Reencle vs Lomi vs Mill: Complete 2026 Comparison

If you're comparing Reencle, Lomi, and Mill, here's the short version: all three are countertop devices that process food scraps, but only one of them makes compost. Reencle uses a living microbial culture to biologically break down waste into real, soil-ready compost. Lomi and Mill both use heat and grinding to dehydrate scraps into a dry byproduct — Lomi calls its output "Lomi Earth," and Mill calls its output "food grounds." Neither company markets its output as finished compost, by their own labeling. Below, we compare all three across process, output, price, and what you can actually do with the result.

Note: All competitor details below are based on each company's own public labeling, specifications, and pricing as of the time of writing. Mill, Lomi, and their product names are trademarks of their respective owners; Reencle is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

The Core Difference: Composting vs. Dehydrating

Before comparing features, it helps to understand what each machine is actually doing mechanically, because it explains everything else on this page.

Reencle maintains a living colony of microorganisms inside a heated, aerated chamber. When you add food scraps, those microbes metabolize the organic matter the same way they would in a well-managed outdoor compost pile — just faster and in a controlled environment. The process is biological decomposition, not dehydration.

Lomi and Mill both work by applying heat and mechanical grinding to rapidly remove moisture and reduce the volume of food scraps. This is fundamentally the same category of process as a food dehydrator: it removes water and breaks material into smaller pieces, but it does not run the biological decomposition that turns organic matter into humus and stable nutrients. That's why neither company calls its output "compost" in its own marketing — Lomi uses "Lomi Earth," and Mill uses "food grounds," both of which are, by the companies' own descriptions, dehydrated material that needs further processing before it functions like cured compost in soil.

Side-by-Side Comparison Table

Output: What Actually Comes Out of Each Machine

This is the question that matters most if your goal is a healthier garden, not just a smaller trash can.

Reencle's output is compost in the traditional sense — the product of microbial metabolism, rich in the organic matter and microbial life that soil biology depends on. It needs a brief curing period (typically a couple of weeks resting in a bin or your garden bed) before use, the same way any actively-made compost does.

Lomi's and Mill's outputs are, by design, dry and largely inert. Removing water and grinding material into smaller pieces doesn't recreate the microbial transformation that produces true compost — it just makes the scraps smaller and drier. That's consistent with how each company names its own output — “Lomi Earth” and “food grounds” rather than compost — language that itself signals the material isn't finished compost at the point it leaves the machine.

Price and Ongoing Cost

Mill sits at the top of the price range ($999–$1,199) and includes an ongoing subscription cost, per its own publicly listed pricing structure. Lomi is the cheapest to buy (~$499) but its process is dehydration, not composting. Reencle sits in the middle ($549 for Prime, $699 for Gravity, $749 for Gravity Pro) with the lowest ongoing cost of the three — just periodic filter replacement, no subscription.

What Can Go In: Meat, Dairy, and Everyday Scraps

One practical difference shows up daily: what you're actually allowed to put in the machine. Reencle's microbial process is built to handle meat, dairy, and cooked leftovers — the foods that traditional composting explicitly warns you away from — because the enclosed, aerated chamber and active microbial culture prevent the odor and pest problems that make those foods risky in an open pile. For Lomi and Mill, animal-product guidance varies by model and cycle — check each manufacturer's current instructions directly if that's a deciding factor for you.

Which One Should You Actually Buy?

• If your priority is genuine compost for your garden — living soil amendment, not just less trash — Reencle is the only one of the three built to produce it directly.
• If you mainly want a smaller trash can and don't garden, a dehydrator-style device may feel simpler, understanding that what comes out isn't finished compost.
• If budget is the main constraint, Lomi is the cheapest entry point, but you're buying a dehydrator, not a composter, regardless of price point.
• If you want the most established gardening-integration ecosystem at the highest price, Mill leans into design and city-partnership credibility, with an ongoing subscription cost.

For a deeper look at how Reencle's specific SKUs compare to each other once you've decided on real compost, see our Prime vs. Gravity comparison guide. If you're still weighing machine composting against a traditional outdoor bin altogether, our electric composter vs. compost bin breakdown covers that decision, and our 2026 electric composter buying guide rounds up the category more broadly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do Lomi and Mill actually make compost? By their own labeling, no — Lomi calls its output "Lomi Earth" and Mill calls its output "food grounds," terms that describe dehydrated material rather than cured compost. Reencle's process is biological (microbial) decomposition, which produces compost directly.

Which is cheaper to run long-term: Reencle, Lomi, or Mill? Reencle and Lomi both have low ongoing costs (periodic filter replacement only). Mill includes an ongoing subscription cost on top of its higher upfront price ($999–$1,199), per its own publicly listed pricing.

Can any of these machines process meat and dairy? Reencle's microbial process is designed to handle meat, dairy, and cooked food safely and odorlessly. For Lomi and Mill, animal-product guidance varies by model and cycle — check each manufacturer's current instructions if that matters for your household.

Is Reencle's compost really ready to use right away? It needs a short curing period — typically a couple of weeks — the same as any freshly made compost, whether from a machine or an outdoor pile. That's a much shorter wait than traditional outdoor composting (months), and it's a genuine cure rather than a drying step.

What's the real difference between "food grounds" and compost? Compost is the product of microbial decomposition — living organisms breaking down organic matter into stable, nutrient-dense material. "Food grounds" describes dehydrated, ground-up food waste — smaller and drier, but without the biological transformation that makes compost valuable to soil.

The Bottom Line

Reencle, Lomi, and Mill all shrink your food waste, but only one of them turns it into something your garden can use directly. If real compost is the goal, that's the deciding factor — everything else on this page is a detail. If you just want less trash with no gardening intent, the calculus changes, but it's worth knowing exactly what you're buying either way.

References

1. Reencle. Product specifications and pricing. https://reencle.co/products/reencle-food-waste-composter
2. Company public product pages and specifications for Lomi and Mill (as publicly listed, accessed at time of writing).
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Composting at Home. https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home
4. Cornell Waste Management Institute, Cornell University. Compost Chemistry. https://compost.css.cornell.edu/chemistry.html