The Best Gutter Guards (Tested by Our Team)

Average Cost: $5,528

Type: Stainless steel micro-mesh

Warranty: Lifetime transferable

• Uses a stainless steel micro-mesh screen that blocked debris as small as shingle grit in testing 
• Will replace your guard or provide a refund if there’s an installation error or product failure 
• Has some of the highest customer review scores in the industry

Keep in Mind

• Doesn’t offer additional services beyond gutter guard installations 
• Has received negative customer feedback for aggressive sales tactics

We recommend LeafFilter as the best overall gutter guard thanks to its high-quality product, good reviews, and lifetime transferable warranty. Its gutter guards use a three-piece system with a 275-micron stainless steel micro-mesh screen. During testing, we found that this ultra-fine screen stopped 99% of the debris we threw at it and kept out materials as small as shingle grit and pine needles. It was easy to clean, with most debris rolling onto the ground when we applied water or lightly brushed it. The system’s filter still let water through without overflowing, even in heavy rain conditions. Other guards, such as Amerimax, overflowed in intense rainfall during our testing.

LeafFilter backs up its impressive product with a lifetime transferable warranty. Its warranty is rare in the gutter guard industry. Most companies only promise to clean your system in the event of a clog, while LeafFilter states it will replace your system or provide a full refund for the materials if there’s a clog or overflow.

Our only major issue with LeafFilter is its sales practices. Customers have complained that its representatives quoted prices as high as $7,000–$10,000 only to lower them during negotiation. Our survey of 130 LeafFilter customers also reflected these complaints. While most of our respondents reported paying around $5,500, some did cite costs upwards of $7,000. This tactic is common in the gutter guard industry, but LeafFilter got more complaints about it than we typically see. We recommend negotiating with your sales rep to bring your price within an acceptable range.

LeafFilter’s customer reviews are some of the strongest in the industry. It has more than 6,800 reviews on the BBB, with an average rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars. Its Trustpilot page has more than 126,000 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. While there are some companies with higher review scores, far fewer people have reviewed them, so we think this is a great score considering the large breadth of experiences it captures. Many customers wrote that they were pleased with LeafFilter’s performance and installation process. Negative reviews complained about pushy sales tactics and inconsistent installation quality.

“Had them installed last spring and no leaves falling. Checked several times and did not find any debris in gutters. It’s now November. Normally I would have to clear [my gutters] of leaves anticipating the next rain to avoid blockages in downspouts. Now [my gutter is] clear of leaves and a hard rain was no problem for LeafFilter. The system works as advertised. Great investment!” —Scott via Trustpilot, November 2024

“High pressure tactics! Even though we were able to get them to come down to our price, it was evident the sales rep (Kimani Davis) was not going to leave without a sale. Going back & forth with a manager took up our entire afternoon. The sales rep stated he would come back and touch base with us after installation. Never heard a word from him OR the company. They never checked if we were satisfied, not satisfied. A single installer came out and left quite a mess blowing all the debris from previous gutter on front sidewalk … We have since looked on our own and not sure if installation was done correctly. Not hearing a word back from them indicates they just want the sale and to move on to the next guy.” —JBS via Trustpilot, November 2024

Average Cost: $5,270

Type: Stainless steel micro-mesh

Warranty: Lifetime transferable

• Uses corrosion-resistant, surgical-grade stainless steel mesh 
• Offers additional services, including seamless gutter installation and roof repair
• Features a wave-like filter pattern designed to improve water flow

Keep in Mind

• Doesn’t provide warranty details online, such as exclusions and conditions 
• Has negative reviews that indicate inconsistent installation quality

We like Gutter Guards America (GGA) because of its impressive product quality, selection of services, and reasonable price. Its guards have a unique design and impressive material quality, with a stainless steel micro-mesh screen set into a galvanized louvered frame with an aluminum base. This makes GGA’s system one of the most durable on the market, on par with other high-end products like LeafFilter. Its pricing is also in line with industry standards, and 89% of the customers we surveyed were either satisfied or very satisfied with its products, leading us to believe that they perform well.

Our biggest issues with Gutter Guards America are its warranty and advertising. Its website doesn’t show important warranty information, such as limitations and qualifications, which other brands on our list make available. This makes it hard to gauge the actual value of the company’s warranty. Gutter Guards America also claims that its product can keep homeowners off of ladders. This might be true if you live in a one-story home with no surrounding trees, but we don’t believe this is the norm for most customers. Most homeowners need to clean their gutters every year or so even with a product like Gutter Guards America, so you won’t be completely free from ladders.

