The base first: what makes a dildo an anal dildo
An anal dildo differs from an ordinary dildo on one point that matters: the end. The rectum pulls inwards, and an object without a wide enough end can slip in beyond reach. Toy Joy spells out the rule in its own manual — products intended for anal use are designed with a wide base and may only be used as intended — and Hidden Desire says the same thing from the other direction: anal vibrators have no stopper flange and must always be held or sit securely in their mount.
That makes the base the first thing to look at, before material, before length and before the number of modes. Everything else in this guide is about how good a product is. The base decides whether it is built for what it is sold as at all. That is why the guide opens here, and why the first part of every product description below is written with the base in mind.
The field splits into three. Three models have a flared end that is physically wider than the shaft: Crystal Heart with its heart-shaped handle, and the two extra-long snakes from Hidden Desire, each with a round base plate. Three have a suction cup or suction mount that also works as the end: Vibrating Ass Thruster, Anal Power Thrusting Vibrator and Vibrating Ass Fucker. One has no stop at all: Dual Sided Anal Vibrator, where the manufacturer’s manual requires the product to be held at all times during use.
Handle, suction cup or nothing — what each one actually does
A wide handle or a base plate is the simplest solution and the one that asks least of you. Crystal Heart’s handle takes up 3.5 centimetres of the product’s 15, counted as the difference between total length and insertable length, and the two lobes of the heart give your fingers something to brace against even when the glass is wet. For the snakes, the manufacturer only states that the base is wide, for safety and comfort — neither Snake nor Serpent has a published base measurement. That is a real gap on products that are 45 centimetres long.
A suction cup solves two things at once, but only one of them is safety. It provides a wide end that stops, and it lets the product stick to a surface so you can use it hands-free. The Ass Fucker’s suction cup is 8.9 centimetres wide according to the instructions — the only published base measurement among the motorised models. Anal Power’s base is 7 centimetres according to the manufacturer’s dimension drawing and sits on an adjustable suction mount with a ball joint that locks with a lever. The Vibrating Ass Thruster has a detachable suction-cup base with a lockable tilt screw, but neither its diameter nor its holding strength is published.
Having no end at all is a deliberate choice by Hidden Desire on the Dual Sided, since the product has an insertable end in each direction and the middle is where the buttons are. That doesn’t make it dangerous in itself, but it does make it a product that must never be let go of. The manual says so plainly, and so it is also stated in the product’s own section below.
Plenty of lube, a slow pace and a clear limit
What follows is not a sermon but a summary of what the manufacturers themselves write in their manuals, and it is worth reading before you choose a size. The rectum produces no lubrication of its own. Lube is therefore not a comfort detail but what separates a good time from damaged mucous membrane, and Hidden Desire’s manual links the amount of lube directly to the risk of pain and tears. Use more than you think, and top up before it dries.
Start smaller than you think you need. Hidden Desire’s manual for the Anal Power asks you to use toys with a smaller diameter first and increase the size carefully, to warm up the sphincter and to insert the product slowly. That applies doubly to the motorised models, which move under their own power. If you are new to anal toys, the guide to butt plugs for beginners is a better first step than any of the seven here — it goes through sizes, shape and how to get started.
If it hurts, stop. Pain is the body’s only feedback in this situation, and that is why numbing lubes should be avoided completely: if you numb away the signal, you can carry on past the point where the mucous membrane is damaged without noticing. The why, and which lube suits which material, is covered in the guide to lube for anal sex.
And if something doesn’t feel right afterwards — bleeding that doesn’t stop, pain that lingers, or a product that can’t be got out — contact a healthcare provider. It is not an embarrassing question for the people who deal with it, and they are the only sensible place to turn. Toy Joy’s manual adds a group who should talk to a doctor before use: anyone who is pregnant, has recently had surgery or has an implanted medical device.
Two of the seven are 45 centimetres long: Extreme XXL Anal Snake and Extreme XXL Anal Serpent. These are products for people who already know how their body reacts to depth, not for those who want to find out. The length far exceeds that of the rectum, and neither is meant to be used in full by anyone who doesn’t already know where their own limit is.
