Cars.com’s Top Pickup Truck Picks of 2026

There are so many pickup trucks to choose from in the American marketplace, so picking just one when it comes time to buy can be a seriously difficult choice. For 2025, the redesigned Ram 1500 won our overall award for the Best Pickup of 2025 thanks to its refined powertrain, beautifully crafted interior, fantastic ride quality and top-notch amenities. But when you start to get into specialized uses, which is really what pickup trucks are for, it becomes clear that one truck would be hard-pressed to do every single thing well — and that’s why we also have this list of Top Picks for 2026 to help you choose a great truck to fit exactly what you want to do. Check out our top picks for ‘26 below.

Related: Best Pickup Truck of 2025

Top Pick: Budget-Friendly Pickup Truck — 2026 Ford Maverick

Why the 2026 Ford Maverick Won:

• With a starting price of $28,840 (all prices include destination), the 2026 Ford Maverick is the least expensive pickup you can buy — but it’s not just cheap, it’s also good.
• The Maverick comes with a choice of a powerful turbocharged four-cylinder or a surprisingly efficient gas-electric hybrid powertrain.
• It features all the same high-tech electronic towing aids that its bigger Ford truck siblings do, making it a useful truck as well as a frugal one.

It has to be said that there are no truly bargain-budget pickup trucks anymore — everything is expensive these days, and pickups are no exception. But the 2026 Ford Maverick retains its title as our Top Pick for a budget option due to its starting price (it’s still the cheapest new truck you can buy) and its unquestionable value. The big news for ‘26 is that the turbocharged 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine can now come with front-wheel drive again instead of mandatory all-wheel drive, and it is $1,000 less expensive — but only if you tick that option box. That drops the Maverick’s entry price to $28,840 now.

But the Maverick doesn’t get this accolade based on price alone; it’s also an exceptionally useful and capable pickup despite its diminutive size. Both the hybrid and EcoBoost models can tow up to 4,000 pounds when properly equipped, and despite its bed being only 4.5 feet long, it has a ton of smart features to help maximize its utility. There are also some interesting trim levels, as well: the Tremor for the off-road-minded folks and the Lobo for the custom sport-truck set. We love that you can also get features found on Ford’s full-size trucks in the mini Maverick, as well, like Ford’s super-slick Pro Trailer Backup Assist and Pro Trailer Hitch Assist towing aids. The interior was given a mild update for the ‘25 model year, bringing Ford’s Sync 4 multimedia system to a new 13.2-inch touchscreen, and for ‘26, the value is enhanced with one year free of the Ford Connectivity Package to make it all work. For most people (even if they won’t admit it), the Maverick is likely all the pickup truck they’ll ever truly need.

Top Pick: Towing, Light-Duty Pickup Truck — 2025 Ford F-150

Why the 2025 Ford F-150 Won:

• Like its bigger brother, the Super Duty, the Ford F-150 features near-magical towing technology that makes hitching, reversing and towing a trailer easy and safe for beginners or experts.
• There’s an F-150 that’s perfect for everyone, from the basic XL work truck to the luxurious leather-lined King Ranch to the Baja-truck Raptor.
• A wide variety of powertrains, including a hybrid with a large battery, highlight the F-150’s versatility for many different customers and applications.

For the third year in a row, we’ve chosen the Ford F-150 as our top pick for people looking to tow with a light-duty pickup. And the reasons for it are the same every year: The tech that Ford brings to the F-150 makes hooking up, backing up and towing a trailer incredibly simple for beginners or experts alike. The F-150 is largely unchanged from its last update for the 2024 model year, and it’s still America’s bestselling pickup for lots of good reasons — it can be had as a work truck, luxury liner or anything in between. But it’s the truck’s towing technology, previously introduced on the Ford F-Series Super Duty and now present across the board on all of Ford’s pickups and many of its SUVs, that makes it our Top Pick light-duty truck for towing.

With a few button pushes, the F-150’s Pro Trailer Hitch Assist automatically backs the truck up to a trailer, one of the trickier bits of towing for any newbie or infrequent user, then Pro Trailer Backup Assist helps you back up the truck-and-trailer combo using just a dial on the dash and some screens and sensors, making another tricky towing task just that much simpler. We called these technologies “marriage savers” when they debuted on the Super Duty, and they’re just as important on the F-150. Add this incredible technology to the F-150’s range of powertrain choices, which run from a twin-turbo V-6 to a throaty V-8 to a gas-electric hybrid powertrain that can also power tools at a jobsite or trailers at a campsite, and you have our pick for the best light-duty pickup truck you can get for towing.

