If you're looking for a new toaster, you'll find plenty of affordable options. The best affordable toasters on the market offer useful quality-of-life features, like a way to check your toast's progress without interrupting the cycle, a bagel button that only toasts one side, and slots that are long and wide enough to fit a variety of items, from thick slices of Texas toast to long pieces of foccaccia. They should also toast quickly and evenly, and offer a good shade range, so you can always have your toast the way you like it, even when you're making multiple batches in a row. Ideally, they shouldn't leave a collection of crumbs on your counter, either.
We've tested more than 20 models, and below, you'll find our recommendations for the best budget and cheap toasters. If you're curious about what more money will buy, check out our recommendations for the best toasters, the best 2-slice toasters, and the best 4-slice toasters.
We've put our 20 toasters through the wringer to help you make a confident buying decision. But how do we do it? It starts with buying the products ourselves, just like you. We take it a step further with our lab, where we measure a variety of characteristics, like toasting evenness, so that a prospective toaster's performance doesn't come as a shock. You can even compare models and results, making it easy to find the right toaster for your needs.
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Best Budget Toaster
Everyday Use7.5Toasting Evenness8.6Toasting Speed7.8Capacity7.4Features9.0See all our test resultsCrumb Management5.0The best toaster we've tested at a budget-friendly price is the Dash Clear View Long Slot. This inexpensive toaster has a few extra features that set it apart from other budget models, including a unique viewing window that lets you watch your toast as it browns. You'll also find a shade selector with seven settings, a button for frozen items that adds a little time to the toasting cycle, and a button for bagels that only toasts the cut side. The long, wide single slot makes this toaster a great choice for most carbs, whether you want to toast a thick bagel or long slices of homemade sourdough, though the slot isn't particularly deep, so taller slices sometimes stick out the top.
When it comes to toasting, this budget model provides great performance across the board. Its seven shade settings can give you anything from pale, barely warmed bread to charred toast, or make golden brown toast with denser breads like rye or pumpernickel without running the toaster twice. Your toast comes out evenly browned on both sides, and you get consistent results even when running back-to-back toasting cycles. It doesn't take long to finish toasting either. Unfortunately, this model leaves a trail of crumbs on your counter, so you'll have to clean up after it pretty regularly.
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Best Cheap Toaster
Everyday Use7.5Toasting Evenness9.6Toasting Speed8.0Capacity7.1Features6.0See all our test resultsCrumb Management7.0If you'd prefer a no-frills model for the sake of paying as little as possible, consider the Black+Decker 2-Slice Toaster T2569B. Compared to the Dash Clear View Long Slot, this model lacks extra features. It has the essential 'Bagel,' 'Frozen,' and 'Stop Cycle' buttons, which almost all toasters are equipped with. However, the bagel function only increases the timer rather than turning off one set of burners, so the top of your bagel gets toasted, too, and there's no way to tell when the toasting cycle will end. It has wide slots that accommodate thicker bread slices, but they aren't very tall, and, as a standard two-slot toaster, it may not fit longer artisan slices. And while our top pick is also made of plastic, this one has a less premium look overall.
In terms of toasting performance, however, this model is a real standout. It has a fantastic toasting range: you can use the lowest of its six settings to warm bread without adding color, or use the highest for dark brown or even charred toast. It toasts quickly and evenly, browning the entire surface of the bread on both sides. It also performs consistently batch after batch, so you don't have to lower the setting to get the same result each time. Clean up is a bit easier with this model as well, since it's better at containing crumbs.
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Best Budget 4-Slot Toaster
Everyday Use7.9Toasting Evenness9.5Toasting Speed8.0Capacity8.1Features10See all our test resultsCrumb Management4.0If you're looking for a 4-slot toaster on a budget, consider the Beautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display. Its touch-activated display lights up only when you're using the toaster, giving it a minimalist design while still providing a range of convenience features usually found on pricier models. There are seven shade settings, buttons for frozen or gluten-free items, a bagel setting that toasts only on one side, and a cycle countdown indicator so you can see approximately when your toast will be ready. The slots are wide enough for thick slices of bakery bread or Belgian waffles, and while they don't provide the same versatility as a long-slot model, they're long and deep enough for most options.
This toaster offers a fantastic toasting range. You can make golden-brown toast with setting 4, or choose one of its other settings for pale, dark, or charred sandwich bread. Each slice comes out evenly browned on both sides, regardless of which slot you use. It toasts quickly and reliably, too, producing similar results, even when you're making multiple batches in a row. That said, it doesn't contain crumbs well.
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Best Cheap 4-Slot Toaster
Everyday Use7.5Toasting Evenness9.1Toasting Speed7.1Capacity7.7Features6.0See all our test resultsCrumb Management7.5For an even more affordable 4-slot toaster, consider the Black+Decker 4-Slice Toaster TR400SSD. This toaster offers a higher capacity for busy mornings, with two sets of slots that operate independently. Like the Black+Decker 2-Slice Toaster T2569B, it lacks quality-of-life features, like cycle countdown indicators. However, it does have the usual settings for frozen items and bagels that add more toasting time, as well as a cancel button. The slots offer decent capacity, so while you may not be able to toast extra-long baguette slices, most items will fit.
Similar to the Beautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display, this model provides a fantastic toasting range. So, you can easily make golden-brown toast from sandwich bread and denser carbs like rye bread in a single cycle. It also toasts very evenly on both sides and produces similar results after multiple batches. It doesn't finish toasting as quickly as either of the two-slot models above, but it's better at containing crumbs.
Recent Updates
May 11, 2026:
We replaced the Oster 2-Slice Toaster with Quick-Check Lever for the Dash Clear View Long Slot as the 'Best Budget Toaster' since it offers better performance for everyday use. We also added the Beautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display as the 'Best Budget 4-Slot Toaster,' since it delivers strong performance at a slightly higher price point.
Apr 01, 2026:
We checked our picks to ensure they're in stock and remain the best toasters for most people.
Mar 02, 2026:
We checked our picks to ensure they represent the best choices for most people and made small edits for clarity.
Feb 04, 2026:
We reorganized this article to list our recommendations by price and made edits throughout for clarity and conciseness.
Dec 02, 2025:
We've verified that our picks are in stock and made small edits for clarity.
All Reviews
Here are our recommendations for what we think are the best affordable toasters for most people. We factor in 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 toaster reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. There's no perfect toaster; most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.