The 6 Best Round Toilets – Compact and Powerful Flushing

Last Updated on September 30, 2023 by toilethaven

What is the best Round Toilet for Small Bathrooms?

Round-front toilets are toilets with an almost circular bowl of about 16.5 inches in length. They are preferred to elongated toilets since they are more space-efficient, among other factors, as outlined in this post.

Despite the growth in popularity of elongated toilets, round toilets are still valuable, especially for people with small bathrooms. So, what is the best round toilet in the market today?

In coming up with this list, these are the factors that I put into consideration:

• Flushing power
• Water-efficiency
• Design
• Brand
• Comfort
• Dimensions
• Cost

As you can see, a good toilet is a result of a combination of many factors. This is why it is not always easy to pick a toilet on your own, especially if you have no plumbing experience.

The 6 Best Round Toilets are

1. Toto CST453CEFG Drake II – Best Flushing Round Toilet

Toto CST453CEFG Drake II is a single flush WaterSense two-piece round-front and comfort height toilet. It is available in cotton white, bone, colonial white, Sedona beige, and ebony color finishes.

Toto Drake II is the “improved version” of the Toto Drake. It is one of the best flushing toilets not only among Toto toilets but across the industry.

The Drake II uses Toto’s Tornado flushing system, also known as the double-cyclone flushing system. This system is unique as Toto combines the use of an extra-large 3-inch flush valve (to dump water in the bowl faster and forcefully) and 2 powerful nozzles on each side of the bowl instead of the usual rim holes.

When you flush the toilet, water enters the bowl through the 2 nozzles, and due to their sideways orientation, it vortexes around the bowl like a cyclone, hence the name double-cyclone. The cyclic water action, apart from being effective in waste elimination, also helps to scrub and rinse the bowl.

Toto Drake II’s surface is coated using Toto’s Cefiontect glaze, which makes it smooth, inhibiting the adherence of dirt, mold, and mildew. As a result, cleaning the Drake II is really easy and quick.

The Toto Drake II round toilet is more compact than the Toto Drake II elongated toilet model. Its dimensions are:

• Depth: 26.5 inches
• Width: 17.25 inches
• Height: 30 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

Toto Drake II Vs. Toto Drake Round Toilet

Toto CST743S Drake is a single flush two-piece round-front and comfort height toilet. It is available in all the colors of Toto toilets.

What therefore is the difference between Toto Drake II and Toto Drake round toilets? The first difference is in their pricing. Toto Drake II costs more than Toto Drake.

Another difference is their flushing system. Toto Drake uses Toto’s G-Max flushing system, while, as we have seen, Toto Drake II uses the Tornado flushing system. While it is also a powerful flushing toilet, Toto Drake uses 1.6 gallons of water per flush, while Toto Drake II uses 1.28 gallons per flush.

Toto Drake II is therefore certified by bodies like EPA’s WaterSense and CalGreen and can therefore be sold all over the United States. On the other hand, Toto Drake cannot be sold in California, Texas, and Colorado.

Toto Drake does not have the Cefiontect glaze found in Toto Drake II. It is, therefore, a little harder to clean compared to Toto Drake II.

On aesthetics, the Toto Drake II looks way better than the Toto Drake. When you look at Toto Drake II’s tank, it is curved and uniform in width compared to Toto Drake’s tank, which is almost flat, narrow at the bottom, and wider at the top.

While both of them are comfort height/ADA toilets, the Toto Drake has a bowl rim height of 16.5 inches compared to the Toto Drake II’s 16.125 inches. If you, therefore, want to sit on a higher toilet, the Toto Drake round-front toilet is the toilet to buy.

Both of these toilets are sold without seats. You will need to buy those separately. They also have a 1-year warranty each.

The dimensions of the Toto Drake round toilet are:

• Depth: 26.375 inches
• Width: 19.875 inches
• Height: 28.5 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

As you can see from the dimensions above, Toto Drake is more than 2 inches wider than Toto Drake II. This makes Toto Drake II a better choice for people with small bathrooms.

If you would like to buy the Toto Drake round toilet instead of the Toto Drake II, check it out.

2. Kohler Cimarron – Best Kohler Round Toilet

Kohler Cimarron is a single flush WaterSense two-piece round-front and comfort height toilet. It is available in white, biscuit, almond, ice gray, sandbar, and black finishes.

Kohler Cimarron is one of the best flushing within Kohler and also among other toilet brands. You can either choose to buy this model or the Kohler Cimarron skirted model.

