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The 5 Best Budget Blenders - Winter 2024 Reviews

Updated
Best Budget Blenders

Finding the best blender for the money can be tricky, especially if you're on a tight budget. Luckily, there are affordable blenders out there that provide good overall value for their price. While they tend to be very simple in design, the best cheap blenders can still produce a smooth blend with difficult ingredients. Whether you're looking to make smoothies to take with you on the go or silky soups for your family dinner, these blenders can offer you a decent bang for your buck.

We've tested over 100 blenders, and below are our recommendations for the best budget blenders you can buy. If you have a bit more room in your budget, you may also want to check out our list of the best blenders under $100. Also, see our recommendations for the best personal blenders and the best blenders.


  1. Best Budget Blender

    The best budget-friendly blender we've tested is the Oster Pro 1200. This full-size blender has a relatively small, lightweight design and is often available for less than $100. Its 48oz main pitcher is made of glass, which is less prone to scratches and discoloration than plastic. While its main jar has a smaller capacity than many full-size blenders, it can hot blend, crush ice for frozen drinks, and make well-blended smoothies and soups with fibrous ingredients like kale and broccoli. There's also a 24oz personal jar included for single-serves like smoothies.

    It can make smooth, spreadable nut butter, although it's not as easy to use for that as some blenders since you must stop the blender and stir the ingredients a few times. The main jar is only intended to handle six ice cubes at once, so you're limited to smaller batches compared to most full-size blenders. The blender has a plasticky design and mediocre build quality, making it less suitable for frequent ice-crushing. On the plus side, the removable blades make it easy to clean by hand, and the jars, lids, and blades are dishwasher-safe.

    See our review

  2. Best Budget Blender with Personal Jars

    It's common for full-size blenders to come with personal jars, which are smaller jars for single-serve smoothies that usually come with to-go lids. The Oster Pro 1200 comes with one, but if a couple of people in your household like a smoothie in the morning, consider the NutriBullet Blender Combo instead. In addition to a 64oz main jar, it comes with a 24oz and 32oz personal jar with matching resealable lids, so you can use them as travel cups. In any of its jars, it easily liquifies fibrous fruits and vegetables, meaning it can produce completely smooth broccoli soups and kale smoothies.

    However, it's not the most versatile blender. Specifically, it's not meant to crush ice without liquid in the jar. It's not well-suited for thicker blends like nut butter or hummus since you must stop frequently and stir the recipe to keep the ingredients in contact with the blades. It's easy to clean by hand, and the main jar and blades are dishwasher-safe, but you must clean the personal jar's separate blade assembly by hand.

    See our review

  3. Best Budget Blender For Frozen Drinks

    If you like to blend frozen drinks like margaritas and need a big pitcher to serve a crowd, you might prefer the Ninja Professional Βlender 1000. This blender pulverizes ice cubes into snow-like ice in no time. Its 72-ounce pitcher can handle big batches of blended cocktails and frozen drinks. The lid has a pouring spout to help with serving drinks from the pitcher without spilling. It's sturdier than the NutriBullet Blender Combo, which is especially important if you regularly use it for tough tasks like crushing ice. The sharp blades make cleaning by hand hard, but the jar and lid are dishwasher-safe.

    However, it's less versatile than the previous picks since it isn't safe for hot blending. It also makes a grainy puree with fibrous ingredients, which might be disappointing if you want to make drinks that include fruit like pineapple. It has no blending programs, so you must start and stop the blender manually. You might prefer the Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ if you like to multi-task while your blender runs. It's slightly more expensive but has a few programs, including 'Smoothie' and 'Ice Crushing.' Otherwise, it performs very similarly.

    See our review

  4. Best Cheap Blender

    The best cheap blender we've tested is the Black+Decker Quiet Blender with Cyclone Glass Jar. This blender is very similar to the Oster Pro 1200 since it comes with a 48oz glass main jar and a 24oz personal jar. Using the personal jar doesn't quite achieve the same smoothness as the Oster with fibrous ingredients, but it can still produce a very well-blended kale smoothie with a couple of minutes of blending. Similarly, when using the main jar, it leaves behind more unprocessed bits but still does an excellent job of processing fibrous fruits and veggies.

    You can use it to blend thicker recipes like nut butter smoothly, although it's a pretty long process, and you have to use a spatula to scrape the sides of the jar several times. However, it's not the best ice crusher, even if you only use six cubes at a time. It crushes most of it, but ice tends to build up under the blades, and there will be some leftover chunks. There are also some inconvenient aspects to its design—pressing any of the manual blending buttons runs the blender for 2.5 minutes, but the manual says not to run it for more than 1.5 minutes continuously. That said, it's significantly quieter than the Oster and just as easy to clean by hand.

    See our review

  5. Best Budget Personal Blender

    The best budget personal blender we've tested is the Magic Bullet Mini. If you usually blend for one and want the best cheap blender for smoothies, it's worth considering. Unlike the NutriBullet Blender Combo, which has a much bulkier motor base, it's a compact blender and doesn't need much space on the counter or in a cupboard. It does an excellent job of blending fibrous ingredients like kale and blueberries in its 14oz jar, so it can make a well-blended single-serve smoothie with most recipes. It's also quiet for a blender, which is nice if you like to blend a drink in the morning.

    However, it's not meant for crushing ice without liquid in the jar, so it's not suitable if you want to make ice for cocktails. Unlike many personal blenders, it doesn't come with a resealable lid for its jar, which isn't ideal if you want to bring your smoothie on the go. Its plasticky, cheap-feeling build reflects its price point, and of course, you can't use it for blending big batches. Still, it's worth considering if you want something inexpensive for quick blends like smoothies and protein shakes.

    See our review

Notable Mentions

  • NutriBullet Rx: The NutriBullet Rx is a compact full-size blender with a small capacity. It's fantastic for blending fibrous ingredients for recipes like soups and smoothies. It stands out from similarly priced options like the NutriBullet Blender Combo because it can heat ingredients with a seven-minute blending program. However, the manufacturer warns against using it to blend ingredients that are already hot, which is an annoying limitation. See our review

Recent Updates

  1. Mar 15, 2024: Added the Black+Decker Quiet Blender with Cyclone Glass Jar as the 'Best Cheap Blender' since it offers a fairly similar performance to the Oster Pro 1200 at a lower price.

  2. Feb 01, 2024: We've made minor updates to the text and checked that the products are in stock.

  3. Dec 06, 2023: We've checked that the products represent the best recommendations and are available.

  4. Oct 12, 2023: Made minor updates to the text and checked that the products are in stock.

  5. Aug 16, 2023: Added the PopBabies Portable Blender as the 'Best Budget Portable Blender'. Removed the Ninja Foodi Power Pitcher SS201.

All Reviews

Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best budget options for most people. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.

If you'd like to do the work of choosing yourself, here's the list of all our blender reviews under $100. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no blender is perfect for every use, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.