If you are looking for a new snowboard but you are on a low budget then you might want to check out my list of good cheap snowboards below (this list has been updated for the 2017-18 season).
Below I have chosen what I think are the best snowboards you can buy at a price that won’t break the bank.
Because everyone needs a different type of snowboard I will be providing the following:
- Best cheap beginner snowboard
- Best cheap freestyle snowboard
- Best cheap all-mountain-freestyle snowboard
- Best cheap aggressive all-mountain-freestyle snowboard
- Best cheap all-mountain snowboard
- Best cheap aggressive all-mountain snowboard
- Best cheap freeride snowboard
How Each Board was Chosen
The snowboard chosen isn’t necessarily the cheapest but the best value for money but has to be at least a good bit cheaper than the average price of boards in the category.
Under each category I will show:
- the average cost of boards in that category
- the cheapest board I found in that category; and
- the reasons why I chose the board I chose
All prices shown in USD. Note that this post covers men’s snowboards – for the best cheap women’s snowboards check out the link below.
The Best Cheap Freestyle Snowboard
Board: Slash Happy Place
Price: $399
SnowboardingProfiles.com Rating Score: 86.8/100
| Number of freestyle/jib snowboards looked at: | 42 |
| Cheapest Board I Looked at: | $299 |
| Average price of freestyle snowboards: | $439 |
| Average Rating Score: | 79.6/100 |
Why this board was chosen
The Slash Happy Place is a great freestyle board even without taking price into account. It rates way above the average score in this category but costs a good $39 less than the average price.
Yes there are cheaper freestyle snowboards – but in terms of value for money you can’t go past the Happy Place.
The average score for the 15 boards that cost $399 or less was 77.3. The Happy Place scored way above that – the next closest in score for boards under $399 was the Rossignol TrickStick (83.5 points), which is also a great cheap option. A great jib specialist option is the K2 WWW ($379, scored 80.2).
The Best Cheap All-Mountain-Freestyle Snowboard
Board: Capita Outerspace Living
Price: $399
SnowboardingProfiles.com Rating Score: 89.9/100
| No. of all-mountain-freestyle snowboards looked at: | 24 |
| Cheapest Board I Looked at: | $399 |
| Average price of freestyle-all-mountain snowboards: | $507 |
| Average Rating Score: | 81.3/100 |
- See Full Review
Why this board was chosen
This was a bit of a no brainer. It’s my 3rd overall pick for all-mountain-freestyle snowboards (not taking price into account), yet it’s also more than $100 cheaper than the average snowboard in this category.
So with a score well above the average and a price well below the average, and ranking above a number of boards that cost a good bit more than it, the Outerspace Living is the obvious choice here. It’s also the cheapest equal in all of the boards that I looked at in this category this year.
This board was the one that surprised me the most out of all the boards I demoed this year.
Another great option is the YES Basic – same price ($399) and scored 82.0/100. Still above the average score and more than $100 cheaper than the average price.
The Best Cheap Aggressive All-Mountain-Freestyle Snowboard
Board: Capita Defenders of Awesome (DOA)
Price: $419
SnowboardingProfiles.com Rating Score: 90.9/100
| No. of all-mountain-freestyle snowboards looked at: | 16 |
| Cheapest Board I Looked at: | $419 |
| Average price of freestyle-all-mountain snowboards: | $530 |
| Average Rating Score: | 84.4/100 |
- See Full Review
Why this board was chosen
Another Capita selection – and another no-brainer. The DOA is more than $100 cheaper than the average priced board in this category – and was my #1 ranked Aggressive All-Mountain-Freestyle snowboard. So, of course, way above the average score.
The Lib Tech Hot Knife, YES Ghost and Ride Helix all deserve mention here too. All $31 less than the average price, but all above the average score.
