Honda Civic Hybrid vs. Toyota Prius: Is It Time to Crown a New Champ?

• The Toyota Prius is stellar — in fact, it's our Edmunds Top Rated Car.
• But the excellent new Honda Civic Hybrid is here to put up a fight.
• Which efficient sedan takes the crown? Read on to find out.

Meet the contenders

If you didn’t know it had a big battery, you might not know the 2025 Civic is a hybrid. Available in both sedan and hatchback body styles, the Civic Hybrid looks the same as the standard gas-engine variant, which could certainly appeal to folks who aren’t looking to stand out in a crowd.

The Prius, meanwhile, looks like it was dropped from space. This hybrid hatch looks outstanding, with interesting front and rear fascias and large wheels pushed out to the corners. The Prius is only available as a five-door hatchback, and even in its base form, it attracts eyeballs everywhere it goes.

The new Honda Civic Hybrid costs just under $30,000 for the Sport trim, but our top Sport Touring adds $3,000 or so to the bottom line. Meanwhile, you can get into a Toyota Prius for a bit more than $29,000, but our XLE test vehicles goes for just over $35,000. You can save some cash on the Prius by declining the glass roof, infotainment upgrade, special paint and accessories like our car’s $70 phone charger.

Power and efficiency

The Civic Hybrid uses a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and two electric motors. All told the system produces 200 horsepower and 232 lb-ft of torque, which is enough to scoot the hybrid from 0 to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds. The hybrid is by far the most fun-to-drive Civic you can buy today save for the Type R. (Yes, we even like it more than the new Civic Si.) The Civic Hybrid is quick and nimble and produces grins from behind the wheel. All this and 49 mpg combined in our Sport Touring tester — what could be better?

Well, there's Toyota's fuel economy. The Prius also uses a 2.0-liter inline-four, though this front-wheel-drive hybrid only has one electric motor. Combined, the Prius will return an incredible 52 mpg combined, and if you were to go for the base LE trim with smaller wheels, the EPA says you’ll get 57 mpg combined. That’s amazing.

However, the Prius seriously lags in performance. The Prius is down on both horsepower and torque compared to the Civic: 194 hp and 139 lb-ft. The result is a significantly slower 0-60 mph time of 7.7 seconds. The Prius isn’t quite as composed as the Civic around turns either, but it’s still pretty satisfying to drive with enough power for merging onto the freeway. We wish the Prius’ continuously variable automatic transmission were quieter and better tuned — like the one in the Civic — but we don’t imagine it’ll bother the majority of buyers. Still, the Toyota just isn't as refined on-road as the Honda.

On the official Edmunds Rating, we gave the Civic Hybrid scores of 8.5 for both driving performance and efficiency. The Prius, meanwhile, netted a 7.5 and 9.0, respectively. If you want the best behind-the-wheel experience, it’s the Honda Civic all day long. But if squeezing out the most fuel economy is your priority, there’s no better choice than the Prius.

Interior comfort and convenience

Our Honda Civic Sport Touring has all the bells and whistles: powered and heated front seats, dual-zone climate control and a moonroof. But regardless of trim level, the Civic’s cabin is thoughtfully laid out with all controls within easy reach of the driver and passenger. We especially appreciate the traditional analog climate controls and straightforward design. While ventilated seats aren’t available on the 2025 Civic, and you can’t adjust the seats’ lumbar support, this car is still super comfy on long drives.

In the Civic, rear seat passengers have plenty of room for their shoulders and legs, but taller folks might find the sloping roof to be a problem for headroom. Up front, the thin windshield pillars and door-mounted sideview mirrors make for good outward visibility. A multiview backup camera helps mitigate the Civic’s small-ish rear window too.

Our Prius tester is an XLE, sitting in the middle of the lineup. It has comfy front seats that are heated, and a ventilated function is available with the higher-end Limited trim. However, we’re disappointed with the single-zone climate control that comes in every Prius. What, are we living in 1985? Dual-zone climate control should be standard here.

Backseat passengers might find it difficult to enter the Prius due to its small rear doors, and once back there, tall passengers might need to slouch a bit as headroom is limited. The rear seats don’t recline either.

Everything inside the Prius is easy to navigate and operate, but the instrument cluster is an absolute mess. It’s tough to get a good seating position that also allows for a full view of the display, and the screen itself is so chock-a-block full of information that it’s cluttered and tough to read.

On the score sheet, the Civic earns an 8.0 for its cabin, while the Prius gets a 7.5. That terrible gauge cluster and single-zone climate control would need to be improved in order to raise the Prius’ score.

Infotainment and driver-assistance tech

Every Civic gets Honda’s full suite of driving aids, including things like adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning and more. The Sport Hybrid adds blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert, and the Sport Touring Hybrid includes extras like front and rear parking sensors. Honda’s adaptive cruise control isn’t quite as good as Toyota’s when it comes to smooth acceleration and braking, but it gets the job done.

While most Civics get a 7-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, the Sport Touring upgrades to a 9-inch screen running the Google built-in suite of apps, as well as wireless smartphone mirroring. We like the Google software for its mapping capabilities and it’s cool that the Google Assistant can adjust the car’s climate control system, find a destination, and even query the web via voice commands. It’s just a shame only the most expensive Civic Sport Touring Hybrid gets this tech.

In the Prius, an 8-inch touchscreen is standard, but our XLE tester goes big with an optional 12.3-inch display with Google Maps. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both standard, and this Prius XLE has wireless charging as well. The Prius can connect multiple phones to its infotainment via Bluetooth and features six USB-C ports to keep everything juiced up.

Toyota’s bundle of driving aids is standard on every version of the Prius and includes blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert. The adaptive cruise control is much smoother than what you get in the Civic, and we really like Toyota’s Proactive Driving Assist that subtly intervenes during your daily drive by doing things like easing onto the brakes when it spots traffic slowing ahead. It’s never intrusive or overbearing; this is one tech feature we always leave on.

Despite scoring less than the Civic in the interior section, the Prius takes top honors in terms of tech. We gave it a full 9.0 here, compared to Honda's score of 8.0.

We have a new winner

Based on the aforementioned scores, the Civic and Prius seem tied. But when you factor in all the other things that make up an Edmunds Rating, one car takes top honors: the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid. (Be sure to read our full Civic rating and Prius rating for all the information.)

What makes the Civic Hybrid our winner? Its interior is made with better materials, it’s nicer to drive, its cargo area is more generous and it's just a more pleasant daily driver overall. No, it’s not as efficient as a Prius, but it’s hard to scoff at 49 mpg — or 50 mpg if you stick with the standard Sport Hybrid.

Would we ever fault someone for picking a Prius? No way; it’s Edmunds Top Rated Car for a reason. But a new challenger emerges, and a champion it is. Can it go on to be the new Edmunds Top Rated Car for 2025? Stay tuned to find out.

Photos by Ryan Greger