Forbes’ Best Brands For Value List: The Winning Strategies

One car brand is known for economy, but nonetheless gives customers the feeling of high quality. A different car brand, known for luxury, still has a reputation for affordability.

Both cars are made by Toyota: its less expensive Toyota line, and its pricier Lexus line. Yet both rank extremely highly in what consumers consider value—quality for the price.

“When you compare Lexus to Mercedes and BMW—which anybody would point out as our main competitors—our customers typically are more value conscious,” said Andrew Gilleland, Senior Vice President of Automotive Operations Group, Toyota Motor North America. “They’re willing to spend for luxury, but I don’t know that they’re paying as much a premium for the logo on the car.”

As for Toyota, particularly its less expensive sedans, he said: “It’s just a great car. A lot of car companies have pulled out of the sedan business, and we stayed in it because we knew there was a consumer demand for it.”

This duality earned Toyota the distinction of being the only company with two brands in the top 10 of Forbes’ new Best Brands for Value list—and the highest ranking company in the auto industry. The list highlights brands that consumers say consistently deliver the most value for the price, with healthcare company Kaiser Permanente taking the top spot, followed by Costco Tire Center, Lexus, Lands End, Chewy, and Toyota.

Created in partnership with customer-insights company HundredX, the list is derived from a 12-month online survey that asked 158,000 consumers to rate brands and products in more than a dozen categories, including quality, price, customer service and others specific to the brand’s industry. More than 3.8 million ratings were collected across more than 4,000 unique brands.

“Value is a balance between the price that you pay and how it delivers on other top drivers on satisfaction,” said Andre Benjamin, Vice President of Strategy at HundredX. “A best value brand is something that delivers more value to the customers than price sentiment would imply.”

Deloitte Consulting collaborated on the methodology of measuring value. Christina Bieniek, Deloitte Consulting’s US Chief Transformation Officer, added, “Regardless of income level, people are being more focused on getting the most out of every dollar they spend. It’s not just about finding the lowest price. It’s about purchasing something that they feel is worth it.”

As the cost of healthcare soars, it might be surprising that Kaiser Permanente topped the value list. But Kaiser’s patients rated it highly in a wide range of categories, including its premium care facilities, overall quality of care and telemedicine offerings. One respondent said, “All the departments work seamlessly together, and the process is never complicated.” Added another, “Whenever I talk to people who have never had Kaiser, they are shocked at how easy and fast it is to get specialty appointments.”

Brett Davis, Deloitte Consulting’s US Chief Innovation Officer, said that healthcare providers are leaning into improving consumer experiences with digital engagement, patient services and concierge platforms.

“Healthcare systems are pivoting their centricity away from focusing on just getting reimbursed and volume, to actually retaining outcomes—a real paradigm shift as customers spend more of their health care costs, as a share of their overall wallet,” Davis said.

Other top finishers in notable industries, with their overall rank, included: Southwest (Airlines, No. 7), Tito’s (Alcoholic Beverages, No. 37), Canva (Business & Productivity, No. 9), HomeGoods (Home & Furnishings, No. 22), Vizio (Electronics, No. 27), and Chick fil-A (Restaurants, No. 23).

Taking a page from Toyota, Costco had three distinct brands place in the top 20: Costco Tire Center (No. 2), Costco Gas Station (No. 12) and Costco Superstores (No. 18). Costco’s subscription model—revenue from membership fees cover nearly 90% of Costco’s operating costs, according to NASDAQ—allows Costco to charge less for the same products as other retailers.

One respondent said, “Costco is an amazing place to purchase everything from tires to organic foods. I find great quality products for good value and because of the membership, I am able to earn money back for my purchases.” Another added, “I feel that I can generally trust that the price I am getting through Costco is the best value around.”

METHODOLOGY

Created in partnership with the customer-insights company HundredX, Best Brands for Value derives from a wide-ranging online survey conducted from August 2024 through July 2025 that asked 158,000 consumers to rate brands and products they use in more than a dozen categories, including quality, price, customer service and others specific to the brand’s industry (produce quality for supermarkets, atmosphere for restaurants, and so on). Respondents freely named brands they wanted to review; they were not prompted about any specific company, brand or product.

More than 3.8 million ratings were received in the survey overall, with more than 3,500 unique brands reviewed. The top 300 brands made the list.