We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more›
If you’re often on the go and don’t want to slow down to pump milk for your baby, you may prefer a wearable breast pump. These hands-free pumps are generally smaller and quieter than standard electric breast pumps, require little setup, don’t have dangling tubes, and are designed to be discreetly worn inside a regular bra. Breast Pump Hand Free Electric
Wearables generally cost more and may not extract as much milk as standard electric pumps (which we cover in a separate guide). They also tend to be more polarizing, with some people strongly disliking pumps that other people love. Still, more and more people have found that wearables free them to pump at times and in places it wouldn’t be possible to otherwise—and that the convenience outweighs the downsides.
After testing four top portable and wearable breast pumps alongside standard double electric models, we’ve concluded that if a wearable pump is what you want, the Elvie Pump is the single best option. We also like the Willow Go, a more budget-friendly alternative.
Lightweight, effective, and easy to use, the Elvie Pump is the wearable model that people are most likely to love.
If you don’t mind pumping on just one breast at a time, you can save money by buying a single Elvie Pump.
This powerful pump is an affordable alternative to our top pick, but it’s also bulkier and less convenient to use.
Like standard electric breast pumps, wearable pumps offer adjustable suction strength and speed to pull milk out of the breast.
Most wearables are lightweight and rely on rechargeable batteries.
Wearables don’t have dangling tubes or bottles and can be worn inside a regular bra.
Many people find that wearables don’t extract as much milk as standard electric pumps do.
Lightweight, effective, and easy to use, the Elvie Pump is the wearable model that people are most likely to love.
If you don’t mind pumping on just one breast at a time, you can save money by buying a single Elvie Pump.
The Elvie Pump allows you to pump from anywhere—quietly, discreetly, and without changing out of your normal bra. It offers seven levels of intensity, it has only five small parts to assemble, disassemble, and clean, and its app gives you a sense of how much you’re pumping. You have the option of buying two Elvie Pumps at once or just a single pump—buying one nearly halves your cost but doubles your pumping time.
This powerful pump is an affordable alternative to our top pick, but it’s also bulkier and less convenient to use.
The Willow Go offers nine levels of suction—the most options of the wearables we tested—and fits almost as discreetly inside a regular bra as the Elvie Pump does. The trade-off: Its app is almost unusable, it’s slightly louder, and it’s more complicated to assemble and clean.
To research both this article and Wirecutter’s guide to the best manual and standard double electric breast pumps, I spoke with several experts, polled people in my network, read hundreds of online reviews and forum posts, and gathered feedback from exclusive-pumping groups.
I wrote this guide after I gave birth to my second child in July 2022. I combined breastfeeding and pumping so that my wife and I could share feeds, which gave me plenty of time with each of the pumps in this guide.
If you anticipate pumping during a long commute, while working on your feet, or while chasing young children, a wearable breast pump is a great option.
These discreet, hands-free pumps are generally smaller and quieter than standard double electric pumps, require less setup, and allow you to pump while doing other tasks. Battery-powered and tube-free, they consist of two cups that sit directly in a regular bra, collecting the milk into integrated cups (in either single-use plastic bags or reusable containers).
That said, almost all of the wearable-pump owners I surveyed owned a double electric pump, too, and they regularly alternated between pumps, depending on the situation. Surveyed owners said they more frequently used standard pumps during the workday and used wearables primarily during commutes or outside work.
After researching and comparing 31 breast pumps, I selected 13 models to test. Four of them were wearable pumps, which we defined as having no dangling tubes or bottles and fitting inside a regular bra. I evaluated these pumps using the same criteria we prioritized for other breast pumps:
Efficient, painless operation: The most important function of a breast pump is to pull milk out of the breast efficiently. We identified the models that were most effective at this task within each 15-minute pumping session. We also confirmed that our picks were reasonably comfortable and not painful to use.
Adjustability: In breast pumps, adjustability involves two factors, namely suction strength (how hard the pump pulls at the nipple) and frequency (how fast it pulls). Most wearable pumps allow you to control the two independently.
Stimulation and expression modes: Most breast pumps have two settings, a stimulation mode and an expression mode. The stimulation mode mimics the way a baby begins to nurse, with a short, fast sucking pattern. The expression mode (or “letdown” mode) is the main setting for extracting milk and has a longer, more adjustable suction.
Easy maintenance: Most wearables have about six to 10 parts, many of which come into contact with your milk, so they require cleaning with each use—or at the very least, rinsing and storage in the fridge between uses and cleaning each night. We appreciate pumps with simpler, more streamlined designs that are easy to clean and maintain.
