If you’ve never slept in a rooftop tent, it’s hard to imagine how different it is from sleeping in a traditional tent. In general, we’ve found that rooftop tent sleeping has certain key advantages over sleeping in a tent on the ground. Rooftop tents offer a bird’s-eye view of your surroundings, airflow that’s unheard of in a ground tent, protection (and peace of mind), and generally superior comfort.
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After hundreds of nights of elevated sleeping and hours of poring over specs, expert tester Berne Brody has decided that the rooftop tents on this list are the best of the best. Not every rooftop tent fits every vehicle or every budget, so we cover a range of sizes and price points, with the iKamper Skycamp 3.0 Mini being our favorite, while the Topoak Galaxy 1.0 is an awesome, less expensive alternative. Rooftop tents are all pricier than even the plushest backpacking tent, but if you’re able to invest, you won’t regret it.
In recent years, the GearJunkie team and our greater network of expert gear testers have researched and sampled all of the leading styles on the market. We’ve used these tents for overlanding, car camping, and cross-country road-tripping. We’ve closely examined their features at trade shows and expos in far-flung corners of the globe.
Editor’s Note: On May 21, , we added a new (to us) brand and tent to the lineup: The James Baroud Odyssey. This tent features 360° views, a solar-powered vent, blackout window shades, and a noise-reducing base so you can get plenty of good sleep on your next road trip. While it’s an expensive RTT, it’s also one of the most durable, well-designed RTTs we’ve tested.
Other Excellent RTTs
The following tents are all worthy contenders that fell just short of the top spots. However, one of them may be the best RTT for your specific needs.
Rooftop Tent Comparison Table
How We Tested the Best Rooftop Tents
The GearJunkie team is composed of overlanders, auto experts, and seasoned car camping fanatics. Over many years, we have tried and rigorously tested nearly every kind of camping gear on the market — including rooftop tents.
Our lead tester for rooftop tents is Berne Broudy. Based in Vermont, Berne has amassed over 20 years of hiking, cycling, climbing, ski touring, and overlanding. Berne’s broad portfolio of outdoor activities has added up to many nights of camping outdoors — many spent in a rooftop tent.
To compile this list of the best rooftop tents, Berne and the rest of our team combed the market and compared the pros, cons, and specs of dozens of models. We’ve mounted tents on rigs of all shapes and sizes — from compact sedans to full-sized trucks. We’ve spent many nights — some glorious and others full of tosses and turns — testing the quality and comfort of rooftop tent mattresses.
Our assessment process is detail-oriented. No subtle feature or flaw goes unnoticed. On this list, we’ve included a wide variety of excellent rooftop tents to meet all sorts of needs. From compact SUV drivers to large-family road trippers, at least one of the models on this list should be a good fit.
For more info on car camping options, take a look at GearJunkie’s guide to truck campers and motorhomes.
Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Best Rooftop Tent
What Fits Your Vehicle?
Not every rooftop tent will fit every vehicle. Know the load capacity of your roof rack, and the distance between your roof rack bars to determine if a specific rooftop tent will fit. The spread of the bars is the distance between the front roof rack crossbar and the back one. Most rooftop tents have a “minimum bar spread” spec. Before purchasing a rooftop tent, be sure to physically measure your rack’s spread to ensure your rack and tent are a match.
When in doubt, contact the rooftop tent manufacturer and verify that your planned setup will be safe and sound. Many tents on this list can work with sedans, trucks, trailers, and everything in between — provided you’ve got the proper rack and mounting system.
What Else Do You Need to Carry?
Some rooftop tents require you to carry the access ladder inside your car. Other tents incorporate the ladder directly into the tent’s packed-away design. Some tents have accessory options, including awnings and extensions. Typically, these will need to be stored separately inside a car or truck bed.
As for sleeping bags, and pillows, many rooftop tents can be fully folded and tucked away with the bedding stored inside. This feature is more common in hardshell models.
Some rooftop tents with smaller footprints leave extra space on your roof for bikes, boats, and other gear. Of course, the square footage of your leftover roof space will depend on the size of the tent and the dimensions of your rack.
Some hardshell rooftop tents provide gear storage on top or space to mount a solar panel. In most cases, you’ll need to purchase additional racks to utilize the roof of your tent’s shell for storage space.
Hardshell vs. Softshell
Hardshell rooftop tents are sleeker looking when compressed and more aerodynamic. They also tend to be lower clearance when packed — an important consideration for those planning to park in a garage.
