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A person blends a smoothie in a blender on a countertop surrounded by other kitchen items. Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Best Affordable Blenders of 2024

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A person blends a smoothie in a blender on a countertop surrounded by other kitchen items. Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

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Editor's Choice Product image of Magic Bullet Blender 11-Piece Set
Best Overall

Magic Bullet Blender 11-Piece Set

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Fast, simple, and very transportable, the Magic Bullet is designed with busy people in mind. Add enough liquid, and it can handle almost any smoothie ingredient. Read More

Pros

  • Easy to clean
  • Blends smoothly

Cons

  • No buttons or automatic programs
  • Low wattage that can't handle hard ingredients
2
Editor's Choice Product image of Black & Decker BL2010BG

Black & Decker BL2010BG

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This budget blender won't take up much countertop space, plus it's great at blending smoothies, chopping, and mixing. Read More

Pros

  • Compact
  • Blends smoothly
  • Glass pitcher

Cons

  • Loud
  • No automatic programs
3
Product image of Cleanblend Classic

Cleanblend Classic

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Made by chefs for chefs, this no-frills affordable blender is easy to use and has simple controls, but lacks any child safety features. Read More

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Simple controls
  • Excellent at making nut milk

Cons

  • No "lock" sound
  • No child safety
  • Pitcher moves a bit during use
4
Product image of NutriBullet Smart Touch

NutriBullet Smart Touch

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This affordable blender from NutriBullet is sleek and great at chopping and mixing, but the lid is tricky to put on and take off. Read More

Pros

  • Sleek
  • Helpful presets
  • Has child safety features

Cons

  • Lid is difficult to take off
  • Difficult to know if a button has been pushed
5
Product image of GE G8BJAASSPSS

GE G8BJAASSPSS

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This GE blender is easy on the eyes and won't take up too much counter space, but beyond blending smoothies, it doesn't deliver on performance. Read More

Pros

  • Not overly bulky
  • Sleek design
  • Great at making smoothies

Cons

  • Bad at crushing ice
  • Bad at mixing
  • No presets
  • Best Overall Magic Bullet Blender 11-Piece Set
  • Other Affordable Blenders We Tested
  • How We Tested Affordable Blenders
  • What Type of Blender Do You Need?
  • Is an Inexpensive Blender Worth It?
  • More Articles You Might Enjoy

Whether you're making smoothies, whipping egg whites, or pureeing veggies for soup, a good blender is an essential kitchen tool.

High-performance blenders are the best choice for pure power and warranty coverage. However, your average protein shake doesn’t require something as high-end as a Vitamix or Blendtec.

That's why we searched for the best cheap blenders. After chopping almonds, blending smoothies, crushing ice, and pureeing vegetables, we learned that the best bargain blenders are more than sufficient for most tasks—especially our favorite affordable blender, the classic Magic Bullet Blender (available at Amazon for $39.99) . It can quickly produce the smoothest smoothies we’ve seen with the least fuss—all at a budget-friendly price point.

We used Magic Bullet, our best budget pick, to make smoothies using frozen strawberries, lemon, and agave syrup.
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Magic Bullet is small but mighty.

Best Overall
Magic Bullet Blender 11-Piece Set

If you’re on the hunt for an affordable blender that will provide your morning smoothie/health shake, the classic, oft-imitated Magic Bullet is your best bet. Fast, simple, and very transportable, the Magic Bullet is designed with busy people in mind. While it only has a 250-watt motor, it’s strong enough to handle frozen fruit and most other ingredients with the appropriate amount of liquid added to the blending container. It also comes with two extra blending containers, so you’ll never need to buy a replacement.

Throughout testing, the Magic Bullet produced some of the silkiest smoothies with the least fuss. Thanks to their cylindrical shape (no crevices!), its blending containers were also a breeze to clean. Unlike many other budget blenders we tested, the Magic Bullet can also be turned on and remain on without being held down, which is a huge convenience. We can even attest to its longevity—I used it to make smoothies in my own kitchen most days for a full year. For the price and functionality, you won’t find anything better.

Pros

  • Easy to clean

  • Blends smoothly

Cons

  • No buttons or automatic programs

  • Low wattage that can't handle hard ingredients

$39.99 from Amazon

$39.99 from Best Buy

$49.99 from Home Depot

$39.88 from Walmart

Other Affordable Blenders We Tested

A Black & Decker blender against a white background.
Credit: Black & Decker

The Black & Decker 10-Speed Countertop Blender is our pick for best value.

Product image of Black & Decker BL2010BG
Black & Decker BL2010BG

This countertop blender won't take up much space as its base is relatively compact. Plus, the glass jar elevates the appearance of this otherwise average-looking blender. During testing, this model excelled at the smoothie test, along with chopping various foods and blending two different colored yogurts.

