We Tested 17 Budget Blenders—These 4 Are Worth Your Money

After testing and retesting dozens of blenders, we identified a handful of budget models that exceeded our expectations. While these cheaper, sub-$200 blenders fell short of, say, a $500 Vitamix, we were still impressed by their ability to perform the basic tasks well, at a fraction of the cost. 

In fact, we don’t always recommend pricey blenders with lots of bells and whistles. If you use yours infrequently, or for just smoothies and sauces, one of these budget blenders will likely suit your needs just fine.

The Winners, at a Glance

Sturdy and well-designed, the Breville Fresh & Furious Blender delivers high-powered blending without making too much noise. The touch-button controls come with five speed settings and nine preset functions. It's a great blender, period.

A newcomer to our budget blender review, the Calphalon Auto Speed is well-designed and easy to use. Like the Breville, it has a count-up clock feature. We liked that it had a speed dial and presets for smoothies, frozen drinks, and dips (even though it broke the mayonnaise).

While this Cuisinart blender doesn’t have a lot of speeds or presets—just high, low, pulse, smoothie, and ice crush—it outperformed others when we made frozen margaritas. Although this blender struggled with hard and sticky ingredients, like almonds and dates, it blended fibrous kale and blueberries with ease.

A truly budget blender that made effortless smoothies, creamy frozen margaritas, and the best mayonnaise of any blender we tested, the Calphalon Precision Control Blender has fewer watts and functions than its larger counterpart, but we liked its compact size for easy storage. 

The Tests

• Volume and Key Specs Test: We used a decibel meter to record the blender on low, medium, and high speeds when blending eight ounces of water and 16 ounces of ice. We also took key measurements, including the cord length.
• Almond Milk Test: To evaluate the blenders' efficiency at puréeing both hard and sticky ingredients with water, we added almonds and dates and attempted to make nut milk.
• Smoothie Test: We used the almond milk from the previous test, along with frozen blueberries, chopped kale, and peanut butter, to make smoothies in each blender. Post-blending, we passed the smoothie through a fine-mesh strainer and recorded the amount of the remaining pulp.
• Frozen Margarita Test: To see how well each blender could handle frozen drinks and crush ice, we made margaritas.
• Mayonnaise Test: We made mayonnaise using this technique to gauge how well the blenders could emulsify sauces.
• Soup Test: To judge how well a blender could handle ingredients of varying textures, we made butternut squash-apple soup in each one (using a soup preset if available). After blending, we recorded the soup’s final temperature with an instant-read thermometer and also noted the consistency.
• Real World Tests: We used the winning blenders in our own kitchens for basic, everyday tasks to evaluate how versatile and durable they were.

What We Learned

Most Budget Blenders Struggled with Fibrous Ingredients

Few of the inexpensive blenders we tested flat-out failed in the almond milk, smoothie, and soup tests, but most struggled to turn out truly smooth results. There was a lot more pulp left in the strainer as compared to our more expensive winners. The Ninja Detect Power Duo left behind a full cup of pulp in the smoothie test. For comparison, the Vitamix Ascent X5, one of the winners in our overall best blenders review, produced just five grams of finely textured pulp.

Budget Blenders Often Had Serrated Blades to Make Up for Lower-Powered Motors

High-speed, high-end blenders (like Vitamix) have big-time horsepower behind them, which is what makes them so good at turning a bunch of raw kale leaves into a sauce, or raw nuts into a creamy purée. But those impressive motors translate to a higher cost, which is why budget blenders can retail for hundreds less. To make up for some of the power lost, many of the cheaper models we tested had serrated blades. This can help shred fibrous and tough ingredients, but serrated blades get dull much quicker than blunt blades.

Budget Blenders Blade Comparison
	Number of Blades	Serrated or Blunt?
Breville Fresh & Furious Blender	5	3 serrated, 2 blunt
Calphalon Auto Speed 68 Oz Blender	6	Blunt
Cuisinart Velocity Ultra 7.5 1 HP Blender	2	Blunt
Calphalon Precision Control 50 Oz Blender	6	Blunt

That said, any blade, whether it’s straight or serrated, will lose its edge with use and time. Unlike your favorite chef’s knife, it’s impossible to sharpen blender blades once they become dull, which is why so many of our favorites, like the Calphalon Auto Speed 68 Oz Blender, have blunt blades.