Gutter Guards America has an overall positive reputation among customers. Though it has a low score of 1.4 out of 5 stars on the BBB, this is only based on seven reviews, which we don’t view as a meaningful sample size. Its Trustpilot page has nearly 700 reviews with an average score of 4.5 out of 5 stars, which is more reassuring. Overall, reviews are mostly positive, with many customers praising the company’s speedy installations and high-quality products. Negative reviews are uncommon, but those we did find mention inconsistent installation quality.

“Gutter Guards America truly exceeded my expectations … Their product not only looks sleek on my home but also effectively keeps leaves and debris out of my gutters. After experiencing high winds and heavy rains, I was extremely happy that the system carried the immense rain load and did not collect all the leaves that fell in the storm. Installation was a breeze, and their account manager and install team was incredibly helpful throughout the process.” —Charles Howington via Trustpilot, April 2024

“The installation was quick and apparently good however later on I saw some issues where the gutters were not installed properly. I contacted the company multiple times to make them aware and it is about to be three month[s] and nobody [has cared] to call or fix the problem. The gutter might be a good quality overall if install[ed] properly but the customer service is awful. It seems once they got their money they don’t care anymore.” —Oliver Vess via Trustpilot, October 2024

Average Cost: $7,900

Type: Aluminum reverse-curve

Warranty: Lifetime transferable

• Features a reverse-curve design that pushes off debris and resists clogs 
• Uses a ScratchGuard paint finish that increases weather resistance
• Includes a lifetime transferable warranty on the ScratchGuard finish

Keep in Mind

• Requires replacing your entire gutter system to install, whereas other companies install guards on existing gutters
• Doesn’t block small debris like seedpods or shingle grit, per customer reviews

We recommend LeafGuard for homeowners who want a system that will reliably self-clean and require little maintenance. Its guards use the scientific principles of liquid adhesion and surface tension to push debris off onto the ground. This design allows LeafGuard’s product to self-clean better than other guards and clog less frequently. Additionally, unlike other companies that install gutter guards on your existing gutters, Leafguard combines its gutters and gutter guards into an all-in-one system. This is a great value if you need to install gutters guards at the same time. However, if your existing gutter system is new or in good shape, installing LeafGuard isn’t the most economical choice.

While LeafGuard’s design makes it great for self-cleaning, it comes with a few drawbacks. The biggest problems it faces are overflows and ice dams. Reverse-curve guards don’t work well in heavy rain because they have a smaller opening for water, and their angled cap can cause water to flow right past the system. Similarly, customer reviews indicate that LeafGuard can contribute to ice dams—this is when a gutter system freezes over during the winter. While most gutter guards can make ice dams worse, LeafGuard’s customer reviews indicate that its system is particularly prone to them.

Based on our survey results and the prices customers have reported in reviews, Leafguard’s system costs between $4,000 and $10,000, with an average of $7,900. Though this price might seem high, remember that this is an all-in-one system, so you’re getting seamless aluminum gutters along with your new guards. We still think Leafguard charges slightly too much, but its efficient performance and long-lasting materials offer good value overall. When we surveyed LeafGuard customers, 87% said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their product.

Leafguard has mixed customer reviews. Its BBB page has 160 reviews with 1.4 out of 5 stars. Its Trustpilot page has 58 reviews with 2.2 out of 5 stars. While these reviews aren’t great, they’re based on an extremely small pool of responses. Because of this and the high satisfaction score in our survey, we don’t think they properly represent the experience of working with LeadGuard. The majority of Leafguard’s negative comments point toward aggressive sales tactics, high costs, and poor performance in heavy rainfall. Positive comments cite Leafguard’s prompt service technicians, polite customer representatives, and impressively durable system.