In general, hardshell rooftop tents are quick and easy to set up and pack up. Most come use hydraulic struts that do most of the heavy lifting for you. Softshell tents typically come with traditional aluminum or fiberglass poles that require assembly. Inflatable tents are relatively new to the market. They’re almost as quick and easy to set up as a hardshell, and can be spacious inside.
Some hardshells have usable storage space on top of the outer shell. But many are wedge-shaped and don’t give you 360-degree views.
Softshell rooftop tents are generally similar to traditional camping tents. They tend to be less expensive and harder to set up. But they usually have great airflow, and some are large enough to accommodate three to five people.
Space vs. Weight
Rooftop tents typically sleep two to five people and fit a double to a king-size mattress. The bigger the tent and mattress, the heavier and more cumbersome the rooftop tent.
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Most rooftop tents weigh between 100 and 200 pounds — an important spec to know, especially in relation to your roof rack’s recommended capacity. For a family of three or a couple with a dog, we like the Roofnest Falcon 3 — a roomy and comfortable option with a plush wall-to-wall mattress.
If your roof space is limited and you’re looking for a svelte on your roof, full-size when unfurled sleeper, the Dometic TRT 140 Air is compact and well-suited to smaller rooftops.
Manual vs. Automatic Opening
Some hardshell rooftop tents lift with a gentle nudge, whereas most softshells have to be flipped open manually and the awning bars inserted. Rooftop tents with gas struts that lift the tent open are becoming more common. They often cost more, but they’re convenient — especially when you’re setting up your tent in the rain.
Whatever tent you buy, initial assembly can be challenging with a steep learning curve. Some tents offer the option to ship fully unassembled. That can save you up to $400, and it can take hours and tools to build the tent platform and attach the tent to it before you load it on your roof.
Once assembled, rooftop tents require a heavy lift to get the tent onto a vehicle’s roof rack. Pan to get a hand from a friend or two depending on the weight of the tent and the height of your roof. While you can repeatedly install and uninstall, it’s always an awkward operation.
Durability
Rooftop tents are a major investment — they can cost up to $5,000. Take care of your investment, and it will last for many years.
We recommend storing your rooftop tent in a dry, covered place when not in use. When the tent isn’t on your roof, place 2x4s or 4x4s on saw horses to mimic your roof bars and store the tent on top in the same orientation that the tent was on your roof.
Go easy on the zippers, struts, ladders, and poles — these intricate mechanical components tend to break first. And always thoroughly dry the inside of your tent after use.
In our experience, all of the rooftop tents on this list offer competitive durability when properly cared for.
Price & Value
Rooftop tents are more expensive than most ground-staked tents because of the materials required to build them. They’re built on a strong and stable base. In some cases, that base folds for storage without losing structural integrity. Rooftop tents must withstand weather off the ground, where winds and rain can be severe. And they have to be weather-proof as a semi-permanent fixture on your roof.
That’s a whole lot more complicated than creating a structure with a fabric floor that gets placed on the ground. Size, ease of setup, and features all affect how a tent is priced. Remember, these tents are on the roof of your car as you’re barrelling down the highway, so for safety, they need to be secure and durable.
Budget
The least expensive tents (sub-$2,000) in our guide have a soft shell and usually take longer to set up and take down. Our budget pick, the Topoak Galaxy 1.0 ($1,299), has a great feature set and is very easy to set up and take down.
Mid-Tier
In the middle price range ($2,000-3,000), you’ll start to see some hardshell models that set up fast and easily. The Sylvan Sport’s Loft ($2,195) is lightweight, and sets up and packs away quickly. It also includes a fan to maintain airflow from comfort and moisture control.
The Yakima SkyRise HD ($2,499) is a soft-shell tent, but it has room for three. The Thule Approach M ($2,500) is our favorite two-person softshell with a great mattress and bombproof rainfly. Tents in the middle range use lighter materials and aren’t insulated, so you’ll need to spend more if you want better long-term durability and winter camping options.
Premium
The premium tier ($3,000 and up) will get you the full-on go-anywhere-anytime convenience that you’d expect from a rooftop tent. These tents are made from polyurethane-coated polyester and cotton blends like those found on wall tents, are insulated (or at least have the option), and once they’re mounted, set up and take down is a breeze. The James Baroud Odyssey ($) is no exception, going up in under a minute, with true blackout material and noise reduction, you can sleep just about anywhere.
