This article contains links that help support my writing and this website. Please see our affiliate policy for additional details.
I have acquired around 50 budget pickleball paddles with the goal to provide you a review covering the best pickleball paddles you can purchase under $50. I believe I may have accomplished that task as I check paddle prices often because I want you to get the best value budget paddle.
To help, I added a picture below of a small subset of my budget paddles.
When I look for a value paddle, I am looking for the quality of a $200 paddle (such as my Holbrook Aero or Volair Mach 2 Forza) at under $50, so let’s review the list. Also, I have best paddles under $25 and under $10, but you may see the quality diminishes quickly at that price point.
1. Best Overall
The best budget paddle is a new 2025 entrant with crazy T700 carbon fiber and a 20mm thickness and is finally back in stock. The paddle is seriously an insane deal. It’s the Doctor pickleball surgical control paddle, and I liked the paddle so much that I wrote an entire deep dive review.
Here’s a recent video where I competed the Doctor Surgical control paddle against the $300 Joola Perseus Pro IV and a $5 paddle, just for fun. The results were shocking.
In my opinion, this is the best paddle under $50, and thankfully, the paddle was sold out until around mid July, but thankfully, it’s back in stock.
Still Undefeated
You may not believe this, but I recently played against my friend who is probably in the 4.0-4.5 DUPR range. I used the Doctor pickleball paddle and defeated him in the first game. When I switched to other top budget paddles below (the PBVMUTG paddle and the Fanovae paddle) I lost the next games to help this paddle claim the top budget paddle position.
Here’s the side view of the paddle showing the 20mm thickness, proving better control.
Even more impressive, check this out when I played 4 games with 4 different paddles.
- Game 1: I started with a $10 pickleball paddle and lost the game 11-6.
- Game 2: After a solid loss, I played with around an $80 carbon fiber weave pickleball paddle and barely won the second game 12-10.
- Game 3: I played with my #1 favorite pickleball paddle, the Joola Ben Johns Hyperion CFS (Price: $150-$200 per my full review), and won the game 11-8.
- Game 4: I decided to play with this Doctor Surgical Control pickleball paddle, and had my best game yet. I won 11-3, In the game, I felt that I had such control of all of my shots. The grit on the paddle grips the ball, and the 20mm paddle thickness gives ample control to get your shots where you need them to fall.
One thing to consider is that some brands choose to spend more to get a more premium paddle, and forego the expensive cost of USAP approval. This is what Doctor Pickleball did, but Dinks USA stated that USAP approval is not necessary for a majority of pickleball players because that approval is only necessary for sanctioned tournaments.
I checked the pricing recently and it’s back to $49.99 (from $69.99). Honestly, it may be hard to believe how this brand can make money.
Also, if you use the link below and purchase the paddle, I get a small commission of around $1.50. No expectations whatsoever, but I appreciate all the support.
Finally, I absolutely love the simple design of this paddle. It is also a fun brand name with Doctor Pickleball and the paddle provides surgical control.
2. Best Under $25
Fanovae is one of the best pickleball brands and was difficult to find. The brand has a unique series called PowerMax, and my favorite is currently the Fanovae Power 3D paddle which is around $25. This paddle is incredible for spin, power and control. The paddle has a carbon fiber face finish that provide ample control which is often much better than a budget fiber glass paddle.
In addition, the Fanovae paddle also comes with amazing accessories.
Here’s a picture of the paddle.
3. Second Place
I believe the best pickleball paddle at around the $50 range is the Balboa Gen 2 T700 pickleball paddle.
This paddle comes with T700 carbon fiber for both control and power, and a triple lay surface that gives you spin and control. It’s also got a great design and comes with a cover, which is insane for that price point.
Finally, the paddle has an edge foam that gives this power a nice enhanced sweet spot, and is thermoformed for both power and durability.
With the bepickleballer discount code, you can get this paddle for just $50-$55, which is an insane value. In addition, the company provides free shipping over $40, and I have had an awesome experience with customer service that provides a 100% satisfaction guarantee and hassle free returns.
Let’s chat about the paddle in the second position as I have enjoyed this paddle as well.
4. Third Place
The Roore Coronado – Titanium 16 mm has earned a spot as the second best budget pickleball paddles as the paddle is seriously dynamic with a carbon fiber weave, and 16mm to provide ample control and spin. When competing the Doctor Pickleball at under $50 to this paddle that is generally around $60, I found that the Doctor pickleball paddle won out in a game vs game competition and is slightly lower priced, so voila. That said, this is a great paddle.