“Guy came to our home and showed us their product which we thought was impressive. Two days later, they arrived to install ou[r[ gutters. Three workers arrived and started work immediately. The guy who cut the material left and the other two installed them in one day. They worked very diligently and finished. When they left, there was not a shred of debris left. We have only had them three days but have had rain two of those days and they have worked as they should.We are very happy with our purchase” —Catherine via Trustpilot, September 2024

“The gutter design does not effectively collect water from roofs with steep pitch or any roof valleys—even in light rain. Water gushes over the top of my gutters like no gutter at all in all spots near roof valleys. The salesmen will quote effectiveness at 2 inches/hour rainfall, but water flow across gutter segments near valleys can be 10-30 times that. It probably works ok for ranch style houses (single gable) with shallow roofs” —David Griffith via Trustpilot, October 2023

Average Cost: $1,054

Type: Stainless steel micro-mesh

Warranty: Lifetime transferable

• Uses a stainless steel micro-mesh, unlike most other DIY brands that use plastic or aluminum 
• Has a lifetime transferable warranty, which is rare for DIY brands 
• Is easier to install compared to other high-end DIY guards

Keep in Mind

• Has a heavy frame that won’t fit every gutter and roof type 
• Is the most expensive DIY brand in this article

We think Waterlock’s micro-mesh gutter guard is the best DIY option on the market, thanks to its impressive product quality and easy installation. Its micro-mesh filter performed the best during our testing, blocking more debris than any other product. It kept out leaves, pine needles, twigs, shingle grit, and other small particles, as well as handled heavy amounts of water without overflowing.

We like that Waterlock’s frame is made from thicker materials than other DIY guards, making it easier to handle during installation. We didn’t have to worry about it bending or warping as we fitted it onto our gutter. However, this heavier frame isn’t compatible with nonstandard gutters, such as half-round options or those with nail and ferrule systems.

Our only major issue with Waterlock is its price. Most DIY guards cost between $200 and $600 for enough materials to cover a 200-linear-foot system. Waterlock costs more than $1,000 for that amount of material. It’s sold on Amazon in packs of 25–100 feet, so you would need to buy multiple packs to fit the standard length of a gutter system. However, it’s made from corrosion-resistant metals (aluminum and stainless steel) and can last 15–20 years or more, whereas most DIY guards are made from plastic and only last 5 years or so.

Waterlock’s micro-mesh guard has more than 676 reviews and 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon. This is a smaller pool of reviews compared to other DIY gutter guards, but we think 500 reviews is an adequate sample size. Customers say that Waterlock keeps debris out of their systems, reduces gutter cleaning time, and isn’t hard to install. The negative reviews we read mostly complain that the guard doesn’t fit every gutter type, as we mentioned above.

“The gutter guards are just as advertised and described. They arrived promptly and were packaged well. They included plenty of screws, too. The guards are easy to install, however, the screws are not the ‘self-taping’ type. It made the installation process more difficult. We were 10 ft. short to finish our project and the seller worked quickly to get us the last two panels. Therefore, I give them 5 stars for customer service. So far, the guards are working great keeping all the tree debris out of the gutters. Overall, I recommend this product.” —Pamela B. via Amazon, October 2024

“My gutters are hung using spikes and ferrules. These gutter guards have an extra deep trough at the front lip of the guard. This deep trough does NOT allow the gutter guard to slip onto the front lip of the gutter. Each 5ft gutter guard had to have this deep trough carefully trimmed back using small metal cutters at two places where the ferrules were located on the gutter. So for me it was 1) Climb up the ladder with the gutter guard. 2) Mark the locations of the ferrules. 3) Climb back down the ladder with the gutter guard. 4) Trim out the marked ferrule locations.5) Climb back up and secure the gutter guard to the gutter. Approximately 20 minutes for each 5ft gutter guard!! These gutter guard are very sturdy and look great! Just not so great if you have spike and ferrule hangers.” —Michael B. via Amazon, April 2024

Average Cost: $624.95

Type: Stainless steel micro-mesh screen

Warranty: 25-year parts warranty

• Uses a stainless steel micro-mesh screen and an aluminum frame, making it efficient and light 
• Has a malleable frame that can be adjusted for different roofs and gutter types
• Includes a 25-year parts warranty, longer than the industry average of 15 years

Keep in Mind

• Requires trimming the screen to be flush with its frame, making installation difficult 
• Experiences ice dam and overflow issues due to tight mesh screen

Raptor Gutter Guard is a close runner-up to Waterlock. Like Waterlock, it uses a stainless steel micro-mesh screen set in an all-aluminum frame. Both guards perform almost identically when it comes to debris filtration. Raptor blocked almost all materials during testing, only failing to block small dirt particles. It also filtered water efficiently, even during downpour conditions.

Raptor’s frame is notably thinner than Waterlock’s, which makes it slightly more flimsy. During testing, we noticed that it was easy to warp or accidentally damage the guard. However, this thinner material makes adapting the guard to nonstandard gutter and roof systems easier. For example, our roof model had a slightly steeper pitch than a standard home, and we could alter the system to fit correctly.

