The Best Camper Van Life Toilet Options For Every Budget

When it comes to choosing between the best camper van life toilet options there are many choices. They also range in price from $80 all the way up to $1,500.

If you’re looking for the ultimate in convenience and comfort you might decide on a composting toilet. But, if you only need a simple van life toilet option there are more budget-friendly choices.

I did extensive research before deciding on the best van life toilet for my van build. Because I travel full-time, I decided to buy a composting toilet for less maintenance and easier day-to-day use.

In this article:

• the best van life toilet options
• composting vs porta-potty toilets
• what I chose and why

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The Best Camper Van Life Toilet Options

You have 3 primary categories of van life toilet options to consider:

• composting camper van toilets
• portable toilets for van life (porta-potties)
• emergency use only toilets

Best Composting Toilet For Vanlife Options

Personally, I think a composting toilet is the best option for van life, especially if you’ll be spending extended periods of time traveling.

The best composting toilets for vanlife are:

1. Cuddy – best quality and value
2. Trelino – strong runner up to Cuddy, with fewer features
3. Nature’s Head – great for full-time travel, but a bit pricy

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Best Portable Toilet For Campervan Options

Portable toilets for campervans don’t separate liquids and solids, so they can have a bit of a smell (which requires chemicals to manage.) They’re usually much cheaper to buy, but you’ll be limited on where you can safely dump the contents.

These are the three best portable toilets for campervans:

1. Dometic
2. Thetford
3. Camco

Emergency Van Life Toilet Options

If you’re looking for an extremely budget-friendly van life toilet option, or you only need something for emergencies, then this is a great alternative to the pricier campervan toilets above.

An emergency van life toilet option is especially important if you’ll be in cities, or other populated areas, where finding a private spot to go late at night may not be possible.

Trust me, no one wants to plan for a 3 am “I think I had bad sushi” experience, but when it happens you’ll be glad you have options.

Top Emergency Van Life Toilet Options:

1. Go Anywhere Portable Toilet
2. A bucket

Composting Vs Portable Toilet For Campervans

Unsure whether you need a composting toilet or a portable toilet for van life? There are a few significant differences between each of these van life toilet options.

Chemicals: porta-potty toilets require chemicals to break down the waste, and to help prevent odors. Composting toilets don’t need any chemicals, but they do require an organic composting material.

Dumping: with composting toilets you can go longer between dumps (especially for solids), and it’s much easier to dispose of waste because it’s separate. I usually empty my liquids tank every other day, but my solids tank can go a month or more before I have to empty it.

Separate liquids and solids aren’t considered sewage (that happens once they’re mixed), so the options for disposing of them are easier.

With porta-potties, the solids and liquids are mixed together. As a result, sewage can only be dumped at a dump station or down a toilet. You’ll need to do this about once a week.

Cost: composting toilets tend to be more expensive initially, but without the dump fees or need for chemicals they’re less expensive month-to-month. Portable campervan toilets have a higher overall cost of ownership because of the on-going expenses for dumps and chemicals.

Odor: it surprises many people to hear that composting toilets don’t smell! Again, most of that gross odor we associate with bathrooms is actually caused by a reaction when solids and liquids are mixed.

Because composting toilets separate these, they don’t have much of an odor. The only time I’ve noticed an odor is if I leave my liquids for more than a few days – but even that isn’t a strong smell.

On the other hand, even with chemical treatments it’s quite common for portable van life toilet options to smell. It’s especially foul when you’re emptying them.

Composting Toilet For Van Life

Composting toilets for vanlife are the crème de la crème.

When I built my van, there were only two leading options: Nature’s Head and Airhead… and they both cost over $1,000!

Great news! There are many new products on the market when it comes to composting van life toilet options, and they’re far more budget friendly.

I have had my Airhead Composting Toilet for many years. While I like it, if I had to buy a new toilet today I would install a Cuddy or a Trelino instead. They’re much more affordable and still have all the features I want.

Composting toilets for vanlife are fantastic because they work without chemicals! I just have to prep my solids tank by lining it with a damp composting medium (like coco fiber) and the rest takes care of itself.