Top Pick: Towing, Heavy-Duty Pickup Truck — 2026 Ford F-Series Super Duty

Why the 2026 Ford F-Series Super Duty Won:

• The 2026 Ford F-Series Super Duty features technology aimed at making towing a safer, easier task for beginners and experts alike.
• An impressive array of combinations are available for cab styles, powertrains, bed lengths and more.
• The design of the Super Duty’s cabin and its easy-driving characteristics make it better to pilot than many of its chunkier, massively slab-sided competitors. 

The only segment with a more dizzying array of ordering options and build combinations than the light-duty pickup truck class is the heavy-duty pickup segment. And the 2026 Ford F-Series Super Duty is no different, offering up a massive number of ways to have one. It’s gotten even crazier for ‘26, as Ford makes a few new combinations available to buyers. And like the brand’s light-duty F-150, you can have an F-250, F-350 or F-450 for just about any purpose imaginable, from a bare-bones XL work truck to a loaded, diesel-powered luxury liner able to tow a massive horse trailer.

But it’s not the Super Duty’s sky-high 40,000-pound maximum towing capacity that’s earned it our Top Pick award. It’s the technology that the Super Duty offers to help people tow more easily and more safely than its competitors, tricks like the Pro Trailer Hitch Assist and Pro Trailer Backup Assist. It’s also the Super Duty’s design — its cutout door sills on the truck’s beltline, low hood and expansive windows combine with an available 360-degree camera system to make seeing what’s around you a breeze. It also drives like a smaller truck than it is, with responsive steering and decent ride quality. That ease of operation combined with the Super Duty’s unique technology have earned it its spot on our list once again.

Top Pick: Luxury Pickup Truck — 2026 Ram 1500 Tungsten

Why the 2026 Ram 1500 Tungsten Won:

• The Tungsten provides the most luxurious, well-equipped and beautifully designed interior in its class.
• It features a smooth and powerful twin-turbo six-cylinder gasoline powertrain that provides outstanding acceleration and quiet, refined operation.
• It comes equipped with impressive luxury technology, including a 23-speaker Klipsch audio system that may just be the best factory sound system in any pickup truck — ever.

Every truck maker has a luxury trim for their pickup truck, but some do it better than others — and if you ask us, nobody does it better than Ram. We have once again selected the Ram 1500 Tungsten as our Top Pick for a luxury pickup, and the reasons remain the same — nobody has yet come along with a luxury trim that’s more luxurious than this.

The Tungsten comes loaded with a massive 14.4-inch infotainment touchscreen, a 10.25-inch display for the front passenger, 24-way power front seats with heating, ventilation and massage features, and heated and ventilated rear seats. Also standard is a 23-speaker Klipsch audio system that’s truly fabulous; in fact, it’s one of the best factory sound systems we’ve ever heard.

Yeah, we understand, the Hemi V-8 is still not available in the Tungsten despite Ram resurrecting the revered engine for the 2026 model year on nearly all of the other trims of the Ram 1500 due to popular demand, and that’s going to be a sticking point for many people who expect their top-trim luxury truck to have a big V-8. But the truck’s high-output twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six-cylinder engine is so much better than the old Hemi; its 540 horsepower and 521 pounds-feet of torque is more than the Hemi ever made without a supercharger. It’s smooth, refined and quiet, like a luxury vehicle should be. Combine that with this truck’s gorgeous interior, genuinely rich upholstery and thoughtfully designed interior details, and the 2026 Ram 1500 Tungsten retains its title as our Top Pick for a luxury pickup truck.

Top Pick: Mid-Size Off-Road Pickup Truck — 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison

Why the 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison Won:

• The ZR2 Bison bested three other mid-size off-road pickups in a recent comparison test, winning nearly every off-road test we put the trucks through.
• The truck features good interior materials quality and a nice blend of physical buttons and touchscreen-based controls.
• The ZR2 Bison provides the best combination of capability, comfort and technology in the mid-size off-road pickup class.