Reasonably low volume: Pumping at work or in public settings is much more comfortable when you’re using a low-volume pump that doesn’t sound like industrial machinery. We expect wearable pumps in particular to be quieter and more discreet, as they’re designed to be worn on the go.
When the first Willow breast pump was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2017, it was heralded as a major innovation in the category. We tested three new wearable pumps in the couple of years following, and we found that they had a difficult learning curve and glitchy apps and simply weren’t as effective as our standard double electric pump picks.
In late 2022 we tested and retested newer wearable models, and we discovered that many of our concerns had been addressed.
I spent more than four months testing four wearable pumps, along with nine standard electric and manual pumps. I used each pump for about a week to allow my body time to adjust to its suction pattern.
For each pumping session, I set a timer for 15 minutes and measured how much milk was produced in that time frame (I also used the NIOSH decibel meter app, placed 3 feet away, to measure the loudness of each motor). Aside from cost, the biggest complaint about wearable pumps is that they may not extract the same amount of milk as standard electric pumps do. I found that to be the case when I first tried this group of pumps. I was struck by how much less milk I collected with them in comparison with how much I collected from a standard electric pump—about 3 to 4 ounces per session from a wearable pump, versus 6 ounces per session from a standard electric pump.
But after about a week or two, I adapted to the wearable pumps’ gentle suction. The difference between the two types narrowed, and I started to collect about 5 ounces per session from the best of the wearable options. For me, the slight difference was often a reasonable trade-off for the convenience of not having to put my life on pause for 15 minutes every three hours.
Each time I finished pumping, I noted how easy it was to pour the collected milk into a storage container without spilling, and then I took apart the pump and cleaned it, taking notes throughout the process.
I also passed the four wearable pumps I tested along to my neighbor—a registered nurse, experienced pumper, and fellow parent to a July 2022 baby—to get her take.
Lightweight, effective, and easy to use, the Elvie Pump is the wearable model that people are most likely to love.
If you don’t mind pumping on just one breast at a time, you can save money by buying a single Elvie Pump.
The Elvie Pump delivers on the promises of a wearable breast pump: It’s reasonably compact, quiet, convenient to use, and discreet. The lightest and most low-profile wearable model we tested, it comes with two individual pumps, each of which fits seamlessly inside the cup of a standard bra—no pumping bra necessary. (You can also buy a single Elvie Pump if you’re looking to save money and don’t mind doubling your pumping time.)
The corresponding smartphone app gives you a decent idea of how much you’ve pumped, and the pump is a cinch to assemble and disassemble, with just five small parts to remove and clean.
Of the 13 standard electric, portable, and wearable pumps I tested, I reached for the Elvie Pump more than any other. When you have more than one child to care for, it can be hard to sit in one location for more than 10 minutes to pump—the Elvie Pump allows you to cram in pumping as you cook, commute, or work on your feet. I felt like a superhero as I triple-tasked with this pump; in one instance, I was pumping while eating breakfast and simultaneously reading a story to my 5-year-old daughter.
It has a gentle but effective pull. Compared with a traditional electric pump, the Elvie Pump has a gentle-feeling suction pattern—almost like a light buzz more than a tug. It has the standard two modes, stimulation and expression, and seven intensity levels. (The pump stores your preferences so that you don’t have to cycle through them every time.) Initially I found that this pump wasn’t as efficient as many of the others I tested, but once my body adjusted to its suction, I got output comparable to that of the Spectra S1 Plus, our top-pick double electric pump. As with all of the wearable pumps in our test group, you can control the suction level of each side independently.
The learning curve is modest. Positioning the pump around your nipple is easy once you get the hang of it. You must carefully seat and line up a green circular seal perfectly inside the pump base first, or the pump won’t have full suction. Once you know how to do that, the pump is simple to operate. Generally, I found the Elvie Pump straightforward and fast to assemble and disassemble, and there are only five parts to wash per pump.
The app tracks how much milk you’ve pumped. Each Elvie Pump has a milk receptacle capable of holding about 5 ounces; you can track how much milk you’ve pumped on each side with the associated app. I didn’t find the app to be 100% accurate in its estimates of milk volume, but it did give me a general sense of how things were going and whether the pump was seated well enough to draw milk. The app also measures how long you’ve pumped and shuts down the pump when the containers are full. You can stop, start, and control the intensity of the pump via the app or on the unit itself.
