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 870 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.
Our How We Test Headphones article takes you behind the scenes in our lab. You'll learn how we choose and purchase products and dive into the details of our review philosophy, from testing and scoring to writing and editing.
You can also discover how we produce recommendations like this one so that you can find the best headphones (or earbuds!) for your needs.
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Best Noise Cancelling Headphones Under $100
Peaks/DipsControlsBatteryNoise Isolation - Full RangeSee all our test resultsNoise Isolation - Common ScenariosThe 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, 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 also comfortable to wear, but they're not the most durable headphones, 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 when you need to temporarily let the world in. Out of the box, they have a V-shaped tuning that adds clarity and weight to your audio. If you'd prefer a different sound, tweak the EQ in the companion app. That said, people who wear glasses may notice a drop in bass, so you'll want to take care when putting these on to ensure you get a good fit and seal.
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Best Noise Cancelling On-Ear Headphones Under $100
Peaks/DipsControlsBatteryNoise Isolation - Full RangeSee all our test resultsNoise Isolation - Common ScenariosThe 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 our top pick's. 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/DipsControlsBatteryNoise Isolation - Full RangeSee all our test resultsNoise Isolation - Common ScenariosYou'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, making them amazing to use on a plane or in a busy office. With ANC on, they last over eight hours continuously, and if you need to recharge them, their carrying case supplies an extra four charges.
These buds have a warm sound profile that makes vocals and instruments sound smooth, if a touch dull. That said, you can fine-tune their sound via the graphic EQ and presets in their companion app. In addition, they support multi-device pairing, so 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. The CMF Buds Pro 2 are affordable earbuds with a better mic than the Anker. That said, the CMF don't block out quite as much noise as the Anker buds, and their battery life is shorter.
Notable Mentions
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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 -
Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Truly Wireless:
The Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Truly Wireless have a stemmed shape that you may prefer to the pebble design of the Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless. However, they don't block quite as much noise as the A40.
See our review -
Nothing Ear (a):
The Nothing Ear (a) buds offer a 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 -
Sony WF-C710N:
The Sony WF-C710N are a popular pair of affordable in-ears. They're a little more stable in the ear than the Anker Soundcore Space A40 Truly Wireless, but their ANC isn't as good. We also ran into some Bluetooth connectivity issues during testing, but our experience isn't universal.
See our review
Recent Updates
Mar 24, 2026:
We added the Sony WF-C710N to our Notable Mentions. We also shortened the text here and there to improve clarity, but haven't changed our main picks.
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.
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.