The Best Rooftop Tents of 2024

Folded, it’s low-profile, with a soft cover and a new base that cuts weight but adds strength and stability. Unzipped and unclipped, it’s easy to set up with telescoping internal poles that click into place.

The Foothill’s wide door left plenty of space to climb in and out of this tent while carrying a duffel bag. Paired with its panoramic rear window and dual skylights, the tent had superb airflow, even on sweltering hot nights. And it provided stargazing from every angle.

Inside, Thule outfits this tent with a high-density foam mattress that practically guarantees sweet dreams. Four internal pockets hold a book, headlamp, and other small items. If you want to get fancy, buy Thule’s 310-thread-count fitted sheets that fit the mattress perfectly. You can also choose Tepui’s insulator, a quilted liner that gives the tent extra insulation for four-season use. Both are sold separately.

The Foothill’s canopy fabric is UV- and mold-resistant, designed to be used year-round. In wet weather, the rainfly attaches quickly. And when you just want air and to see the stars, it folds down and away.

When you’re not using it, the Foothill takes about 10 minutes to remove from the car. It attaches and detaches with four brackets that tighten with a 13mm wrench. Packed for travel, it sits about 9.5 inches taller than a car’s roof rack. Since it only takes up half of your roof space, it needs to be packed down pretty tight. Even leaving bedding in the tent made for a very tight fit when packing it away, so you’ll need to make sure there’s space in your car.

If you want a bigger sleeping area and a little more headroom, the Smittybilt Gen 2 Overlander Tent XL is a little bit larger for about the same price as the Foothill, but the Foothill is a much higher quality tent.

Read Review: The Thule Tepui Foothill

By opting for a wedge shape instead of a tent that lifts in the tip and tail, you save weight and get a simple setup. A wedge tent only needs lifting struts at one end. Plus, the wedge stands up better against heavy wind and rain. Unclip the latch on the back, and the Sparrow EYE 2 opens with a gentle nudge to activate the struts on the front end. There are no tent poles to fiddle with and only one awning to prop up.

The massive door and side windows keep the inside of the tent breezy and cool, even without a fourth wall. Both side windows can also be used as doors, although they don’t have awnings. Zip them closed in a rainstorm, and you do lose some airflow.

The tent’s fiberglass-reinforced ABS shell is molded to be aerodynamic for best-in-class gas mileage and reduced road noise. The inside of the shell is insulated and lined with a quilted, condensation-busting fabric that also reduces noise and gives the inside of the tent a cozy den-like feel. Also inside is a 2.8-inch foam mattress that Roofnest claims will rival the comfort of your bed at home.

The tent portion of the Sparrow EYE is a breathable polyurethane-coated polyester and cotton blend that’s touted as three times more waterproof than most backpacking tents. It gives the tent a sturdy, protective, and secure feel, more like a safari tent than a backpacking tent.

In cool temps, the rugged side walls are insulating, and in the wind, they cut down on noise. The Sparrow EYE 2’s dual side windows and its door have zippered mesh and zippered canvas covers for customizable bug-proofing, rain repellency, and airflow.

An 8.5-foot telescoping ladder clips onto the tent under any window or door opening. While it doesn’t store inside the tent for travel, it comes with a storage bag. This bag attaches to the roof gear storage zone on top of the tent for travel if you don’t want to pack it into your trunk. The rooftop bag can also be used to hold cooking gear, wet clothes, and other things you don’t want inside your car.

Also, on the roof of the Roofnest Sparrow EYE 2, there’s a dedicated spot to mount a solar panel. Mount one, and then park strategically so that the roof faces south and you’re generating max wattage.

The SkyRise is made from the same stuff as most tents you’d pitch on the ground. The 600D nylon tent body is light and breathable, with mesh ventilation panels that double as windows into the Milky Way. All the windows and the two skylights have mesh panels that zip open for ventilation and views.