While it lacks any automatic programs, its control panel is easy to use and the buttons are very responsive when pushed. Its pulse function is more effective at blending smoothies and chopping frozen fruits than a continuous blend. The plastic lid was slightly warped when it arrived, but with a little force we were able to fit it onto the pitcher.

The pitcher, lid, and blade are all dishwasher-safe, while the base can be cleaned using a damp cloth.

Pros

  • Compact

  • Blends smoothly

  • Glass pitcher

Cons

  • Loud

  • No automatic programs

$39.99 from Amazon

$39.99 from Walmart
Product image of Cleanblend Classic
Cleanblend Classic

The Cleanblend was designed by chefs for chefs, and while we liked the easy-to-use controls and no-frills design of this 1,800-watt blender, we weren’t totally sold on its blending abilities. It’s incredibly easy to remove and replace the pitcher to and from the base. That’s great if you like to work quickly in the kitchen. However, there’s no click or lock-in-place sound, which might be disconcerting to some.

This blender chopped nuts, chocolate candy, and frozen strawberries with ease, but it couldn’t fully crush ice. The smoothie test also proved difficult for the Cleanblend, as we had to use the pulse setting multiple times to tackle the last large frozen strawberry chunks. During testing, the base of the blender stayed mostly still and we didn’t notice too much movement from the pitcher either.

It comes with a nut milk bag, tamper, small rubber spatula, 64-ounce BPA-free container, and five-year warranty. Overall, this blender was enjoyable and could be useful for many chefs and home cooks.

Pros

  • Easy to use

  • Simple controls

  • Excellent at making nut milk

Cons

  • No "lock" sound

  • No child safety

  • Pitcher moves a bit during use

Buy now at Amazon

$189.99 from Walmart
Product image of NutriBullet Smart Touch
NutriBullet Smart Touch

With its ultra-sleek touchscreen, this blender is definitely easy on the eyes. However, the touchscreen’s limited feedback can make it difficult to know if you’ve actually pushed a button. Like other NutriBullet products we’ve tested, this 1,500-watt blender impressed us with its intuitive controls and consistent results.

It won’t operate unless the lid is fully secured, which seems helpful in theory, but makes it somewhat frustrating to operate, as the lid is difficult to remove and reattach. You have to snap it on in three separate places and align it with a sensor peg.

This wouldn’t be a bad blender to own, as it performed well during our mixing and chopping tests, and it’ll look nice on your countertop if storage is limited.

Pros

  • Sleek

  • Helpful presets

  • Has child safety features

Cons

  • Lid is difficult to take off

  • Difficult to know if a button has been pushed

Buy now at Amazon

$119.99 from Walmart
Product image of GE G8BJAASSPSS
GE Blender

This sleek 1,000-watt blender is part of GE’s countertop appliance line, and what it lacks in performance it almost makes up in style and accessories. It aced our smoothie test, producing a well-blended, tasty result, and its performance was passable when mixing two different colors of yogurt.

Unfortunately, during the ice and frozen strawberry chopping tests, the blender automatically shut off and needed to be unplugged then plugged back in. Even after that, the blender couldn’t process either the ice or the strawberries unless they were fed into the blender through the lid hole one by one while the blender was running, or while using the pulse function.

While this GE blender is so nice looking we’d likely never tire of seeing it on our countertops, we were disappointed with it overall. If you’re looking for a high-performing affordable blender that can do more than just make smoothies, this probably isn’t the option for you. That said, if you’re a loyal fan of GE, this blender isn’t the worst we’ve tested and it costs just under $100.

Pros

  • Not overly bulky

  • Sleek design

  • Great at making smoothies

Cons

  • Bad at crushing ice

  • Bad at mixing

  • No presets

$89.00 from Amazon

$89.00 from Walmart
Product image of Oster Pro 1200 7-Speed Blender
Oster Pro 1200 7-Speed Blender

With its silvery buttons and stylized logo, the Oster Pro 1200 has cool retro looks. Unfortunately, its chopping performance was comically bad. The blades simply didn’t reach low enough to have any effect on heavier items, while lighter items just bounced around the jar, avoiding the blades.

It did well blending smoothies and liquids, and it's a popular choice at online retailers, but you can do better for $70.

Pros

  • Blends well

  • Interesting design

Cons

  • Bad at chopping

$99.50 from Amazon

$130.74 from Walmart
Product image of Hamilton Beach Power Elite 58148
Avoid
Hamilton Beach Power Elite 58148

The Hamilton Beach Power Elite failed all our tests. The blades were too short for chopping, so almonds and ice cubes got stuck on the edges of the jar. Even after a full minute of attempting to make a smoothie, yogurt failed to mix.

Pros

  • Nothing we could find

Cons

  • Bad at blending, chopping, and crushing

  • Cheaply made

$39.99 from Amazon

$39.99 from Home Depot

$39.99 from Walmart

How We Tested Affordable Blenders

Left: An overhead photo of a blender in the process of blending red yogurt and blue yogurt, with some of the yogurt towards the middle already mixed to purple. Right: The same process, but further along so more of the yogurt is blended and purple.
Credit: Reviewed / Madison Trapkin

We put the affordable blenders through multiple tests, including a multi-color yogurt blending test.