The manufacturer publishes no manual, no warning text and no recommended depth of use for either of them. So there is no instruction to rely on, only the general advice: plenty of lube, preferably a thicker one, a pace built up over several sessions rather than one, never numbing lube, and a firm grip on the base when a large part of the product is inserted. That they are ranked at all is because the base is wide and the measurements can be checked — not because they suit everyone.
When the product moves by itself: thrusting, mount and remote
Two of the seven have a motor-driven thrusting action: the Vibrating Ass Thruster with seven thrust modes and the Anal Power Thrusting Vibrator with a stroke length of up to five centimetres and 80 thrusts per minute. Both sit on a suction mount and are controlled by remote, which means the movement continues regardless of what you do with your hands. That is the whole point of the product type, and at the same time the reason it asks more of the user.
Three things are worth doing before the first time. Keep the remote within reach and know which button switches it off — none of the manufacturers publishes the remote’s range. Start on the lowest setting. And go by the product’s length when extended, not at rest: the Anal Power measures 32 centimetres at rest and 37 centimetres at full thrust, and it is the 37 that determines how far from the suction mount you need to be.
The third thrusting model in the field doesn’t thrust under its own power. The Vibrating Ass Fucker has a spring-loaded mechanism that gives way and pushes back when the movement comes from outside, and the motor only drives the vibration. Shop descriptions are often worded to make it sound like the opposite, and anyone who wants motor-driven thrusting should read the manufacturer’s own description before buying.
What counts as an anal dildo here — and what has its own guide
Shops put everything anal in the same category, and the search term anal dildo pulls in a range that spans from glass beads to steel hooks. This guide only ranks what is built for in-and-out movement: anal dildos, including the extra-long snakes, anal vibrators and thrusting anal vibrators. Three product types that often end up in the same search results have their own reviews, and the eight models from this review that belong there are listed among the excluded further down.
Plugs and cones, which are built to stay in place or for gradual stretching, are ranked in best butt plugs. Anal beads and anal chains, where the product is a row of separate beads on a flexible shaft, are ranked in best anal beads. Prostate vibrators, with their curved shape and often an arm against the perineum, are ranked in best prostate vibrators. No product in this list is ranked in any of those three.
Two of the seven do, however, appear in guides that divide the field by a different property than use. Crystal Heart is also ranked among glass dildos, because the material is its entire case, and the Vibrating Ass Thruster also among thrusting vibrators, because the mechanism is. The rating is the same in both guides — it comes from the same review — but the field of comparison is different, and so the placing can differ.
How the order was worked out
Fifteen models were read against the manufacturers’ own specifications, dimension drawings, manuals and, where applicable, EU declarations of conformity, with the shops’ product pages as a supplement where the manufacturer publishes nothing. Seven are ranked here. Every figure in the table has a source link in the product’s own review, and how the rating is set is explained under how I evaluate. The order follows the rating, never the other way round, and the ratings are exactly as in the reviews.
Two criteria are common to all seven: materials and hygiene, and price for performance. The other three follow the product type. The three models without electronics are assessed on shape and size, the design of the base and care — there is no runtime to weigh in. The four motorised ones are assessed on battery and charging, waterproofing and function. That means a rating of 5.9 for a PVC snake and 5.9 for a thrusting vibrator is not the same kind of 5.9, and that is why the text below always says what the rating is made up of.
The materials rating shows the spread of the field most clearly. The glass in Crystal Heart gets 9.3, the silicone in the Dual Sided 8.0, the silicone and ABS in the Vibrating Ass Thruster 7.8 and in the Ass Fucker 7.0, the Anal Power’s mix 6.0 — and the two snakes in plasticised PVC without a phthalate declaration 3.4 and 3.5 respectively. It is the largest single difference in the whole review, and it explains more of the order than the number of modes does.
Two models on 5.9 — how fourth and fifth place were decided
The Anal Power Thrusting Vibrator and the Extreme XXL Anal Snake both have 5.9 in their reviews. Two such different products on the same rating need a rule, and the rule here is the same as for the whole site: the one that publishes its measurements wins.
The Anal Power has a complete dimension drawing from the manufacturer with insertable length, insertable diameter, base width, total length at rest and when extended, stroke length and thrust frequency. The Snake has three manufacturer specifications — 45 centimetres, 3 centimetres and PVC — and an insertable length that only one retailer gives. The Anal Power therefore takes fourth place. It is not a verdict on the snake, which has a wide base and no electronics that can run out, but an account of which of the two you know more about before buying.
