Thermomix TM31 vs TM5 vs TM6: Which One Should You Buy Refurbished?

Three real generations of Vorwerk's cooking robot are still out there: the TM31, the TM5, and the TM6, and only one of them is still in production. Maybe you already own one and are wondering whether the newer model is worth the switch. Maybe you have never touched any of the three and want to know what changed between them, oldest to newest.

One thing worth knowing early: if you know this machine as a Bimby rather than a Thermomix, you are not wrong. Vorwerk sells the identical appliance under its own separate trademark, Bimby, in Italy and Portugal only. Everywhere else in Europe, it goes by Thermomix.

Thermomix® TM31: the original, fully manual and dial-controlled. A Thermomix TM31 refurbished is the most affordable way into the range if you are happy cooking without guided recipes.

Thermomix TM5: the touchscreen generation. A Thermomix TM5 adds guided cooking, but its Cookidoo connection depends on an external chip rather than built-in WiFi.

Thermomix TM6: the current model, and the only one Vorwerk still makes. A Thermomix TM6 is the pick for on-device Cookidoo, 1g weighing, and the widest range of automated cooking modes.

Vorwerk itself calls the Thermomix an all-in-one cooker, and that is a fair description. It is a multifunction cooking food processor: a single bowl that weighs your ingredients, then chops, blends, steams, sautes, and cooks them, all in the same container and all under the machine's control.

That last part is what separates it from a regular food processor or blender. An ordinary food processor prepares food. You still cook whatever you chop or blend on a hob or in an oven afterwards. A Thermomix does both jobs in one bowl: it heats while it mixes, and it holds a set temperature and speed for as long as a recipe needs.

Local names for the category vary a lot across Europe. Germany calls it a Kuchenmaschine mit Kochfunktion, France a robot cuiseur multifonction, Spain a robot de cocina multifuncion. Whatever the local label, the concept underneath is the same.

None of this makes a Thermomix the best choice for every kitchen. Bosch Cookit sears at up to 200°C; the TM6 only reaches 160°C, and only inside a guided Cookidoo recipe, not as a free setting. Bowl size tells a similar story: the TM6 holds 2.2 litres, against roughly 3 litres for the Cookit and 3.5 litres for the Magimix Cook Expert, which matters if you regularly cook for a crowd.

Some competitors also bundle dedicated slicing, grating, or whisking attachments, while the Thermomix keeps one main blade in the bowl for almost everything. Cookidoo itself is a recurring subscription on top of the machine's price, and independent reviewers consistently point to that upfront price as the biggest drawback across the range.

None of this is a flaw so much as a different set of trade-offs: more precision and a deeper recipe ecosystem, in exchange for less raw capacity and a higher entry cost.

Thermomix TM31: the machine that built the category's reputation. Fully manual, controlled with physical dials and buttons, and built around one job: a heated bowl that chops, mixes, and cooks with no recipe screen at all.

Thermomix TM5: the first with a touchscreen, and the first to offer guided recipes, delivered through a small physical chip rather than a live internet connection.

Thermomix TM6: the fullest version of the idea so far, with WiFi, on-device Cookidoo, 1g weighing, and cooking modes the earlier two never had, including fermentation and sous vide.

Vorwerk stopped making both the TM31 and the TM5 some time ago. Either one is now sold and bought secondhand only, out of warranty from the manufacturer, which is exactly where buying refurbished changes the picture.

Weighing precision moved only once in three generations. Both the TM31 and the TM5 weigh in 5 gram steps, fine for everyday cooking but coarse for anything that needs exact ratios. The TM6 weighs gram by gram, a jump reviewers link to gourmet recipes and precise tasks like homemade cosmetics or cleaning products, where a few grams either way changes the result.

Temperature follows a similar pattern with one twist. The TM31 tops out at 100°C, and only at fixed steps: 37, 50, 60, 70, and so on. The TM5 goes further, up to 120°C, freely adjustable. The TM6 also reaches 120°C freely, then adds a searing mode up to 160 to 170°C, but only inside a guided Cookidoo recipe. You cannot dial the TM6 up to searing heat on your own for a homemade recipe. It is hotter, but only when a guided step calls for it.