Unlike most toilets in the market, Kohler Cimarron and other modern Kohler toilets use the canister-type flush valve. Kohler calls it the AquaPiston flushing system.

With this flushing system, instead of using a flapper flush valve, which is hinged to one side, Kohler replaced it with a canister flush valve. When the toilet is flushed, the canister lifts off completely, allowing water to flow down to the bowl from a 360-degree angle.

This means that water flows to the bowl faster and more forcefully, which in return leads to a stronger flush. The flush valve is also designed in such a way that its water inlet is wider than its outlet by a 3:2 ratio. This design further helps to increase the water’s force as it enters the bowl.

Kohler Cimarron’s water consumption is just 1.28 gallons per flush, making it WaterSense compliant. It can, therefore, be sold all over the United States without restrictions.

The distance from the floor to the top of the bowl is 16.5 inches. Kohler K-3887-0 Cimarron is, therefore, a comfortable height toilet, making it very easy for the tall and seniors to sit and stand from it.

This toilet also features Kohler’s DryLock installation system. What this means is that the tank does not have any bolt holes, but instead, the bolts come mounted on a bracket underneath the tank.

You only need to lift the tank and tighten it on the bowl. This DryLock installation system ensures that your toilet will never leak between the tank and bowl due to loosening/corroding of bolts and washers.

The dimensions of the Kohler Cimarron round toilet are:

• Depth: 28.93 inches
• Width: 18.63 inches
• Height: 31.27 inches
• Rough-In 12 inches

Kohler Cimarron Vs. Kohler Wellworth Round Toilet

Kohler K-3577-47 Wellworth is a single flush two-piece round-front and comfort height toilet. It is cheaper than the Kohler Cimarron round-front toilet. So why did I choose the Cimarron over the Wellworth?

Kohler Cimarron and Kohler Wellworth have many features in common. I just feel like Kohler Cimarron is the better toilet, the extra cost notwithstanding.

Kohler Cimarron is way sleeker compared to the Wellworth. When you look at Kohler Cimarron’s tank, you will notice that it is curvy and that its edges are more smoothened than those of the Kohler Wellworth.

Kohler Cimarron, therefore, looks stylish and modern, which is why I think you should choose it over the Kohler Wellworth.  If looks don’t matter that much to you, then go with Kohler Wellworth.

The dimensions of the Kohler Wellworth Round toilet are:

• Depth: 27.5 inches
• Width: 19.625 inches
• Height: 28.25 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

Another difference to note about these 2 toilets is their toilet bowl heights. Kohler Wellworth round toilet is a standard height toilet. The distance from the floor to the top of the bowl is 14.5 inches. If you fancy a standard-height round-front toilet, this is the one for you.

For those who would want to buy a Kohler Wellworth round toilet over the Kohler Cimarron, find it below.

3. Toto MS853113E Eco Ultramax – Best One-Piece Round Toilet

Toto MS853113E Eco Ultramax is a single flush WaterSense one-piece round-front toilet with a standard height. It is available in cotton white, bone, colonial white, and Sedona beige.

Toto Eco Ultramax is the eco-friendly version of the Toto Ultramax toilet. It uses less water while delivering an equally strong flush at the same time.

To be more specific, Toto Ultramax uses the G-Max flushing system, while Toto Eco Ultramax uses Toto’s E-Max flushing system. Toto Eco Ultramax, therefore, uses 1.28 gallons of water per flush, while Toto Ultramax uses 1.6 gallons per flush.

One of the things Toto did to make sure that the Toto Eco Ultramax was able to use 20% less water than the Toto Ultramax without compromising its flushing power was to combine their 3-inch wide flush valve and an extra-large siphon jet.

The 3-inch flush valve (wider than most toilet’s 2-inch) allows water to be dumped in the bowl faster, which exerts more force. The waste is then siphoned out through the large glazed trapway just as forcefully, ensuring no clogs occur.

Due to its water efficiency, Toto Eco Ultramax can be sold all over the United States, including California and Texas. It is certified by WaterSense (a program by the United States Environmental Protection Agency) as well as CalGreen and the California Energy Commission.

Toto MS853113E Eco Ultramax is a standard-height toilet. The distance between the floor and the top of the toilet bowl is 15 inches. It is a great round toilet option for those not looking for a very tall toilet, but maybe not for seniors and generally tall folks.

You will receive a soft-close toilet seat alongside your Toto Eco Ultramax order. If you would, however want to live up to the Toto Eco Ultramax’s conservation efforts, you can grab a Toto Washlet and forget toilet paper for good.

