Comparison
Nootka or LeisureCraft: which barrel sauna should you buy?
Nootka's 8 ft barrel if you live in the West or want the heater in one price; LeisureCraft's Harmony if you're in Ontario and want Ontario wood.
Buy Nootka's 8 ft barrel if you live in British Columbia or out west, or you'd like one price that covers the heater and the controls. Buy LeisureCraft's Canadian Timber Harmony if you're in Ontario and want a sauna built from Ontario wood, or a dealer you can visit. Both seat four and come from Canadian shops, and once each has a Canadian-built heater, Nootka's comes out about $1,000 cheaper by our math.
The two barrels compared like for like
We've matched Nootka's 8 ft barrel with LeisureCraft's Harmony, the four-seat barrel in its Canadian Timber line. To compare whole purchases, we've priced each with a Canadian-built electric heater and its control, since neither kit is ready to use without one.
| Nootka 8 ft Barrel | LeisureCraft Harmony CTC22 | |
|---|---|---|
| Built in | Squamish, BC | Melancthon, ON |
| Wood | Western red cedar, milled locally | Eastern white cedar from Ontario mills |
| Seats (maker) | 4 with electric heat, 2 with a wood stove | 4 |
| Outside size | About 2 × 2.4 m (6 ft 7 in × 7 ft 10 in) | About 2 × 2.2 m (79 × 86 in) |
| Shell price | $7,950 | $7,509 at Backyard Canada |
| Heater and control | Nootka 9 kW with touchscreen, $950 | Homecraft Revive Slim 6 kW $1,745 plus outdoor control $700 |
| Price with heater, by our math | $8,900 | About $9,950 |
| How you buy it | Direct from Nootka | Through a LeisureCraft dealer |
| Delivery and assembly | Built on site around Vancouver; a crate elsewhere | A kit, shipped flat for one fee by Backyard Canada |
| Warranty | Parts and shipping for 1 year, parts for 2, structure against rot to 5 | 5 years, parts only, LeisureCraft says |
Prices read Oct 10–11, 2026, from Nootka's configurator and Backyard Canada's store, before freight, stones and tax. LeisureCraft's warranty page wasn't loading, so its terms come from its model pages. We paired the Harmony with a Homecraft Revive Slim 6 kW, the size LeisureCraft recommends for this barrel, at Backyard Canada's prices; Backyard Canada itself suggests an 8 kW Homecraft.
With a heater in each, Nootka costs less
LeisureCraft's shell is about $440 cheaper, but it comes without a heater. Nootka adds its 9 kW heater and a touchscreen control for $950, while a Homecraft Revive Slim and its outdoor control add close to $2,450 at Backyard Canada. Nootka ends up about $1,000 ahead, by our math, before freight on either.
Both heaters come from BC, since Nootka's Cube page names its heater as a Homecraft Revive. Stones cost extra for the Homecraft, and we couldn't tell from Nootka's configurator whether its heater ships with them, so ask each seller before you compare final quotes.
Where to buy
Nootka Saunas Outdoor Saunas
Nootka 8ft Barrel Sauna
Built in Squamish, British Columbia · with imported parts
LeisureCraft Outdoor Saunas
LeisureCraft Canadian Timber Harmony Barrel Sauna CTC22W
Built in Melancthon, Ontario
Homecraft Saunas Heaters & Stoves
Homecraft Revive Slim
Built in British Columbia
The wood is the other real difference
Nootka's barrel is western red cedar milled near Squamish. The Harmony is eastern white cedar, which LeisureCraft buys from Ontario sawmills. Measured side by side, the two woods are close to identical for a sauna, and what you'll notice is the colour: red cedar reads darker and warmer, white cedar paler. Our red vs white cedar guide goes through the numbers.
If you'd like a LeisureCraft barrel in red cedar, its Dundalk line uses BC red cedar, though we haven't found a Canadian dealer listing one with a clear price.
You buy them in different ways
Nootka sells from its own site, takes a 15% deposit and builds each barrel to order. In the Lower Mainland and along the Sea to Sky Highway, its own crew puts the barrel together in your yard in an afternoon, and everyone else gets a crate by freight.
LeisureCraft sells through more than 75 Canadian dealers and posts no prices of its own. You can see one in a showroom and play dealers off against each other, and you'll be putting the kit together yourself unless your dealer offers assembly.
LeisureCraft's warranty runs longer on paper
LeisureCraft promises five years of warranty cover on its sauna packages, and its model pages say that cover replaces parts only. Labour and installation aren't included.
Nootka's terms are published and narrower. It covers parts and shipping for a year, parts alone in the second, and from the third year to the fifth only the structure, and then only for rot that penetrates a board fully. Homecraft's own heater warranty would apply to a heater bought for a LeisureCraft kit.
For a group, the gap widens
Nootka's 10 ft barrel seats eight with electric heat and costs $10,300 with the heater. LeisureCraft's longest Canadian Timber barrel, the Tranquility, seats six and costs $8,226 at Backyard Canada before you add one. For six people in Ontario, LeisureCraft's Georgian cabin is the other option we'd look at.
Where to buy
Nootka Saunas Outdoor Saunas
Nootka 10ft Barrel Sauna
Built in Squamish, British Columbia · with imported parts
LeisureCraft Outdoor Saunas
LeisureCraft Canadian Timber Georgian Cabin Sauna CTC88W
Built in Melancthon, Ontario
Which one we'd buy
In BC or Alberta, we'd buy the Nootka. It costs less with a heater, it's built close by, and around Vancouver it arrives standing.
In Ontario or Quebec, we'd buy the LeisureCraft, for the Ontario cedar, a dealer you can visit and the longer warranty on paper. Its kit costs more once it has a heater, and you'll be the one who builds it. Our full reviews of Nootka and LeisureCraft cover each range.
How did we compare them?
We read Nootka's configurator, FAQ, warranty page and heater manual, LeisureCraft's model pages and product summary, and Backyard Canada's listings for the Harmony and Homecraft's heaters and controls on Oct 10 and 11, 2026. Prices with a heater are our sums of the listed prices. Each product page links the maker's statement of where it builds.
Common questions
- Is Nootka or LeisureCraft cheaper?
- LeisureCraft's Harmony shell is cheaper at $7,509 against $7,950 for Nootka's 8 ft barrel, but Nootka is cheaper once both have a heater. With a Canadian-built heater and control, Nootka's barrel costs $8,900 and the Harmony about $9,950, by our math.
- Where are Nootka and LeisureCraft saunas built?
- Nootka's shop is in Squamish, British Columbia, and it uses western red cedar milled nearby. LeisureCraft's factory is in Melancthon, Ontario, and its Canadian Timber line uses eastern white cedar from Ontario sawmills, according to each company.
- Is a heater included with a LeisureCraft sauna?
- No. LeisureCraft's Canadian Timber kits are sold without a heater. Backyard Canada pairs the Harmony barrel with a Homecraft electric heater and control, sold separately, and LeisureCraft also makes its own TimberGlow wood stove.
- Which has the better warranty, Nootka or LeisureCraft?
- LeisureCraft says its sauna packages carry a five-year warranty, though its terms weren't available when we checked. Nootka publishes its terms: full coverage for a year, parts for two, and the structure against rot for five.
We review from makers’ documentation, owner reports and published research. How we choose products and write reviews.
