Are There Any Solo Stove Alternatives? We Found Three!

I absolutely love the Solo Stove Bonfire. Let’s face it, it’s reputation is legendary and it completely redefined the portable wood burning fire pit industry (if you somehow found yourself on this page by accident, you can check out our other wood burning fire pits). Not to mention, the smokeless design and sleek space-age chassis are both brilliant and gorgeous. But like many of you, I don’t want to have to shell out three bills for yet another fire pit. So I started wondering — are there any Solo Stove alternatives available?

After much research, I discovered that there are actually a few fire pits on the market that fill the same niche as the Solo Stove Bonfire. Do these impostors measure up to the original? Well, it all depends on what you’re looking for.

What Are We Looking For In A Solo Stove Alternative?

In my research, I found three fire pits in particular that could be considered Solo Stove alternatives. They’re not knock-offs, but Actually, I’m going to take a step back and let you know what I was looking for during my search.

Portability

Any Solo Stove alternative will need to be portable. That was one of the major selling points of the Bonfire whenever it hit the scene so many years ago, so whatever fire pit we try to replace it with will have to be portable as well.

Small Profile

As an extension to portability, I wanted any replacement to match a similar profile to the Bonfire. The Solo Stove has dimensions of 19.5 x 19.5 x 14 in, so I tried to limit my search to fire pits that came close.

Smokeless

I also narrowed the search to products that at least claimed to be smokeless. Part of the appeal of the Solo Stove was the promise that your camping trip wouldn’t turn into a frantic cough session, so I definitely wanted to include that restriction as well.

Three Solo Stove Bonfire Alternatives

Like I said earlier, I found four fire pits in particular that impressed me and seemed to fill the same niche as the Solo Stove Bonfire. Without further ado, here they are in all their smokeless glory.

BioLite FirePit Outdoor Smokeless Fire Pit GrillSolo Stove alternative: BioLite portable fire pit

The BioLite is a serious contender! Not only is this fire pit grill smokeless, but it boasts multiple fuel types. You can use either charcoal or wood as a heat source.  It has a profile of 22.99 x 14.88 x 15.24 in, only slightly larger than it’s Solo Stove cousin. It doesn’t match the aesthetic of the bonfire, but I found it’s still a full featured fire pit grill.

I saved the best feature of the BioLite for last — the price! It can typically be found for $100 less than the Solo Stove (you’ll have to check the price on Amazon). All in all, this makes it a great Solo Stove Bonfire alternative for folks who just want a reliable fire pit grill that they can take camping. However, If you love the Solo Stove because it looks like a spaceship, this probably won’t suit your needs.

Flame Genie Portable Smoke-Free Wood Pellet Fire PitSolo stove alternative: Flame genie portable fire pit

I included the HY-C FG-19 as a Solo Stove alternative (Who is thinking up these product names?) for three reasons:

  1. The unit most closely resembles the form factor of the Solo Stove, matching the dimensions almost exactly and having a similar weight.
  2. It offers both stainless steel and black options (and personally I thought the black option looked incredible).
  3. You can occasionally find this fire pit for $150 less than the Solo Stove Bonfire! (check the price on Amazon).

Having laid out the pros, you should probably be aware of a few cons as well:

  1. You can only use wood pellets in this fire pit. It’s not designed for wood/charcoal.
  2. Some folks have reported that the unit warps after a few dozen uses.

Double Flame Patio Fire Pit Solo stove alternative: Double Flame wood burning fire pit

To be honest with you, I’m hesitant to include the Double Flame as a serious alternative to the Solo Stove Bonfire. Don’t get me wrong: It’s a great fire pit. However, it’s different from the other options in two distinct ways:

  1. It’s more expensive than the Solo Stove Bonfire.
  2. It’s bigger and heavier.

This disqualifies it from my personal replacement criteria. So why did I include it in this list if it didn’t fit the parameters I’m looking for?

The Double Flame is an amazing, highly rated, portable-enough fire pit. Although it’s double the weight and slightly more expensive, many folks find that they enjoy it more than the Solo Stove. I won’t take the Double Flame on any camping trips, but it definitely makes a great centerpiece to an outdoor patio set. If the price doesn’t scare you off, I recommend you checking out what other folks have said about it.

Are there any more Solo Stove Alternatives?

It’s possible that I missed a few in my search. If you know of a good Solo Stove Bonfire alternative that I didn’t cover, please share it in the comments!


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