Toto Eco Ultramax is not only a water-efficient and powerful flushing toilet but also a great-looking toilet. It is also a sleek and beautifully designed one-piece compact toilet that will, without a doubt, make your bathroom look well thought-out.

Just like other modern Toto toilets, it is coated with Cefiontect glaze to prevent waste from sticking. Combining that with its seamless one-piece design, cleaning this toilet is a cinch!

The dimensions of the Toto Eco Ultramax round-front toilet are:

• Depth: 26.625 inches
• Width: 16. 625 inches
• Height: 27.2 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

It comes with a one-year warranty

4. American Standard Compact Cadet 3 FloWise – Best Skirted Round Toilet

American Standard Compact Cadet 3 FloWise is a single one-piece round-front and comfortable height toilet. It is available in a white finish with a chrome-plated trip lever.

To start with, the American Standard Cadet 3-round toilet is such a beautiful toilet. One-piece construction, eliminating the gap where dirt and grime collect. Apart from enhancing its beauty, this design also makes cleaning it so easy.

Its toilet tank is also nicely curved and sits pretty on the bowl. Instead of the usual flat-faced tanks, Cadet 3’s tank is beautifully curved outwards.

It is also worth noting that there is no gap between the tank and the bowl, and unlike in some other toilets where the tank is abnormally big relative to the bowl, the Cadet 3’s tank width is almost the same as that of its bowl.

American Standard Cadet 3 FloWise is a powerful flushing toilet utilizing a 3-inch wide flush valve and extra-large trapway together with American Standard’s PowerWash rims technology.

The PowerWash rim technology uses flushing water to compress the air chamber inside the toilet bowl rim. Pressurized water is then ejected from the toilet rim, which is very effective in scrubbing and rinsing the bowl.

This technology enables it only to use 1.28 gallons per flush and can hence be sold all over the United States.

The surface of the Cadet 3 FloWise round toilet is coated with American Standard’s EverClean antimicrobial additive. This substance makes it impossible for mold, mildew, and odor-causing bacteria to adhere to it, making cleaning it a breeze.

With a bowl height of 16.5 inches, American Standard Cadet FloWise is a comfort-height toilet. After installing the toilet seat, you will be sitting at a height of about 17.5 inches, making it compliant with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

I like the fact that this toilet comes with a soft, closed toilet seat, meaning you will no longer have to deal with the irritating seat-slamming sound.

The dimensions of the American Standard Cadet 3 FloWise round toilet are:

• Depth: 28.5 inches
• Width: 15 inches
• Height: 28.5 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

It comes with a 5-year warranty and a 1-year warranty on the soft-close toilet seat.

5. Kohler K-4007-0 San Souci – Best Small Round Toilet

Kohler K-4007-0 San Souci is a single one-piece round-front and standard-height toilet. It is available in white, biscuit, cashmere, sandbar, ice gray, thunder gray, dune, almond, and black finishes.

Kohler San Souci is a compact and curvy toilet that is beautifully designed to complement any modern bathroom décor. Due to its compact size, it is a perfect choice for anyone with a small bathroom.

The one thing I love about one-piece toilets is the seamless integration between the tank and the bowl, which makes them look stylish and compact at the same time. They are also easier to clean since they eliminate the gap between the tank and the bowl, which is notorious for hiding dirt.

The main disadvantage with one-piece toilets Kohler San Souci included is that if, unfortunately, either the tank or the bowl cracks, you will need to replace the entire toilet. With two-piece toilets, you only replace the broken piece.

Kohler San Souci, just like other modern Kohler toilets, uses the AquaPiston flushing technology. It has a water consumption rate of 1.28 gallons per flush, making it WaterSense compliant.

CalGreen and the California Energy Commission (CEC) have also certified this toilet as compliant with their requirements.

This toilet comes with a quiet/soft-close toilet seat for slamming noise cancellation. The toilet seat has a quick-release mechanism hinge that allows you to slide it out in seconds and back just as fast while cleaning instead of uninstalling the entire seat.

The distance from the floor to the top of the bowl is 15.25 inches. This makes Kohler San Souci a standard-height toilet. It is, therefore, a great round toilet for people who are not very tall, as well as children. If you can only use a chair-height toilet, then this is not the one for you.

The dimensions of the Kohler San Souci are:

• Depth: 25.625 inches
• Width: 16.75 inches
• Height: 24.25 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

As you can see from the above dimensions, Kohler San Souci is the perfect round toilet for small spaces. It comes with a one-year limited warranty.

