The 5 Best Budget Blenders - Summer 2024 Reviews

The best budget-friendly blender we've tested is the Oster Pro 1200. This full-size blender has a relatively small, lightweight design and is often available for under $100. It comes with a 48oz pitcher made of glass, which is less prone to scratches and discoloration than plastic. While it has a somewhat small capacity for a full-size blender, it works for most recipes since it can hot blend, crush ice for frozen drinks, and make well-blended smoothies and soups with fibrous ingredients like kale and broccoli. There's also a 24oz personal jar included for single-serves like smoothies.

It can make smooth, spreadable nut butter, although it's not as easy to use for that as some blenders since you must stop the blender and stir the ingredients during the process. The main jar is only intended to handle six ice cubes at once, so you're limited to about half the batch size of other full-size blenders. The blender also has a plasticky design, making it less suitable for frequent ice-crushing. On the plus side, the removable blades make it easy to clean by hand, and the jars, lids, and blades are dishwasher-safe.

It's common for full-size blenders to come with personal jars, which are smaller jars for single-serve drinks like smoothies that usually come with travel lids. The Oster Pro 1200 comes with one, but if a couple of people in your household like a smoothie in the morning, consider the NutriBullet Blender Combo instead. In addition to a 64oz main jar, it comes with 24oz and 32oz personal jars with matching resealable lids, so you can use them as travel cups. In any of its jars, it easily liquifies fibrous fruits and vegetables, meaning it can produce completely smooth broccoli soups and kale smoothies.

However, it's not the most versatile blender. Specifically, it's not meant to crush ice without liquid in the jar. It's more difficult to use for recipes like nut butter or hummus since you must stop frequently and stir the recipe to keep the ingredients in contact with the blades. It's easy to clean by hand, and the main jar and blades are dishwasher-safe, but you must clean the personal jar's separate blade assembly by hand.

If you like to blend frozen drinks like margaritas and need a big pitcher to serve a crowd, consider the Ninja Professional Blender 1000. This blender pulverizes ice cubes into snow-like ice in no time. Its 72-ounce pitcher can handle big batches of blended cocktails and frozen drinks. The lid has a pouring spout to help with serving drinks from the pitcher without spilling. It's sturdier than the NutriBullet Blender Combo, which is especially important if you regularly use it for tough tasks like crushing ice. The sharp blades make cleaning by hand hard, but the jar and lid are dishwasher-safe.

However, it's less versatile than the previous picks since it isn't safe to use for hot blending. It makes a grainy puree with fibrous ingredients, which might be disappointing if you want to make drinks with fruit like pineapple. It has no blending programs, so you must start and stop the blender manually. You might prefer the Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ if you like to multi-task while blending. It's slightly more expensive but has a few programs, including 'Smoothie' and 'Ice Crushing.' Otherwise, it has a similar design and performance.

The best cheap blender we've tested is the Black+Decker Quiet Blender with Cyclone Glass Jar. Like the Oster Pro 1200, this blender comes with a 48oz glass main jar and a 24oz personal jar. Using the personal jar doesn't quite achieve the same smoothness as the Oster with fibrous ingredients like leafy greens and fruit, but it can still produce a very well-blended kale smoothie with a couple of minutes of blending. Similarly, when using the main jar, it leaves behind more unprocessed bits but still does an excellent job of processing fibrous fruits and veggies.

You can use it to blend thicker recipes like nut butter smoothly, although it's a pretty long process, and you have to use a spatula to scrape the sides of the jar several times. However, it's not the best ice crusher, even if you only use six cubes at once. It crushes most of it, but ice tends to build up under the blades, and there will be some leftover chunks. There are also some inconvenient aspects to its design—pressing any of the manual blending buttons runs the blender for 2.5 minutes, but the manual says not to run it for more than 1.5 minutes continuously. That said, it's significantly quieter than the Oster and just as easy to clean by hand.

The best budget personal blender we've tested is the Magic Bullet Blender. This small blender is a good option if you usually blend for one and want the best cheap blender for smoothies. Unlike the NutriBullet Blender Combo, which has a much bulkier motor base, it doesn't need much space on the counter or in a cupboard. It does a fantastic job of blending fibrous ingredients like kale and blueberries in its 15oz and 13oz jars, so it can make a well-blended single-serve smoothie with most recipes. It's also quiet for a blender, which is nice if you like to blend a drink in the morning.

However, it's not meant for crushing ice without liquid in the jar, so it's not suitable if you want to make ice for cocktails. Its plasticky, cheap-feeling build reflects its price point, and of course, you can't use it for blending big batches. Still, it's worth considering if you want something inexpensive for quick blends like smoothies and protein shakes.