Expect Fewer Speeds and Settings on a Budget Blender

Budget blenders have fewer speeds and presets than high-end blenders. While this is a bummer—we prefer to start blending on low speed and ramp our way up to high—it's not a dealbreaker. Multiple speeds are most helpful when emulsifying sauces, but if you just want to make smoothies and chop ingredients, a couple of speeds and a preset or two will work great. And of course, the best way to work around this shortcoming is to primarily blend liquid, soft, or cooked ingredients in a budget blender.

Budget Blenders Offered Shorter Warranties

The winner of our budget blenders review, the Breville Fresh & Furious, offers a three-year warranty, and that's standard for its class. The Calphalon Auto-Speed lists its warranty as 10 years, a surprisingly long time. Most of the cheap blenders we tested had warranties in the three to five-year range. But that doesn’t mean they’re not still smart buys. You can prolong the life of any blender by always hand washing the jar, lid, and blades (even if the manufacturer claims they’re dishwasher-safe) and turning off the blender immediately if it sounds or smells like it’s overheating.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Budget Blender

The best budget blenders offer presets, like smoothie and ice crush, as well as variable speeds. Although no budget blender we tested could compete with our longtime favorite blender’s 10 speeds, we preferred models that offered at least low, medium, and high settings. Many budget blenders come with serrated blades. That's not ideal for longevity, so look for blunt blades instead, or at least a blade configuration with tips oriented in different directions. This maximizes efficiency and is less likely to get clogged. Warranties should be at least three years, and although most budget blenders don’t come with many fancy features, some of our favorites offer added-value design elements, like cord storage.

Our Favorite Budget Blenders

What we liked: Our all-around winner, the Breville Fresh & Furious Blender, gave us the smoothest almond milk, not-too-fibrous smoothies, and our favorite margarita. These results are thanks to the stacked blade design—two blades make a large base while three smaller blades sit atop the larger blades. Very few of the budget blenders gave us great mayonnaise, but the Fresh & Furious made a passable sauce. There are lots of other reasons to love this blender: It has the most satisfying self-clean preset of all the blenders, features an easy-to-remove lid, and comes with tidy cord storage underneath the base. 

What we didn't like: The combination of a high-powered motor (1100 watts) with a lightweight design means that this blender moves a lot on the counter. While the lighter weight offers easy mobility when you need to move it around, it's a bit dicey if you want to run a preset and walk away. Of our winners, this is the only model without a removable blade in the carafe, which might be a deal-breaker for anyone who wants to replace blades in the future rather than a whole pitcher.

Key Specs

• Jar capacity: 50 ounces
• Weight: 8.5 pounds
• Type of interface: Analog, with digital timer
• Speed settings: Five, plus three presets (smoothie, green smoothie, ice crush)
• Wattage: 1100 watts
• Warranty: 3 years
• Care instructions: Jar and lid are dishwasher-safe (jar on bottom rack; lid on top rack), but hand-washing is recommended for longevity; auto-clean function is included
  

What we liked: Calphalon has designed its Auto Speed blender beautifully. While its body is sleek and simple, it includes a variable speed dial as well as presets and a smart on-and-off pedal to control the 1100-watt motor and five blades. We liked the count-up timer, especially when following recipes. The smoothie and frozen drink presets performed their jobs excellently, while the high-speed mode made great almond milk. It has a removable blade for easy cleaning, and the pitcher and lids are dishwasher-safe. 

What we didn't like: Both Calphalon blenders we tested struggled to make mayonnaise despite the dip preset, but the Auto Speed was the worst of the two. As we mentioned in our overall best blenders review, though, all blenders without tapered jars struggle with emulsification.

