Table of Contents
When people buy blenders they make either of these two common mistakes.
Buy something very expensive even though they only need a specific functionality.
Or buy a very cheap blender that quickly breaks down and they end up spending more with subsequent purchases.
Avoid buyer’s remorse
I want to spare you of buyer’s remorse and suggest these blenders that not only affordable.
But also have enough power to make yummy smoothies, frozen desserts, soups and even nut butter.
I kid you not, some of the blenders you will see here will be fully capable of making nut butter.
You don’t need to buy a $500 Vitamix just to enjoy that treat.
No poor quality blenders in this list
Now I could just have picked the cheapest $20 blenders available right now in the market and call this a great review.
But that would be a disservice to you because as I did my research I found that these blenders don’t have enough power to make a green smoothie.
Take note that these aren’t the cheapest. But will provide enough power to make even gourmet quality dishes and smoothies.
Depending on what you need, you can opt for a full sized, single served or a combination of both.
Decent warranty
All these products offer decent warranties that other manufacturers fail to provide (yes, I’m talking to you Nutri Bullet) that are more than the standard one year warranty.
Before I continue, let me present to you the 5 best cheap blenders for smart shoppers looking for the best bang for their buck.
I must warn you that you will not see any big-name brands here like a Vitamix, Blendtec or even the sub-$100 Nutri Bullet. What you’ll are under the radar products that still are worth your money.
Spec comparison
| Rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | |||||
| Pitcher capacity | 6 cup glass pitcher 24 ounce smoothie cup | 62 ounces | 1 – 64 ounces 1 – 20 ounces | 40 ounces | 70 ounces |
| Height | 14" | 19" | 16.2″ | 14.69" | 19.5″ |
| Preset blending cycles | Green/Frozen Smoothies Food Chop/Salsa Milkshake | None | 5 speed settings | Mix / Milkshake / Easyclean Puree / Smoothie / Icy Drink Dice / Chop / Salsa Grind / Crush Ice / Grate | Nut butter Puree Frozen Treat Grind Frozen Drink Soup Hot Beverage Smoothie Emulsify |
| Tamper/Plunger |  |  | | | |
| Smoothies | | | | | |
| Juice | | | | | |
| Soup | | | | | |
| Nut Butter | | | | | |
| Warranty | 3 year satisfaction guarantee 10 year all-metal drive warranty | 5 years | 3 years | 3 years | 60 day money back guarantee (Optional 3 and 6 year warranty) 100 years motor warranty |
| Motor | 1,200 watts (900 watts of ice crushing power) | 1,800 watts | 1,100 watts | 700 Watts | 1,500 watts |
How to choose a budget blender?
Before going to the nearest Walmart and buying the first $20 Oster blender you can find I suggest you read this article first before doing so because depending on what you’ll make, you might regret making that purchase.
Why avoid cheap blenders?
I’m not against buying those cheap blenders but you’ll have to hear me out. Those blenders are cheap for a reason.
Cheap blenders have weak, underpowered motors that will burn out over time compared to blenders with larger motors.
Look for something with a powerful motor
This brings me to my first point – you’ll have to look at the power of the motor.
Ideally you will have to get something with at least 700 watts so that it will be able to make frozen smoothies.
The rule of thumb is to buy the most powerful blender you can afford.
You may say to yourself that you don’t need the extra power but, it does not hurt to have a bit extra on tap just in case you want to blend up a green smoothie or a healthy sorbet to satisfy your cravings for sweets.
Warranty
Second thing you need to look at is the warranty. Get a blender with at least a two year warranty especially if you’re planning to use it every day.
The top brands like Vitamix and Blendtec come with long warranties – 7 and 8 years respectively. Long warranties give you peace of mind that if something breaks you have nothing to worry about.
Do you need preset controls?
Lastly, check for preset controls. This feature will benefit folks who are multitaskers.
Let’s say you need to make soup, just dump the ingredients in and hit the soup setting and the blender will do the work for you.
