Best Dishwasher Tablets UK 2026 (Cost Per Tab Compared)
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| # | Product | Pack | Price | Cost per use | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Sun All-in-1 Lemon Dishwasher Tablets 100 Tabs |
100 tablets | £11.62 | 11.6p per tab | Check |
| 2 |
 Ecover Dishwasher Tablets 70 Tabs |
70 tablets | £16.40 | 23.4p per tab | Check |
| 3 |
 Finish Powerball All in 1 Fresh Scent 110 Tabs |
110 tablets | £12.00 | 10.9p per tab | Check |
| 4 |
 Fairy Platinum Plus All in One Dishwasher Tablets 100 Tabs |
100 tablets | £26.00 | 26p per tab | Check |
| 5 |
 Finish Quantum Ultimate All In One Dishwasher Tablets 100 Tabs |
100 tablets | £14.99 | 15p per tab | Check |
| 6 |
 Amazon ALL-IN-ONE Dishwasher Tablets 40 Tabs |
40 tablets | £3.96 | 9.9p per tab | Check |
Prices last checked: 19/05/2026
Dishwasher tablets are one of the categories where the price-per-tab gap on Amazon UK is enormous: from about 9p per tab with Amazon’s own-brand up to 26p for Fairy Platinum Plus. Over a year of daily use that’s the difference between £35 and £95, on the same dishes coming out at the same level of clean nine times out of ten.
This guide ranks six all-in-one dishwasher tabs by cost per tab, with notes on where each one is actually worth the money. We don’t recommend buying the premium options unless your dishwasher routine genuinely demands them.
Our top picks, in detail
Sun All-in-1 Lemon Dishwasher Tablets 100 Tabs
Pros
- Cheapest per tab on this list
- All-in-one means no separate rinse aid or salt
- Reliable on everyday loads
- Lemon scent is mild
Cons
- Less effective on burnt-on residue
- Wrapper is not water-soluble, peel before use
- Not the strongest on hard water
Sun’s lemon All-in-1 is the cheap-and-cheerful tab. At 11.6p per tab it’s not the cheapest on this list (that’s Amazon’s own-brand below, and Finish Powerball isn’t much more) but it’s been around long enough to be the household name in the budget bracket, and the cleaning is genuinely fine for everyday loads.
Where Sun falls short is on baked-on residue and very hard water. If you put a roasting tray with cremated lasagne edges into a Sun-tab cycle, you’ll be re-running or hand-finishing. For the daily round of plates, bowls, glasses, and lightly-greasy frying pans, it works.
The other practical note: the Sun wrapper is not fully water-soluble, so you peel it off before placing in the dispenser. Slightly annoying compared to the wrapper-soluble brands. Worth it for the saving.
Ecover Dishwasher Tablets 70 Tabs
Pros
- Plant-based, biodegradable
- Safe for septic tanks
- No phosphates, chlorine, or synthetic fragrance
- Fully water-soluble wrapper
Cons
- More expensive per tab than Sun
- Less effective on baked-on grease than Finish
- Smaller pack size
Ecover is the eco choice that doesn’t compromise too much on cleaning. The formula is plant-based, the wrapper is fully water-soluble, and the tabs are safe for septic tanks, which matters in rural UK households. For more on Ecover and the wider eco shortlist, see our best eco dishwasher tablets guide.
At 23.4p per tab it costs more than double the budget tabs, but the comparison point for Ecover isn’t really the budget brands. It’s the equivalent Method or Bio-D tablets, against which Ecover holds up well on both price and cleaning.
You will notice limitations on heavy grease and on heavy hard-water loads. The ecological-friendliness comes from omitting some of the more aggressive cleaning agents and bleach. For a household that pre-rinses, runs cycles at 65°C, and isn’t relying on the dishwasher to handle a Sunday-roast disaster zone, Ecover is the right balance.
Finish Powerball All in 1 Fresh Scent 110 Tabs
Pros
- Reliable mid-tier choice from the most-trusted UK brand
- Big 110-tab pack works out cheaper than smaller Finish packs
- Better on grease and dried food than the budget options
- Water-soluble wrapper
Cons
- Not as strong as Finish Quantum on burnt-on residue
- More expensive per tab than Sun
- Lemon scent can be artificial
The Finish Powerball 110-tab pack is the workhorse of UK dishwasher tabs. At 10.9p per tab (10.4p on Subscribe & Save) it’s actually the second-cheapest option on this list, and the Powerball formula has been refined for over a decade to handle the bulk of dishwasher work better than budget tabs.
This is what we’d default to in a household that wants reliable cleaning, doesn’t want to think about it, and doesn’t want to pay the Quantum premium for marginal extra performance on dishes most cycles don’t actually need.
Subscribe & Save is meaningful here: about 5% off, taking the per-tab cost to 10.4p. Worth setting up.