Key Specs

• Jar capacity: 68 ounces plus a 25-ounce Blend-N-Go Smoothie Cup
• Weight: 4.3 pounds
• Type of interface: Start and pulse pedals with a preset and variable speed dial, includes count-up timer 
• Speed settings: 10 speeds 
• Wattage: 1100 watts
• Warranty: 10 year 
• Care instructions: Carafes and lids are dishwasher-safe 

What we liked: We previously tested and highly rated Cuisinart’s now-discontinued Hurricane blender. This new model stays true to that blender’s standards of being efficient and hard-working. The ease with which it blended fibrous kale made it a standout in smoothie testing, and it crushed ice readily in the margarita test. The simple push-button speeds and presets were intuitive to use, too. 

What we didn't like: While it was great at making green smoothies, this blender wasn’t strong enough to break up hard and sticky dates—it's considerably lower in wattage than our top two favorites. The wide jar made for inconsistent mayonnaise, and it was awkward to pour from. The carafe is not dishwasher-safe, which might turn off some daily smoothie drinkers. 

Key Specs

• Jar capacity: 60 ounces
• Weight: 7.5 pounds
• Type of interface: Analog, with digital timer
• Speed settings: 2, plus 2 presets (smoothie and ice crush)
• Wattage: 700 watts
• Warranty: 3 years
• Care instructions: Jar is dishwasher-safe, but hand washing is recommended for longevity
  

What We Liked: For nearly half the price of the Auto Speed, you can get a smaller blender that almost outperforms it. Calphalon Precision Control has a lower wattage (900 watts compared to 1100 watts), a smaller carafe, and no count-up timer, but it also has a lower profile that fits neatly under upper cabinets on a kitchen counter. The carafe shape is slightly more tapered than the large Auto Speed, which helped it make decent mayonnaise. Its small size helped the five blades break up sticky dates and hearty kale alike. Like the Auto Speed, the pitcher, blade, and lid are all dishwasher-safe. 

What We Didn’t Like: With a smaller pitcher, you can’t make a big batch of margaritas!

Key Specs

• Jar capacity: 1.5 liters 
• Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Type of interface: Start and off pedals with a preset and variable speed dial
• Speed settings: 9 speeds
• Wattage: 900 watts
• Warranty: 5 years
• Care instructions: Carafe and lid are dishwasher-safe

The Competition

• Cleanblend Commercial Blender: About as loud as a lawn mower, the Cleanblend Commercial Blender didn’t seem as durable as the higher-priced models we tested. We docked major points for its high base speed, which was too aggressive to emulsify or slowly incorporate ingredients.
• NutriBullet Full Size Blender: We liked the easy-pour spout and the grippy suctioned feet at the base of the NutriBullet, but it left behind almost an entire cup of pulp during our soup test. Like the Cleanblend, its lowest speed was too fast to properly make mayonnaise.
• Beautiful by Drew Barrymore High Performance Touchscreen Blender: Despite an attractive (or should we say, “beautiful”) price tag, this $40 blender fell short. It made a passable smoothie, but the soup had a slushy texture, the frozen margarita was full of ice chunks, and the almond milk was foamy and separated. 
• Ninja BL610 Professional Blender: The control panel is flush against the display and simple to use, but there wasn’t much more we liked about this blender. The vortex isn’t powerful enough to fully mix ingredients, resulting in a smoothie without any peanut butter (it was stuck to the side of the jar), a lukewarm and thin soup, and a crunchy margarita.
• Ninja Detect Duo Power Blender Pro + Single Serve: This blender comes with an intuitive “BlendSense” mode that we found largely ineffective; in fact, we overrode it for most tests in favor of manual control. Unfortunately, even that turned out mediocre results. It overheated and shorted out multiple times during our soup test, and it left behind a frustratingly large amount of pulp. We were impressed—and a bit surprised—at the appealingly creamy texture of the mayonnaise.
• Ninja Professional Compact Smoothie & Food Processing Blender: Beyond the fact that this was the loudest blender we tested (averaging 92.9 decibels), it lacked the power, design, and blade orientation to truly blend ingredients. It produced a cup and a half of pulp in the soup test and a smoothie with texturally unpleasant shredded kale. It’s certainly not worth the over-$100 price tag.
• Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ: Despite the fact that this blender has presets for ice crushing and smoothies, it made a lackluster margarita with crunchy chips of ice, and a pulpy, borderline-undrinkable smoothie. The soup was far from smooth, and we had to restart the machine a total of seven times during that test. This model’s redeeming quality, like most Ninja blenders, is that it’s relatively lightweight and easy to move around.
• Beast Mega 1200: Despite being the largest-capacity blender in Beast’s lineup, this was the smallest-capacity carafe we tested. Unsurprisingly, it made a great smoothie—Beast is known for producing excellent smoothies and sauces—but the single preset struggled with almond milk, maxed out on space with the margarita test, and made a very runny mayo. 
• Hamilton Beach Power Elite Blender: A previous winner for affordability, this blender does a passable job with smoothies and margaritas for its price. However, for just a few dollars more, you can get the budget Calphalon that does those two things very well, plus more. 
• Cleanblend Commercial Blender: This blender reminded me of a Vitamix right out of the box. It has a strong, sturdy base, a dial to adjust speed, and a high-powered motor. But it struggled with blending kale and dates. The motor didn’t have the right blade arrangement for consistent blending, and it was unbearably loud in all tests. 
• Ninja TB201 Detect Power Blender Pro: The Ninja Detect technology intrigued us—add your ingredients, press blend, and let the machine “detect” what's in the carafe and choose a preset for you. This worked well for smoothies and margaritas, but it left zero nuance for delicate emulsions such as mayonnaise. 
• Ninja Detect Duo Power Blender Pro: A slightly more robust version of the Ninja Detect, this one struggled with “detecting” when the almonds and dates were blended for making milk. Although it comes with an additional carafe, the terrible lid design made this machine a pain to clean and store. 
• Black & Decker 10-Speed Countertop Blender: This blender felt as cheap as it was. The carafe wiggled around in the base, and the motor struggled to blend kale or crush ice. 

