Superior Siblings! 2026 Hyundai Palisade vs. 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe

Hyundai has been killing it in recent years when it comes to their SUV lineup, which you can see reflected in the sales figures! Two of those products are the all-new Palisade and the recently redesigned Santa Fe, which both have standard 3rd rows. If you’re like us, that makes you think: which Hyundai 3-row is the best pick? Well, there’s a lot to consider, so let’s see who your pick in a 2026 Hyundai Palisade vs. 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe comparison should be!

Exterior Design

Starting with the exterior designs, this is perhaps the element that distinguishes these siblings the most! Unlike many brands which apply the same design with different sizes, Hyundai gives each model a unique character, with the Santa Fe being the boxier of the two. Meanwhile, the Palisade emphasizes smoother, more luxurious lines for its newest generation, resembling a Range Rover more than its own sibling.

Moving to the headlights, both models feature projector full-LED arrangements, each with their signature designs. They also have integrated light bars, but only the Palisade has the luxury touch of lighting animations.

For the wheels, you’ll find 21 or 20-inch wheels with more than a few spokes. Stay tuned for our ride quality analysis later. 

We’ll also talk about the clever interior packaging on these options later, as the Palisade is still the longer option, with a 9-inch advantage in length. Also at the side, the Santa Fe flexes its rugged edge with an integrated side handle for easy access to the roof rails.

Lengths: Santa Fe: 190.2 inches | Palisade: 199.2 inches

Out back, boxy vs smooth continues to divide these two, in addition to some features differences. While they both share hidden rear wipers and spoiler, it’s only the Palisade that offers full LED rear lighting over the partial LED setup on the Santa Fe. The Palisade also has some additional grunt, with double the towing capacity of the smaller Santa Fe.

Towing: Santa Fe HEV: 2,000 lbs. | Palisade HEV: 4,000 lbs.

Headed to the mirrors, both have heating, Blind Spot Monitoring, and Power folding, but the Palisade one-ups the Santa Fe again with auto-dimming abilities.

And, as you’d expect, these Hyundai’s have all the standard Active Safety Features and more, adding extra goodies like Highway Drive Assist 2.0 and smart parking for these top trims.

Finally, the new Palisade also includes an integrated front/rear dashcam for peace of mind while driving.

That concludes the outside, so let’s keep moving to the impressive interiors.

Interior Design

Approaching them, both models have smart entry, remote start, and digital key for maximum flexibility.

Opening the doors, the family resemblance truly shows for the first time in this comparison, but there are still plenty of differences to discuss. Starting with the seats, each has full Nappa leather seating with 12-ways of adjustment, even including the Relaxation Seat, which has a recliner that pops out to allow for epic naps in the carpool line. And, while they also share heating, ventilation, and memory, only the Palisade offers massage for the driver in the US.

Hopping inside, we can talk about the broad item of cabin quality, which we will divide into solidity and material selection. While one is built in the States and the other in Korea, they both exhibit excellent build quality and fit-and-finish. The trend continues for materials, where both use lots of leatherette, soft-touch materials, wood-like trims, and suede headliners, making for a luxury environment that outdoes even some luxury automakers. We will call both categories even.

After start-up, you will be greeted by fully digital 12.3-inch displays, which are accompanied by customizable graphics and advanced head-up displays. They also have a very convenient blind spot camera system.

The practically identical steering wheels have identical features, as they’re leather-wrapped, heated, and manually adjusting, with rain-sensing wiper controls behind them.

Storage and Technology

Now the next major subject to evaluate is interior storage and there’s a lot to break down here with its two sub-categories. First, checking out the center consoles, the Santa Fe has an enormous pit capable of fitting the maximum of 2 dozen donuts inside when its removable diver is taken out. That compares favorably to the Palisade which can handle one dozen.

Moving forward, the space doesn’t stop there, as both offer pass-through space and passenger shelves for maximum usability. To continually even out the space, the Palisade has a more open pass-through area, while the Santa Fe has an additional upper glove box. We’ll call this area even.

But only the Palisade now offers UV-sterilization tech in the console, which the Santa Fe recently discontinued. However, the Santa Fe fights back with an extra wireless charger, to keep your passenger covered as well.

To attain all that space, both use electronic shifters mounted on the steering column. In reverse, they display 360-degree camera systems with the 3D spin ability. 

For the climate controls, both utilize physical controls, but the Palisade has one extra zone of adjustment, at 3 vs. 2.

They also have physical volume knobs, so let’s test their Bose Audio systems. The Palisade has 2 extra speakers, at 14 total, but it’s not noticeably different from the Santa Fe.

Palisade: 14-speaker Bose Audio

Santa Fe: 12-speaker Bose Audio

Headed to the screens, both offer the same 12.3-inch displays as part of Hyundai’s newest dual-screen setup. They’re running the newest ccNC system, which has Wireless Apple CarPlay, Wireless Android Auto, and integrated navigation. Performance on both is smooth and simple.

Up top, both include auto-dimming rearview mirrors, HomeLink garage door openers, and the rear camera ability. They also have large pano sunroofs divided into 2 panels for maximum passenger usability.

Rear Seats and Cargo

Now, let’s see if the length difference makes an impact in the back seat areas! Starting with second row seat space, the Santa Fe surprisingly has more space as equipped, but not by enough to score a point. 

Palisade: 41.4-inches of legroom | 40.0-inches of headroom

Santa Fe: Legroom: 42.3-inches | Headroom: 40.6-inches

Once again, features will be plentiful back here. Both have climate vents, USB ports, center console drawers, sunshades, and most notably: power-adjusting captain’s chairs with the relaxation recline feature! But, while both sets of captain’s chairs are heated, only the Palisade offers ventilation for the seats as well, with a more conveniently placed console-mounted household outlet as well.