Much like a standard ground tent, the SkyRise’s waterproof fly is polyurethane-coated, and the tent can be set up with the fly on or off. Aluminum poles give the tent structure. They’re strong, preset, and easy to engage once you manually flip this tent open.

Consider a three-person tent if you’ll be sleeping with a child. This is also a good option if you’re a dog owner whose dog climbs ladders, or if you’re willing to shuttle your pooch into your rooftop nest. Everyone will appreciate the plush, 2.5-inch-thick, wall-to-wall mattress. And after this tent gets some use, you’ll also appreciate that the mattress has a removable cover for easy cleaning. 

The Yakima SkyRise HD is one of the easiest tents to mount on a roof rack. It goes on and comes off tool-free. It also locks to your roof with the same system used in all Yakima bars and mounts, SKS lock cores, which are included with the tent.

Flick open the new easy-to-use and super-secure cam-over latches, push the tent open, and flip up the new U-bar, the same used in Roofnest’s Falcon Pro, and enter your home away from home. Inside, the living space is more than a third larger than the Falcon 2, 5 inches shorter, and 20 pounds lighter.

The tent fabric is a thick 320 GSM with a blackout coating perfect for sleeping in whatever time zone or latitude you find yourself in. The standard 2.0-inch-thick memory foam mattress has a quilted cover over a standard anti-condensation mat. Two side windows, an overhead moonroof, and twin meter-long dimmable LED light strips provide light. 

The Falcon 3 EVO combines the best features of the all-aluminum Falcon 2 and Falcon Pro clamshell rooftop tents with the weather-proof and rugged construction previously only found in Roofnest’s Condor 2 foldout tents. It’s shorter, lighter weight, with a pleasantly large living space, and a more aerodynamic shape when packed. It can sleep campers up to 6’2”. 

Falcon 3 EVO’s top shell is PC-ABS plastic finished with a scratch, dent, and UV-resistant Line-X coating. On your roof, it’s 3 inches thick at the edges and 8 inches at its peak. The molded, convex shape of the top shell increases this tent’s structural rigidity and internal space while achieving new levels of aerodynamics for a rooftop tent.

Forming the top shell from PC-ABS plastic instead of aluminum has multiple advantages. Extruded plastic makes the shell flexible and naturally weather-resistant, and it lowers the overall tent weight. What’s more, PC-ABS is ten times more insulative than aluminum. Not only does this keep campers warmer, but it also reduces condensation build-up.

To make sure you have what you need to fully enjoy this tent in all seasons, Roofnest sells a “Tent Insulation” kit for the Falcon 3. It zips into the interior of the tent without blocking LED light strips, gear grids, or storage pockets. It also has ports for heating and cooling. 

Both the Falcon 3 EVO’s PC-ABS top and honeycomb aluminum bottom shells each feature an exterior accessory channel. The top channel is compatible with the optional 6-Channel Crossbars, which can hold up to 150 pounds of gear. The Falcon 3 EVO’s aluminum bottom shell’s single accessory exterior accessory channel can support awnings up to 75 pounds, using Roofnest’s new accessory awning brackets.

Read Review: The Falcon 3 EVO

iKamper’s BDV Duo has the fastest tent to set up we’ve seen. Two heavy-duty clips at the back of the tent unclip, and with a nudge, the ABS shell top pops up boosted by two large, external hydraulic lifters. An external bungee slides down. It assists in pulling the sides of the tent down when it’s time to pack it up.

Two knurled awnings stay inserted into machined holes in the back of the tent to prop out the awning/rainfly. It’s built on a rugged aluminum frame with a strong, scratch/UV-resistant fiber-reinforced plastic shell, and attached to the tent base with massive aluminum hinges. 

Inside, the tent is spacious with loads of headroom, and enough length that one 6’4” sleeper who tested this tent said it was awesome. Windows and doors create a fully blacked-out environment when closed. The tent fabric is breathable, black-out, 300gsm poly-cotton canvas.

