6 Of The Most Overpriced Ice Creams In 2026

The 2026 summer season has been a real scorcher, with record-high heat waves rolling across the nation. According to the Associated Press, over 90 records had the potential to be tied or broken during the month of July, as temperatures soared past 90 degrees. With heat at these levels, staying cool is not only important, it's essential to your health. There are many ways to cool down, of course, but few remedies offer the relief and sweet satisfaction that ice cream does. Not to mention, there seems like a never-ending selection of flavors and potential choices of the best ice cream brands awaits.

Since there's a good chance that you'll be consuming more pints than usual this summer, we felt it only right to highlight what we found to be the most overpriced ice cream brands. After all, no one should have to deal with overbearing heat, on top of pricey pints. The brands featured here were selected based on price as compared to the average cost of a pint, the quality of ingredients, customer feedback, and the overall level of quality control.

We focused our search in Los Angeles, where the price for a pint is higher on average, and where most brands are available. While this list won't solve the weather crisis, it can help make your summer season not only cooler and tastier, but perhaps even pocket-friendlier.

Ben & Jerry's is considered a pioneer in premium ice cream, emerging in the late 1970s. At that time, the only major premium ice cream brand was Häagen-Dazs, which preceded it by nearly two decades. Ben & Jerry's offers unique ice cream flavors with fun names like Cherry Garcia, a cherry and fudge-stuffed ice cream, and Phish Food, a chocolate ice cream loaded with marshmallows, caramel swirls, and fish-shaped fudge. Throughout the years, the iconic brand has released so many flavors, we can't help but wonder how many Ben & Jerry's flavors are there? Although they can boast close to 100 different ice creams from which to choose, they've also gained a reputation for being overpriced. After doing some digging to confirm whether or not that was true, we found that the price for a pint of Ben & Jerry's ranges widely from retailer to retailer.

At Walmart, for example, a pint cost around $5, with some flavors under that mark. In the meantime, pints at Target, Ralphs, Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, and Aldi cost a little more, with some stores charging over $6. While it doesn't reach the price levels of brands like Van Leeuwen or Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, it is on average considered one of the more expensive ice cream brands. But, expensiveness aside, the price point being so varied depending on the store is what makes it an overpriced ice cream brand. After all, you're still getting the same amount — no matter where you shop.

Alec's Ice Cream has only been around since 2020, but it's quickly become one of the most buzzed-about makers of premium ice cream. According to its website, Alec's is made from premium A2 dairy, regeneratively-farmed organic raw cane sugar, and clean ingredients — and is free of gums, seed oils, lecithins, artificial flavors, and sugar alcohols. Still, even with quality ingredients, the question remains: Is a pint worth the hefty price tag?

Alec's costs around $8 for a pint in Los Angeles, which is a premium price point. But the removal of the USDA Organic label from its pints in late spring 2026 has brought its purported quality under scrutiny. The company had used regenerative-certified A2 organic milk since 2021, but according to an April 2026 Instagram post by founder Alec Jaffe, it now uses nonorganic A2 dairy, due to a supply shortage. 

This change is significant, because organic A2 milk was one of the primary ingredients the company promoted to tout its superior quality. But now, with the removal of the organic component, is the price tag still justified? In the aforementioned post, Jaffe did say that he hears customers when they say that the "product can be expensive," and plans to reduce the cost.

Nine dollars is a lot for a single pint of ice cream, but that's about how much a pint of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams costs in Los Angeles. Jeni's website says that it uses direct and fair trade ingredients, which it sources from family-run dairies. The brand specializes in interesting flavors you won't find anywhere else, like Hibiscus Chili Punch, Maple Soaked Pancakes, and these other Jeni's Ice Cream flavors, ranked worst to best. But, does that justify a single pint costing more than other premium brands like Van Leeuwen and Alec's Ice Cream? If we left it to customer complaints, the answer seems like a no.

On Reddit, for example, someone pointed out how Jeni's skimps on the ingredients, saying, "Jeni's doesn't really achieve that next level ice cream because they lack in the inclusions department, i.e. the amount of chips, swirls, nuts, etc." So, we tried Jeni's non-dairy Banana Cream Pudding flavor, and were disappointed to find the vanilla wafers were actually bits of crisps here and there, and not chock-full of cookies. Many of the over 100 commenters on Reddit thread shared a similar sentiment. For a pint that costs almost $10, and at some places more, it seems we all agree that each pint should be overflowing with mix-ins.

