This is just one part of our Anal Sex Advice & Guide to the Anal Only Lifestyle section. Be sure to read the rest as well to get answers to our most frequently asked questions! New! This guide is also now available as a Kindle ebook!

We commonly get requests for suggestions of the best butt plugs and dildos to use for anal training and masturbation. Unfortunately, that’s not a very simple question to answer, because there are so many variants, preferences, and stages of training that people are in, and everyone’s body is different. Ultimately you may need to buy several before settling on something that works best for you. In this guide, we’ll outline some basic guidelines, suggestions for some good toys and toy manufacturers, and get you pointed in the right direction to find the best toy for you.

Body safe materials for anal toys

The sex toy industry is a fairly unregulated market, and as such there are a lot of cheap toys out there made from materials that aren’t particularly body safe, in particular jelly and other cheap plastic/rubber variants.

A basic guideline is to only buy toys made of silicone, glass or stainless steel. However, it’s not always that simple. Some products can be advertised as being made of silicone but aren’t actually, or are some sort of mix that contains silicone. Similarly, not all glass is made the same, and while high quality glass toys are tempered well and extremely strong so that even dropping them on the ground from a significant height won’t break them, cheap glass toys may not be so strong.

Buying from a quality manufacturer or a local sex toy shop that has a knowledgeable staff is a good way to ensure that you end up with a quality, safe toy—but that can come with a cost, as well. It’s worth it, though, as a good toy will last you a long time and keep you safe at the same time.

Butt plug recommendations

Butt plugs are a type of toy designed to be inserted into the anus, with a broad base that keeps them from going any further, and an internal bulb or flange that holds them inside so they can remain in place during other activities. People will wear them while masturbating or during other sexual activity for passive stimulation and anal training, or around the house, while sleeping, or even while out and about during the day once they’re comfortable keeping it in long-term. Some people enjoy the sensations and relaxing/training benefits of a butt plug that they end up wearing them nearly all the time when not having sex or using the bathroom.

For someone just starting with anal play, it can be very tempting to dive straight into getting yourself some toys, but it’s usually a better idea to start anal masturbation with fingers first (see our anal training guide) and work your way up until you can comfortably fit at least three fingers before advancing to a toy, just because if you start with a very small “training” butt plug, it’s usually going to be too small to stay inside comfortably and you’ll very quickly want something a bit larger, so it just isn’t all that effective for most people.

Once you’re ready for your first butt plug, however, it can be daunting to find out which one to get. Size-wise, you’ll want to find something similar in size or a little larger than what you’re already comfortable fitting as part of your anal training process.

Jeweled, or “princess”, plugs are a popular option because of their aesthetic appeal, and while it can definitely be worth having one or more in your collection, be aware that they aren’t always very comfortable to wear for the long term compared to other more ergonomically designed plugs, due to the sharper edges on the base of the plug. Additionally, the “neck” of these plugs isn’t typically very thick, making it not as effective as others in holding your anal sphincter muscles open and helping them relax for anal training or warmup purposes. They still can be effective, just not quite as effective as a training plug. It’s popular to have one of these for the aesthetic purposes, wearing before a date or right before sex as a visual enhancer of sexiness, but also to have a more utilitarian plug that’s designed to comfortably fit your body and help with anal training and warmup.

Other stainless steel plugs that are more ergonomically designed include the Njoy Pure Plugs (and the Pure Plug 2.0), which are beautifully polished steel in a very comfortable and ergonomic shape. These still have a somewhat narrow neck, but it’s tapered and offers a bit more of a “stretch” than some thinner options. Very comfortable for long-term wear.

There are many options for high quality silicone plugs. Some really enjoy the softness and give that silicone plugs have, since they aren’t as rigid and unyielding inside you as you wear them, but they can also have increased friction due to the less-polished surface compared to steel or glass, and may require the addition of more lube over time as you wear it for a longer period of time. Good silicone plug manufacturers include Tantus (including the Tantus Ryder as a good beginning/intermediate plug), the Implicit Creations Core Plug (which comes in three sizes), and SquarePegToys (which make very large toys for more advanced users but also make some smaller options like the very comfortable Egg Plug). Bad Dragon also makes very high quality silicone products, but they mostly focus on larger toys and dildos (their Egg Plug does come in a range of sizes, however).

Glass plugs sometimes will have a larger neck with a wide, round base, while others will be more ergonomic and have a narrower neck. There are many options out there for glass plugs, so asking the staff at a toy shop for recommendations here may be the best.

Dildos

There are far more dildo options out there than butt plugs, and the same set of material options is available for dildos. The difference is that steel and glass dildos tend to be held in the hand and used to actively masturbate more, while silicone (and other, lower quality material) dildos have more of a base, often with a suction cup, to allow riding the toy while it remains in places on the floor or a wall.

Basic silicone, steel and glass dildos can be found on Amazon or in your local sex toy shop. Higher quality steel dildos can be found through Njoy. Tantus, SquarePegToys and BadDragon all make very high quality silicone dildos.

Sizing up to a larger plug or dildo

After a while, especially when you’re still getting into anal play and training, it’s normal to want to go to a larger size toy, and it can be a standard part of the process of working towards anal sex to use incrementally larger toys as you advance through your training until you get to the size of a partner’s penis and are prepared to have sex.

During the early stages, it can be worthwhile to use cheaper (but still safe!) toys and only invest in the high quality toys once you approach a size range you can enjoy long-term, because the very small toys will probably not be very useful for you once you move on to larger toys.

Usually you want to increase toy sizes in approximately 1/4″ to 1/2″ (6mm to 12mm) increments to have enough of an increase that it’s worthwhile but not so much that it’s too big a challenge for you.

Have a suggestion for an additional topic you’d like to see covered here, or a missing or incorrect detail that you’ve found or have concerns about in one of the guides? Please let us know and we’ll do our best to continue improving these guides over time!