A few everyday parts changed more than the marketing ever mentions. The spatula on both the TM31 and the TM5 is stiff and rigid. The TM6's is soft and flexible, closer to a silicone pot scraper, and noticeably better at getting the last of a sauce out of the bowl.

The measuring cup tells a similar story. On the TM31 and TM5, it sits loose in the lid and can fall out if the machine gets bumped. On the TM6, it clips firmly into place and doubles as a slow oil dispenser, useful for emulsifying mayonnaise while the blades run.

The steaming basket gained a cover on the TM6, which limits how full you can pack it and helps it drain once you lift it out. A splash guard is standard on the TM6 for the same reason it was never needed on the TM31 or TM5: neither of the earlier machines reaches searing temperatures. None of the three shares a bowl or blade with the others, and the TM6's blade assembly even sits slightly higher than the TM5's, purely to leave room for searing or browning meat.

The TM6 added an entire menu of functions the earlier two never had, reachable with a swipe on the touchscreen. Alongside fermentation, useful for yeast dough or homemade yogurt, it includes a dedicated sous vide mode in exact 1-degree steps, a reheat function, a boiled-egg setting, rice cooking, grating, peeling, and a five-level bowl-cleaning cycle.

Sous vide is the one point where the record is not perfectly clean. One source describes the TM5 as capable of a rough version of sous vide, just in coarser 5-degree steps, while others treat it as a new TM6 function. Both readings are defensible: it depends whether you count a wider temperature range as a new feature or the same feature done better. Fermentation itself is new to the TM6 either way. Neither the TM31 nor the TM5 offers it at all.

The TM5's control dial has an audible click and whirr when you turn it. The TM6's turns almost silently by comparison. Cooking noise itself has only been measured on the TM6: roughly 60 decibels during normal use like soup or risotto, rising sharply at maximum blending speed.

Long-term wear data tells a similarly one-sided story. One TM6 owner's review after a year and a half of regular use found the motor still looking new, the factory screen film never removed and the screen underneath unscratched, and the blade still performing well, with only light external scratches she traced back to her own dishwasher habits.

That's useful evidence for the TM6, but no equivalent long-term test exists yet for the TM5 or the TM31.

Reliable new-unit pricing only turns up for the Benelux market, so use these figures as a directional guide rather than a Europe-wide rule. A TM5 there runs roughly €1,065 to €1,100 new, plus around €129 for the Cook-Key needed to match the TM6's built-in connection. A TM6 runs roughly €1,229 to €1,269. Add the accessory to the TM5's price and the real gap to a TM6 often lands around €40, far smaller than the headline prices suggest. Buying secondhand widens that gap again: a well-kept TM31 or TM5 typically costs meaningfully less than a refurbished TM6 while still cooking just as well on its own terms.

So which model should you buy? If this is your first Thermomix and you want guided cooking without a learning curve, the TM6 is the easiest choice. If you already own a TM5 or a TM31 and are weighing an upgrade, weigh the shrinking price gap against the fact that your current machine is out of warranty either way. Precision and gourmet cooking favour the TM6's 1g scale. Home bakers and anyone fermenting favour its fermentation mode. If you already own several TM5 bowls or accessories, remember none of them fit a TM6.

Is a Bimby the same as a Thermomix?

Yes. Bimby is Vorwerk's own trademark for the identical machine, used only in Italy and Portugal. Every other European market calls it Thermomix.

Is a secondhand TM31 still worth buying?

Yes, if you want manual cooking rather than guided recipes. It is fully out of production and out of warranty from Vorwerk, but the core chop-and-cook function still works exactly as it always did.

Do TM5 accessories work on a TM6?

Not the bowl or blade. Those are not interchangeable across any of the three generations because of the temperature difference. Some external accessories cross over, but check the specific one before assuming it fits.

Does the TM6 beat the TM5 at sous vide?

Sources disagree. The TM6 offers exact 1-degree steps through a dedicated mode, while the TM5 could approximate the same result in coarser 5-degree increments, so the honest answer depends on how strictly you define a new function.

What is the real price difference between a TM5 and a TM6?

Much smaller than it looks. Once you add the Cook-Key a TM5 needs to match the TM6's built-in connection, the gap often comes down to around €40.