6. American Standard 2889218.020 H2Option – Best Dual Flush Round Toilet

American Standard 2889218.020 H2Option is a dual flush WaterSense two-piece round-front toilet. American Standard makes 2 models of this toilet. One with a round toilet bowl and standard height and another with a comfortable height and elongated bowl. The finishes available are white, bone, and linen.

A dual flush toilet is a toilet that gives you the option to use 2 different volumes of water depending on the volume you need to flush. You, in essence, use the half flush to flush liquids and the full flush to flush solids.

American Standard H2Option round front toilet uses 0.92 gallons of water per flush or 1.28 gallons per flush. It has 2 flush buttons at the top of the tank lid, one big one and a small one. The big button is for the full flush, while the smaller button is for the half flush.

Human beings use a toilet on average 5 times a day, 4 times for the number 1 and 1 time for the number 2. So, how much water does the American Standard dual flush round toilet save over a single flush toilet?

1.28 gallons less 0.92 gallons is 0.36 gallons. Multiplying that by 4 times in a day and also assuming a family of five, you save 2628 gallons in a year. You will notice that you will save even more water using this toilet, over 1.6 gallons per flush toilet, as illustrated in this post.

American Standard 2889218.020 H2Option combines siphon jet bowl technology with American Standard’s PowerWash rims to deliver a powerful flush. This flushing system is not only effective in waste elimination but also in cleaning the bowl.

The H2Option is also a good-looking toilet. Its toilet tank is curvy and almost proportionate to the bowl, has no sharp edges, and is further complemented by the chrome-plated push buttons.

Its EverClean antimicrobial additive makes this toilet so smooth and shiny, making cleaning it a breeze. It might take a while to clean the small gap between the tank and the bowl, but other than that, the rest is easy peasy!

The bowl rim height of the American Standard 2886218.020 H2Option is 15 inches. It is another great standard-height toilet, which will have a toilet seat height of around 16 inches. This is, therefore, not an ADA-compliant toilet.

Unfortunately, this toilet does not come with a toilet seat, meaning you will need to buy one separately. You will, however, receive 2 color-matched toilet bolt caps.

The dimensions of the American Standard H2Option round toilet are:

• Depth: 27.34 inches
• Width: 15 inches
• Height: 30 inches
• Rough: 12 inches

It has a lifetime warranty on the chinaware and a 5-year limited warranty on the mechanical parts.

Round Toilets vs Compact Elongated Toilets

The main reason people buy round toilets is because they are more space-efficient than elongated toilets. Round toilet bowls have a length of about 16.5 inches, while elongated toilet bowls have a length of about 18.5 inches.

By installing a round toilet, you, therefore, save about 2 inches in the depth of a toilet. That may not seem like much, but sometimes, an inch is all you need to make a toilet fit in a certain spot.

People also install round-front toilets for other reasons. For those whose sole reason for buying a round toilet is because of their small size, I would ask them also to consider compact elongated toilets.

As we know, elongated toilets are way more comfortable than round toilets. This is because they offer more surface area to sit on.

Compact elongated toilets are toilets that offer the same comfort as a regular elongated toilet but take the same bathroom space as a round toilet. Let us look at some of the best compact elongated toilets.

1. Kohler Santa Rosa

Kohler Santa Rosa is a single flush WaterSense one-piece elongated and comfort-height toilet. It is available in multiple color finishes, the favorites being white and black.

The dimensions of the Kohler Santa Rosa are:

• Depth: 27.75 inches
• Width: 18.75 inches
• Height: 28.2 inches
• Bowl height: 16.5 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

To read more on the Kohler Santa Rosa, as well as other Kohler toilets, check out this post.

2. American Standard Compact Cadet 3 FloWise

American Standard Compact Cadet 3 FloWise is a single-flush WaterSense one-piece compact elongated toilet with a compact height. It is available in white, bone, and linen finishes.

The dimensions of The American Standard Compact Cadet 3 FloWise are:

• Depth: 28.5 inches
• Width: 15 inches
• Height: 28.5 inches
• Bowl height: 16.5 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

I have written a detailed comparison of these toilets and the American Standard Champion 4 one-piece toilet. Read it here.

3. Toto CST746CSMF Drake

Toto CST746CSMF Drake is a dual flush two-piece elongated and comfortable height toilet. It is available in cotton white and Sedona beige with a water consumption of 0.8/1.6 gallons per flush.

The dimensions of the Toto CST746CSMF Drake are:

• Depth: 27.2 inches
• Width: 17.3 inches
• Height: 30.1 inches
• Bowl height: 16.125 inches
• Rough-in: 12 inches

If you would like to buy this toilet, check it out below.