It’s quiet. The Elvie Pump had a noise level of just 37 dB from 3 feet away—it’s one of the quietest pumps we tested.
Transferring the milk is easy. Once you’re done, the milk receptacles are simple to pop off the pump and pour out without spills. I was able to transfer milk from the pumps to a bottle from the passenger seat of a moving car without losing any of it.
The Elvie Pump comes with two flanges measuring 24 mm and 28 mm; 21 mm flanges are also available.
Each individual Elvie Pump side requires charging via USB-C; during my testing, once the pump was charged, I found that it held power for a total of about two hours to two and a half hours, comparable to other wearable pumps.
The company also makes a Haakaa-like suction pump called the Elvie Curve, which is shaped like the Elvie Pump and has the same profile inside a bra. We haven’t tested that model, but it’s an add-on option for those who choose to buy a single Elvie Pump.
Warranty: The Elvie Pump comes with a limited warranty that covers the original purchaser for two years for the main unit and 90 days for the components and any accessories.
The Elvie Pump’s biggest drawback is its cost—to buy a pair is to pay more than double the cost of many traditional electric pumps. (Most of the Elvie Pump owners I surveyed used insurance benefits to bring the cost down.)
It also has an especially gentle suction pattern that some people find to be less efficient than that of a standard electric pump, even when turned up to its highest level. As a result, few daily pumpers use this model as their only pump—most have it as a supplement to a standard electric pump.
Some online reviews report that the pump can leak at its central connection point. We didn’t encounter this issue, but we did find a number of online videos, like this one, that can help you troubleshoot or exchange a defective Elvie Pump.
This powerful pump is an affordable alternative to our top pick, but it’s also bulkier and less convenient to use.
The Willow Go is bulkier and less discreet than our top pick, the Elvie Pump. It’s also half the price, and it offers more customization than the Elvie Pump or any other wearable pump we researched or tested.
It has more sucking modes and is easy to control. The Willow Go offers an unusual six stimulation modes and nine expression modes. Four buttons along the top of the pump let you easily change modes, increase or decrease suction, or turn the pump on or off.
But the app is less usable. Whereas our top pick allows you to change modes or suction strength on both the pump itself and in the app, the Willow Go app only allows you to see how long you’ve spent pumping and what level of suction you’re using—you can’t control the pump from the app. As a result, the app feels a bit like a glorified timer.
It’s louder. This pump is a bit louder than the Elvie Pump; we measured it at 42 dB from 3 feet away.
It’s straightforward to assemble but a bit more effort to wash. Assembling the pump is quick and easy once you’ve done it a couple of times and have a handle on the order of operations. The pump has six parts, but only five of those come in contact with milk and need cleaning after every use. Those parts, however, are bigger and less convenient to assemble, disassemble, and wash than those of the Elvie Pump.
Once your body adjusts, it has an effective suction. Like the Elvie Pump, the Willow Go has a fairly gentle-feeling suction pattern, even on its highest mode. Some pumpers have complained that this results in less milk overall, but in my experience, the Willow Go was almost as effective as a standard electric pump once my body adjusted to its suction pattern.
It offers more flange sizes. The Willow Go comes with two different sizes of flanges, 21 mm and 24 mm, but you can also order 13 mm, 15 mm, 17 mm, and 19 mm sizing inserts or 27 mm flanges, which is more of a selection than you have with the Elvie Pump.
There’s no spilled milk. Each Willow Go unit pumps into a milk chamber at the front of the pump; when you’re finished, you pour out the milk via a small hole at the top of the container, which is only slightly more difficult to manage than transferring milk with the Elvie Pump. Each milk container holds 5 ounces, but oversuppliers or those who pump more milk have the option of ordering 7-ounce containers.
As with the Elvie Pump, each Willow Go pump must charge via USB-C for about two hours; once charged, the pumps hold power for about two hours total.
Warranty: The Willow Go is covered by a 12-month warranty for the original purchaser. All components and accessories are covered by a 90-day warranty. You must use a charger made by Willow; using a third-party charger voids the warranty.
The Willow Go is bulkier than the Elvie Pump and thus less discreet.
This pump uses a different app than the standard Willow, which we also tested, and its app has a lot of room for improvement, as it merely shows you how long you’ve pumped and at what suction level. Unlike with the Elvie Pump, you cannot use the Willow Go app to turn the pump on and off, switch the suction or expression modes, or see how much you’ve pumped.
