Compare chilli heat: Scoville scale tool
Made for the curious: teachers explaining the Scoville scale, students checking sources, cooks comparing chillies, and anyone who wants to know how hot a chilli is. Every figure comes with its source. Free to use.
Chilli heat is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU). On this chart it runs from 0 for a bell pepper to an average of 2,693,000 for Pepper X, which Guinness World Records names as the world's hottest (Atwal, 2023). Start with a chilli you already know, such as a jalapeño, and see how many times hotter the others are. Or pick any two and compare them. The number comes from a dilution test. A rating of 5,000 SHU means the chilli's extract had to be diluted about 5,000 times before the heat disappeared (Bosland and Walker, 2010). You don't need to learn the numbers.
Figures last checked: 11 October 2026.
Compare two chillies
Find a chilli
Pick a chilli you already know and the result will say how the chilli you find compares. A jalapeño is a good place to start.
Missing a chilli? Tell us about it. Please include its name and, if you can, a link to a published heat range. We only add chillies that have a source.
Heat chart
Every chilli we hold, in one list from the hottest to the mildest, with a bar for each. You can also download the chart as an image or print it. The list will grow as we review sources before adding new chillies. The image and the printed chart are made when you ask for them, so they include every chilli we have verified at that time. The image follows the order and filters you have chosen. A plain table of every chilli is on the Scoville scale chart page.
Each bar shows the published range for that item on a log scale, so each gridline to the right is ten times hotter (1m is one million SHU). The name, band and numbers are written out beside every bar. You can also press "Compare" on any row.
What the bands mean
Bands and their descriptions are our own, not an official scale, and tolerance varies from person to person. An item sits in the band that holds the middle of its range.
How to read the chart
Heat on the Scoville scale is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU). A bigger number means more capsaicin, said kap-SAY-ih-sin (Cambridge Dictionary, no date), and related compounds, the chemicals that cause the burning feeling. A jalapeño is about 2,500 to 8,000 SHU (Lynch, 2013). A habanero is about 100,000 to 350,000 (Zepp, 2026). The hottest chilli on record, Pepper X, averages 2,693,000 (Atwal, 2023). Every figure on this site has a named source: see the figures page and the About page.
The scale is wide, so the chart uses a log scale: moving one gridline to the right means ten times more heat. That is the only way to fit a bell pepper and a Carolina Reaper on one page and still read both.
Two things are worth remembering. First, every figure is a range, because two peppers of the same variety can differ a lot. Second, a "times hotter" figure is a rough guide drawn from the middle of each range. To see how the measurement works, and where it falls short, read how the Scoville scale works. To see where the figures come from, read the About page.
Chillies and chilli products can irritate skin and eyes. See the handling notes on the how it works page, and read our health warning about chilli eating challenges.
References
- Atwal, S. (2023) 'Pepper X dethrones Carolina Reaper as world's hottest chilli pepper', Guinness World Records, 16 October. Available at: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/10/pepper-x-dethrones-carolina-reaper-as-worlds-hottest-chilli-pepper-759706 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Bosland, P.W. and Walker, S.J. (2010) Measuring chile pepper heat. Guide H-237. Las Cruces: New Mexico State University. Available at: https://pubs.nmsu.edu/_h/H237/ (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Cambridge Dictionary (no date) Capsaicin. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus, Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/capsaicin (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Lynch, K. (2013) 'Confirmed: Smokin Ed's Carolina Reaper sets new record for hottest chilli', Guinness World Records, 19 November. Available at: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2013/11/confirmed-smokin-eds-carolina-reaper-sets-new-record-for-hottest-chilli-53033 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).
- Zepp, M. (2026) 'Hot peppers: preserving the heat!', Penn State Extension, updated 8 July. Available at: https://extension.psu.edu/hot-peppers-preserving-the-heat (Accessed: 11 October 2026).