Six grills, two fuel types, and one question worth settling before you spend anything: which of these actually fits the way you cook? This comparison covers propane and natural gas grills from Napoleon, Weber, and Bestfire, running from a compact tabletop unit up to a full cart with an infrared side burner. BTU numbers are the least honest figure on any box, so the sorting here leans on details you can confirm before you buy: burner count and layout, what the side burner actually does, how much grate area you get, whether the grill wants a propane tank or a permanent gas line, and how much of the machine is cart versus cooking surface. A household that grills burgers and chicken four nights a week needs a different unit than one that smokes a brisket twice a season.
Related: Propane vs Natural Gas: Setting Up Your Patio Hookup
Quick answer
The Napoleon Rogue PRO 525 4-Burner Propane Grill with Infrared Side Burner is the strongest fit for cooks who want a real sear zone without moving up to a built-in because it pairs four main burners with an infrared side burner in the Rogue PRO line. Choose the Weber Spirit E-425 Gas Grill instead when your patio already has a natural gas line and you would rather skip tank swaps entirely.
Gas grills worth comparing
These six split cleanly into three groups: full cart grills with four or five burners, a three-burner cart with a range-style side burner, and one portable tabletop unit. Fuel type is the first real fork in the road, since the Weber runs on natural gas while the other five are propane.
Napoleon Rogue PRO 525 4-Burner Propane Grill with Infrared Side Burner
A four-burner propane cart grill from the Rogue PRO line, with an infrared side burner for high-heat searing alongside the main cooking surface.
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Weber® Spirit E-425 Gas Grill for Outdoor Cooking, Natural Gas Grill, Black
A four-burner natural gas grill in black, designed for a permanent gas line connection rather than a refillable propane tank.
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Napoleon Rogue 525 4-Burner Propane Grill
The four-burner propane Rogue cart without the infrared side burner, for cooks who want the larger main cooking area and a simpler feature set.
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Napoleon Rogue 425 3-Burner Propane Grill with Range Side Burner
A three-burner propane cart grill with a range-style side burner, the compact cart option in this group.
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Bestfire 68,000 BTU 5 Burner Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner-Professional-Grade Stainless Steel Outdoor BBQ Grill-647 sq in Cooking Space&Porcelain Cast Iron Grrates-Patio Cart Design for Backyard
A five-burner propane cart grill with a side burner, 647 square inches of cooking space, porcelain-coated cast iron grates, and stainless steel construction.
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Bestfire 3-Burner Tabletop Gas Grill, 30,000 BTU Portable Propane Grill with Heavy-Duty Thickened Grates & Knobs, Compact Design&Detachable Legs for Camping, RV, Backyard BBQ
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A 30,000 BTU portable propane grill with three burners, thickened grates, and detachable legs, sized for camping, RV travel, and small patios.
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How these products were compared
This guide compares burner count and layout, fuel type, side burner design, cooking area, and overall form factor, cart or tabletop. Product names, images, and retailer links are matched by ASIN so that every card points to the product shown.
What this comparison does not do is pretend to be a cook test. The differences described below come from the manufacturer product descriptions and the features named in each listing: four burners versus five, infrared side burner versus range side burner, propane versus natural gas, cart versus detachable legs. Where a listing does not state something, this guide does not guess at it. That is a deliberate limit. Burner layout and fuel type predict a lot about how a grill behaves, but they cannot tell you where the hot spot on a particular grate will land, and no spec sheet has ever admitted to one.
How to choose the right gas grill
Start with fuel, because it is the one decision you cannot undo with an accessory. The Weber Spirit E-425 is a natural gas grill, which means a permanent connection to your home gas supply, usually at the patio or an exterior wall. Everything else here runs on propane tanks, which you can move, refill, or take camping. If you already have a stub-out and a shutoff at the patio, natural gas removes the most annoying chore in grilling. If you rent, move often, or like the idea of rolling the grill to a different corner of the yard, propane is the honest answer.
Then look at burner count against grate area. Five burners and 647 square inches on the Bestfire five-burner is a lot of surface, and more burners usually means more zones you can run at different temperatures: one side low for chicken, one side hot for burgers. Four burners on the Napoleon Rogue 525 and the Rogue PRO 525 sit in the middle, and three burners on the Rogue 425 and the tabletop Bestfire are the smaller footprint choices. More burners is not automatically better. A large cooking area with a wide gap between burners can leave a cool strip down the middle, and a small grill with tightly packed burners tends to come back up to temperature faster after you open the lid.
The side burner is the third decision, and the three versions here are genuinely different jobs. An infrared side burner, as on the Rogue PRO 525, is built for high heat in a small area: searing a steak, finishing a chop, getting a cast iron pan screaming hot. A range-style side burner, as on the Rogue 425, behaves more like a kitchen burner and suits a sauce pot or a skillet of onions. A standard side burner, as on the Bestfire five-burner, is the general-purpose version. Decide which of those three jobs you actually have before you pay for the feature.
If fuel is still an open question, our propane versus natural gas walkthrough covers hookups, line sizing, and the questions worth asking before you run a line to the patio.