Fresh off its win in our 2025 Mid-Size Off-Road Truck Challenge, the 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison was a shoo-in for this award. We tested top-spec mid-size off-road pickups in the dirt and on the street, and the Colorado bested all comers with its incredible combination of ability, comfort and technology. The Colorado ZR2 comes with some truly trick equipment like Multimatic Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve shocks, a high-output version of the truck’s turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 310 hp and 430 pounds-feet of torque, multiple off-road-specific drive modes and 33-inch tires on 17-inch wheels. But the optional Bison Package (developed in conjunction with off-road specialists American Expedition Vehicles) elevates the ZR2 above its competitors with best-in-class ground clearance of 12.2 inches, truly huge 35-inch mud-terrain tires on beadlock-capable wheels and boron-steel skid plates underneath. The suspension is also upgraded even further with front and rear jounce control shocks. It is a beast out in the wild, able to scale obstacles with ease and confidence, or zip along with the agility of a Baja racer.

But it also brings refinement and technology thanks to its Google-based multimedia system and wide 11.3-inch horizontal touchscreen that features everything from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to views from the optional underbody cameras. There’s an 11-inch digital instrument cluster that is reconfigurable and provides clear, relevant data, and the blend of touchscreen-based controls and hard buttons is among the best we’ve seen lately. All together, the 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison combines general usefulness and exceptional go-anywhere capability to make it our Top Pick for a mid-size off-road pickup truck.

Top Pick: Full-Size Off-Road Pickup Truck — 2026 Ram 1500 RHO

Why the 2026 Ram 1500 RHO Won:

• The Ram 1500 RHO has all the off-road capability of the old TRX, but with a lighter engine and a much lower starting price.
• It’s less expensive and even more capable than its top competitor, the Ford F-150 Raptor.
• With fantastic interior quality, the Ram 1500 RHO feels even more expensive than it is.

This newcomer to our Top Picks list has dethroned the Ford F-150 Raptor as our Top Pick for a full-size off-road pickup truck, and it largely comes down to two factors: price and power. The 2026 Ram 1500 RHO is the spiritual successor to the absolutely unhinged Ram 1500 TRX, but when the Ram lineup was updated for the 2025 model year and V-8 engines were dropped, the RHO became the new top dog in Ram’s off-road lineup. With all the same off-road equipment as the old TRX (like Bilstein Black Hawk e2 shock absorbers and 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Territory A/T tires on 18-inch wheels) but the new face and interior of the latest 1500 pickup, the beating heart of the RHO is the big news. It features Ram’s high-output twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six-cylinder engine, which pumps out 540 hp and 521 pounds-feet of torque — more than the standard Raptor’s twin-turbo V-6. It’s a lot less power than the old TRX’s supercharged V-8, but it’s also a lot lighter in the front end, which is great for jumps.

The RHO features no fewer than nine drive modes and trick suspension tech that knows when all four wheels have left the ground and your angle of travel, so it can set the rear shocks to the appropriate stiffness to enable a more controlled landing. It’s also good to drive on-road, featuring canyon-carving ability that’s surprising given its bulk and off-road focus. It also features an absolutely top-notch interior, with materials quality and designs that positively shame the rest of the truck world.

Yet perhaps the best part about the RHO is its price: You get a more powerful truck than a comparable F-150 Raptor along with more technology and a nicer interior, all for a starting price of $75,090. That’s around $6,500 less than a base Raptor. That makes picking the 2026 Ram 1500 RHO as our Top Pick an easy decision.

Top Pick: Electric Pickup Truck — 2026 Chevrolet Silverado EV

Why the 2026 Chevrolet Silverado EV Won:

• Certain versions of the Silverado EV have a driving range approaching 500 miles.
• Despite its electric powertrain, the Silverado EV still delivers conventional pickup capability.
• The large Silverado EV maneuvers like a much smaller pickup thanks to available four-wheel steering.

“Range anxiety” is not something that should be much of a concern for Chevrolet Silverado EV drivers. This full-size electric pickup truck offers a choice of three battery sizes, with the largest max-range pack EPA-rated up to 493 miles of range on a full charge from the incredibly large 200-plus-kilowatt-hour battery. And with up to 350-kilowatt DC fast-charging capability for the max battery pack, you can replenish range reasonably quickly when charging away from home.

While the Silverado EV delivers smooth, silent performance like other electric vehicles, it also offers capability that truck shoppers expect. The Chevy’s maximum towing capacity is 12,500 pounds, and its max payload rating is 2,350 pounds. And if you’re interested in taking your electric pickup off-pavement, there’s a new Trail Boss trim for 2026 that has a lifted suspension, 35-inch all-terrain tires and an off-road-focused Terrain mode.

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