Why none gets the award for beginners
Three of the seven carry an award: best overall, the premium pick and the writer’s choice. The beginner award is not given, and that is an honest answer rather than a gap. Crystal Heart has the smallest measurements and the clearest base, but glass doesn’t give, and 3 centimetres of glass feels like more than 3 centimetres of silicone — the review explicitly calls it no obvious first anal purchase. The Dual Sided starts at 2.8 centimetres but has no stop. The rest are motorised, extra long or both.
Beginners should therefore start somewhere else: with a small plug with a wide base, where best butt plugs has several models built for exactly that, or with the smallest chains in best anal beads. No budget award is given either: the cheapest models in the field are the two PVC snakes, and a budget label on them would have been a recommendation of a material without a phthalate declaration to someone looking for their first anal toy.
Three measurements decide the purchase: insertable length, diameter and base width
Total length is the measurement that appears biggest in the product name and the one that tells you least. It includes the handle, base, motor housing and suction cup, and on the motorised models a large part of the product never comes anywhere near the body. The three measurements that actually describe what you are buying are how much can be inserted, how thick the product is at its thickest point, and how wide the end is.
The field is unevenly documented on all three. Insertable length is published by the manufacturer or distributor for five of the seven. The diameter is published by the manufacturer for six of the seven — for Crystal Heart it comes from retailers — and for four of them at least one retailer, or the manufacturer’s own packaging, gives a different value. Base width is published for two of the seven. The last is the biggest gap in the category, because it is precisely the measurement that decides safety.
Insertable length: from 11 centimetres to 41, and two that don’t say
The published insertable lengths, from shortest: Dual Sided 11 centimetres per end according to the distributor’s table, Crystal Heart 11.5, Ass Fucker 12.5 according to the instructions, Vibrating Ass Thruster 15.2 and Anal Power 17.5. For the two snakes the manufacturer publishes no insertable length at all; retailers give 41 centimetres for the Snake and 40 for the Serpent, but those are shop figures and should be read as estimates.
The Ass Fucker is the clearest example in the field of why it matters which source you read. The manufacturer’s instructions state 12.5 centimetres and the manufacturer’s own packaging 15.2 — a difference of 2.7 centimetres in the same manufacturer’s material. Retailers’ total lengths for the same item range from 21 to 34 centimetres, against the manufacturer’s 19 in the retracted position. Go by the lower value if fit is decisive.
In practice: a long product is not harder in itself, since you decide how much of it is used. What makes it demanding is the combination of length and an end that doesn’t stop, or length and a motor that moves by itself. Always read the length together with the base and the drive, never on its own.
Diameter: 2.8 to 5 centimetres, and what that means in circumference
The published diameters, from slimmest: the Dual Sided’s row of bulbs starts at 2.8 and ends at 3.7 centimetres. Crystal Heart is 3 centimetres at its widest according to retailers and the Snake 3 centimetres according to the manufacturer, the Ass Fucker 3.4 according to the instructions, the Dual Sided’s realistic side and the Serpent 3.5, the Vibrating Ass Thruster 3.6 and the Anal Power 5 centimetres. From slimmest to thickest, that is almost a doubling of the measurement that decides whether the product can be used at all.
Circumference is the diameter times pi, and it makes the differences clearer. 3 centimetres becomes just under 9.5 centimetres in circumference, 3.6 becomes just over 11, and 5 centimetres becomes almost 16. The step from Crystal Heart to Anal Power is therefore just over six centimetres all the way round, on products that are both sold as anal dildos.
Two things make the figure harder to read than it looks. The material: glass doesn’t give at all, and 3 centimetres of glass feels like more than 3 centimetres of a yielding material. And the shape: a row of bulbs or a spiral rib varies along the shaft, whereas the Serpent’s 3.5 centimetres applies all the way from the tip to the neck. The maximum diameter tells you how thick the product gets, not for how long it stays that thick.
Base width: published for two of the seven
The Ass Fucker’s 8.9-centimetre suction cup and the Anal Power’s 7-centimetre base are the only published base measurements in the field. For Crystal Heart, the manufacturer’s own images show that the handle is wider than the bulbs, but no measurement is given. For the snakes, the manufacturer writes wide base without a figure, and for the Vibrating Ass Thruster neither the suction cup’s diameter nor its holding strength is published.
