The best juicer for the money should have:
- A low initial price.
- Low long-term costs.
The juicer must fit both of these requirements.
Generally, centrifugal juicers are cheaper than slow juicers. So, if low cost is a top priority for you, a centrifugal juicer is likely to be the best option. However, don’t underestimate the long term cost savings of owning a slow (cold press) vs a fast (centrifugal) juicer. Also, don’t underestimate the long term cost savings of owning one (more expensive) centrifugal juicer over another.
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Warning: don’t buy a super cheap or super expensive centrifugal juicer
Centrifugal juicers vary in price from approx. $40 (Black+Decker JE2200B) all the way up to approx. $400 (Breville Juice Fountain Duo).
The sweet spot for buying a good value high quality centrifugal juicer is in the $60 to $100 range.
At the bottom of this range at around $60 you can buy something like the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro. It provides terrific yields although the juice it extracts directly out of the juicer is fairly high in pulp and foam. So, one of the “costs” of buying it at such a low price is that you’re likely to have to run all of the raw juice it extracts through a fine sieve to make a pulp free juice.
Other downsides include a small juice container (the container that catches juice as it’s extracted from the juicer), a low quality cleaning brush (that makes cleaning it more difficult), and fairly low build quality. However, for $60 (approx.) these are all negatives that can be worked around for the price. Overall, this is the best juicer we tested for the price.
On the top end of the “sweet spot” range is the Breville Juice Fountain Compact. This juicer is a great performer across the board. It provides above average low pulp yields, comes with a high quality cleaning brush, is very easy to use, and is much better built (of higher quality parts) than the Big Mouth Pro. But, it does retail for quite a bit more at approx. $100. If you’re looking for the best juicer under $100 (approx.) the Compact is our strong recommendation.
So, what about those juicers that fall outside of the “sweet spot” range between $60 and $100? Cheaper juicers tend to have a myriad of issues that you simply won’t be able to compromise on. For example, the $40 (approx.) Black+Decker JE2200B gets terrible yields, doesn’t even come with a brush for cleaning its hard to clean filter basket, has a very small feeding chute opening (so you have to cut fruits and veggies extra small before you can juice them), and its build quality is extremely suspect. This is not a juicer we can recommend to anyone despite its very low price.
Expensive centrifugal juicers are also not recommended but for different reasons. The most egregious example is the Breville Juice Fountain Duo. At approx. $400 it doesn’t get any better yields than the Juice Fountain Compact, a juicer that retails for a quarter of the price. The Duo does come with a puree insert and disc for making smoothies (on top of making juice) but this added functionality isn’t anywhere close to being worth the extra $300 (approx.) you have to spend to go from the Compact to the Duo. Neither is its stainless steel construction or its higher wattage motor.
The bottom line is this: the approx. $100 Juice Fountain Compact provides very similar and sometimes even better performance than the Duo but also all other more expensive options on the market. In other words, the best centrifugal juicer is a fairly inexpensive $100 (approx.) juicer – the Juice Fountain Compact.
Warning: don’t buy a super cheap slow juicer
Most slow (cold press) juicers fall in the $200 to $400 price range.
The sweet spot for buying a slow juicer is right in the middle of this range – at around $300. At this price is where you’re going to get the best bang for your buck – the best slow juicer for the money.
For example, the Omega NC800 retails right around this price. It provides great yields juicing really any type of fruit or vegetable. It extracts a juice very low in pulp right out of the juicer. And it’s an above average performer in all other categories also.
It’s very easy to clean and keep clean (keep from staining) with a dark body and dark plastic parts. It provides terrific build quality and it also comes with a 15 year warranty. The NC800 is a great overall performer and it retails for less than many other options it handily outperforms.
The best slow juicer for the money is the Omega NC800.
Another option is the Tribest Green Star Elite. It does retail for a hefty price of approx. $500 but it’s actually one of the cheapest twin gear juicers on the market. And with that twin gear functionality comes well above average yields in almost all categories. The sticker shock for this juicer is substantial but over the course of ownership you’ll save in produce costs since you’ll need to buy less produce to make more juice compared to many other slow juicers on the market. We’ll talk more about this initial cost vs long term cost dynamic later in the guide.
Now, you may be wondering, “what about those $100 slow juicers I see all over the internet?” That $100 entry cost for a slow juicer is certainly a tantalizing proposition.
But, be warned. We’ve actually bought a few of those same juicers for testing and review and have found major issues with all of them. First of all, the build quality of these juicers is absolutely terrible. A full price $300 (approx.) slow juicer like the Omega NC800 is built like a tank. Its body is heavy. Its auger is substantial. Its plastic parts are highly durable. This is not the case with a $100 slow juicer. It’s usually poorly made and made of very low quality parts.
This is a bigger problem than you might think. Yes, it does reduce the life of the juicer. It won’t last nearly as long because of its low quality parts. But, there exists an even bigger issue. Take a look at the photos below. The augers of these cheap juicers are also very low quality. And the plastic will actually chip/grind right off of them even under moderate use. These plastic shavings can easily get into the extracted juice.