Firstly, I love the design as this brand is located in San Diego, and each paddle in it’s line up is a topographical map of the ocean and a place in San Diego.
There’s three paddles in the line up, so check out my review article if you’d like to read more on each paddle. Let’s talk about the playability.
I’ve been really impressed with the Roore paddle; it’s helped me stay undefeated so far thanks to its amazing control, letting me place serves, drops, dinks, and drives exactly where I want them.
The spin is also top-tier; I actually switched to this paddle mid-match and turned a loss into a win against a solid 4.0 opponent, thanks in part to the carbon fiber surface gripping the ball just right. And unlike other paddles that sacrifice power for control or spin, this one delivers all three. I could feel it especially on my serves and forehand returns, where the power really came through.
Let’s talk cost as this paddle is around $69.95, but the team was super gracious with a 10% discount code (bepickleballer) to my readers that should be better than any other discount out there, to get this paddle around $63.
That said, here’s the link to check the price on Amazon to make sure you get the lowest price.
The next paddle used to command the second position, but the price has kept going up and recently went up again, so I had to move it to the second runner up position.
5. Fifth Place
The Fanovae Powermax series is really an impressive brand, given the price. Firstly, there are a few paddles in the lineup, and I aquired 3 of the carbon fiber paddles. Here’s my comprehensive review article, but I’ll summarize which one I liked the best now.
Let’s look at spin, control and power.
Spin
When I used the Powermax 3D, it genuinely felt like I was playing with a paddle that costs over $100. I took it out for a few doubles matches, and the spin I could generate really stood out.
I usually put some side spin on my serves, and this paddle had no trouble gripping the ball and producing that spin. In addition, I also like to mix in slices and topspin, and it handled both with ease. Out of all the paddles in the Fanovae lineup, I’d say the Powermax 3D gave me the most spin.
Control
In terms of control, the Powermax 3D stood out here too. I could place my serves deep in the service box, and my returns were right on target. Dinks and drop shots felt clean and consistent.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly paddle that doesn’t sacrifice control, this one is hard to beat. It might be the best option in the whole series for control.
Power
Now, if you want power, the Powermax 6s 16mm paddle brought the heat. It’s packed with cool tech—a 9-layer build, 6k carbon fiber, dual T700 carbon layers, and a polypropylene honeycomb core.
I usually prefer a 14mm paddle when I want more pop, but the 16mm version still brought plenty of power. It felt solid and delivered strong, driving shots with ease.
Here’s my comprehensive review of the 3 paddles I tested. I liked the Fanovae 3D the most, and this paddle is often under $50, and potentially even under $40 when provided a coupon.
6. Sixth Place
Unfortunately, the PBVMURTG carbon fiber paddle continues to move down the list as the price continues to increase, and this paddle is now over $50.
The brand has an odd name, but it’s seriously a fun paddle.
I played with a $200 paddle recently against my friend who is probably in the 4.0 DUPR range. He beat me 3 games in a row, but then I switched to this PBVMURTG pickleball paddle in game 4, and won the game 11-3. I could not believe it.
What’s best is that the PBVMURTG paddle is currently over $50 now on Amazon, but what’s amazing is that it is a carbon fiber paddle. My guess is that this deal won’t last forever as my previous favorite Anything Sports Carbon Fiber paddle was discontinued, which was unfortunate. That said, I played with this paddle side by side with my previous favorite, and I liked this pickleball racket more.
I mean, I liked this paddle so much that I wrote an entire review article covering my experience.
Here’s the design of the PBVMURTG pickleball paddle.
Finally, the PBVMURTG paddle looks very similar to the JoJoLemon pickleball paddle that is often around double the price of this paddle.
8. Best Under $10
The VoicePTT pickleball paddle set is another paddle that was incredible difficult to find as I do not believe this brand pumps out ads, making these paddles potentially more difficult to find in Amazon search.
The VOICEPTT 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. In fact, I got this paddle for around $10 for a set of 2 pickleball paddles. Here’s a picture of the paddles.
I added the link below, but please note that these deals go in and out, so I added a link to a search that can find you a paddle under $15.
In addition, I appreciate that this pickleball paddle maintains a 4.4 rating based on over 21 reviews
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. For example, I wrote a MTEN pickleball paddles review article covering how those paddles arep priced much better even though these feel almost exactly the same.
If this is not available anymore, check out this search, which provides paddles under $15 that should have higher ratings.
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.