If you are looking for new snowboard bindings but have a tighter budget, then you might want to check out our list of what we consider to be the best cheap snowboard bindings for the 2025-2026 season.
Because everyone needs different bindings, depending on their board, riding style, ability level, physical characteristics and ability level, this list will be broken down into different flex ranges:
- Best cheap freestyle bindings
- Best cheap all-mountain bindings
- Best cheap freeride bindings
- Best cheap beginner bindings
How Each Binding was Chosen
The binding chosen for each category aren’t necessarily the cheapest, but rather the best value-for-money. But they have to be at least cheaper than the average price of bindings in their category.
Under each category I will show:
- the average cost of bindings in that category
- the cheapest bindings I found in that category;
- the reasons why I chose the bindings I chose; and
- Some alternatives that are also good value for money
All prices shown in USD.
Best Cheap Freestyle Bindings
FREESTYLE BINDINGS CATEGORY STATS |
# of freestyle bindings rated: | 25 | |
Cheapest bindings rated: | $159 | |
Average price of freestyle bindings: | $309 | |
Average Rating Score: | 84.6/100 | |
Binding: Bent Metal Logic
Snowboarding Profiles' Freestyle Rating Score : 87.2/100
Flex: Soft (3/10)
Price: $269
Why These Bindings Were Chosen
Bent Metal's Logic take out the freestyle category this year. They faced some pretty stiff competition, but in the end they were the most logical (sorry, I didn't have to go there, but I did anyway 😬).
A great choice if you're on a budget, like your bindings soft flexing, but still want good quality and a great option for playful freestyle riding.
The Logic are $40 cheaper than the average all the bindings in this category but scored well above the average score. They took out the #8 spot in our TopRated Freestyle Bindings list this year and the average price of the other bindings in the top 10 was $366.
>>Bent Metal Logic Review (review coming soon)
Some other notable numbers:
- The average price for this category went up by $66 compared to last year (while the average price does tend to go up a little each year, this was a bigger jump than normal, due to the changes we made to the categories this year. See end of this post for more info on the category changes).
- The average price for the top half (top 12) was $358, making the Logic $89 cheaper than those that scored in the top half of this list.
- The Logic were the cheapest in the top 12.
- Of the 8 freestyle bindings costing $269 or less, not including the Logic, the average score was 79.1.
Alternatives
Some honorable mentions:
Union Strata ($279 | 89.9 points)
Jones Meteorite ($299 | 85.1 points)
YES IPO ($219 | 83.5 points)
Best Cheap All-Mountain Bindings
ALL-MOUNTAIN BINDINGS CATEGORY STATS |
# of all-mountain bindings rated: | 30 | |
Cheapest bindings rated: | $239 | |
Average price of all-mountain bindings: | $344 | |
Average Rating Score: | 84.4/100 | |
Binding: Burton Cartel Re:Flex
Snowboarding Profiles' All-Mountain Rating Score : 85.5/100
Flex: 5.5/10
Price: $299
Why These Bindings Were Chosen
Our choice for this year's best-value all-mountain snowboard bindings goes to Burton's Cartel.
The longstanding Cartel are $45 cheaper than the average price of this whole category, and ranked in our Top 10 All-Mountain bindings, which doesn't take price into account.
And in that top 10, the average price was $367, putting the Cartel $68 cheaper than the average of those that featured in the top 10.
>>Burton Cartel Re:Flex Review
Note that the Cartel comes in both a Re:Flex model and an EST model. The EST model is only compatible with snowboards that use the channel system.
Because of that we specifically chose the Re:Flex version for this spot, but the EST version is even better value, imo, for those that have a channel board, but being a proprietary system, they weren't considered for this list as a lot of riders wouldn't be able to use them on their boards.
Some other notable numbers:
- The average price for this went up by $46 compared to last year (while the average price does tend to go up a little each year, this was a bigger jump than normal, due to the changes we made to the categories this year. See end of this post for more info on the category changes).
- The average price for this category is $35 higher than the freestyle category (see above).
- The Cartel was the lowest priced binding in the top half of this list (top 15).
- Of the 6 bindings costing $299 or less, not including the Cartel, the average score was 80.2. This is compares to the Cartel at 85.5 points.
