Table of Contents
Last updated: May 2022
A portable generator is an indispensable companion that can save you a lot of trouble in emergency situations.
With the advent of modern technology and higher market competition, generator prices have dropped significantly in recent years.
There are numerous cheap generators that offer quality performance matching their more expensive competitors. They have similar capabilities to Honda or Westinghouse gens but cost only a fraction of their price – often less than a half.
Check out our list of the most reliable and cheapest generators below. These affordable generators usually attract stellar reviews from buyers and experts around the web.
Best Cheap Generator Comparison Chart
| Generator | Wattage (Starting / Running) | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
  | 2000 W / 1600 W 950 W / 800 W | ||
 | Pulsar PG2000iS | 2300 W / 1800 W | Check Price |
 | WEN 56200i | 2000 W / 1600 W | Check Price |
 | Champion 4000 Watt Open Frame Inverter | 4000 W / 3500 W | Check Price |
 | Westinghouse iGen2200 | 2200 W / 1800 W | Check Price |
Cheapest Generators Reviewed
If you are looking for the cheapest generator in Canada – hardly any can beat this unit. It usually sells for only around 250 CAD on Amazon (check the current price). The portable generator provides 950 starting watts and 800 running watts of power. This is enough to run the most essential electric equipment used for camping such as a refrigerator. You can also use it to power smaller work tools like a 1/2″ hand drill. The generator produces less than 5% THD. That makes it good for running sensitive electronics such as laptop computers. The King Canada portable generator is very compact and lightweight. It weighs only 40 lbs, so you won’t have any trouble carrying it with one hand. The fuel tank has got a total capacity of 1.1 gallons. At half load, this would give you a runtime of around 5 hours, which is pretty good for such a small generator. Overall, considering its very cheap price tag, this is a good portable generator for a variety of uses. If you need a very affordable and reliable small generator – you should get the PowerSmart PS50A.1. King Canada KCG-951G 950W
This is one of the cheapest and best inverter generators you can find. It often sells for way less than $500 on sites like Amazon. Despite its low price tag, this is a reasonably well built and solid unit. It has a 1.1-gallon fuel tank providing 2000 starting watts and 1600 running watts. This is enough to make it a decent choice for camping, tailgating, boats, and reasonable emergency use. You can’t expect it to run everything in your house for sure. But it would certainly be enough to power a sump pump, a portable AC or some worktools. A-iPower SUA2000iV is not only cheap but also very quiet. At 50% load, its sound level revolves around 58 dB. This is fine for most campsites and RV parks. A-iPower SUA2000iV is an RV ready portable generator. It comes with a 30 amp RV outlet (surprisingly, not even the standard version of Honda EU2200i has got it!). You can connect it to your travel trailer without any additional adapters. The great thing about this portable generator is that you can it in parallel with another similar inverter without having to buy a separate parallel kit. It’s already included in the set. For example, if you’ve already got a Honda EU2000i, you can plug this gen together (and save a few hundred bucks on another Honda). This portable generator comes with a 3- year warranty. This is longer than some of the competitors. Overall this is a very solid unit for this price. You’d certainly struggle to find a cheaper 2000-watt generator in this price range which is also reliable enough. If you need a cheap generator to use a few times a year, you should consider the A-iPower SUA2000iV. This affordable inverter generator ranks very high on our lists of the best inverter generators. It is a good choice for campers, boats, and tailgating parties. You could also use it as a home backup power supply to run a few most important home appliances during power outages. Pulsar PG2000iS comes equipped with an 80cc OHV motor. It delivers 2200 starting watts and 1800 running watts of power. This is enough to run things like a sump pump, RV air conditioner or a freezer. The generator has got a very decent runtime of 6 hours at half load. It can be connected in parallel with another 2200 watt inverter. This would allow you to maximize your total wattage to 4400. Pulsar might not be the most well-known company in the market of generators. Nonetheless, they make decent quality gens covered by reportedly good customer service. On the other hand, the warranty could have been longer. 1 year is a bit on the shorter side. To sum up, Pulsar PG2000is it a solid and affordable generator and a reasonable alternative to more expensive gens. WEN is a relative newcomer to the portable generator market in the US. However, they’ve already had massive success selling thousands of portable generators. WEN56200i is by far their most popular inverter. To this date, it got hundreds of 5-star reviews and is often quoted as the best affordable alternative to Honda. We also like this gen a lot. We actually think this is one of the best inverters selling usually for less than $500. WEN56200i is a quiet unit. It produces only around 51dB of noise level when measured at 25% load. That makes it nearly as quiet as the Honda EU2200i. It is also very lightweight. You can easily carry it single-handedly. This gen is a good choice for camping. However, plenty of users reported successfully using it during the hurricanes to charge their small appliances. Obviously, you can’t expect a portable generator that small to power an entire house. Nonetheless, it would be just fine if you need it to run eg. a sump pump and a few lights. The generator is very fuel-efficient. You expect it to run for approx. 