Unlike other premium ice cream brands with more adventurous flavor offerings, Straus Family Creamery sticks to classic styles like vanilla bean, cookie dough, and cookies and cream. Straus makes a gluten-free ice cream from certified-organic grass-fed dairy. Consumers say it has a light, milky homemade texture, which is achieved by using less air and more butterfat. Some people are fans of this texture, while others find the consistency grainy or icy. But, the quality ingredients and production process both should justify the high cost — or, you might think.

In Los Angeles, the average $9 price tag for a pint of Straus holds pretty steady across grocers, with more affordable chains such as Ralphs charging a little less. With such a hefty tag, however, why do so many people complain about the lack of mix-ins and its overall quality?

The cookie dough and cookies and cream flavors have been accused of being grainy and flavorless. And, according to another Reddit user who shared a picture of his cookies and cream pint — with only three cookie bits in it — Straus also skimps on mix-ins. For a pint that costs so much, these disappointing reviews are the last things you might expect. At this point, you might as well make your own, as you can improve the flavor of your homemade ice cream with one ingredient swap.

If you're looking to shake up your ice cream experience, Van Leeuwen ice cream flavors are unique, with choices like Marionberry Cheesecake and Earl Gray Tea. The brand also makes classics like Vanilla Bean and Mint Chip, but people seem to like the one-of-a-kind flavors most. Van Leeuwen claims that it uses the highest quality ingredients, and only ones that are recognizable and easy to pronounce. While its staunch dedication to quality is admirable, according to customers, the result doesn't justify charging around $9.

"I've tried two different flavors and won't buy them again. It's okay. It's rich and creamy, but lacking in real flavor if that makes sense," said one redditor, about the Van Leeuwen hype. Some of the top complaints include the texture being too airy, the flavor lacking in richness, the higher price, or it just not being as good as other premium brands, such as Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams or Ben & Jerry's. On another lengthy Reddit thread about the texture of Van Leeuwen ice cream, many say there's a lack in quality control, as some flavors are grainy and clunky instead of creamy. If there weren't numerous online forums that criticized the same things about Van Leeuwen, then the price might make more sense. As a premium ice cream brand, we can't help but expect a more consistent quality.

Founded in 2017, Halo Top has a brazen approach to transparency that stands out from other brands. Rather than tuck the calorie content away on the back with the ingredients, the brand plasters it across the front of its pints, right below the logo. All pints of Halo Top contain less than 500 calories. As a comparison, a simple pint of Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream contains 990 calories. Halo Top is around $5, the same price as Ben & Jerry's at Walmart and Target, and almost $1 more at Pavilions and Albertsons. With all of this in mind, it appears as if Halo Top basically charges more than the average brand, for fewer calories. 

Halo Top's cookies and cream placed last on our ranking of store-bought cookies and cream ice cream brands, far below Ben & Jerry's, which placed fifth. It was really the ingredients that made us add Halo Top to this list, though. We compared its vanilla flavor to Ben & Jerry's, and discovered that Halo Top uses eight additional ingredients. One of these is a sugar replacement called erythritol, which has been linked in some studies to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, according to the Cleveland Clinic. To add insult to injury, people have said that Halo Top tastes like flavorless sweetener.

Most surprising, however, is that the vanilla flavor contains 310 milligrams of sodium, compared to the 200 milligrams in Ben & Jerry's vanilla. Taking that into consideration, it seems to us that Halo Top is more branding than anything, as the actual ingredients don't really seem to justify the alleged lack of taste — especially at these prices.

To determine the most overpriced ice creams in 2026, we looked up the price of a pint at mid-level to high-end grocers — including Walmart, Target, Ralphs, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Aldi, Pavilions, and Albertsons. We focused on brands that were available at multiple chains, and generally accessible nationwide. For comparative pricing, we focused on stores located in Los Angeles, where prices are higher on average. For each brand that we selected, we took into consideration the average price across multiple chains and other stores and the quality of the ingredients and level of transparency, along with any customer feedback. With that information, we determined whether or not the price was justified.