Head-to-Head

Pepper Comparisons

Side-by-side breakdowns of 9 pepper matchups. Heat levels, flavor profiles, culinary uses, and growing differences — all in one place.

Cross-Tier Comparisons

(5)

Head-to-head matchups that span heat tiers. These comparisons highlight the biggest differences — useful when deciding how much heat to add to a recipe.

Extra-Hot vs Medium

Habanero vs Jalapeño

Habaneros deliver 12-140x more heat than jalapeños with a completely different fruity profile.
350K SHU vs 8K SHU
Super-Hot vs Extra-Hot

Ghost Pepper vs Habanero

The Ghost Pepper roughly triples the habanero's heat with a distinctive slow-building smoky burn.
1M SHU vs 350K SHU
Medium vs Hot

Jalapeño vs Serrano Pepper

Mexico's two most popular fresh peppers — serranos are 2-5x hotter with crisper, cleaner heat.
8K SHU vs 23K SHU
Hot vs Medium

Cayenne Pepper vs Jalapeño

Cayenne delivers 4-20x more heat with a cleaner, more neutral flavor ideal for general seasoning.
50K SHU vs 8K SHU
Super-Hot vs Extra-Hot

Carolina Reaper vs Habanero

A massive heat gulf — the Reaper can be 20x hotter — yet both share fruity chinense genetics.
2.2M SHU vs 350K SHU

Same-Tier Comparisons

(4)

Peppers in the same heat bracket but with different flavors, origins, and culinary strengths. These are your best substitution candidates.

Extra-Hot

Habanero vs Scotch Bonnet

Similar heat but different culinary roles — habaneros for Mexican food, Scotch Bonnets for Caribbean.
350K SHU vs 350K SHU
Super-Hot

Carolina Reaper vs Ghost Pepper

Both super-hots, but the Reaper doubles the Ghost Pepper's heat with sweeter, fruitier notes.
2.2M SHU vs 1M SHU
Medium

Jalapeño vs Poblano Pepper

Both Mexican essentials — jalapeños for heat, poblanos for roasting and stuffing.
8K SHU vs 2K SHU
Extra-Hot

Habanero vs Thai Chili

Similar ranges but entirely different profiles — habanero's tropical fruit vs Thai chili's sharp clean bite.
350K SHU vs 100K SHU
How We Compare Peppers

Each comparison covers 15 dimensions: Scoville heat rating, flavor profile, culinary uses, best dishes, substitution ratios, growing conditions, history, appearance, nutrition, dried forms, buying and storage tips, and common mistakes. We use data from USDA FoodData Central and the Chile Pepper Institute at NMSU.

Heat ranges can vary 2–3× for the same variety depending on growing conditions. Our comparisons use widely cited median SHU values and flag where individual peppers may fall outside the expected range.

Browse by Heat

Explore Heat Levels

Mild (0–999 SHU) Medium (1K–10K SHU) Hot (10K–100K SHU) Extra-Hot (100K–1M SHU) Super-Hot (1M+ SHU)