I have written a detailed post comparing 10 of the best compact toilets for people with small bathrooms. Read it here.

Best Round Toilet Seats

Most toilets these days are sold without a seat. You are, therefore, left with the task of buying a seat separate from the toilet. This can be a little challenging if you don’t know what the best toilet seat to buy is.

Some toilets are sold with seats, but most of those seats look and feel very flimsy, meaning you will need to replace them after a while or immediately.

There are very many types of toilet seats in the market. They include:

• Plastic toilet seats
• Wooden toilet seats
• Bidet toilet seats
• Soft closed toilet seats
• Top mounting toilet seats
• Bottom mounting toilet seats
• Quick-release toilet seats
• Heated toilet seats

I have written a detailed comparison and buyer guide for the best toilet seats, which include both elongated and round toilet seats. Read it here.

If you would specifically like a soft-close toilet seat, I have also written a review of the best ones to buy. Check it out here.

Bidet toilet seats are seats that use water to cleanse you after using the toilet instead of using toilet paper. They are either electric or non-electric.

Electric bidet toilet seats clean you with hot water and also use warm air to dry you, among other luxury features. Read more about the best bidet toilet seats here.

Wooden toilet seats are either made of solid wood or molded wood. They are both warm and stylish. Check out some of the best wooden toilet seats in this review.

Round Toilets Buying Guide

While buying a round toilet, there are a few factors that you need to put into consideration to make sure you end up with the best toilet you can possibly buy. Here are what you need to pay attention to the most:

1. Toilet Dimensions

As we have already stated, round-front toilets are mostly preferred by people with small bathrooms. This makes a toilet’s dimensions critical. A more compact round toilet is, therefore, what most people would find to be ideal.

Although round toilets will definitely take less bathroom space than elongated toilets, some round toilets do a better job than others. Just compare Kohler San Souci and Kohler Cimarron round toilets dimensions, for instance.

You should, therefore, make an effort to ensure that you get the precise toilet’s dimensions prior to buying it. The only place you can get such information is from the toilet manufacturer’s website.

Search the toilet’s model number and download its specification sheet. There, you will find a sketch drawing with all the necessary dimensions.

What you do not want to do is to take the measurements listed in an e-commerce site as most of the time, those dimensions are either approximations or shipping dimensions. All the dimensions listed in this review are the correct ones.

2. Toilet Rough-In

The rough-in of a toilet is the distance between a toilet’s rear finished wall and the center of its drainpipe. A toilet rough-in is, however, measured differently for corner toilets and rear-discharge toilets.

The standard rough-in of a toilet is 12 inches. Some old toilets, however, have a rough-in of 10 or 14 inches. Finding a good replacement toilet for these toilets is not always easy.

If you would like a 10-inch rough-in round toilet, then I would recommend Kohler K-3889 Cimarron. It is a powerful flushing WaterSense toilet with a comfortable height.

The best 14-inch rough-in round toilet is the Kohler K-3947 Wellworth. It is a WaterSense standard-height toilet.

3. One-piece vs. Two-Piece Round Toilets

A one-piece toilet is one in which the tank and the bowl are made as one inseparable piece, while a two-piece toilet is made with the tank and bowl as separate pieces that are only joined together during installation.

A one-piece toilet will be shipped to you in one big box, while two-piece toilets are shipped in 2 smaller separate boxes. One box of a 2-piece toilet might get to you before the other one.

Each of these toilet types has its pros and cons, as illustrated in this post that I wrote sometime back.

4. Standard Height Vs. Comfort Height Round Toilets

Comfort height toilets, which are also known as ADA toilets or universal/right/chair height toilets, have a seat height of 17 to 19 inches. This is in line with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Standard height toilets have a seat height less than that of comfort height toilets (15 to 17 inches), which is perfect for shorter people and children. It is very uncomfortable and even unsafe to use a toilet with your feet dangling in the air.

Comfort height toilets are, on the other side, a great choice for tall folks and the elderly as they don’t need to bend too much, putting a strain on the backs and knees.

Both comfort height toilets and standard height toilets have their advantages and disadvantages. I have written an article on the same. Read it here.

Conclusion

Round-front toilets are the best toilets to buy if you want to maximize the space in your bathroom. One-piece round toilets are some of the most compact toilets, making them an even better choice.

If you would like to enjoy the comfort of an elongated toilet but only have the space for a round toilet, check out compact elongated toilets. You will love them.