I also found it hard to tell whether my nipple was lined up inside this pump. With the Elvie Pump, I knew when all was well based on the Elvie app’s report of milk output, but without a similar measurement on the Willow Go, I could only guess if my nipple was centered and producing sufficient milk.
If you’re looking to spend less and in need of a powerful, portable pump: Consider the BabyBuddha, an also-great pick in our broader guide to the best breast pumps. A budget-friendly pump with a notably powerful suction, it’s popular among exclusive pumpers (that is, people who only pump milk and don’t breastfeed). You can wear the remote-control-sized pump on a lanyard around your neck and remain mobile—but you still need a pumping bra, and you’ll have dangling cords and bottles, so it’s far less discreet than the wearable pumps we recommend in this guide.
We were excited to test the Elvie Stride, hoping that it would provide the same benefits of the Elvie Pump at a more affordable price. However, this pump fell short of the original model in a few notable ways. The Stride’s dangling tubes and control panel eliminated some of the most important benefits of a wearable pump by making it less compact and discreet, and more akin to a portable pump. We also had difficulty pouring out the milk without spills or leaks, and this model included more parts to clean.
We dismissed the Freemie Liberty II from our list of pumps to test because we saw too many complaints about its poor battery life and longevity.
The Medela Freestyle Flex is not a wearable pump, but it is lightweight and portable, with a lanyard that hangs around your neck while you pump, similar to the BabyBuddha pump. It also comes with some nice extras, such as a cooler bag and a carry bag. However, I found that it didn’t extract milk as effectively as our picks—and overall, it didn’t seem high-quality enough to justify its high price tag.
The compact Momcozy M5 wearable pump came out after our primary test period and immediately drew rave reviews in pumping groups for its efficiency, price tag, and quiet motor. Ultimately we decided not to test it after reading too many reviews stating that the motor broke down or accessories had to be replaced after just a month or two of use.
We considered but ultimately did not test the Momcozy S12 Pro, a popular wearable breast pump available at a budget-friendly price. This pump was a one-time favorite of my neighbor and co-tester. However, hers died prematurely—and additional online complaints about the short lifespan of the pump’s battery and suction were big strikes against it.
The Willow 3.0 looked to be a promising rival to the Elvie Pump. But this pump is louder and bulkier, it has more parts to wash, and it requires you to pump into single-use plastic bags instead of reusable milk containers. In addition to feeling wasteful, the small, ring-shaped bags require a lot of concentration to line up in the pump and are difficult to remove and empty without losing milk. However, the Willow 3.0 might be an appealing option for those who want to freeze their milk immediately after pumping and don’t mind purchasing more of the brand’s small, ring-shaped bags.
Our advice from our broader guide to the best breast pumps applies to wearable pumps, as well.
But there are a few things to note about cleaning wearable pumps specifically: After you clean the parts that come into contact with your milk, be sure to dry them completely before reattaching them to the pump’s main electronic unit. Otherwise, you risk deterioration. If you need to clean the main unit that houses the electronic parts, carefully wipe it with a clean, slightly damp cloth.
This guide was edited by Ellen Lee and Kalee Thompson.
Allison Tolman, certified lactation consultant and lactation counselor, New Little Life YouTube channel, phone interview, November 16, 2022
Katja Gerber, certified lactation consultant at St. David’s North Austin, in-person interview, July 14, 2022
Linda Zeccola, certified lactation consultant at Seton hospitals in Austin, Texas, email interview, May 19, 2022
How to Keep Your Breast Pump Clean, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Health benefits & coverage: Breastfeeding benefits, HealthCare.gov
Supporting Nursing Moms at Work, Office on Women’s Health, US Department of Health & Human Services
What to Know When Buying or Using a Breast Pump, US Food and Drug Administration
How to Get a Free Breast Pump Through Insurance, Babylist, October 20, 2022
Caitlin Giddings is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. Her work has appeared in Bicycling, Runner’s World, Lonely Planet, Outside magazine, and more.
The Simple Wishes Signature Hands Free Pumping Bra is the best pumping bra we found after testing nine models and pumping a collective 350 ounces of breast milk.
A better breast pump has the potential to make the significant chore of pumping milk for your baby more efficient, comfortable, and, ultimately, more gratifying.
Whether you’re hunting for an everyday underwire bra, a comfy lounge bralette, or a minimizer that doesn’t suck, these seven bra picks have got you covered.
We tested 24 nursing bras with a panel of 17 breastfeeding women, and found the best undergarments for nursing.
Wearable Breast Pump Electronic Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).