"I'd love not to have a giant 24" lower cabinet"

I would be only 6" wider. That's not a "giant" difference. CR tested six 18" models but none received a Recommended rating. The best 18" performer was the $1349 Bosch SPX68C75UC but you can get many high-performing 24" models for less.

I have the Bosch 18" and love it! It's true that the size difference is not that great but inches matter in small spaces.

The capacity is ultimately not that much smaller than standard size. I have a tiny kitchen and this just made sense.

I have had an 18 inch GE for 11 years…love it. But when it dies I might upgrade to the Bosch!

I do 18" dishwashers in smaller kitchens all the time.

Here's a flip house (2 bedroom home) where we did an 18" dishwasher. In a smaller household, it's all you need, IMO. And in a small kitchen, 6" more for a cabinet is huge. And like someone said before, the scale is better in a smaller space.

We supplied cabinets, tops and hardware only....no labor on this job.

J&K White Shaker - Dayton OH · More Info

I have a Bosch 18” and love it. i live alone in a small house and it’s much more compatible with the scale of the kitchen.. It does a great job of cleaning dishes and pans, and has a water softener compartment, a great feature if you have hard water.

We stayed in a rental recently with an 18" Bosch and liked it a lot. When we were renovating years ago we considered an 18" Miele and tested it out fully loaded with dishes--found it could take as much as most of the less costly 24" models from other brands because it had a third rack for silverware. That's more common these days but for an 18" model I'd definitely look for that feature. We have a household of four who cooks daily and fill our 24" dishwasher most but not all days; if it were only two of us an 18" would be more than sufficient.