Our top pick, the Skycamp Mini 3.0 ($3,979), has a waterproof cotton-poly shell that keeps the inside dark in the daytime (looking at you, festival goers), big windows, awnings, and plenty of headroom. The Roofnest Falcon 3 EVO ($3,495) is of similar quality and has internal LED lighting, an optional insulation kit, and optional rack mounts so you can store even more gear on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Berne Broudy is a contributing writer at GearJunkie.com.
Broudy has been writing about cycling, skiing, and outdoor gear for more than 20 years. Before that, Broudy spent time guiding hiking and cycling tours in South America, Europe, and the U.S.
Based in Vermont, Berne Broudy is a core user of and expert in outdoor, cycling, and ski gear, as well as overlanding and powersports gear. She has been writing about outdoor products, business, and issues for more than 20 years. She has written and photographed for more than 20 publications and has served as a contributing editor at many of them.
Broudy currently sits on several nonprofit boards in her home state of Vermont. She is an avid mountain biker, gravel biker, backcountry skier, overlander, and adventure traveler.
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I hope this helps. Last weekend I tested out my new Inspired Overland rooftop tent on California’s “Lost Coast.” The build quality is excellent. Everything worked extremely well. The benefits for me are:
- Its light weight (76 lbs.) was barely noticeable in terms of on and off-road handling. I use a Rhino Rack Base 2 System to transfer the weight directly to the Jeep’s metal tub instead of the fiberglass top. I built my own crossbars out of Unistrut which mated to the tent perfectly. This saved me $600+ by not needing to buy the Rhino Rack Pioneer Platform!
- I got the standard (shorter 82”) version which fit my Jeep 2-door JK with only a slight overhang at the back (not impacting the rear window opening). This provided plenty of room for my 5’9” frame to sleep.
- Every little tent detail is well thought out, especially all the tie-downs for the tent walls and mosquito netting. The only two things I may upgrade is to a bit thicker mattress and to buy a cover (due later this month) for in between trips.
- The overall height of my stock JK with crossbeams and tent is 79.5” (6’ 7.5”) which should not be a problem for almost any public parking garage.
- IMHO, at $1,000 before tax and shipping, this is BY FAR the best designed and built tent for someone who plans to keep it up top year round. More importantly for me, I had not previously bought a RTT because I couldn’t rationalize paying $2K+ just to have a little convenience vs. a ground tent. Let’s face it, for $500+ you can get a pretty good, fast-setup ground tent that is a lot bigger (or for $50 a Big5 cheapie that will do in a pinch).
RTTs are all about efficiency and instant setup. And this one is the perfect balance of quality, design and cost for what I was looking for. Shipping costs $350 or you can pick up for free in the SF Bay Area (Hayward), Los Angeles, Baltimore, or Chicago. Installation is easy enough to accomplish in their parking lot, so plan a trip that includes one of those locations and save $350!
Notes:
- There is an XL 90” long version for $1,200 if you have a longer vehicle.
- The new carbon fiber hard shell version for $2,400 looks awesome but as mentioned, IMHO I have trouble rationalizing that level of cost vs. a ground tent.
- Anyway, InspiredOverland has my full recommendation for the Standard Lightweight Rooftop Tent: Five Stars. www.inspiredoverland.com
- I have no affiliation with them other than liking the product
Hey everyone,
We are considering a roof top tent for our Crosstrek Wilderness and had some questions. They seem to be one of the preferred choices for Overlanders. Here are our questions:
Do they dry quickly if they have to be stowed away wet?
Do they mold or mildew easily? My wife has asthma and is vulnerable to this.
How do they hold up in extreme weather conditions (windy thunderstorms etc.)?
Are they easy to maintain and keep clean?
Pros, Cons, any input is welcome.
Our other option would be a tow behind (https://www.runawaycampers.com/), any input on those are welcome as well! Thank you!
A quality RTT is typically in the range of several thousand dollars. Before you jump on the hype wagon, I would implore you to create a list of pros and cons of a standard tent versus a RTT. RTTs aren't for everyone, and I know quite a few folks who bought into them, only to give them up and resort to sleeping in a standard tent, or inside of their vehicles (typically not an option for families unless you've got something like a Sprinter). Remember, you're no less or nore more of an overlander because you have an RTT
Here's my experience owning both a Tepui and Autohome roof top tent. I'm in a pop top camper these days, but looking at picking up a used Toyota or Lexus. My plan was to sleep inside the vehicle, as I've personally moved on from RTTs (unless it's integrated into the vehicle like Campteq or Ursa Minor where you can climb into the tent from the interior of the vehicle).
