I purchased 25-50 pickleball paddles (picture of some of my paddles below), so I can share with you the best budget pickleball paddles. As you can see below, many of my paddles are cheap, affordable paddles, clearly not the most expensive paddle in the world,
Also, my overall favorite paddle is the Vatic Pro Prism 14 mm or 16mm that comes with a cover, and Vatic Pro offers a discount code: bepickleballer that can take $10 off, but even with the discount code, the paddle is $89.99, so out of range for this article.
When I look for a value paddle, I am looking for the quality of a $200 paddle at under $50, so let’s review the list.
1. Best Overall Budget Pickleball Paddle (Under $50)
This is a 10mm thickness paddle, so it’s a bit thinner than what I would go with as a beginner. That said, the grip size is 5 inches, and this paddle is made of polypropylene, which has the same feel as carbon fiber. which helps grip the ball, providing more control.
The Franklin paddle is also 8 ounces, which I find a fine weight for beginners.
If you like paddle design, I appreciate how this paddle has an image of the sweet spot, making it potentially easier to understand where you need to hit the ball.
Also, I have these 3 pickleball paddles that I see many people playing with: Head Extreme Elite, Onyx Z5 or Hello Friday paddle. I prefer this Franklin pickleball paddle to all 3 of those more expensive options.
2. Best Budget Paddle (Under $25)
The Coastal Sports paddle is currently my top pick for the under $25 option. It carries a 4.8 rating on Amazon, based on over 100 reviews.
The paddle boasts a graphite face (which I appreciate more than Fiberglass) and a honeycomb polypropylene core. Plus, the design is sporty, yet simple.
Please note that this pickleball paddle often has a 5% coupon via Amazon that drives the price down even lower.
3. Best Discounted Code Pickleball Paddle
I like that JustPaddles offers a 10% discount code in addition to allowing extra savings on paddles.
That said, JustPaddles doesn’t have many budget paddles available. My favorite cheap paddle that you can get an additional discount on is the Gamma Fusion Power Middleweight Composite Pickleball Paddle.
Here are the specifications:
- Paddle Weight: 8.0 oz
- Paddle Face Material: Textured Composite (Fiberglass)
- Paddle Core Material: Polypropylene Honeycomb Core
- Paddle Shape: Wide Body
- Core Thickness: 13 mm
- Paddle Length: 15 5/8”
- Paddle Width: 8 1/4”
- Grip Size: Thin – 4 1/8”
- Handle Length: Standard – 5″
- Colorway: Pink | Black | Blue/Green
I like that this paddle provides a lot of power while maximizing the sweet spot. With an 8 1/4″ width, this paddle has a massive sweet spot allowing you to hit the pickleball ball from many different angles.
With the code: bepickleballer, this great paddle goes down to $44.99, which includes free shipping. I also appreciate that JustPaddles offers free shipping and a great return policy.
3. Best Runner Up Value Pickleball Paddle
This would probably be my favorite budget pickleball paddle if it were constantly available on Amazon. Unfortunately, it continues to be unavailable, so I moved it to the second position.
I love the carbon fiber 16mm as a beginner pickleball paddle. I have the 14mm, but I would do a 16mm if you are a beginner.
At the time of this writing, the Anything Sports Carbon Fiber paddle is under $30 on Amazon. Now, on Amazon, this paddle gets a solid 4.4, but I was curious why it would get anything less than a 5.0.
While the paddle height and width are not as large as my other paddles, I appreciate that you get to test out a carbon fiber face at a fraction of the price. The paddle plays well, and even the reviews mention that this paddle used to be in the $70 range, so around $30 is a huge improvement.
Two of the most negative reviews mention the grip, which I will give to them. I wouldn’t purchase this paddle for the grip, but I value the face of the paddle over the grip, and it plays so nicely for the low price.
4. Best Very Cheap Pickleball Paddle (Under $10)
The Gyothrig Pickleball Paddle is one of the least expensive pickleball paddles that I could find, which means that you can test out pickleball at a low price. I appreciate that this pickleball paddle maintains a 4.2 rating and also has a pickleball paddle cover.
I like how this paddle is still similar to paddles in the $10-$25 range but doesn’t seem to be marketed as heavily as other paddles.
Did you know I purchased two different sets of paddles at various prices, to find out that I think the paddles were manufactured from the same company?
This may happen more often on Amazon paddles sent directly from abroad.
Conclusion
Pickleball paddles can be very expensive, but not all great paddles are.
You are looking for the best budget pickleball paddle that can provide any attributes including power, control, and spin. Hopefully one of these value pickleball paddles will be affordable for your budget, and still not play like a cheap paddle.