Active noise cancelling (ANC) headphones can help give you peace in otherwise noisy situations. If you work in a noisy office or have a long commute on a noisy bus or train, they can help keep you concentrated or relaxed. While ANC has typically been reserved only for high-end headphones, some surprisingly decent ANC headphones have come out with a much lower price tag in the past few years. But simply having a good ANC feature isn't everything; you also want comfortable headphones with a good battery life and a well-balanced sound profile.
We've tested over 850 pairs of headphones, and below are our recommendations for the best ANC headphones under $100 to purchase. If you have a more flexible budget, see our picks for the best noise cancelling headphones, the best noise cancelling headphones under $200, and the best noise cancelling earbuds.
Quick Look
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Best Noise Cancelling Headphones Under $100
Peaks/Dips6.5Controls7.6Battery9.5Travel7.9Office Work7.6Sports And Fitness7.2Noise Isolation - Full Range8.8See all our test resultsNoise Isolation - Common Scenarios8.4The best noise cancelling headphones under $100 we've tested are the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 2024. These value-driven ANC-equipped headphones have amazing noise isolation performance at any price, effectively filtering out ambient din on planes, nearby conversations, and sharp sounds like cafe dish clatter. With ANC enabled, their battery lasts about 49 hours, easily lasting through a workweek or an intercontinental flight or two. They're comfortable to wear, complemented by an intuitive control scheme to handle playback with their default V-shaped frequency response. They're not the most durable headphones, though, so be mindful of knocks and drops to their plasticky frame.
If you take a lot of calls, the mic system is fairly decent, too. These over-ear headphones feature a talk-through function that allows you to quickly switch to transparency mode to hear announcements or for other moments when you need to temporarily let the world in. You also get a competent companion app that allows you to choose one of dozens of EQ presets or create your own custom tuning. That said, these headphones don't sound consistently the same between wears and on people with long hair or glasses, so you'll want to take care when putting them on that you get a good seal. Worth keeping in mind is that if you come across the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless, their ANC is also powerful, and focused more on low-pitched noises than the Q20 2024 for roughly the same price with a better case. However, their battery life is shorter, and they leak more of your audio at high volumes.
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Best Noise Cancelling On-Ear Headphones Under $100
Peaks/Dips7.2Controls8.1Battery9.1Noise Isolation - Full Range6.1See all our test resultsNoise Isolation - Common Scenarios5.4The JBL Live 670NC are the best noise cancelling on-ear headphones we've tested for under $100. These cans don't filter out as much noise as the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 2024, but they still attenuate sounds such as car traffic and voices, even if they don't completely silence them. Their microphone is also not as clear as the Anker's, though. However, their battery life outperforms the Anker's, reaching 88 hours with ANC on, and they sound much more consistent between wears and on different people. They're well-built with metal folding hinges and offer a great selection of button controls.
Out of the box, they sound bass-heavy, giving your music a substantial low-end thump. The accompanying app provides you with plenty of tools for tweaking the sound profile to suit your tastes, including a parametric equalizer, so you're not limited to a single sound profile. These versatile on-ears feature multi-device pairing and optional wired connectivity, and their foldable design allows you to easily pop them into your bag on the go.
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Best Noise Cancelling Earbuds Under $100
Peaks/Dips6.5Controls7.6Battery7.7Travel7.8Office Work7.2Sports And Fitness7.6Noise Isolation - Full Range8.9See all our test resultsNoise Isolation - Common Scenarios8.7You'll find more in-ears and earbuds with ANC at this price point than over-ears. This kind of design has a few benefits: namely, a smaller, more portable design, though the trade-off is a shorter continuous battery life. If you're looking for earbuds, check out the Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless, which have an adaptive ANC system that automatically adjusts the level of noise isolation to fit your environment. They block out an excellent amount of sound, like rumbly plane engines and people talking near you. You can also switch to manual ANC controls and set the level of noise isolation to your preferences. With their ANC on, they last over eight hours continuously, but if you need to recharge them, their carrying case supplies an extra four charges.
Beyond noise isolation, these comfortable and well-built buds have a warm sound profile that makes vocals and instruments sound cozy. Although they lack low bass, you can fine-tune their sound via the graphic EQ and presets in their companion app. In addition, they support multi-device pairing, meaning you can stay connected to your smartphone and PC simultaneously. Unfortunately, their integrated mic has poor recording quality, so your voice sounds distant and piercing.
If you're looking for affordable earbuds with a slightly better mic, the CMF Buds Pro 2 are worth checking out. Their sound profile boasts more low-end by default, but you can tailor that to your preferences using the EQ in their cross-platform companion app. The CMF buds don't block out quite as much noise as the Anker buds, and their battery life is shorter, but they're a little more stable in your ear.
Notable Mentions
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Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Truly Wireless:
The Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Truly Wireless have a bigger bass boost and a stemmed shape that you may prefer over the Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless. However, while the Liberty 4 NC are a solid choice that's a bit more stable fitting in-ear, they don't block quite as much noise as the A40.
See our review -
Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Wireless:
The Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Wireless are higher-end ANC headphones than the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 2024 with even better noise isolation performance. However, their price tends to fluctuate, so sometimes they cost more than the $100 budget.
See our review -
Nothing Ear (a):
The Nothing Ear (a) buds have decent ANC, and their appeal is in the build quality, stable fit, and fairly balanced default tuning. That said, their noise cancelling isn't as effective as the Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless, and the Nothing's continuous battery life is shorter.
See our review
Recent Updates
Dec 02, 2025:
This article has been updated with the Anker Soundcore Life Q20 2024 as the new top pick, and the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless is now listed as an alternative. We've added an on-ear pick, the JBL Live 670NC. We've removed unavailable picks: the Anker Soundcore Life Q35 and the TOZO NC7. The Notable Mentions now include the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 Wireless. Otherwise, the formatting has been updated.
May 29, 2025:
We added that the Anker Soundcore Life Q35 Wireless are getting harder to find but are still worth searching for if call quality is a priority. The CMF Buds Pro 2 have a cross-platform companion app, so they replace the Samsung Galaxy Buds FE as our alternative to the Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless. We also removed a reference to the Razer Opus Wireless 2021, which are now hard to find. Finally, we removed our 'Best Low Latency Noise Cancelling Headphones Under $100' pick category, as there aren't enough options in this price range.
Feb 27, 2025:
The JLab Audio JBuds ANC 3 have been added to the section on the TOZO NC7 Truly Wireless, and the Nothing Ear (a) and Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Truly Wireless have been added to the Notable Mentions.
Dec 05, 2024:
We've reviewed all our picks and recently-tested headphones, but our picks haven't changed.
Aug 27, 2024: We've made some minor changes to the text to improve accuracy and have added the JBL Live 670NC as a Notable Mention due to their incredibly long battery life.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best ANC headphones under $100 for most people to buy. We factor in the price (cheaper headphones win over pricier ones if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no headphones that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you would like to choose for yourself, here is the list of all our reviews for noise cancelling headphones under $100. Be careful not to get caught up in the details. There are no perfect headphones. Personal taste, preference, and listening habits will matter most.