We Tested All of the Popular At-Home Gel Nail Kits—These 10 Are Replacing Our Salon Visits

Why we love it: For about the same (or maybe even less!) than the cost of one gel mani at the nail salon, you can get an entire kit to do up to 10 manicures yourself with this Sally Hansen set. Does it come with all the fancy accessories? No. But does it get the job done? Absolutely. And that’s why it’s a great value set. It even comes with acetone remover and nail prep pads to take your mani to the next level.

Why we love it: Doing your own gel mani at home can be a great time saver, but sometimes, the removal process is just ~not it~. Here to save the day (and your nail health) is Dazzle Dry. As a four-step system (stay with me—it won’t take you long, I promise), all you have to do is prep your nail, place the base coat in warm water until it turns clear, apply one layer and let it turn matte, apply one or two coats of the color and let it turn matte in between, and then apply the glossy top coat. After five minutes, your manicure will be completely dry, totally nick-proof, and ready to last for weeks. The best part? Whenever you want to remove it, take it off with any nail polish remover like you would with regular polish. You don’t have to soak or scrape!

Why we love it: Whether you want to take your mani kit on the road with you (hey, you never know when you might need a touch-up or crave a color change!), are low on space, or just prefer a more portable gel nail kit, Le Mini Macaron’s set has all the basics you’ll need with nothing you don’t. Also, if you prefer to keep things quick, the gel is a three-in-one top, color, and base coat so you don’t have to keep separate bottles (again, love that it’s so compact!).

Why we love it: Amazon shoppers, add this gel nail kit to cart. It comes with a whopping 32 shade options plus three top coat options (glossy, matte, and glitter), multiple nail files, and other fun accessories any DIY mani lover will appreciate. If you’re looking for a diverse shade range and want to be constantly switching up your mani color, this one is for you.

Want to DIY your nails but love to wear extensions? Have no fear, you can get in on the at-home nail trend too. Gelish offers an intro kit with everything you need to do an at-home gel mani, including one pink nail polish color, and it has short round tips as well if you want to wear them (a bit of a choose your own adventure, if you will). And before you ask—yes, it’s even sold with the adhesive to, well, adhere the tips to your natural nails. If more shade options and no tips is more your speed, the brand also sells this Pro Kit on Amazon.

Why we love it: Painting my nails? So fun. Trying to remove the polish a couple weeks later? Not so fun. The soaking, the scraping, all of it… Sometimes, I’m just not in the mood, but Manucurist’s kit makes it as easy as possible, which is a dream come true. Basically, all you have to do is soak a cotton ball with the remover included in the set, hold it in place on your nails with the clips also included in the set, and take them off your nails after about a minute. After that, it’ll pretty much just peel off your nail—AKA, no acetone remover, no filing, nothing. You love to see it. BTW, the polish itself is great too (the set comes with a bright red and sheer pink, but I had a chocolate brown I wanted to try that doesn’t come with the set), and are rich, beautiful colors.

Why we love it: Don’t wanna deal with curing under an LED or UV lamp? Essie’s got your back. This two-step gel-like polish system is as easy as a coat or two of polish and one layer of top coat. Since there’s no lamp and it’s easy to remove with regular nail polish remover, you’re much less likely to damage your nail plate or nail beds—hallelujah! Just make sure you don’t need to go anywhere or do anything ASAP after applying this polish, bc you do have to sit for 15 minutes before it fully dries (perhaps put on a Netflix show or queue up some TikToks while you wait).

Why we love it: If quiet luxury were a gel nail kit, it’d be this one from Gelcare. How else can I put it? It would fit in perfectly in Kim Kardashian’s house, IMO. Does that make sense? Gelcare’s super luxe and even chicer at-home kit is monochrome, has sleek colors and lines, and is essentially a clean girl makeup lover’s dream. But it doesn’t just look good—it also performs. The gel color, which isn’t sold with the kit, is on the thicker side, but that means it lasts longer on my nails than others I tested.

Why we love it: If I’m gonna do my nails, I wanna do them right. AKA, I want these bad boys to last. But I still want to be able to remove ‘em easily. Hey, a girl can dream! This kit from nail expert-favorite DND proves you really can have it all, thanks to pro-level polishes and accessories you’d expect to see at your fav nail salon. Besides everything you need to do a complete DIY mani, these starter sets also include the gel polishes’ matching nail lacquer if you’re feeling a regular mani (or a pedi!) some days.