The Best Cheap All-Mountain Snowboard
Board: YES Libre
Price: $369
SnowboardingProfiles.com Rating Score: 81.7/100
| No. of all-mountain snowboards looked at: | 27 |
| Cheapest Board I Looked at: | $299 |
| Average price of all-mountain snowboards: | $490 |
| Average Rating Score: | 80.9/100 |
Why this board was chosen
Now the most popular snowboard category – and the best value snowboard in this cateogory (in this humble author’s opinion) is the YES Libre.
This board is a huge $121 less than the average price – but it still scores more than the average score. If your budget is tight but you still want a quality all-mountain snowboard, this is the go-to, IMO.
Honorable mention to the Slash Brainstorm ($449 and 89.0/100), YES Typo ($449 and 87.2/100) and the Ride Wild Life ($429 and 82.9/100).
The Best Cheap Aggressive All-Mountain Snowboard
Board: Jones Explorer
Price: $449
SnowboardingProfiles.com Rating Score: 84.3/100
| No. of all-mountain snowboards looked at: | 14 |
| Cheapest Board I Looked at: | $449 |
| Average price of all-mountain snowboards: | $577 |
| Average Rating Score: | 82.5/100 |
Why this board was chosen
At a price over $100 cheaper than the average but with a score above the average, the Jones Explorer is the top choice for this category and the standout when it came to this category. It’s the cheapest I looked at in this category and was also 5th best.
There wasn’t much else in an category with a high average price – though the Ride Berzerker is another good cheaper option ($499 and 81.5/100).
The Best Cheap Freeride Snowboard
Board: Salomon Super8
Price: $449
SnowboardingProfiles.com Rating Score: 81.5/100
| No. of freeride snowboards looked at: | 20 |
| Cheapest Board I Looked at: | $379 |
| Average price of freeride snowboards: | $599 |
| Average Rating Score: | 82.1/100 |
Why this board was chosen
This board only scored around the average for freeride snowboards but it’s significantly cheaper than the average price – $150 less to be precise. If you’re on a budget that’s some serious coin to be saving. Especially for a board that is still of good quality that can do for you what you need it to.
In a pricey category such as this, the Super 8 was the standout. The Rossignol Krypto also deserves mention ($499 and 81.5/100).
The Best Cheap Beginner Snowboard
Board: Rossignol Circuit
Price: $299
SnowboardingProfiles.com Rating Score: 96/100
| No. of beginner snowboards looked at: | 47 |
| Cheapest Board I Looked at: | $299 |
| Average price of beginner snowboards: | $437 |
| Average Rating Score: | 85.7/100 |
Why this board was chosen
This was the cheapest equal board that I looked at – and it was the highest that I rated as of those costing this price.
Price is taken into account for the scores for beginner boards – so this is somewhat skewed in this case – but I still don’t think you’ll find a better beginner board for a better price without going into the budget brands and then you’ll be sacrificing on quality.
>>Check out more great Beginner Snowboard Options
Over to you
Thanks for reading and I hope this has helped you to find the right cheap snowboard for you.
Check out the links under each category for more on that snowboard.
Hello there!
I have been snowboarding for some years now and I absolutely love it!
I have invested in some good, expensive equipment that should serve me well for some years. My sister is interested in learning but is not in a position to spend a ton of money of a snowboard.
This review is very helpful and I definitely need to show her your recommendations.
Thank you so much for sharing!!
Hey Katerina
Thanks for checking out the page. Glad you found it helpful. I have a women’s cheap snowboards list in the making so keep an eye out for that one which will be more relevant for your sister. This post was all men’s snowboards.
Update: I have now completed the Best Cheap Women’s Snowboard list – check it out at the link below.
Best Cheap Women’s Snowboards
Funny story… I was at a thrift shop and saw a great snowboard case that I was interested in buying. I picked it up and it actually had a snowboard in it. I bought the set for less than $10. Ecstatic. Of course, I go home and take it all the way out only to see that it’s broken. -_- Well, now I have a case and need a snowboard to go inside. I don’t think I’ll get lucky again to find one under $10, but this list has given me a great idea of my options.