Alternatives
Burton Cartel EST ($299 | 88.2 points)
YES Airmaster ($319 | 86.6 points)
Bent Metal Axtion ($299 | 84.9 points)
Jones Orion ($319 | 84.4 points)
Best Cheap Freeride Bindings
FREERIDE BINDINGS CATEGORY STATS |
# of freeride bindings rated: | 12 | |
Cheapest bindings rated: | $379 | |
Average price of freeride bindings: | $520 | |
Average Rating Score: | 84.5/100 | |
Binding: Bataleon Astro Fullwrap
Snowboarding Profiles' Freeride Rating Score : 88.4/100
Flex: 8.5/10
Price: $419
Why These Bindings Were Chosen
I know, $419 isn't necessarily what some would call cheap (🤔) for snowboard bindings. But in the case of this category, it really is.
Snowboard bindings (like snowboards and snowboard boots), tend to get more expensive as they get stiffer.
You could argue that there's no such thing as a good cheap freeride binding. And while not many will see $419 as a low price, when you're looking at this category it really is stand out value.
The average price of this whole list is a whopping $176 more than the average price of the all-mountain category (which is the next highest). And with bindings in that 8/10 to 10/10 flex range, there's not much "cheap" to look at here.
The Bataleon Astro Fullwrap, retaining their title for this category, come in well above the average score and come in at #3 in our Top 5 Freeride bindings list, but are priced $101 less than the average price of the category. And when you compare them to the rest of the top 5, they are $162 cheaper than the average price of the other bindings that make that list!
>>Bataleon Astro Fullwrap Review
Some other notable numbers:
- The average price for this category went up by $18 compared to last year.
- The average price for this category is the highest of all the categories and by a good margin - $176 higher than the next highest category (all-mountain) and $211 higher than the freestyle category (see above).
- The Astro were the equal third cheapest bindings in the whole category, yet ranked #3 and scored 88.4 vs the average of 84.5.
Alternatives
Union Atlas Pro ($499 | 86.3 points)
Salomon Quantum ($499 | 86.3 points)
Best Cheap Beginner Bindings
BEGINNER BINDINGS CATEGORY STATS |
# of beginner bindings rated: | 23 | |
Cheapest bindings rated: | $149 | |
Average price of beginner bindings: | $228 | |
Average Rating Score: | 83.8/100 | |
Binding: Union Flite
Snowboarding Profiles' Beginner Rating Score : 94.2/100
Flex: 3.5/10
Price: $159
Why These Bindings Were Chosen
After that sticker shock from the freeride list, we now move on to the final category, which has the lowest average price of all the categories.
The results here are somewhat skewed, since the scores for beginner bindings take price into account, but none-the-less, the Flite represents great value for money for those just starting out on their snowboarding journey.
They are $69 cheaper than the average price in this category and get the #1 position in our top 10 beginner bindings list.
They also actually went down in price for 2026, which is nice to see. Well technically they were a "new" binding for 2026. However, they are the same as last year's Flite Pro. For '26 a new Flite Pro was introduced, with the old Flite Pro remaining in the line but having had the name changed to Flite.
Some other notable numbers:
- The average price for this category went down by $13 compared to last year.
- The average price for this category is the lowest of all the categories, naturally being a beginner list - and with those that are suited to this category being softer flexing bindings.
- Price is taken into account for the scores for beginner bindings – so this is somewhat skewed for this category.
- The average price for the top half (top 12) was $221, making the Flite $62 cheaper than those that scored in the top half of this list. The bottom half of the list had a higher average price than the top half though - because price in this case influenced the scores.
- The Flite was the equal 2nd cheapest of all the beginner bindings that we looked at.
Over to You
Thanks for reading and I hope this has helped you to find the right bindings for you and your budget.
Check out the links under each category for more info.
What was the part with ‘small downgrade in hardware’ for this year’s Strata VS last year’s Strata?
Cheers.
Hi Michael
The downgrade for the ’23 Strata’s hardware was replacing the Magnesium ratchets that were on the ’22 model with aluminum ones for the ’23 model. Sorry saying “hardware” was a little confusing. Still using grade 8.8 steel for the hardware. Will change the wording in the post now.
Hey Nate, thanks for the break down. Because I’ve heard rumours on how they changed the manufacturing from Italy to China. Just want to find out what’s the deal with the pricing now below Force. But everything make sense given they retired C.Pro and introducing the Ultra.
Hi Michael
Yeah, it was predominantly, as far as I know, just a pricing hierarchy thing.