Entering the third row, only the Palisade’s seats slide forward without tilting the seatback, which means a child seat doesn’t have to be removed. But does Santa Fe continue to hold its own for space? Well, almost! While headroom is identical for them both, thanks to the boxy shape, the Palisade runs away in third row legroom, with a 7% legroom advantage at the minimum.

Minimum you ask?? That’s right, the Palisade continues with its perks, flexing power sliding seats that are also heated! Nonetheless, both impress for most families, sharing USBs, climate vents, and reclining abilities. But, keep in mind the Palisade has 3 seats in the third row, allowing for 7 passenger capacity, over 6 as equipped on the Santa Fe.

Palisade: Legroom: 32.1-inches (normal configuration) | Headroom: 37.7-inches

Santa Fe: Legroom: 29.9-inches | Headroom: 37.7-inches

Now, to the cargo spaces! Both have hands-free power tailgates as equipped. When it comes to space, the Palisade firmly establishes its dominance here. In all three cargo configurations, it has an over 5% space advantage compared to the smaller Santa Fe. Once again, we’ll reiterate that the Santa Fe is not tiny by any means, considering these measurements are very similar to a Highlander or Pathfinder, but the Palisade will make family road trips that much easier with its extra space.

Palisade: Behind 3^rd Row: 19.1-cu.ft | 2^nd Row: 46.3-cu.ft | MAX: 86.7 cu. ft.

Santa Fe: Behind 3^rd Row: 14.6-cu.ft | 2^nd Row: 40.5-cu.ft | MAX: 79.6-cu.ft

Amenities-wise, it’s only the Palisade that has fully power-folding seats for both rows, meaning you can access a flat load floor in just seconds by clicking just one button!

But that’s it for the interiors, so now let’s take them out on the road and see how they stack up there!

Powertrains

Prior to the Palisade’s redesign, it was only the Santa Fe that offered more than just a gas engine, but that was for good reason. Hyundai has developed a brand new Hybrid system for the Palisade, in addition to its V-6. We’re testing the Hybrids today, which share a turbocharged four-cylinder paired to electric components. But the Palisade’s engine ups the displacement to 2.5 liters, meaning there is a noticeable difference in acceleration, power and torque.

Palisade HEV: 2.5L Turbo I-4 + elec: 329 hp | 339 lb.ft | 0-60 MPH: 6.6s (MotorTrend)

Santa Fe HEV: 1.6L Turbo I-4 + elec: 231 hp | 271 lb.ft | 0-60 MPH: 9.8s (MotorTrend)

As far as the transmissions are concerned, both have 6-speed automatics and AWD systems as equipped. Performance is smooth in each and the hybrid hand-off is almost seamless.

Test Drive and Fuel Economy

Now, for ride quality and handling, which will be the one to excel? Well, neither are exceptional down a back road because Hyundai is emphasizing ride quality over handling. But the Palisade continues to be the ride quality king, further building upon the previous generation’s reputation. Even with larger 21-inch wheels, the Palisade will be the more comfortable option on road trips, though the Santa Fe is fantastic as well.

Here at Car Confections, something we like to do is take sound level readings for all the models we test so that we can compare them. On the same Kentucky road, the Palisade reads 1.4 dB lower than the Santa Fe, which is more than the amount an average adult can discern.

Palisade: 54.4 dB @ 55 MPH

Santa Fe: 55.8 dB @ 55 MPH

Finally, when it comes to fuel economy, the hybrid systems both certainly help the efficiency, but more so in favor of the Santa Fe. While the Palisade’s system balances between additional power and more heft, the less powerful Santa Fe manages to outperform it by at least 4 MPG in city, highway, and combined fuel economy. This will be noticed at the fuel pump.

Palisade HEV AWD: 29/30/29 MPG

Santa Fe HEV AWD: 35/34/34 MPG

Resale & Reliability

While we won’t be covering reliability and resale for a product from the same company, both products offer Hyundai’s industry leading warranty coverage, though Hyundai has removed complimentary maintenance for 2026. Hyundai also scores slightly below average for reliability but is on par with other mainstream brands for resale value.

And if you’d like to check out all our data about reliability and resale values, as well as learn about our methodology, make sure to head to carconfections.com/resale and /reliability. Buying a car is a big decision, and this is a great place to compare all the makes you might be cross-shopping.

Price Assessment

While pricing for both models is higher than it used to be, you might be surprised at the lower-than-expected MSRP considering all the luxury offered in these Calligraphy trim levels. If these numbers still give you sticker shock, keep in mind these are the most expensive configurations of each you can buy, and there are plenty of less expensive models available.

Palisade (Calligraphy HEV AWD): $58,780 | Options: +$0 | Destination: $1,600 | Total: $60,380

Santa Fe (Calligraphy HEV AWD): $50,250 | Options: +$0 | Destination: $1,600 | Total: $52,350

Now, let’s address the value and see what each truly delivers. There is an $8,030 price difference between these two models today.

2026 Hyundai Palisade vs. Hyundai Santa Fe Winner!

So, there you have it: the objective winner! Do you agree? Here are a couple of things to consider when picking each one for you personally.

Palisade: 

• More cargo space
• More powerful hybrid PT or available V-6
• Extra boujee luxury features

Santa Fe: 

• Better fuel economy
• Less Expensive
• Similar space in several other metrics

Now we want to know your opinions, so make sure to head to the comment section and let us know which one you would pick!

Thanks for joining us for another Car Confections Comparison! We’ll catch you next time as we sample the latest automotive delicacies!