KitchenAid Artisan

By KitchenAid · Blenders & Stand Mixers · Kitchen & Cooking

  • 5 quart stainless steel bowl
  • 325W motor power
  • 10 speeds
  • 24.9 lbs weight
  • 14.09 x 8.7 x 13.9 inches

Lowest price seen
~$499.99 (approx.)
from $499.99 at Amazon

Prices are snapshots. Check the current price with the store.

Summary

A 5-quart, 10-speed tilt-head mixer for home bakers who want the KitchenAid attachment and repair ecosystem. Check counter and cabinet clearance before you buy: it is about 14 inches tall and 23 lb, and you need room to raise the head.

Strengths

  • Consumer Reports rated it Very Good overall, with excellent results for whipping cream, chocolate-cookie dough and bread kneading.
  • TechGearLab’s 2025 testing scored it well for whipping, kneading and ease of use.
  • Tom’s Guide mixed bread dough, cake batter and whipped cream, and cream whipped in 1 minute 23 seconds in that test.
  • The powered hub takes pasta, grinder and other attachments, and repair parts are widely sold.
  • An adjustable beater-to-bowl height helps reach ingredients at the bottom of the bowl.

Weaknesses

  • Dense dough makes the tilt head bob and works the head lock; owners report heads that unlock repeatedly, including on a replacement unit two months old.
  • A sacrificial nylon worm gear can strip when the beater jams, leaving the motor running while the planetary stops turning.
  • Grease can separate and drip near the beater shaft in heat or after long storage.
  • The powder coating on the flat beater and dough hook can chip if it hits the bowl or hard utensils.
  • The standard wire whip’s aluminum hub can oxidize and shed gray residue after dishwasher washing.
  • There is no built-in countdown timer, unlike some rivals.

Verified specifications

Model familyArtisan Series KSM150PS, with letter suffixes for color (for example KSM150PSOB and KSM150PSER).
Motor325 W rated; the US version runs 120 V / 60 Hz.
Mixingtilt-head planetary action with 10 selectable speeds.
Bowl5 US-quart stainless steel with a handle.
In the boxbowl, coated flat beater, coated C-shaped dough hook, six-wire whisk and pouring shield.
Attachmentsa powered front hub takes more than 10 optional attachments sold separately.
Dimensions14.09 × 8.7 × 13.9 in and 24.9 lb (Tom’s Guide); Consumer Reports records about 14 in tall and 23 lb.
Kneading limitsdough hook at speed 2 only, up to nine cups all-purpose or six cups whole wheat flour.
Cleaningbowl, coated beater and coated hook are dishwasher-safe; the aluminum-hub wire whip is hand-wash only.
Capacity claimKitchenAid advertises up to nine dozen 28-g cookie portions per batch with the flat beater.
Full research notes and sources

Motor, dough and the head lock

The Artisan handles cakes, cookies, frosting, whipped cream and moderate bread batches well. Dense or stiff dough is the limit: the tilt head moves under load, the head lock takes the strain, and owners have reported heads that unlock repeatedly. Keep the dough hook on speed 2, stay within the recipe flour limits, and check the head lock and beater clearance before you start.

Inside, a nylon worm gear is meant to fail before the motor does. If the beater jams or the drive is overloaded, the gear can strip and the motor keeps running while the planetary stops turning; the replacement part is WPW10112253. No source publishes a failure rate, so treat this as a known wear item rather than a defect.

Oil, coatings and upkeep

The gearcase holds lifetime grease, but the oil can separate in heat or after long storage and drip near the beater shaft. KitchenAid’s fix is to run the mixer unloaded after storage, at speed 10 for two minutes, and wipe away excess oil; separated grease alone does not mean the mixer is damaged. Persistent leaking points to a grease repack and a new transmission gasket (WP4162324).

The coated flat beater and dough hook can chip if they hit the bowl or hard utensils, and the standard wire whip’s aluminum hub can oxidize and shed gray residue after dishwasher washing. Hand wash and dry the whip, and replace any food-contact tool that keeps shedding or flaking.

Parts and running costs

Replacement parts are sold openly through KitchenAid and PartSelect, and there is no scheduled replacement cycle, so you buy on condition. A 5-quart bowl with handle (K5THSBP) is $69.99, a coated flat beater (K5THCB) and coated C-hook (K45DH) are $24.99 each, and a six-wire whip (K45WW) is $29.99 (KitchenAid, October 2026). A stripped worm gear is $20.97 and a transmission gasket is $20.46 (PartSelect, October 2026).

Electricity is the only regular running cost, because KitchenAid says the internal grease lasts the appliance’s life and there are no mandatory yearly consumables. Running the 325 W motor one hour a week draws about 16.9 kWh a year, roughly $3.38 at an assumed $0.20/kWh; that is an illustration, not a measured bill.

Noise and daily use

In Tom’s Guide’s tests the mixer ran around 76-77 dB while mixing or kneading, which depends on the load. The bowl sides and bottom may need scraping, especially with small or sticky batches, and an incorrectly adjusted beater makes it worse. Start flour on low speed with the pouring shield to avoid a dust cloud. The mixer weighs about 23 lb and needs clearance to raise the head, so it is best left out on a sturdy counter rather than stored in a cabinet.

Is it worth it?

Listings at KitchenAid, Target and Walmart checked in October 2026 put most KSM150PS colors between $349.99 and $499.99: KitchenAid listed some variants at $379.99 against a $499.99 regular listing, Target showed Ink Blue at $379.99, and Walmart ran $349.99 to $499.95 depending on color. Under $350 new is a strong buy for a color you want; $350-$400 is reasonable for regular home baking; above $450 only makes sense if you specifically want the KitchenAid hub and its wide repair network.

If heavy dough dominates, KitchenAid’s own 7-quart bowl-lift KSM70SNDX lists at $599.99 on a checked color against a $699.99 regular listing. The Breville Bakery Chef lists at $449.95 and adds a timer and scraper beater.

Which model this is

This page covers the Artisan Series 5-quart tilt-head, model family KSM150PS, where the letter suffix is the color code (for example KSM150PSOB and KSM150PSER). The hardware is the same across colors. It is a tilt-head; KitchenAid’s bowl-lift mixers are a different, heavier design. The standard KSM150PS kit ships with a coated flat beater, coated C-dough hook, six-wire whip and pouring shield, but other Artisan bundles include different tools, so check the accessory list on the listing you buy.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

Parts and stores:

Buying guides for this category

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