5 Best Budget Welding Helmets (Under $100)

The Yeswelder M800HP is my favorite budget model and one of the most popular. This helmet features a huge 13.4 square inch viewing area which is bigger than your average helmet. The Yeswelder M800HP Auto Darkening Welding Helmet with True View integrates true color technology for a display that’s much closer to real-life colors instead of the usual green color found in most welding helmets.

It offers outstanding clarity with a 1/1/1/2 optical rating. When I asked for some feedback from some welders who own this helmet, they reported that this lens doesn’t always darken consistently for DC TIG welding but does work for AC TIG.

The Yeswelder M800HP Auto Darkening Welding Helmet darkens in 1/10,000th of a second, and Yeswelder designed this one with external settings controls for easy access with gloved hands. Sensitivity, reaction speed, and auto-darkening delay times feature stepless, continuous dial controls for easy use while wearing the hood. There are reports by owners that the headgear isn’t especially durable. This issue can be solved with affordable replacement headgear such as the Jackson 370 while still maintaining a reasonable cost.

We’ve got a coupon code for 10 percent off using the discount code WELDGURU10 during checkout, making this inexpensive option even more affordable.

With solar power to lengthen battery life, replaceable batteries and lightweight, the Antra AH6-260 is our choice for the best budget welding helmet. It’s got a battery indicator, something that’s often missing on helmets that cost twice as much. Another nice touch is a test button to check the auto-darkening before you actually strike an arc.

The filter works as a passive shade 13 lens when not powered, so you can work even if the batteries are down. Antra includes an automatic turn-on and shutoff feature, which is quite handy when you’re in a hurry to get to work. The ADF system includes a delay in the power-off function. It stays powered on for 10 minutes before going to sleep.

Four separate sensors make it less likely that you’ll block the arc flash from activating the ADF. The 1/25,000th-second reaction time of the auto-darkening feature is actually the standard for far more expensive helmets. To top it all off, the 1/1/1/2 optical clarity rating is outstanding for a helmet in this price range.

The No products found. is another welding helmet with a 1/1/1/2 optical clarity rating at a great price. The rounded corners make it easier to get into and out of tight spaces. It extends downwards for good neck coverage. The bottom of the skirt curves outward, making this helmet easier to use than most when you need to lower your chin to see the work.

Most users really liked the headgear in the Deko Pro, but many felt it was a little too cheap, suggesting the Jackson 370 headgear when it comes time for new headgear. A few owners mentioned fluctuating shade levels in the filter during long welds.

A huge 12.1-square-inch viewing area with manual shade level and sensitivity settings adds a lot of value at this price. Light weight, solar power and passive shade level 16 just add to a great buy. ANSI Z87.1-2010 and EN379 4/9-13 compliance combine with a bold, unique look to really put an exclamation point on our value pick.

A helmet in the under-100-dollar range that includes a hard hat adapter and 16-inch welding gloves is pretty hard to ignore. These extras alone are potentially worth half the cost of the helmet itself. Tanox is really going the extra mile to take on the competition here.

Weld Guru pulled a clean sweep in this budget helmet review. Every helmet we looked at offers an optical clarity rating of 1/1/1/2. The Tanox ADF-206S stands with the rest in this regard. One minor complaint by several owners was that the helmet wouldn’t stay raised. Tanox needs to improve the tighteners on the swivel.

This helmet has a generous viewing area and auto-darkening sensitive enough for TIG welding down to 5 amps. Like several other helmets in this review, Tanox equipped this welding helmet with 4 separate arc sensors. When you take the included gear into account, relatively few complaints and optical specs that match the rest of the class, this helmet is hard to pass up.

The Chicago Electric Standard Welding Helmet is a good, basic helmet in an entry-level price range. It’s lightweight, only weighing a few ounces over a pound. This helmet features solar power with long-lived batteries that have a 6-year service life. Some buyers didn’t like that the batteries weren’t replaceable, but they are constantly charged by the solar cells. Six years is a long life for a welding helmet in this class.

Harbor Freight went with an external shade knob for the Chicago Electric Standard Welding Helmet, making it easy to adjust while wearing gloves. Some welders prefer internal adjustment, but that’s largely a matter of preference. This helmet has a resting shade level of 4, and the auto-darkening function can be set from levels 9 to 13. Some users reported their helmets were sensitive to bright sunlight, but the adjustable delay time might help cope with that.

The Chicago Electric Standard Welding Helmet has dual arc sensors to prevent missing the arc flash, auto-darkening within 1/20,000thof a second. That’s class-leading reaction time. It features an auto-on/off feature to save power. The reaction delay is adjustable, and it’s got 6 square inches of viewing area.