Composting material can be bought in dehydrated bricks for easy storage. I get mine from amazon or any local gardening store.

When you need to make a new batch, you simply add some water to the dry composting material before placing it into your solids tank.

Once your poo lands in this material nature takes care of the rest- no chemicals needed! 

Note: some people add enzymes to their mix to expedite the composting process. I’ve also tried using these and, in my opinion, if you’re a single user (read: don’t have a ton of daily deposits to the toilet bank) then the enzymes aren’t necessary. If, however, you plan to add several fresh nuggets daily then you’ll want to help nature move along faster with some enzymes.

You should plan to dump your liquids tank every 1-3 days (realistically I dump it daily, but 3 days is the max before it gets stinky) and your solids tank every 2-4 weeks, depending on use.

Portable Toilet For Campervan

Portable toilets for campervans are similar to regular house toilets- all of your business is mixed together down the drain of the toilet bowl.

It’s not separated or composted.

Typically, portable camper van toilets also have a wet flush option to rinse the bowl. This means they come with an additional fresh water holding tank to supply water for the “flush”.

The main difference from a house toilet is that portable toilets for campervans aren’t plumbed to a water or sewer system.

Not having to be physically connected to a water and septic system is what makes these toilets portable.

The second difference is that your business is held in a black tank until you can responsibly dump it. A black tank is any tank which holds sewage.

Many people can go up to a week before having to empty their tank (for use by a single individual).

An important thing to note with portable camper van toilets is that you’ll need to use a chemical additive to keep your holding tank from smelling.

When solids and liquids mix, sewage is formed, and it can smell really gross if untreated.

(Technically, if the solids and liquids do not mix, it is not considered sewage. This is why composting toilets are easier to dump.)

There’s not a huge range in prices for these types of portable van life toilet options- most of them range from $100 – $175.

If you want a larger tank and a few more bells and whistles you could spend up to mid $200’s for a portable van life toilet.

Things To Consider When Buying A Van Life Toilet

There are three primary categories to consider when deciding on the best van toilet option for you:

• cost
• install complexity
• ease of use

Cost Of A Van Life Toilet

This category includes your van life toilet and any additional cost to install it. 

Most campervan toilets cost $100-$200, but if you’re looking at a composting toilet for van life then you should plan to spend $400-$1100. 

Installation costs can also vary. If you’re simply storing your cassette toilet in a cabinet you won’t need anything other than the cabinet space. 

If you want to put your van toilet on drawer slides, budget $50-$100 for heavy duty drawer slides. They need to be rated to a weight that can support your toilet when it’s full and your body weight. 

Some composting toilets need to vent to the outside of your van. This can cost $100-$400 to have installed.

However, if you’re doing the labor yourself it’s very low cost. You only need a drill in order to add a hole for the 12v fan to exhaust odors out. This process only took me a few hours – the most complex part is finding a good place to drill through your van floor.

Van Life Toilet Installation

You’ll want to consider a few things about installation: How complex is your van toilet installation? How much time and labor is required?

A simple portable van life toilet (sometimes called cassette toilet) stored in a cabinet is your quickest and cheapest installation option – literally just buy the toilet and make sure you have a cabinet large enough to store it.

Some composting toilets, like Boxio and Trelino, can be quickly installed as well. They have no electrical wires or fans that need to be installed.

If, instead, you’d like to put your toilet on drawer slides you’ll need to install a simple drawer. This is fairly straightforward and something anyone can build in a few hours.

Some van lifers want a dedicated bathroom space in their van. If that’s you, then you’re probably considering a full camper van shower setup – essentially this makes it a wetbath that is dual purpose as a place to privately use the toilet and to shower.

This is the layout I built in my Ford Transit van. I don’t actually use my shower very often, but it’s nice to have a dedicated and private space for my camper van toilet.

Some wetbaths even have a sink. I personally just use the primary sink in my van kitchen because it works just as well and saves a ton of space to have only one sink instead of two.

If you’ll be installing a vented composting toilet (like the Nature’s Head) you will also need to factor in the cost for installing the ventilation fan and electricity to power it.

You can find a comprehensive overview of the best composting toilets for RVs and campers here, which includes specific features and ventilation options available for composting toilets.