Hey – great story! Too good to be true. Would’ve been sweet to have a nice board in there. Still $10 even for a bag is all good.
Capita appear to be doing well, congratulations to them. No sign of Burton – maybe with their despotic attempts to develop their own unique system theyre putting people off. Everyone else has full compatability with boards, bindings and now, thanks to Buton step in, even boots. Im all for innovation and new technology, but in the rush for new carbon fibre bells and whistles I feel that companies are losing sight of the real goal in snowboarding. You can have just as much fun on last years beginner board as you can on the latest super stiff tricky to ride nightmare.
Choose your new boards carefully people.
Thanks for the great list! I’m interested in buying a snowboard for my son, but I am still unsure which category of a board to choose. He only snowboards about 2-3 times per year. He started about 5 years ago and is now 18. Would you recommend buying him a beginner level board since he doesn’t go that often or is it worth spending a little more for a better board? What do you mean by “all-mountain” board? He can handle black slopes, but mostly sticks with the blues. Is it even worth buying a board or is renting just fine for 2-3 times per year?
Hi Wendy
Thanks for your messsage.
All-Mountain essentially means a bit of everything. A board that can ride in the backcountry if you want it to or in the terrain park if you want it to or if you prefer to just ride casually on the groomed runs it’s great for that to – you can any or all of the above on an all-mountain board. It’s an all-rounder. It’s usually a good choice if you’re not yet sure what style of riding you like or if you like to do a bit of everything. They’re usually a good choice for an intermediate level as well.
So, I think all-mountain is probably a good choice for your son. Either all-mountain or all-mountain-freestyle. You could go for a beginner board and he would still enjoy it but if he’s been riding 5 years, even if for only 2-3 times per year, I imagine he’s intermediate level or close an might appreciate something a little more than a beginner board. Though there are a lot of boards that are good for beginners that are also good for intermediate and up riders too – so those would be a good choice. The lists below are what I would check for him.
>>My Top 15 Men’s Snowboards for Beginners
>>My Top All-Mountain-Freestyle Snowboards
>>My Top 10 All Mountain Snowboards
Of course, these aren’t the only options in these categories. And something like the Libre isn’t in my top 10 all-mountain, but still a great choice, especially for the price.
In terms of whether it’s worth it or not to buy over renting, 99% of the time I would say yes. But you can check out some pros and cons to buying and renting at the next link if you’d like.
>>Should I Rent or Buy a Snowboard
Hope this helps
Hi! This article is very helpful. However, as a non- snowboarder, I still have a question. This is the second season of snowboarding for my 18 year old son, so he’s still fairly new at it but I’m not sure if that qualifies him for the “beginner” category. He just broke his board, and I’m trying to figure out which category on your list of suggestions best describes a teenager snowboarding with friends one to two times a week. I’d appreciate your feedback. Thanks!
Hi Nancy
Typically younger riders learn pretty quickly so it might well be the case that he’s already at an intermediate level or close to. It’s hard to say without actually having any description of his riding, but it might well be the case, particularly if he’s riding a couple of times/week.
Also, it’s hard to say what to recommend without knowing the kind of things he likes to do – does he like to ride the backcountry, stick to the resort, ride the park, etc. But, I would say that something either all-mountain or all-mountain-freestyle would be the best way to go. These two categories are the most versatile so whatever type of riding he gets up to it should cover most. I’d say typically at that age, but not necessarily, he would be more likely to be doing freestyle type stuff rather than venturing into untouched powder – so all-mountain-freestyle is probably the safest bet. But that’s making a lot of assumptions. All-mountain boards are typically good at a bit of everything.
So, with limited information, I would say all-mountain-freestyle or all-mountain, and he’s probably past the need for a beginner board – but as I say this is based on a lot assumptions. But if it’s hard to decide going all-mountain is the most fool-proof.
Hope this helps