If you're shopping for an air purifier but want to keep your spending in check, you don't have to settle on a model that struggles to actually perform. With the air purifier market so competitive, you'll find the best affordable air purifiers have a high enough clean air delivery rate (CADR) to clear dust and allergens in larger spaces, offer niceties like Wi-Fi connectivity, and run quietly, all without costing an arm and a leg. If you plan on using an air purifier in larger rooms, prioritize a clean-air delivery rate of more than 350 m³/hr (206 CFM) to ensure it can move enough air per hour to effectively remove airborne pollutants. In smaller rooms, you'll want to prioritize low noise performance, somewhere in the region of 60 dBA or quieter, to ensure comfortable and efficient operation.
We've tested over 30 models, and these are our recommendations for the best budget and cheap air purifiers. We put each unit through the same rigorous tests to deliver clear, repeatable results, and we also consider price and availability when making our recommendations. If you want a broader overview of the product landscape, check out our recommendations for the best air purifiers, the best air purifiers for pets, and the best air purifiers for allergies.
We buy and independently test air purifiers with no manufacturer samples, sponsorships, or pre-approved talking points. Each unit goes through the same standardized test bench, and the results are validated by multiple teams before being published on our website, so you can accurately compare them side by side.
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Best Budget Air Purifier
Filtration Layers3 StagePets8.0Bedroom8.0Particle Filtration Rate8.0Measured PM1.0 CADR424 m³/hr (250 CFM)Noise @ Highest Fan Speed64.7dBARecommended Room Size @ Max Fan Speed36.2 m² (390 ft²)Low-Noise Particle Filtration Rate6.9Measured PM1.0 CADR159 m³/hr (94 CFM)See all our test resultsRecommended Room Size13.6 m² (146 ft²)The Winix C610 is the best budget air purifier we've tested for people who prioritize strong air-cleaning performance at an affordable price. This cylindrical unit has a high enough clean air delivery rate (CADR) at its highest fan speed for use in large living rooms and dining spaces, though it gets quite loud at this setting. If you plan to run this unit continuously in your office or bedroom, you can lower its fan speed to the middle setting, which still offers just enough performance for rooms nearly 150 ft2 (13.9 m²) in size. Its feature set is also pretty robust for something in this price bracket, with Wi-Fi connectivity that lets you run the unit while you're away from home using your smartphone. You also won't have to babysit the unit if your home's air quality suddenly takes a dive, thanks to the onboard particle sensor that lets the unit adjust fan speed based on ambient particle levels.
This unit has a fairly conventional multi-stage filtration system consisting of a mesh pre-filter, a primary HEPA filter for dealing with fine dust, pollen, and pet dander, and an activated carbon filter to deal with odors, though the latter doesn't contain enough carbon media to have a massive impact on odor-causing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from things like paint fumes. There's also Winix's PlasmaWave system, an ionizer-like technology that's meant to break down fine airborne pollutants. This system produces ozone, a respiratory irritant, though in lower quantities than typical ionizers. If you'd rather avoid the potential health risks altogether, the PlasmaWave system can be turned off. Better yet, its air filtration performance is great even when the system isn't running.
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Best Budget Air Purifier For Bedrooms
Filtration Layers3 StagePets7.9Bedroom8.3Particle Filtration Rate7.7Measured PM1.0 CADR367 m³/hr (216 CFM)Noise @ Highest Fan Speed55.6dBARecommended Room Size @ Max Fan Speed31.3 m² (337 ft²)Low-Noise Particle Filtration Rate6.8Measured PM1.0 CADR147 m³/hr (87 CFM)See all our test resultsRecommended Room Size12.6 m² (135 ft²)The Levoit Vital 200S is the best budget air purifier for bedrooms, and is worth a look for those who sleep with an air purifier running and don't mind a small loss in performance in exchange for quieter operation. Depending on your selected fan speed, it can be up to 16% slower to clear the air in an equivalently sized room than the Winix C610. That said, this unit is also a good chunk quieter at its highest fan speed setting, maxing out at a little over 55 dBA compared to the Winix's near 65 dBA reading, making it a much better option for continuous use in smaller areas. This unit is also Wi-Fi enabled, so you can adjust fan speed settings or view a rough estimate of air quality using the VeSync smartphone companion app. The Levoit is shorter than the Winix, and its rectangular form factor makes it a better fit for narrower spaces, such as between a bed and a wall.
Like the Winix, it has a three-stage primary filtration system comprising a mesh pre-filter for large debris, a primary allergen filter for fine dust and pollen, and an activated carbon sheet to reduce odors, though there's no ionizer feature, which isn't likely to be a deterrent if you weren't planning on using the system to begin with. Also like the Winix, this last carbon filter isn't likely to have a significant impact on odors. It's also a solid option for pet owners, thanks to its U-shaped air inlet, which prevents clogging when it sucks in large amounts of hair.