The Testers

Two of Reviewed's former kitchen editors Madison Trapkin and Cassidy Olsen tested blenders for this best-of guide. In addition to their time spent testing kitchen appliances, both have lots of blender-specific experience in their previous work. Madison worked in a restaurant known for frozen margaritas and Cassidy at an organic juice bar—so they know their way around blenders.

The Tests

We put our budget-friendly contenders through a range of tests to prove their worth. First, chopping—how well can the blender chop up chocolate candy, frozen strawberries, and hard almonds? Next, a mixing test determines how quickly and evenly the blender can blend two different colors of yogurt. Then came greater challenges, using the blenders to crush ice, mix fruit smoothies, and for our top performers, mill almonds into water to make smooth almond milk.

Affordable blenders should be able to handle these blending basics with ease, and sometimes they’ll even stand up when compared to their high-tech counterparts, so therefore we put them through the same tests as the pro-style blenders we’ve tested.

In addition to all the data gathered from these tests, we also considered subjective features like the look and feel of the blenders, the intuitiveness of their controls, and how easy they are to clean. We also considered price, features, size, durability, warranty, and more when making our final ranking.

What Type of Blender Do You Need?

A woman with painted nails uses a blender to make soup. Tomatoes and basil sit on the countertop next to the blender.
Credit: Getty / cream_ph

There are three main types of blenders: full-sized blenders, personal blenders, and immersion or hand blenders.

While this ranking focuses on full-sized, affordable blenders, you may also consider personal blenders and immersion blenders. If you're not already a kitchenware connoisseur, you're probably wondering, "Why are there so many types of blenders? Are they actually that different? Do I need to own every single one?!"

The answer to that last question is no, you don't necessarily need all three. When it comes down to it, they all use the same mechanics to blend, mix, and pulverize food and drinks—but choosing the best blender for your kitchen will make life a lot easier.

Full-size blenders

Full-sized blenders are ideal for larger households, people who like to entertain, and people who are very serious about cooking.

They’re great for making icy cocktails, healthy smoothies, milkshakes, and other drinks for more than one person at a time. Our favorite blenders (like the Cuisinart Hurricane) can easily accomplish all of these tasks and can also be used to make soups, dips, nut butters, and other tough-to-blend foods.

Personal Blenders

Personal blenders and portable blenders are ideal for individuals who rarely need to blend a lot at once—they've exploded in popularity since everyone started juicing and making single-serve smoothies for those post-gym energy boosts. They're easier to store, clean, and transport than full-sized blenders and their containers are ideal for on-the-go sipping.

They’re also cheaper and less powerful, so they likely won’t stand the test of time the way full-sized blenders will. If you want a quick blending solution and don't need to make a lot of anything at once, you can probably forgo a full-sized blender in favor of a personal model.

Immersion Blenders

Immersion blenders are incredibly useful and very versatile. Also called hand blenders, they look like a wand, and work with your existing bowls, cups, or pots. They’re portable, simple, and perfect for hot foods.

They often come with food processor and whipping attachments that make them true multi-use tools. We’ve used them to make pesto, whip up homemade mayo and whipped cream, and blend butternut squash soup.

If you enjoy cooking but aren't trying to feed a family or outfit a full kitchen, an immersion blender can help you cover all your blending bases without taking up too much room. But if you’re serious about cooking and regularly serve more than two people, a full-sized blender is the right choice.

Is an Inexpensive Blender Worth It?

A budget blender can be a solid addition to a kitchen. While you typically get what you pay for with blenders, there’s a solid tier of affordable blenders that provide solid performance and durability. Given the wide gap between high-end and entry-level blenders, there’s plenty of room to find something that works for you without breaking the bank.

Meet the testers

Cassidy Olsen

Cassidy Olsen

Contributor

@olsencassidy

Cassidy covered all things cooking as the kitchen editor for Reviewed from 2018 to 2020. An experimental home chef with a healthy distrust of recipes, Cassidy lives by the "Ratatouille" philosophy that, with a few techniques and key tools, anyone can cook. She's produced in-depth reviews and guides on everything from meal kits to stand mixers and the right way to cook an egg.

See all of Cassidy Olsen's reviews
Madison Trapkin

Madison Trapkin

Contributor

Madison covered all things cooking as the kitchen editor for Reviewed in 2021. Formerly the editor-in-chief of Culture Magazine, Madison is the founder of GRLSQUASH, a women's food, art, and culture journal. Her work has also appeared in The Boston Globe, Cherrybombe, Gather Journal, and more. She is passionate about pizza, aesthetic countertop appliances, and regularly watering her houseplants.

She holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia and a Master's of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy from Boston University.

See all of Madison Trapkin's reviews

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