Ease Of Use

This is the last thing you’ll want to consider when deciding on which van life toilet option is right for your lifestyle, and it really just comes down to personal preference. 

How will you use your camper van toilet? Is it an emergency only situation? If yes, then you can get away with a simple and inexpensive setup – like a cassette toilet in a cabinet.

Do you plan to use your toilet for number 1 (liquid) only? Smell will be less of a concern so you can easily get away with the less expensive portable van life toilet options.

In most places, urine can be dumped outdoors safely without requiring a trip to the dump station – meaning you won’t have a big need for an additional holding tank beyond what the camper van toilet itself can hold.

With the ability to dump frequently wherever you are you don’t need to hold onto much. However, if you know you’ll be someplace you can’t dump liquids (like the desert) often, then it may be worth considering a larger holding tank so you don’t have to drive to the dump as often.

When I’m boondocking, I dump my liquids tank following leave no trace principles – 200+ feet from camp, and any water sources.

However, I always check the municipality laws first, because some locations (like desert municipalities, or places near water reservoirs) have additional rules.

If you’ll be utilizing your portable camper van toilet for all things (liquids and solids) then you will want to strongly consider the more comprehensive camper van toilet options, which also come with a lot of added conveniences.

Composting toilets separate your liquids and solids. Most people think that your poop is what stinks, but the main cause of unpleasant bathroom odor is when your solids and your liquids mix together.

By separating them you eliminate most of the unpleasant odors.

The exhaust fan will remove any additional odors out of your van and aids the composting process by providing fresh oxygen.

I’ve been able to go up to 2 months before changing my solids tank without any odors.

While my composting toilet was one of the more expensive items in my van build, it’s been incredibly convenient and I haven’t had any problems with it. That said, if the Cuddy were available when I built my van I would have opted for that over the Airhead.

Do You Need A Camper Van Toilet?

Personally, a camper van toilet is an absolute must for me. However, I know people who have lived in their vans for years without a toilet. There is not a one-size-fits-all answer.

Some people prefer to have a toilet in their van so they can be completely off-grid for days or weeks at a time and still be able to use the facilities in their van in complete privacy.

Others like to use their van toilet for #1 only, and find other options (like public restrooms) for their #2 needs.

And lastly, there are some folks who just don’t want to use the toilet in their van at all. If this is your preference, you may just want a compact and inexpensive camper van toilet for emergencies, or for when you’re in public areas and can’t find a discrete place in nature.

Pros And Cons Of Van Life Toilet Options

When it comes to van life toilets there are pros and cons.

Of course, it’s a nice convenience to have a toilet in your van, but it requires a bit of storage in an otherwise small space.

Additionally, they can be expensive, and some van life toilet options require a lot of ongoing maintenance. Let’s discuss…

Camper Van Toilet Pros

The primary benefit of having a camper van toilet is being able to poop in your van – this means you can use your clean van bathroom whenever you want and have total privacy.

The other side of this coin is that you DON’T have to use a dirty public toilet.

Lastly, when it comes time to sell your campervan, having a toilet will increase your vans resale value.

Cons of Van Life Toilets

There’s a few obvious items here: some types of camper van toilets can stink 💩 – literally.

More importantly, unlike a toilet that is plumbed to a water and sewer system, your van toilet uses a holding tank… which you will need to dispose of.

Arguably, this is the least fun part about living in a van. Or, at least it’s one of my least favorite chores while living full-time in my van.

Additional disadvantages to having a toilet in your van include requiring additional space to install or store your camper van toilet, increased complexity in your van conversion (depending on the type of toilet), increased capacity of fresh water and holding tanks and the cost of the camper van toilet itself (ranging widely from $80-$1500).

Verdict: The Best Van Life Toilet Options

If you want ultra convenience, consider a Cuddy composting toilet for your van. Cuddy is a highly innovative van life toilet option, packed with tons of features and value for a reasonable price (especially compared to Nature’s Head.)

If you want to save a few dollars and you’re ok with a little less convenience finding places to dump, then a portable camper van toilet is a great van life toilet option.

However, if you plan to make use of public restrooms and mother nature, then you may only need an emergency toilet.