it’s working properly

If you’d like to see how it’s done, here is a video from This Old House showing how to replace your garage door opener.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my garage door opener work if the power is out?

Since garage door openers are connected to your home’s electrical system, they usually won’t work if the power is out. However, you can find some models that have a manual release for you to pull the door up or down yourself. Some also come with a battery backup to keep the system running until the power comes back on.

Do garage door openers have lights?

Yes. Almost all garage door openers have a built-in light that turns on while you’re operating them. These lights usually turn off automatically after a few minutes.

Do garage door openers have a reverse mechanism?

In 1993, a United States law was written to require all garage door openers to have a reverse mechanism. This reverse mechanism forces the door to go back up if it senses an object or person blocking the garage. This prevents anyone from getting injured and any item from getting damaged.

Why Trust The This Old House Reviews Team

This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.

We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.

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