What you can check yourself before buying is the relationship between the base and the thickest point of the shaft. A base should be clearly wider than the shaft, not just slightly wider, and ideally cast in the same piece as the rest of the product. The Serpent review points out the neck of the base plate as the most stressed point on the product and asks you to check it for cracks before every use. That advice applies to all PVC products with a base plate.
Glass, silicone or PVC — and what is declared
Material is the dividing line that explains most of the order, and the only property that cannot be compensated for with experience or care. The field contains three material families: one glass, four in silicone or silicone with ABS plastic, and two in plasticised PVC.
Glass is non-porous, contains no plasticisers and does not age. It doesn’t absorb grease or fragrance, doesn’t become sticky and tolerates all lubes in material terms. The price of that is that glass is brittle and doesn’t give. Crystal Heart is the only glass product here, and that is why it has the highest materials rating in the field even though the manufacturer states neither the glass grade nor a standard.
Silicone is also non-porous when it is pure silicone, and the Dual Sided is the only motorised model where the whole body is stated as 100 per cent silicone in one piece. The other three motorised models combine silicone in the insertable part with ABS plastic in the handle or motor housing. That is not a problem in itself — ABS is also non-porous — but it means a seam between two materials, and the seam is where residue collects.
Plasticised PVC is the weakest material in the field, and the two snakes are made of it. PVC needs plasticisers to become flexible, and without a declaration from the manufacturer there is no way of knowing which. The material can’t be boiled or put in the dishwasher, is harder to get completely clean than silicone and glass, and should be regarded as a consumable whose surface ages.
Phthalates: two of the seven have a published test
Phthalates are plasticisers used to make plastic flexible, and several of them are restricted in the EU under the REACH regulation, where Annex XVII lists the restricted substances. That makes being phthalate-free something that can be substantiated — if someone publishes the evidence.
Two manufacturers do. Pipedream’s EU declaration of conformity for the Vibrating Ass Thruster states testing under IEC 62321-8 and REACH Annex XVII, entries 51 and 52. Pipedream’s EC declaration of conformity for the Vibrating Ass Fucker states testing under BS EN 14372 against the same annex. A named test method in a manufacturer’s document is a considerably stronger statement than the word phthalate-free in a shop description.
For Hidden Desire’s four models no phthalate declaration is published at all, neither for the silicone products nor for the PVC snakes. For the snakes, retailers claim the material is phthalate-free or body-safe, but the manufacturer does not, and those are two different kinds of claim. Glass needs no declaration, since the material contains no plasticisers whatsoever. If you want to know more about the terms, there is the glossary.
Motor or not: what the electronics give you and what they cost
Three of the seven have no electronics at all: Crystal Heart and the two snakes. They have no runtime, no charging cable and no ingress protection rating to keep track of, and they can’t stop working other than by breaking. Four have a motor, and those four differ from each other more than they resemble each other.
The Dual Sided has only vibration, spread across two motors. The Vibrating Ass Fucker has vibration and a spring-loaded, passive thrust. The Vibrating Ass Thruster and Anal Power have motor-driven thrusting and vibration, and the Thruster heat as well. Two have a wireless remote, three have a suction mount, none has app control. So these are four different products that are all sold as anal vibrators.
What the electronics cost beyond money is lifespan. A product with a sealed battery is used up when the cell is. None of the four states a replaceable battery, and for the Dual Sided and the Ass Fucker it is stated explicitly that the battery is moulded in and sealed respectively. Anyone who wants an anal dildo for many years will opt out of the motor, and that is the real argument for the three models without electronics.
Battery and charging: from two hours to no figure at all
The published runtimes: Vibrating Ass Thruster two hours on an hour and a half of charging, Anal Power 60 minutes on 240 minutes of charging, Ass Fucker 40 minutes on an hour and a half. The Dual Sided publishes neither runtime nor charging time — even though the same manufacturer fills in both fields for the Anal Power. None of the four publishes battery capacity.
The ratio between charging and use says more than runtime alone. The Thruster charges for less time than it runs. The Anal Power charges four times as long as it runs, and that is the figure that matters most day to day. The Ass Fucker sits in between, but with the shortest runtime in absolute terms.
