Is an Instant Pot the same as a Crock-Pot?

No, an Instant Pot and a Crock-Pot are not the same thing, although they are often confused and there is some overlap. A Crock-Pot is a brand of slow cooker, an appliance that cooks food gently over many hours at a low, steady heat. An Instant Pot is primarily an electric pressure cooker, which cooks food fast by sealing in steam and cooking under pressure, and it is also a multi cooker that usually includes a slow cook mode among its functions. So the key difference is speed and method: slow and gentle versus fast and under pressure. Many electric pressure cookers in our best pressure cookers guide can also slow cook, which is where the overlap and the confusion come from.

What a Crock-Pot is

Crock-Pot is a well known brand of slow cooker, and the name is often used for slow cookers in general. A slow cooker cooks food slowly over several hours at a low temperature, in a lidded ceramic pot surrounded by a gentle heating element. You add ingredients in the morning, set it to low or high, and come back hours later to a finished stew, soup, or braise. The long, gentle cooking is ideal for tenderizing tough cuts of meat and melding flavors, and it is famously hands off and forgiving. A dedicated slow cooker like a classic Crock-Pot does this one job, slow cooking, and does it simply and well.

What an Instant Pot is

Instant Pot is a brand too, but of a multi cooker whose main feature is electric pressure cooking. Pressure cooking is the opposite of slow cooking in speed: by sealing the pot and building pressure, it reaches a high temperature and cooks food very fast, turning a multi hour braise into a job of well under an hour. Beyond pressure cooking, an Instant Pot typically bundles several functions in one appliance, often including sauteing, steaming, rice cooking, yogurt making, and, importantly, a slow cook mode. So an Instant Pot is a do many things machine built around fast pressure cooking, whereas a Crock-Pot is a single purpose slow cooker.

Where they overlap

The confusion comes from the overlap. Because most Instant Pots include a slow cook setting, an Instant Pot can do what a Crock-Pot does, cooking a dish slowly over hours, as well as its fast pressure cooking. So an Instant Pot can replace a slow cooker for many people, which is why the two get lumped together. The reverse is not true: a basic Crock-Pot slow cooker cannot pressure cook, so it cannot do the fast cooking an Instant Pot is built for. In short, an Instant Pot can usually slow cook and pressure cook, while a Crock-Pot only slow cooks.

Which to choose

Which suits you depends on how you cook. If you love set it and forget it slow cooking, leaving a dish to cook all day, and want something simple and inexpensive, a dedicated slow cooker like a Crock-Pot is ideal and very easy to use. If you want speed, the ability to cook a meal from scratch quickly under pressure, and a single appliance that also saute, steams, and can slow cook, an Instant Pot style multi cooker is more versatile. Some people keep both, a slow cooker for all day gentle cooking and a pressure cooker for fast meals, but an Instant Pot can cover both roles if you want just one.

Do they give the same results

The results differ even on similar dishes. Slow cooking over hours gives a particular gentle, melded, fall apart quality that many stews and braises are prized for, and some cooks feel nothing quite replicates a long slow cook. Pressure cooking achieves tender results far faster, and for most dishes the outcome is excellent, though the flavor development of a very long slow cook can be slightly different. An Instant Pot’s slow cook mode aims to reproduce the slow cooker experience, and does so well, though purists sometimes note small differences. For everyday purposes, both produce tender, tasty results; they just take very different amounts of time.

The short answer

So no, an Instant Pot is not the same as a Crock-Pot. A Crock-Pot is a slow cooker that cooks gently over many hours at low heat, while an Instant Pot is mainly an electric pressure cooker that cooks fast under pressure and is a multi cooker besides. The overlap is that most Instant Pots also have a slow cook mode, so an Instant Pot can do what a Crock-Pot does plus much more, while a basic Crock-Pot only slow cooks. Choose a slow cooker for simple all day cooking, or an Instant Pot for speed and versatility, or keep both.