With the windows open, being in the tent is like being outside, but high up and in the shade. The awning is also a rainfly. It’s made from waterproof polyester 75D ripstop material with an eco-friendly water-repellent (DWR) coating. Toggles let us tighten it for wind resistance when needed. 

The bed is plush with a quilted mattress cover, and cottony-feeling fabric throughout, which seemed to trap condensation less than in other tents. Large wedge mesh pockets helped us keep track of clothing, headlamps, and other accessories.

But there was plenty of space for a couple of small duffels or a dog not too greedy with space inside as well as two occupants. Because the gas struts that lift the camper roof are on the outside, all the inside space was usable. 

The ladder can be moved to either side or the back of the tent, but there is only one set of quick-release ladder pins that lock on the ladder, so the process takes a few minutes of uninstalling and reinstalling those pins for the switch. 

iKamper makes loads of accessories for this tent, and we were lucky enough to test several. The annex is spacious and turned the BDV Duo into a full basecamp setup that was pleasant to use during sunny days and frosty nights. The annex, which zips to the BDV Duo, vented or sealed up as preferred, is quite spacious inside.

For cold weather, we recommend getting iKamper’s clear windows. They zip over the mesh and light-blocking window panels so that you can have light and block the weather. The clear windows have center zips so you can also use them as doors. We look forward to loading up iKamper’s BDV Accessory rack, which can hold up to 110 pounds. 

This tent is best for trucks or SUVs. Check out our top choice, the iKamper Skycamp 3.0 Mini, if you have a smaller vehicle.

At just over 100 pounds, it’s a modest lift for two people, especially if you’re putting this tent on a lower-roofed car. It folds into thirds, so it takes up less room on the roof than other RTTs. And installation is tool-free. Once the ladder is installed — it attaches with two spring-loaded pins — it can stay outside the tent under the RTT cover, which slides over the folded tent and bungees to the attachment thumbscrews on the underside. 

Unlike other RTT ladders, this one has a bottom section that deploys first and extends to its full length. The upper section of the ladder, which is adjusted with separate release buttons, can be set to any of four heights depending on the height of your roof. 

This is the first air-inflated tent we’ve used, and once the cover is off and the side clips unclipped, the two sides of the tent unfold like unwrapping a burrito. That takes about a minute. And the tent takes about two minutes to inflate. The included 12v pump plugs into your car’s outlet.

Once the pump is on, it hits 3 PSI in about a minute, and the recommended 9 PSI within 2 minutes. The pictographic installation instructions are easy to follow, and if you need better instructions, there are plenty of video tutorials on installing this tent. 

Though 140 Air takes up less space on the roof, the remaining space isn’t usable like it is with an RTT like Thule’s Tepui Foothill, which leaves room for a bike or a narrow roof box depending on the length of your roof rack bars.  

This is an extremely airy and breathable RTT. The 30D brushed ripstop polyester shell traps condensation less than a standard nylon or polyester tent shell. Side mesh picture windows, the highly vented front door and back window, and a large roof vent provide more airflow than any other tent I’ve used.

The two side windows take up the full wall. The tent gives its occupants a 360-degree view. Overhangs on the windows pop out when the tent is inflated. They’re waterproof to keep the weather out. 

The tent has four smaller internal storage pockets big enough for an iPad, a headlamp, or a small water bottle. It also has two weather-resistant oversized outdoor pockets, one at either side of the entrance. If you’ve ever wondered where to put your shoes when you’re in the tent, now you have another option. Having shoes up high makes descending the ladder a lot more comfortable. 

The included mattress is thin and extremely comfortable. It stays inside the tent when you pack it up, and there’s room to leave a sheet on it too. But you’ll need to take out your comforter/sleeping bags and pillows when you pack the tent to drive away.