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Best Cheap Air Purifier
Filtration Layers3 StagePets6.4Bedroom7.2Particle Filtration Rate6.0Measured PM1.0 CADR154 m³/hr (91 CFM)Noise @ Highest Fan Speed54.7dBARecommended Room Size @ Max Fan Speed13.2 m² (142 ft²)Low-Noise Particle Filtration Rate5.2Measured PM1.0 CADR85 m³/hr (50 CFM)See all our test resultsRecommended Room Size7.2 m² (78 ft²)The Levoit Core 200S is far from the highest-performing air purifier on the market, but for those looking to spend as little as possible and want something highly compact, it's a great option. It takes up approximately a third as much space as the Levoit Vital 200S, making it a good choice for smaller rooms that don't require a ton of airflow, like apartment bedrooms and home offices; the Core 200S is small enough to fit on a nightstand or dresser. It also runs pretty quietly, with its highest fan speed producing an operating noise a little below 55 dBA, quiet enough to be masked by outdoor noise from an open window. As you might expect from something this small and cheap, there are a couple of compromises compared to bigger, pricier models. With a max coverage of under 150 ft2 (13.9 m2), it'll have a hard time in anything larger than modestly-sized living areas, and it'll take far more time to remove the same amount of pollutants in an equivalently-sized room.
This model does have Wi-Fi connectivity, so you can make adjustments using the VeSync smartphone app on your way home from work or right from your bed. That said, there's no particle sensor that would allow it to automatically adjust its fan speed setting depending on real-time air quality.
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Best Budget DIY Air Purifier
Filtration Layers1 StagePets7.3Bedroom5.2Particle Filtration Rate8.4Measured PM1.0 CADR485 m³/hr (286 CFM)Noise @ Highest Fan Speed60.3dBARecommended Room Size @ Max Fan Speed41.4 m² (446 ft²)Low-Noise Particle Filtration Rate8.1Measured PM1.0 CADR270 m³/hr (159 CFM)See all our test resultsRecommended Room Size23.0 m² (248 ft²)If you want the best possible air-cleaning performance for the money and aren't afraid to get your hands a little dirty, building a DIY Corsi-Rosenthal Box with a single filter is an idea worth considering. Putting one together requires little more than a single MERV 13 furnace filter, a 20" box fan, and a few strips of duct tape; our own test unit was built from the material list in this guide. While filter prices can fluctuate, the total cost of one of these units should be under $100. Compared to regular domestic models in that price range, its performance is simply unbeatable. In an equivalently sized room, it can reduce contaminants to the same level roughly 30% faster than the Winix C610. As a result, it's a great fit for larger living areas and open-concept apartments. Once the filter has reached the end of its lifespan, which is typically somewhere around three to six months, you'll effectively need to rebuild the unit all over again, which can be tedious; thankfully, if you buy a four-pack of furnace filters, you can keep the unit running for well over a year without having to buy any additional materials.
There are a few downsides: a 20-inch box fan also makes a lot of noise, which is likely to be disruptive in bedrooms and home offices, and scary for more noise-sensitive pets; some variations of this design utilize multiple PC cooling fans instead of a single large box fan to cut down on noise and power consumption, but we haven't tested a CR Box with this design yet. If you require more coverage, you can also build a four-sided Corsi-Rosenthal Box, which offers more than twice the CADR due to its larger filter area, albeit at the cost of a much bigger footprint and higher operating costs, since you'll need to replace four filters periodically instead of just one.
Notable Mentions
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Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty:
The Coway Airmega AP-1512HH Mighty is a mid-range air purifier with a built-in ionizer that you can turn on and off, and a built-in particle sensor that automatically adjusts fan speed based on current air quality. That said, it's a little noisier than the Levoit Vital 200S and falls slightly short in terms of particle filtration rate.
See our review -
PuroAir 240:
The PuroAir 240 is a compact air purifier. Unlike the similarly compact Levoit Core 200S, it has a particle sensor and runs a little more quietly. That said, it's priced more in line with larger options like the Levoit Vital 200S, which offer far more in the way of performance.
See our review
All Reviews
The recommendations above are among the best budget air purifiers. We factor in price, visitor feedback, and availability.
That said, there's no single best option that will suit everybody; your needs will depend on your exact budget, the size of your living space, your tolerance for operating noise, and whether you like having a device with convenience features like Wi-Fi connectivity. If you'd like to choose for yourself, here's the list of all the air purifiers we've tested with an MSRP below $200.