The Smokeless Fire Pit Boom Has Cooled: What Solo Stove’s Numbers Mean for Buyers

Solo Stove launched its portable, low-smoke stainless steel fire pit in late 2016, and competitors have imitated the design since.

The company’s own filings now show how far that boom has cooled. Solo Stove’s sales roughly halved between 2023 and 2025 and kept falling in 2026. Here is what drove the decline, what it means for prices and product choice, and whether a smokeless fire pit is still worth buying.

Trend Signal

24/100 Weak momentum

1. Emerging
2. Rising
3. Mainstream
4. Peaking
5. Cooling

Category creator’s Solo Stove sales roughly halved since 2023

Solo Stove segment net sales fell from $351.6 million in 2023 to $167.2 million in 2025 and dropped another 24.4% in the first half of 2026, according to Solo Brands filings.

Our editorial reading of the cited data, not a forecast. How it is scored

By the numbers

• −43.8%Solo Stove segment net sales, 2025 vs 2024 ($167.2M vs $297.4M)Solo Brands 10-K
• −15.4%Solo Stove segment net sales, 2024 vs 2023 ($297.4M vs $351.6M)Solo Brands 10-K
• −24.4%Solo Stove segment net sales, first half of 2026 vs first half of 2025Solo Brands 10-Q
• 48,700Brookstone-branded alcohol tabletop fire pits recalled, August 13, 2026CPSC

How far the sales have fallen

Solo Brands reports Solo Stove as its own segment, which covers fire pits, griddles, coolers and related accessories, so it is a gauge of the brand rather than a fire-pit-only count. Its net sales fell 15.4% to $297.4 million in 2024 from $351.6 million in 2023, then dropped 43.8% to $167.2 million in 2025. In the first half of 2026, segment sales were $48.7 million, down 24.4% from a year earlier. The pace of decline did ease: by our math from the filing, first-quarter sales fell about 39%, and second-quarter sales fell 14.7%.

The company’s explanations changed each year. For 2024 it pointed to a lack of new product introductions, after the prior year benefited from launches in late 2022. For 2025 it cited lower direct-to-consumer unit volumes from “disciplined pricing and promotional actions” and retailers working through excess inventory. For the second quarter of 2026 it cited continued pricing and promotional discipline online and softness at retail as it rebuilds partnerships.

Retail took the bigger hit in the latest quarter: Solo Stove’s retail sales fell 28.5%, against 10.0% for direct-to-consumer. Solo Brands shares, listed on the New York Stock Exchange at the time of its 2025 annual report, were quoted on the OTCQB market by its August 2026 results release.

Period	Solo Stove net sales	Change
2023	$351.6M	—
2024	$297.4M	−15.4%
2025	$167.2M	−43.8%
First half 2026	$48.7M	−24.4% vs first half 2025

Why the design stopped being special

Solo Brands says it created a new fire pit category in late 2016 with portable, low-smoke fire pits that it markets as a “virtually smokeless fire experience.” Success invited copies. The company’s annual report warns that competitors “have imitated, and will likely continue to imitate, our product designs and branding.”

For shoppers, that is the upside of a cooling trend. The double-wall stainless design is no longer tied to one brand, and the original maker has cut marketing spend and promotional activity to better align its prices with its retail partners, according to its 10-K. Buyers now choose between the original brand at steadier prices and a wide field of similar designs from other sellers.

A cooling fad often means more choice, not fewer products.

The pivot to propane and outdoor cooking

The category leader is hedging. In 2025 Solo Stove added the Summit fire pit and the Infinity Flame, its first propane-fired fire pit, with a burner designed to mimic the look of its wood fires. It launched the Steelfire Griddle the same year; the Pi Prime pizza oven, which it says carries a lower entry price than its original pizza oven, arrived in 2023. The company now reports fire pits in one product line with griddles and coolers.

Propane changes the ownership math. There is no firewood to store, split or dry and no ash to empty, at the cost of buying fuel and giving up the sound and smell of a wood fire.

Wood fire pits depend on fuel quality. The EPA’s Burn Wise guidance, written for wood stoves and fireplaces and kept online as a historical record since the agency stopped updating the program in October 2025, says wood burns best at a moisture content under 20%, should be seasoned for at least six months and can be checked with a wood moisture meter, and it warns that regularly seeing or smelling smoke signals a problem. A low-smoke fire pit design cannot make up for green or wet wood.

Tabletop fire pits are a separate problem

Small tabletop bowls that burn liquid alcohol are also sold as fire pits, and they have drawn at least two recalls since September 2025. On August 13, 2026 the CPSC announced a recall of about 48,700 Brookstone-branded tabletop fire pits sold from February 2023 through December 2024 for $20 to $25, after two reports of flame jetting and flames escaping the container that caused second- and third-degree burns.

In September 2025, Five Below recalled about 66,000 tabletop fire pits sold for $2.50 to $5 because alcohol fuel could splash or leak during use or lighting and cause a flash fire. Both recalls involve flame jetting and fire hazards from liquid alcohol fuel, a different risk profile from a wood fire in a steel pit, so treat alcohol tabletop units as a separate purchase decision.

Is a smokeless fire pit still worth buying

For the right yard, yes. If you have a steady supply of seasoned hardwood and want a real wood fire with less smoke, the double-wall design is now sold by many brands, and the original brand still sells its own versions.

Consider propane instead if neighbors, a small patio or local fire rules make wood smoke a problem, or if you do not want to store and dry firewood. We read the category leader’s move into propane as the clearest signal of where it sees demand heading.

Skip paying for the name alone. With the original brand pulling back on promotions and similar designs widely available, compare steel thickness, ash-pan design, stands and lids, and buy a moisture meter if you plan to burn wood you split yourself.

What to watch next

• Solo Brands third-quarter 2026 results, to see whether the Solo Stove decline keeps narrowing
• New CPSC recalls of alcohol-fueled tabletop fire pits
• How much of Solo Stove’s lineup shifts toward propane fire pits and griddles

Where to start

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More: Garden and Backyard trends and how the Trend Signal is scored.

Questions readers ask

Are smokeless fire pits actually smokeless?

Makers describe them as low-smoke or virtually smokeless, and smoke still depends on the fuel. The EPA says wood burns best at under 20% moisture and should be seasoned for at least six months.

Why are Solo Stove sales down?

Solo Brands cited a lack of new products in 2024, lower direct-to-consumer volumes from disciplined pricing and promotions plus retailers clearing excess inventory in 2025, and continued pricing discipline and retail softness in 2026. Segment sales fell from $351.6 million in 2023 to $167.2 million in 2025.

Why were tabletop fire pits recalled?

Alcohol-fueled tabletop units have been recalled for flame jetting and fire hazards. On August 13, 2026 the CPSC announced a recall of about 48,700 Brookstone-branded tabletop fire pits after two burn injuries, and in September 2025 Five Below recalled about 66,000 units.

Is a propane fire pit better than a wood one?

It depends on how you use it. Propane skips firewood storage and ash, and Solo Stove added its first propane fire pit, the Infinity Flame, in 2025. A wood pit needs dry, seasoned wood to keep smoke down.