Do they dry quickly if they have to be stowed away wet?
They will not dry out when stowed away. You absolutely must find a dry location to dry out your tent as soon as you can. The ability to dry out the tent fabric is totally dependent on the local weather. It's pretty easy for us to pull of in northern California, even during the wet season. I always make a point to dry my tent out if it ever gets wet.
Do they mold or mildew easily?
Like any tent that isn't dried out after being exposed to moisture, mildew is a possibility. I would suspect that higher quality RTTs (think autohome, Alucab, Eezi-Awn) are using marine grade fabrics that hold up better to mildew and mold, but I'd look into this if you're deadset on going the RTT route.
How do they hold up in extreme weather conditions (windy thunderstorms etc.)?
Hard-shell models, especially pop-top style RTTs (see Autohome Maggiolina model) tend to do the best in heavy windy. There's less fabric to flap around, so they're not as noisy. The more fabric that is loose, the more noise your tent is going to make. I endured some pretty heavy winds (probably around 50-60+ MPH gusts) down in the SoCal desert in my old Autohome Columbus RTT, which is a clamshell style tent. It stayed up, but it definitely felt like it was going to collapse multiple times through the night. If you're in 80+ MPH winds, there's only so much abuse even the best RTTs can withstand.
Are they easy to maintain and keep clean?
If you're buying a piece of equipment hat costs $2-5k, then you definitely treat it with care. My Autohome was a lot easier to care for (compared to my Tepui), as it had fewer moving parts, a lot less plastic bits, and was generally pretty easy to set up and tear down. The biggest piece of maintence was caring for the fiberglass shell. I'd treat this 1x per year to keep the fiberglass in good shape. For my soft-fabric tepui, I was concerned the frame and various plastic bits/joints holding it together were going to break at some point down the road. Perhaps that tredidation was unfound, but I always felt the Autohome was a much more durable piece of equipment. It's not uncommon to see folks who've had autohomes on their rigs for 10+ years. I'd be surprised if my Tepui would've lasted 4 years of regular use.
Pros, Cons, any input is welcome.
A lot of this is subjective, but some of the big ones are:
Pros:
- Your tent is always ready to go because it's on your vehicle!
- Kids love them
- Some tents allow you to keep your bedding and pillows in them, a must have for me.
- Setup for some models is relatively fast
Cons
- getting up to pee in the middle of the night SUCKS
- tear down can be a pain on certain models, especially soft fabric models that don't pack into a hardshell (like my old Tepui)
- Expensive for a tent that goes on your roof?!
- For certain models like iKamper and Autohome, you lose storage capacity on your rooft. Other brands like Alucab allow you to carry a load on top of your tent
For me, they solve certain problems and create others. They are great when touring and much less desirable when you are camping. This, in my opinion, is the part that is missed by those who buy and later regret. If you are going to be static, ground tents just have so many advantages. If you are on the move all day and just going to sack out at night this is where the RTT can shine.
If, for instance, I am going to go out to the coast and camp even for one night but certainly for two or three, I would rather bring a big ground tent. If there is enough ground, I really like our bell tent. It is quick to set up for its size and super comfortable in ALL weather, from subzero with high wind to hot, still days.
Ground tents are more comfortable, easy to get in and out of, and have more room.
If, on the other hand, you are going to spend your days on the move, seeing things, hiking, and driving, you are then going to need to find a place to spend the night quickly—perhaps in unfamiliar places with limited information, after dark, like you do when touring. This is where an RTT really comes into its own. The ground can be wet, rocky, covered in sagebrush or snow, etcetera, and it does not matter. We often just pull off the trail at night, toss it open, and climb in for the night.
The other big downside, in my opinion, is the weight. There are five of us, so we have literally the biggest RTT I could find, and it really does impact vehicle dynamics at something like 300 lbs with the rack and all. We have modified and beefed up our suspension to handle the tent, but it still detracts from driving fun.
They also suck in the wind, or at least ours does. I assume some of these newer wedge-style RTTs are better, but ours SUCKS in the wind. A stiff breeze is going to make a lot of noise, and anything more is going to keep you up worrying about bad things happening.
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