Finally, decide between a cart and a tabletop. The Bestfire 3-Burner Tabletop is the only portable unit in this group, with detachable legs and a 30,000 BTU output. It is a tailgate and RV grill first and a patio grill second. Everything else here is a cart grill that stays put.
Napoleon Rogue PRO 525 4-Burner Propane Grill with Infrared Side Burner
The Rogue PRO 525 is the top pick because it answers the question most gas grill buyers eventually ask: where does the crust come from? Four main propane burners handle the everyday cooking, and the infrared side burner gives you a dedicated high-heat zone that a standard side burner cannot match. Infrared burners heat a ceramic or metal emitter to temperature and radiate that heat at the food, which is the same principle behind the sear stations on much more expensive built-ins. In practical terms it means you can hold the main grate at a moderate temperature for a whole cook and still put a hard sear on a steak or a piece of fish without cranking the entire grill.
The trade-offs are real. It carries the most features in this group and the most surfaces to clean, since the infrared burner sits in its own housing with its own grate above it. It runs on propane only, so if you wanted natural gas, this is not the model for you. And four burners on a 525-class body rewards a cook who uses zones; if you run every burner wide open every time, you are paying for control you will not use.
Alternatives to consider
The Weber® Spirit E-425 Gas Grill for Outdoor Cooking, Natural Gas Grill, Black is better suited to a patio with an existing natural gas line, where the lack of a propane tank is a feature rather than a limitation, while the Napoleon Rogue 525 4-Burner Propane Grill is a stronger fit when you want the same four-burner propane layout and cooking area without paying for an infrared side burner you may never use.
The Napoleon Rogue 425 3-Burner Propane Grill with Range Side Burner, the Bestfire 68,000 BTU 5 Burner Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner-Professional-Grade Stainless Steel Outdoor BBQ Grill-647 sq in Cooking Space&Porcelain Cast Iron Grrates-Patio Cart Design for Backyard, and the Bestfire 3-Burner Tabletop Gas Grill, 30,000 BTU Portable Propane Grill with Heavy-Duty Thickened Grates & Knobs, Compact Design&Detachable Legs for Camping, RV, Backyard BBQ cover the rest of the field. The Rogue 425 is the compact cart option, with three main burners and a side burner designed for pots and pans rather than searing. The Bestfire five-burner has the largest cooking surface here at 647 square inches, with porcelain-coated cast iron grates and a side burner, which suits a household cooking for a crowd in one pass. The Bestfire tabletop is the only grill here you can fold up and carry, and it is the right pick if the grill needs to travel.
Day-to-day use and maintenance
Gas grills reward a short routine more than they reward enthusiasm. Scrape the grates while they are still warm, empty the drip tray before it fills, and check the burner tubes for blockages at the start of the season. On any grill with a side burner, the side burner is the part people forget, and it is usually the first place grease and debris collect.
For propane models, keep a spare tank and check the hose and regulator connections for cracking once a year. A soapy water test at the connection points is the standard way to check for leaks. For the Weber Spirit E-425, the natural gas connection deserves the same attention, and any work on a fixed gas line belongs to a licensed plumber rather than a weekend project. Covers matter more than most people expect, since a grill left exposed through a wet winter will show it in the igniter first and the burners second.
A word on igniters, because they are the most common early failure on any gas grill. If a model's igniter quits in the first season, you are lighting burners by hand, which is safe when you follow the instructions and annoying every single time. Read the lighting procedure for the exact model you buy and follow the order it specifies.
Buying checklist
- Measure your patio space, including clearance for the lid to open and room to walk behind the grill.
- Choose propane or natural gas based on where the grill will live, not on which one sounds more convenient.
- Match burner count to how you cook: five burners for volume, three or four for a normal household.
- Confirm the exact model includes the side burner type you want, since infrared, range, and standard side burners do different jobs.
- Check what the burner warranty actually covers, not just how large the number of years sounds.
- Read the cleaning and maintenance instructions before the first cook.
- Verify the current retailer price, availability, and return terms.
Final recommendation
Choose the Napoleon Rogue PRO 525 4-Burner Propane Grill with Infrared Side Burner when you want a dedicated sear zone and four-burner flexibility on propane. Choose the Weber® Spirit E-425 Gas Grill for Outdoor Cooking, Natural Gas Grill, Black when a natural gas line is already in place and simple ownership matters more than features. Choose the Bestfire 68,000 BTU 5 Burner Propane Gas Grill with Side Burner-Professional-Grade Stainless Steel Outdoor BBQ Grill-647 sq in Cooking Space&Porcelain Cast Iron Grrates-Patio Cart Design for Backyard when cooking area is the priority, the Napoleon Rogue 425 3-Burner Propane Grill with Range Side Burner when the cart has to be smaller, and the Bestfire 3-Burner Tabletop Gas Grill, 30,000 BTU Portable Propane Grill with Heavy-Duty Thickened Grates & Knobs, Compact Design&Detachable Legs for Camping, RV, Backyard BBQ when the grill needs to move. Any of the six will cook a burger; the differences show up in how many zones you get, how hot the hot side goes, and how much of the machine you have to maintain to keep it that way.