The best reverse osmosis system for small apartments or homes is the tankless RO systems. These don’t need lots of under kitchen or counter top spaces so they are ideal for small homes. On this site, I have already reviewed quite  a number of different tankless reverse osmosis systems. I think it is time to do a comparison and see ones are indeed the best in the market currently.

Tankless reverse osmosis system comparison chart

The easiest way to have a bird’s eye view of all the different models is through this comparison chart. I have even labeled my top choice below so that you know which brand is my preference.

Brand	TDS	Speed	Capacity	Price
Editor’s Choice: APEC RO-CTOP	10 PPM	2.5 mins per liter	90 gallons per day	~USD200+
Reverse Osmosis Solutions 4 stage	25 PPM	5 mins per liter	60 gallons per day	~USD90+
iSpring RSC5T	10 PPM	1 min per liter	500 gallons per day	~USD700+
Evolution	45 PPM	0.5 min per liter	1000 gallons per day	~USD500+

APEC RO-CTOP: Editor Choice

The APEC RO-CTOP is easily my top choice for a counter top reverse osmosis system. It produces one of the highest quality filtered water among its peers, with a ppm reading of below 10 PPM.  It is also a pretty fast RO system as you need only 2.5 mins to get 1 liter of filtered water.

Best of all, you are able to add a remineralization filter into the system to get PH balance water with all the necessary minerals being added in. I find this quality to be extremely important and the APEC is the only tankless system that can do this currently.

Overall, it is not the cheapest or the fastest but neither is it the most expensive or the slowest.  However, it does what it is suppose to do very very well, with a right balance of affordability, speed and capacity.

You can read my in depth review here.

iSpring RSC5T: Fast and High quality

The iSpring RSC5T is able to produce high quality filtered water with a PPM of less than 10, at a speed that is faster than the APEC model. The magic behind this high speed is the inclusion of a booster pump that increases the water pressure which in turns increase the speed of the water flow. However, its price of USD700+ is too high for me. You can buy a good booster pump for USD130, add it to the APEC model and the total cost will still be well below USD500. I will only recommend if you have a big budget and doesn’t want to DIY the installation of the booster pump.

You can read my in depth review here.

Reverse Osmosis Solutions: Cheapest tankless RO system

If you want on a budget and just want the most affordable counter top reverse osmosis system, then the Reverse Osmosis Solutions is the one for you. Its most attractive feature is of course the low price of USD90. However, that comes with a few downsides.

First, the filtered water can reach only about 30 PPM which is much higher than both the iSpring and APEC. This number is still below tap water quality and is something that is not suited for my needs. Second, the water flow is weak so you either need a booster pump or use plenty of storage solutions to gather the water.

You can read my in depth review here.

Hydrologic’s Evolution: Fastest RO system

In my latest review on counter top reverse osmosis systems, I reviewed this particular brand. It outstanding feature is the speed, which can be almost similar to turning on the tap as long as you have a water pressure of 65 psi. If not, then a booster pump is needed.

The downside of this model is the high price and the PPM readings, which are in the 45 region. While that is good compared to tap water, it is so much higher than the readings achieved by APEC and iSpring. If you are concerned with water quality and only want the best, then this model is probably not going to meet your expectations.

You can read my in depth review here.

Conclusions

Among the 4 models, I prefer the APEC RO-CTOP due its high quality filtering process and a well balanced product package. Other models might have 1-2 features that are the best in the category but other features drag them down. If you are looking for the best tankless reverse osmosis system, I recommend APEC.