The charging connector is a question rarely asked before buying and often asked afterwards. The Dual Sided has a product-specific DC socket and the Ass Fucker a magnetic cable with a specified pin spacing — neither of them charges with an ordinary USB-C cable. For the Thruster and the Anal Power only USB is stated, without a connector type. Pipedream states explicitly that it doesn’t sell replacement chargers. Keep the cable together with the product.
Waterproofing: IPX6, IPX6, IPX4 and a dispute between IPX0 and IPX7
Ingress protection ratings are given according to the IEC 60529 standard. IPX4 means protection against splashing, IPX6 protection against powerful water jets, IPX7 immersion to one metre for thirty minutes. None of the motorised models in the field can be counted as IPX7.
The Vibrating Ass Thruster and the Dual Sided are IPX6: rinse under the tap, but don’t submerge in a bath or sink. The Anal Power is IPX4, and the manual explicitly forbids submersion and water getting into the battery compartment. The Ass Fucker is the strangest case in the field: the instructions state IPX0 and that the product must not be exposed to water, while the EC declaration of conformity for the same item number states IPX7. The product-specific manual carries the most weight, and the product should be treated as not waterproof.
For the three without electronics, the question is a different one. Glass and solid PVC have no casing and no opening where water can do damage, and the whole product can be rinsed. An IP rating on such a product is meaningless — and when a retailer nonetheless gives IPX5 for the Serpent, it is the shop filling in a field that doesn’t belong on the product.
Cleaning and lube, material by material
Clean before and after every use. It is the same rule for all seven, and it matters more anally than vaginally because the bacterial flora is different. The same reason lies behind the rule that a product that has been used anally should never go on to vaginal use without first being cleaned thoroughly — that applies particularly to Crystal Heart, which one retailer markets for both vaginal and anal use.
Glass: warm water and mild soap or toy cleaner, dry completely, store in a separate pouch. Inspect against the light and with your fingertips before every use, and throw the product away if it has been dropped on a hard floor. Silicone with electronics: rinse only as far as the ingress protection rating allows, wipe around buttons and charging contact, and let it dry completely before charging. PVC: lukewarm water and unscented soap, extra carefully in the scale pattern and spiral groove, air-dry completely, never boil or put in the dishwasher, and store separately from other soft-plastic products because plasticisers migrate between materials.
The lube follows the material. For silicone: water-based, since silicone-based lube breaks down silicone surfaces over time and makes them porous — that applies to all four motorised models, and both Pipedream and Hidden Desire say water-based in their manuals. For PVC: both water-based and silicone-based work, and on a product 45 centimetres long a silicone-based or thicker lube is an advantage because it lasts longer. For glass: the material tolerates everything, but Toy Joy’s general manual states water-based, and water-based rinses off a slippery glass surface more easily. Whatever the material: plenty, and never numbing. The longer run-through is in the guide to lube for anal sex, and a ranking of lubes can be found in best lube.
Six mistakes this category punishes harder than others
Buying an anal toy without a base and then letting go of it. The Dual Sided has no stopper edge, and the manual requires it to be held at all times. There is nothing wrong with the product as long as you know that — and it is a serious problem if you don’t.
Choosing a size by total length. Total length includes the handle, motor housing and suction cup. It is the insertable length and maximum diameter that describe the product, and for the Ass Fucker the manufacturer’s own documents give two different insertable lengths.
Starting with a motorised or extra-long model. The manufacturer’s own manual for the Anal Power asks you to start with a smaller diameter. That is advice, not a disclaimer, and it applies to all four motorised models and both snakes.
Taking the word waterproof for an ingress protection rating. The highest substantiated rating in the field is IPX6, which withstands jets but not submersion. For the Ass Fucker the instructions say IPX0, even though retailers write waterproof.
Using silicone-based lube on silicone, or numbing lube on anything. The first ruins the surface over time. The second removes the signal that tells you to stop.
Trusting a retailer’s measurements over the manufacturer’s. Three retailers give the wrong diameter for the Serpent, one gives the wrong diameter for the Snake, and retailers’ total lengths for the Ass Fucker vary by thirteen centimetres. Where the manufacturer publishes a value, that is the one that applies.
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