There are a lot of ice-cream chains out there, but Baskin-Robbins and Cold Stone Creamery are among the most popular.
Baskin-Robbins has thousands of shops across the US and outside of it, and Cold Stone Creamery has several hundred locations worldwide. Both chains have many storefronts — but which has the tastiest ice cream?
To answer this question, I ordered and compared the same items from both chains — vanilla ice cream with M&M’s in a cup, chocolate ice cream in a cone, and a strawberry milkshake.
Although the prices in this comparison are what I paid when I completed this in late 2023, current menu prices have been added for additional context.
Here’s how my orders compared.
My first stop was Baskin-Robbins.
The store’s exterior was decked out with bright colors — the door handle was even shaped like its signature pink spoon.
Inside, I saw a variety of dipped, decorated, and plain cones on display, along with candy toppings, ice-cream cakes, and other desserts. I loved the store’s youthful, vibrant vibe.
The chocolate ice cream was very creamy.
I paid $3.59 for a single scoop of chocolate ice cream on a cone, and it looked like a decent portion size.
A sugar cone was my only option. According to the chain’s online menu, this scoop should’ve contained about 4 ounces of ice cream.
I was pleasantly surprised by how good the chocolate ice cream was on its own. The texture was really creamy, and the flavor was incredibly rich.
Today, this cone would cost me about $5.44 — $4.99 for a scoop, plus $0.45 for a cone.
There were a lot of M&M’s mixed into my vanilla ice cream, but I wasn’t a fan of the flavor of my scoop.
My cup of vanilla ice cream was $3.59, and the M&M’s topping cost an additional $0.89. Again, the portion seemed large for a single scoop. I liked that there was a generous amount of M&M’s.
The vanilla flavor wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, with a bit of an old-fashioned, mild taste. I usually love vanilla ice cream — especially with flecks of vanilla bean as this appeared to have — but this one was so-so.
Based on current prices, the cup of ice cream would now cost about $4.99, and the topping an extra $0.99.
My small strawberry milkshake wasn’t bad.
At Baskin-Robbins, I could turn any of the store’s flavors into a milkshake. There were three size options, and I could get my treat with or without whipped cream.
I ordered a small, 16-ounce strawberry milkshake without whipped cream for $6.19.
I was surprised by how quickly the milkshake was made. It wasn’t very thick, but still had a good body to it.
The shake —complete with what seemed to be flecks of real strawberries — had a strong fruity flavor, making it a very tasty and overall excellent milkshake.
Baskin-Robbins near me now charge about $7.99 for this milkshake.
Next, I visited a Cold Stone Creamery to order the same three items.
Aside from its big red logo, the Cold Stone Creamery I visited wasn’t quite as colorful as the Baskin-Robbins. Still, the place felt pretty welcoming and had plenty of options.
I loved looking at Cold Stone’s massive display of flavors. There was a wide range of toppings, which the employees can mix into your ice cream on a frozen granite stone in front of you.
My scoop of chocolate ice cream came in a huge cone.
I ordered a single scoop of chocolate ice cream — a “Like It” size — for $6.25.
According to the website, the size I ordered should’ve given me about 5 ounces of ice cream, an ounce more than what I got at Baskin-Robbins.
I asked for it in a cone — which was an additional $1.95 — making the total over $8 for a single scoop, which I thought was pretty expensive.
To be fair, though, I could’ve had two ice cream flavors mixed together and a topping mixed in (the Cold Stone signature) for no extra charge.
Cold Stone had several scoop sizes, but minimal cone sizes. Although the big waffle cone had a more premium feel than a basic wafer or sugar cone, it made my small scoop of ice cream look disappointing.
It also threw off my cone-to-ice-cream ratio and made the dessert feel imbalanced.
Cone aside, the ice cream was incredibly creamy, but it didn’t have a very strong chocolate flavor, and I wished it packed a bit more of a punch.
Based on current prices, this ice cream would now cost about $6.95, plus an extra $1.75 for the cone.
My vanilla scoop didn’t have much candy mixed in.
I ordered a small single scoop — or a “Like It” size — of vanilla ice cream for $6.25. As with the cone, the single scoop comes with one free mix-in, and I chose M&M’s.
Again, I could’ve mixed two flavors together for no extra charge, but I wanted to keep my order simple.
The ice cream was creamy and luscious with a delicious vanilla flavor, but I was surprised that the scoop of M&M’s in my cup seemed so small.
The current price for this menu item would be about $6.95.
I didn’t love the texture of my milkshake from Cold Stone Creamery.
I love a good, balanced milkshake — but what I ordered here didn’t deliver. I ordered a small (“Like It” size) strawberry milkshake for $7.
I declined my one free mix-in and chose to order my milkshake without whipped cream.
The 12-ounce milkshake was made incredibly fast — but I was left disappointed. It mostly tasted like plain milk to me, and the texture felt too thin and liquidy.
It would now cost about $8.95 to order a small milkshake at a Cold Stone Creamery near me.
Ultimately, Baskin-Robbins was my favorite of the two chains.
Overall, I definitely see myself returning to Baskin-Robbins.
I wouldn’t get the chain’s vanilla ice cream again, but I appreciated how generous the toppings were on my scoop. I loved the chocolate ice cream and felt the milkshake here was more impressive than the one I got at Cold Stone.
Generally, I found that Baskin-Robbins had more affordable options than Cold Stone Creamery — even when calculating cost per ounce and reviewing more up-to-date prices.
Cold Stone has an amazing list of flavors and toppings to choose from, and I could see it being a great value for those who want a super customized dessert. After all, the cost of adding toppings or trying several flavors at once can really add up at most other chains.
However, I was looking for simpler offerings this time around, and Baskin-Robbins was the clear winner of this taste test for me.
This story was originally published on August 27, 2023, and most recently updated on May 29, 2026.
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