The same thing with smoothies – add all the ingredients in and hit the smoothie setting and do something else.
It’s actually a convenience feature but actually a must have for some people like restaurant owners who value consistency.
Our Pick: Oster Pro 1200
One of the biggest headaches facing potential buyers is whether or not to choose a personal sized blender or something bigger?
Their rationale for picking a personal blender would be size.
But if there a need to make more smoothies or protein shakes they don’t have that option.
The rationale for buying a full sized blender would be the increase serving size. You can make more smoothies or juices for more people.
Well why not take those two and combine them into one?
Let me introduce to you the Oster Pro 1200. It combines the benefits of a full-sized blender and a personal blender into one package.
Now this isn’t an entirely new concept as other brands have this in their product line-up.
Why not a Vitamix?
One brand that comes to mind would be the Vitamix S30 personal blender that comes with the 20 and 40 ounce containers.
But while this product got the nod to be Juicing with G’s best personal blender because of the combination of power and compactness – it is very expensive, costing over $400.
And since we are all about budget options in this article, I cannot recommend that here.
Why is it number 1?
The biggest reason why the Oster Pro 1200 got the top spot here is the price to power ratio. If you buy it in Amazon you’ll only pay less than $80. And with that you will get a blender that has 1,200 watts. This is very close to commercial blender territory.
Add to that you will get a 3 year warranty on the blender and get this, a 10 year warranty for the motor.
So if the motor breaks down anytime within the a 10 year period, you can call Oster and they’ll repair it for you at no cost.
The 1,200 power will allow you to make not just smoothies but also soups, salsas and frozen blends.
However it won’t have enough power to make nut butter
One of the my favorite features is that you can use the 24 ounce cup to make smoothies because it comes with its own blade. This saves you time because you don’t need to wash the large pitcher only the blade assembly. After making your single serve drink you can cover the cup with the travel lid (also included in the package).
Glass pitcher is heavy
A big con for me would be the pitcher. To be more specific the weight of it. The pitcher is made from glass.
If you compare it to plastic pitchers by the other brands in this list, it is heavy and if you have a condition like arthritis then stay away from this.
Vitamix Clone: Cleanblend Blender
If you’ll buy a Vitamix now in Amazon – their bestselling 5200 will set you back at least $450 (yes, even if you buy the refurbished one).
Now that’s a lot of money for a blender. If you can afford it then good for you but just in case you can’t here’s a cheaper alternative.
More powerful than a Vitamix
Well, the good news is there a brand that has set to challenge the Vitamix in terms of matching its features at less than half the price.
In fact the Cleanblend has more power under the hood – 1,800 watts vs the 1,380 watts inside the Vitamix 5200. Cleanblend also has a tamper that is eerily similar to the Vitamix.
Can make nut butter
This allows it (and one of a few under-$200 blenders) to make nut butter without burning out the motor…
Technically this isn’t a budget blender but there’s a lot of value for the money you’ll pay.
This blender is literally a clone of the Vitamix and if you’re not familiar with blenders you could easily mistake one for another.
Combine the power, metal gears, shatterproof jar, tamper and robust looking controls – you have a commercial quality blender for a price of a consumer-grade blender.
Unfortunately because of the powerful motor, this machine will be very loud so consider this a warning.
No preset controls
Also it does not have any pre-programmed controls, only a pulse button.
But when you can make smoothies or frozen desserts in less than a minute so you really don’t need pre-programmed controls. However if that is a priority for you check out the next blender in the list.
Big & Small: Black and Decker BL6010 FusionBlade
When it comes to full sized blenders, two big brand names stand out.
You’ve got the Vitamix and the Blendtec with good reason.
These manufacturers product top quality products that have a lot of power – over 1,300 watts in all of their full sized blenders.
While both are great options, these products command at least $400.
Cheaper alternative
How about getting something that has close to the blending capability of the two for under $65?
Sounds like a good deal right?
Well, luckily for consumers Black and Decker has also entered into the blending market and this is one of their better products. They call this the BL6010 FusionBlade.