FAQs

Do you really need an expensive blender?

Possibly not. Budget blenders often struggle with tough tasks, like turning fibrous vegetables into creamy purées and blending nut butter. And as we saw during some of our tests, they can fall short of the pricier models when it comes to special features, like cooking piping hot soup in the jar. But if you’re mostly using yours for smoothies and sauces, all of the winners on this list will get the job done. 

Can these budget blenders crush ice?

Yes, and our winners even include "ice crush" settings. For the best results, pick one of the higher-wattage winners, like the Breville Fresh & Furious or the Calphalon Auto-Speed.

How long does a cheap blender last?

Provided you take good care of your blender and don’t tax it with aggressive tasks, there’s no reason a cheap blender won’t last as long as a costlier one. The real thing to keep an eye on is the warranty: Most we tested offer just three-year limited warranties as a baseline. To extend the life of your blender (any blender), follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use, don’t overwork it, do not soak any parts in water for prolonged periods, and attend to any issues like a slow motor or frayed cord as soon as they arise.

What's the difference between a blender and a food processor?

A blender is meant to puree foods into a smooth mixture or crush ice into a snowy powder. In contrast, a food processor is best at slicing, grating, dicing, and shredding, and will produce chunkier results.

Is it worth buying a blender?

Yes! Blenders are useful for more than just protein shakes. If you make soup, sauces, salad dressings, nut butters, frozen drinks, or mill your own grains, you’ll find a blender useful. We also like using them to emulsify homemade mayonnaise. But if storage space is at a premium in your kitchen, an immersion blender, or a personal blender rather than a full-size blender, might be a better bet.

Why We're the Experts

• Meghan Splawn is a food writer and recipe developer who has worked in food media since 2006. 
• She worked for 10 years in the test kitchen with Alton Brown and has done projects for sites including Simply Recipes, TheKitchn, and Serious Eats. 
• Meghan uses her own blender daily to make smoothies, Dutch baby pancakes, and sauces for dinner. This article convinced her to upgrade her decades-old blender to the Calphalon Precision Control. 
• We first tested budget blenders in 2017, and have regularly updated this review with new findings. For our most recent review, Meghan tested (and re-tested) nine blenders, making over three gallons of almond milk and two quarts of mayonnaise.