The bottom line: don’t buy a cheap slow juicer. You want to spend a minimum of $300 or so to get a good quality masticating juicer. If your budget is limited we would recommend a high quality centrifugal juicer like the Breville Compact over any cheap $100 slow juicer.
Long term cost of ownership
The initial cost of buying a juicer – the price you pay at the retailer to buy it – is only a small fraction of long term cost of ownership. Much more relevant to long term cost of ownership is
1. Juicer performance (yield)
2. Durability
3. Warranty terms and length
A juicer’s performance affects long term cost of ownership because it impacts how much produce you need to buy to make a certain quantity of juice.
Here’s a quick example: let’s say juicer A makes 10 oz. of juice for every 1 lb. of produce. Juicer B makes only 5 oz. of juice from the same quantity (1 lb.) of produce.
Another way to look at it is that you only need to buy 1 lb. of produce to make 10 oz. of juice with juicer A while you need to buy 2 lb. of produce to make 10 oz. of juice with juicer B. Obviously 2 lb. of produce costs more than 1 lb. of produce to make the same amount (10 oz.) of juice with either juicer. Thus, long term costs for making juice with juicer B will be higher than it will be for juicer A.
Clearly, this is an oversimplified exaggerated example. But the point remains: juicers that give you higher yield per quantity of produce require less produce – and therefore less $$ – to make the same amount of juice.
So, if you’re looking for a juicer with great long term value look for one with high yields. You can use the comparison table here to compare the yields of different models we’ve tested.
Another factor that affects long term cost of ownership is durability. Juicers that are built better with higher quality parts last longer. Juicers that are poorly made have to be replaced more frequently and this adds to the long term cost of ownership.
A cheap $40 centrifugal juicer may not last a year. So while it costs $40 initially, it costs $80 in total ($40 for the first one plus $40 for the replacement) to still have a working juicer once you replace it.
A more expensive $300 slow juicer could last a lifetime. So while the initial cost of $300 is high you’re unlikely to ever have to spend more to keep juicing throughout your lifetime.
The last factor to consider is warranty terms and warranty length. Not all warranties cover all parts. Not all warranties have reasonable terms. Centrifugal juicers tend to have shorter warranties – in the 1 to 2 year range at best. Slow juicers tend to have much longer warranties – in the 5 to 15 year range.
If parts do break on your juicer a long warranty with great terms will go a long way in reducing long term costs of ownership. So definitely take a look at the warranty included with your juicer before making your purchase if long term costs are a concern for you.
Note that the comparison table at the end of the page here lists durability scores for close to 30 tested juicers and each individual review for those same models goes into great depth regarding warranty terms and length.
Top 5 Best Cheap Juicers
#1 – Breville Juice Fountain Compact
The Breville Compact is the best juicer for under $100 (approx.). It provides terrific yields, is easy to clean, easy to use, durable, and, of course, an unbeatable value. This is undoubtedly the best cheap juicer on the market.
#2 – Omega NC800
The Omega NC800 is quite a bit more expensive than the Compact but it’s also a slow juicer and with that comes many benefits. For one, the juice extracted by this juicer is less aerated – this gives it a better taste. Second, the juicer is capable of handily juicing leafy greens and wheatgrass – something the Compact and all other centrifugal juicers struggle with. Third, the juicer is much more versatile. It can be used as a homogenizer (to make nut butters, for example). This is something a centrifugal juicer like the Compact simply cannot do.
#3 – Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro
The Big Mouth Pro is the cheapest option on the list at approx. $60. It is the cheapest but still reasonably good juicer on the market. It does come with several downsides (a terrible cleaning brush and high pulp raw juice yield to name a few) but they can be tolerated for the price. If your budget doesn’t allow for the approx. $100 Compact the Big Mouth Pro is a great second option.
#4 – Tribest GSE
The Tribest GSE is the most expensive option on the list. At approx. $500 you may be wondering how it’s even on the list at all. But consider the well above average yields of this juicer. Those higher yields mean that you need to buy less produce (for less $$) than you need to buy to make the same amount of juice with most other juicers on the market. The bottom line is that this juicer is a great value over several years of ownership. Sure, within the first year or so that initial price of $500 (approx.) is going to sting, but after a few years you’ll be very happy with the great value the juicer provides because it gives you higher yields for the same amount of produce.
#5 – Tribest Solostar 4
The final juicer in our recommendation list is the Solostar 4. Like the GSE this juicer provides well above average yields across the board. Thus, its long term cost of ownership is low. The best part? It’s about half the price of the GSE so your entry cost isn’t nearly as high with this juicer. Why is the GSE #4 and the Solostar 4 #5? Because the GSE’s yields are still much better than those of the Solostar 4 and therefore its long term cost of ownership is still much lower.