Fairy Platinum Plus All in One Dishwasher Tablets 100 Tabs
Pros
- Excellent on hard water and limescale
- Doesn't leave residue on glass
- Reliable on baked-on grease
- Water-soluble wrapper
Cons
- Twice the price of Sun
- Subscribe & Save discount is modest
- Overkill for everyday loads
Fairy Platinum Plus is the most expensive option on this list at 26p per tab, more than double Finish Powerball. The case for paying the premium is hard water: households across southern and eastern England (London, Cambridge, Brighton, and beyond) see noticeable improvements on glassware clarity and inside-machine limescale when they switch.
If you’re seeing white film on glasses with Finish or Sun, that’s almost always a hard-water issue rather than a dosing one. Fairy Platinum Plus is the diagnostic test: if it goes away with these tabs, you have hard water and you need to factor it into your tab choice from now on.
There’s no current Subscribe & Save discount on the product we track, so this is a single-purchase product unless that changes.
Finish Quantum Ultimate All In One Dishwasher Tablets 100 Tabs
Pros
- Strongest tab on this list. Handles burnt residue without pre-rinse
- Finish's flagship formula, repeatedly highest rated in UK tests
- Subscribe & Save is genuinely competitive vs supermarket
- Reliable on hard water
Cons
- Almost three times the cost of Sun All-in-1
- Overkill for typical everyday loads
Finish Quantum Ultimate is the no-pre-rinse tab. That’s the entire pitch. If you load a roast tray with burnt-on cheese and gravy residue and you don’t want to soak or scrub it first, Quantum is what’s been tested and re-tested as the only mainstream tab that handles that consistently.
At 15p per tab (13.9p on Subscribe & Save) it’s a 30%-ish premium over Finish Powerball, not the 3x over Sun the old packaging would suggest. For a household that pre-rinses anyway or mostly runs lightly-soiled cycles, Quantum is overkill. For a household that won’t pre-rinse, the extra few pence per tab pays for itself in not having to re-wash.
Where Quantum makes sense is large households with one cycle a day where dishes go in straight off the table and people who entertain regularly, as pre rinsing all those plates can be annoying.
Amazon ALL-IN-ONE Dishwasher Tablets 40 Tabs
Pros
- Cheapest per-tab option on Amazon UK
- Reliable on everyday loads
- Lemon scent is mild
- Water-soluble wrapper
Cons
- Less effective on heavy baked-on residue
- Smaller pack than competitors at the same per-tab price
- Amazon-brand availability fluctuates
Amazon’s own-brand all-in-one tab is the budget shock of this guide. At 9.9p per tab (9.4p on Subscribe & Save) it’s the cheapest option on this list, and on everyday loads the cleaning is broadly indistinguishable from Finish Powerball.
The honest caveats: there’s less brand history to lean on, the formula has been quietly tweaked at least twice in the year we’ve tracked it, and the 40-tab pack size means you re-order more often than with the bigger Finish or Sun boxes. Worth keeping a backup pack of Finish Powerball for when Amazon’s listing goes out of stock, which happens.
What we’d buy ourselves
For most UK households the answer is the Finish Powerball 110-tab pack on Subscribe & Save. At 10.4p per tab it’s about the same price as Amazon’s own-brand but with a longer formula track record, the bigger pack means fewer re-orders, and the cleaning is reliable enough that you stop thinking about it.
If you have hard water and white-film issues, swap to Fairy Platinum Plus instead. The extra 15p per tab is paying for the calcium-handling. Try one pack as a test before committing.
If you want to push the budget further, Amazon’s own-brand 40-tab works for everyday loads at 9.4p on Subscribe & Save. Pair it with a backup pack for stock-outages.
Skip Quantum unless you specifically won’t pre-rinse.
How we pick value
Cost per tab is the single most useful number on this category, and it’s calculated the obvious way: pack price divided by tab count. Subscribe & Save figures are noted next to the headline because the gap between standard and S&S on dishwasher tabs is unusually wide, often 10% or more. We don’t take payment from any brand, including the supermarket own-labels we compare against.
Do I still need to add salt and rinse aid?
Not with all-in-one tabs, which is what every product on this list is. The tab includes the equivalent of both. Older dishwashers may still benefit from topping up salt in very hard-water areas, but on a machine made in the last decade it’s not required.
Is Amazon’s own-brand really comparable to Finish?
For everyday loads, yes. We’ve been running both side by side for a year and the difference is marginal on routine cycles. Where Finish edges ahead is on baked-on residue and on the consistency of the formula between batches.
Are the cheap tabs safe for my dishwasher?
Yes. All-in-one tabs from any major UK retailer comply with the same dishwasher-safe standards. The cheap-tab risk is on cleaning performance, not on damage.
How often do these prices change?
Amazon UK prices for dishwasher tabs move every 2 to 4 weeks, often on Subscribe & Save first. We re-check regularly and display the last-checked date below the comparison table.