The roof has a massive mesh roof pocket that’s also a roof vent. Ceiling hooks hold a small lantern or string of lights. In hot weather, this tent fully ventilates, and in cold and rain, it buttons up to keep you sheltered from the storm. Adding Dometic’s aftermarket awning gives this compact tent living space for cooking and hanging out that the tent itself doesn’t provide. 

If you’re weary of heavy tents with complex setups, the Dometic 140 Air could be the rooftop tent you’re looking for.

The tent opens in seconds with four hydraulic assist arms. The arms are inside the tent and covered in fabric. They hold up the ceiling of the tent, which has vertical sidewalls. Once you’re inside, large openings on every wall provide ventilation and views. The windows aren’t quite as large as in most other tents, so Sylvan Sport includes a fan to keep air circulating. Awnings over the side windows provide shade and weather protection. 

The Loft tent material is lighter than most of the other tents in this guide, though it has a polyurethane coating for weather resistance. Inside, the Loft comes with a covered two-inch thick foam sleeping pad. Because of the mattresses’ low profile, there’s plenty of room inside to use it almost like a roof box for storage. As is becoming more common, the Loft’s mattress comes with an anti-condensation mat underneath the mattress to keep it from trapping moisture and getting moldy. 

One of our favorite features of the Loft is the massive two-bay storage mesh against the ceiling of this rooftop tent. We took one side down so that we had full headroom. But we left the mesh hammock on the foot side of the tent to hold clothes and more. 

Packing up the loft was just as easy as setting it up. Front and back buckles clip. Extra fabric tucks in, and the sides clip and velcro shut. 

Inside, there are just as many upgrades. The tent now comes with a 2.8” high-density foam mattress with a washable cover. 

HVAC ports make the Roofnest Sparrow 2 climate-controllable. The tent can be both heated and cooled, and the ports can also be used as a cord passthrough if needed. The tent comes with three dimmable LED light strips. 

Unique to the Roofnest Sparrow is the option to lock your tent closed. The shell has heavy-duty lockable latches so you can secure whatever you left inside–bedding, pillows, and more. 

The tent attaches to a car roof rack tool-free. Once the tent is on the rack, the aluminum extruded bars in its base don’t need endcaps because they’re hidden below the tent.

The Generation 2 Smittybilt Overlander Rooftop Tent is a good option whether you just like your space or you actually want to load four people into this tent. This mondo condo gives campers with larger vehicles maximum sleeping space for minimum cash.

The inner tent is made from heavy-duty, waterproof ripstop polyester with a polyurethane-impregnated top. Anodized aluminum tent poles create the tent frame. The tent folds open and on stainless steel hinges.

A lightweight, waterproof Oxford rainfly installs with 4mm spring steel poles. And the tent flips open with a telescopic anodized aluminum ladder, which also provides access to your rooftop abode.

Once the tent — which has a king-size mattress inside — has been assembled, it takes just 10-15 minutes to set it up. Windows are all covered with no-see-um mesh as well as waterproof fabric covers that keep the weather out. And when you’re chilling inside, an LED strip lights your cocoon so you don’t have to fiddle with headlamps or lanterns.

When it’s time to pack up, your bedding and accessories stay inside, and the ladder levers the tent closed. Updates to the Gen 2 include a telescoping ladder, an improved rainfly, a better mattress, and a redesigned veranda that won’t collapse in heavy rain.

The Overlander is built on a light and strong 1 3/16-inch aluminum/polyurethane sandwich base. When the tent is folded for travel, a heavy-duty PVC cover with Velcro straps protects it.

This tent rings up at such a great price for several reasons. Some assembly is required, such as installing brackets for the ladder and mounting brackets on the underside of the tent.

It’s made from less expensive materials than other tents. And it’s not as quick to set up and break down as other tents. For example, the rainfly has to be fully staked out.

If you’re on a budget or packing a whole family into a single tent, buying this one won’t require a second mortgage. And if you need more space, or want to turn the Smittybilt Gen 2 Overlander XL into a compound, add Smittybilt’s Annex for more covered space.