Raptor is sold in 48-foot packs, meaning you’ll need to buy at least five to fully cover a 200-foot gutter system. Each pack costs $124.99, meaning a full Raptor system will cost you $624.95. This range is on the higher end of the industry average for DIY guards, but we think Raptor’s high material quality makes it worth the price.

Raptor’s Amazon page has more than 5,800 reviews, with a score of 4.5 out of 5 stars. Reviews are overall positive, with most people complimenting the product’s high-quality materials, reliable performance, and impressive appearance. Negative comments mention issues with ice dams and the product’s frame.

“Cleaning gutters is the worst. So I installed cheap rolls of plastic mesh. It was very difficult to install and did almost nothing. Needles, roof grit and worst of all, maple ‘helicopter seeds’ built up even faster than before as they got in but couldn’t get out! After reviewing lots of designs and options, this stainless steel micro-mesh seemed the most sensible option. I’ve installed nearly 300 ft of it. VERY easy to install, just slide it under the shingles, then three self-tapping sheet metal screws. They even include a magnetic bit so you can do it all with one hand. There’s a bit of cutting around corners, and no, you cannot cut the aluminum rails with tin snips—I used a grinder with a cutting blade. Overall these look great and work great. Have been through at least two big rain storms. No overflow at all and nothing gets through other than water. Everything else blows away as there is nothing for it to catch on. I can’t believe I almost paid someone $25 a linear foot to install these! Less than $3 per ft, and done in a few hours.” —Stephanie via Amazon, May 2024

“Wanted to love these. Installation was mostly ok. Super sharp corners so beware of that. Works fine with rain, but freezing temperatures mean your gutters will ice damn without the water ever going into the gutters.” —BHO via Amazon, December 2023

Average Cost: $264.99

Type: Aluminum perforated screen

Warranty: Lifetime transferable

• Uses an extra-thick, perforated aluminum screen that resists impacts and high winds 
• Successfully keeps out over 90% of debris, including tree leaves and twigs 
• Has a lifetime transferable warranty, which most DIY brands do not

Keep in Mind

• Experiences overflow in heavy rainfall due to screen design 
• Doesn’t stop small debris, such as shingle grit or pine needles

A-M uses high-grade, .018-gauge aluminum, which means it will better withstand high winds, debris, and weathering. It uses a perforated screen, which is essentially a metal sheet with holes. This design means that it can’t block materials like pine needles or shingle grit, since the guards lack the fine filtration of micro-mesh. However, its slick, flat design allows larger debris to roll off more easily.

We also like A-M’s warranty. Most DIY guards have a 10-year parts warranty at best. A-M provides a lifetime warranty that promises the product won’t rust, rot, or deteriorate. This warranty is generous by DIY standards. A-M is reasonably priced at $264 for 200 feet of materials, more than half the price of Raptor and nearly a quarter the price of Waterlock.

A-M’s biggest downsides are its installation process and overflow problem. It’s designed only for K-style gutters and is difficult to modify for other systems. During testing, we had a hard time getting the guard to fit correctly on our roof because of its thick aluminum frame and overall rigidity. This design also makes it difficult for A-M to handle heavy downpours. Its relatively small amount of holes and flat metal screen allow water to roll right over the edge before it can filter through. 

A-M’s Amazon page has more than 5,500 reviews with a score of 4.6 out of 5 stars. Commenters praise A-M’s performance, how easy it is to clean, and its durability. Negative reviews complain about difficult installations and compatibility issues with their gutters.

“I have tried a couple of other solutions. Foam inserts are not durable and fill up with dirt, only last a few years. I tried plastic covers that had a fiberglass mesh. These worked pretty well lasting about 10yr, actually. But they did require maintenance as they contorted and did not stay attached very well and eventually the mesh disintegrated. These [aluminum] solid guards are the bomb. They fit snug, don’t twist, attach directly to the gutter with zip screws. Super easy to install. They are gonna be around awhile. 100ft did front and back on an 1550sqft rambler with 2 car garage with one strip to spare except the garage edge side where I had added more gutter over the side yard area.” —William Broadhead via Amazon, October 2024

“Had high hopes for these guards but they do not work well during medium to heavy rains on metal roofs. The water comes down the roof and shoots over the top of the guards and pours over the edge. Also snow piles up on top of them and is the last place to melt causing icicles and overflow. Ended up taking them off.” —Lenodl via Amazon, April 2024