It is equipped with the patented “FusionBlade” design that Black & Decker claims to crush ice, blend smoothies and soups into a smooth consistency.
This is because of the vortex it creates that forces all the ingredients down the blade as it turns. It is a technology similar to the Vitamix.
Chunky peanut butter anyone?
This allows it to not just make smoothies but also crush ice, make soup and dare I say this – make a chunky peanut butter recipe.
Remember that since this blender does not have any tamper, any nut butter recipe you will make will not come out smooth but chunky with a lot of texture.
Personal size cup
Plus it has a feature that not a lot of full sized blender has – it comes with a single serve 20 ounce cup that has its own blade that you can make smoothies with.
None of the blenders with 60+ ounce pitchers have this feature up their sleeve.
This means that along with the ability to make smoothies or soups for your family, you can also make single serve drinks without having to wash a big pitcher if you don’t need to.
Cheapest Option: Hamilton Beach 58148A
Rarely do you find a cheap blender that has actual power.
A lot of the so-called budget blenders in the market have notoriously weak motors that you risk burning them out if you so much dare blend ice.
Worst part is a lot of them only have a 1 year warranty.
Long warranty
The Hamilton Beach 58148A dares to be different with those other blenders thanks to its 700 watt motor and the very generous (in my opinion) 3 year warranty.
This is almost unheard of if you consider the price of this product which is less than $30.
If none of the other blenders featured here fit your budget then this is a no-brainer option. This is actually the cheapest option of the 5.
Motor
The 700 watt motor has enough power to make smoothies (though it may struggle if you put in a lot of greens) and protein shakes.
Did I mention it had pre-programmed controls? Yes, it actually has two – one for making milkshake and another for smoothies.
Will struggle with leafy greens
I must warn you that this will struggle to blend green smoothies because of the blade design. It does not create a vortex so you will have to manually push down leaves close to the vicinity of the blade.
Make sure to put in a lot of liquid, have patience and it can be done.
Another downside is the glass pitcher that is heavier than a plastic pitcher of the same size.
It’s an Emulsifier: Shred Multi-Function Emulsifier
Great thing about open trade is opportunities for new entrepreneurs to challenge the big boys.
Biggest winners of course are the consumers who not only have more options but also get better pricing.
The Shred Multi-Function Emulsifier is one such product.
Who’s Dr. Ian Smith?
The man behind this product is Dr. Ian Smith, a best-selling author of Shred, “4 Day Diet”, “Extreme Fat Smash Diet” and much more.
He’s an doctor, entrepreneur who appeared on shows like Rachel Ray and Good Morning America.
With the success of his books, he also dived into the world of blender manufacturing and he named his product “Shred” after the name of one of his books.
Powerful motor
In terms of features, Shred has the power to match even the Vitamix and Blendtec. It also has 8 pre-programmed functions – from making nut butter to smoothies.
My favorite feature is the price, you will get all this for under $130. It isn’t the cheapest but you will get a lot for your dollar.
Not many blenders in the market can match the sheer 1,500 watt power of this.
Plus it has a blade design similar to a Vitamix. That means a lot of crushing and emulsifying power at your fingertips (literally).
Versatile
This machine can make anything from smoothies, soup, frozen desserts, pasta sauce, sorbets, baby food, etc. And since it has a plunger you can also make silky smooth almond butter…
To Wrap Up
There you have it 5 blenders in different price range between $30 and $200.
Remember before choosing one, you should set a budget first to weed out products that are out of your price range then focus on the features.
In my opinion in terms of features, the Oster Pro 1200 provides the best value for money proposition because of it’s powerful motor, versatility and price.
CleanBlend is the most powerful of the 5 with its 1,800 watt motor. It’s similar to the 5200 in terms of features and can even make nut butter because it has a tamper. So why spend $400++ if you can buy something with the same features for $200 less?
You will notice that I did not include compact blenders because I’ve already talked about it in a previous article.
Which blender is better for smoothies?
I’d go with the Oster or Cleanbend of the 5