6 hours on a full tank at a quarter load. The unit has got a handy Eco-Mode helping conserve the fuel. Just like most of the modern inverter generators, it comes with an automatic low oil shutdown mechanism. The engine performs flawlessly and is very similar to the ones used in Yamaha generators. Why is it so cheap then? First, in the case of Yamaha or Honda, you often end up paying a lot for the brand. Those are famous companies and they like to charge a premium for their products. WEN doesn’t have that reputation yet but trust us – it is a very ambitious and solid manufacturer. Second, the materials used for finishing are perhaps not the sturdiest. This is not a big deal at all if you are planning to use a generator only several times a year (eg. when a hurricane strikes or for summer camping). However, if you need a portable generator for extensive long-term use, you might wanna consider a more durable model. Like the aforementioned Honda EU2200i. If you are curious to learn more about this great inexpensive portable generator, make sure you check out my detailed review. Let’s put things straight. We are big fans of Champion generators. These are some of the best portable generators you can currently find on the market. They are also much more affordable than some of their competitors. Champion is always trying to improve its products and cater to the most specific tastes. Dual fuel inverter generator? Remote start gas inverter for RV? Ultra-duty whole house portable generator? They’ve got it all in their offer. Champion 4000-watt open frame inverter is one of the most recent additions to their offer. It is a very powerful inverter generator. It delivers nearly twice as much power as most of the other inverters on the market. Its open frame construction is also something not often seen in inverters. Despite its power and larger size, the generator is still reasonably quiet. It is rated at 64dB which makes it quiet enough to fit the regulations of most campsites and RV parks (which usually demand a generator to operate below 65dB). It comes with a dedicated 120V 30 amp RV outlet which is great news for RV enthusiasts. You won’t have to purchase a dogbone adapter or any other accessories to plug it into your travel trailer. It also has 2x 120V 20 amp household outlets good for running most of the home appliances. There is also a 12V DC adapter for portable electronics. Just like most other inverters, this portable inverter generator can be connected in parallel with another inverter of this size. Doing so would give you a whopping 7000 running watts of power. This would be enough to run anything you need in your home during power outages caused by hurricanes etc. Since it’s an inverter generator operating under 3% THD, you could use it to charge sensitive electronic equipment too without having to use any line conditioners. One thing we miss about this very solid and inexpensive generator is that the wheels are not included in the kit. However, they can be easily purchased together along with the rain cover on Amazon. Westinghouse is a well established American company with several decades of market presence on the market of power tools. They make good portable generators which are also relatively inexpensive for what you get. The iGen2200 inverter generator is one of their most popular portable generators. The first thing you might notice when you run this generator is how quiet it is. It produces only around 52dB of noise level at 25% load. This is more or less like the sound of an idling car. It’s also quiet enough to make it to the top of our list of the quietest gens out there (see it here). It’s a very good choice for settings where silence is key, such as camping or RV use. Westinghouse iGen2200 comes with a 20A circuit breaker. It automatically shuts down the unit if you run it above the maximum load. This prevents damage to the gen and extends its lifespan. It is a very fuel-efficient generator. That makes it even cheaper in the longer-term as you won’t spend a fortune on gas. You can run it for nearly 12 hours One 1.2-gallon tank should get you up to 12 hours of run time. Note that this time is going to be shorter if you run it constantly at max rated load (which FYI is never a recommended thing to do). Since it is an inverter generator, you can safely use it to run sensitive electronic equipment. IGen2200 has got 2 x 5V USB ports suitable for charging tablets, phones, cameras etc. It also offers parallel capability. That means you can connect it along with another iGen2200 to double your total power output. Basically, you can get two of these gens for the price of one Honda and have twice as much wattage at your disposal. Not a bad deal at all, if you ask me! Overall this is a solid and cheap inverter generator made by a trusted American manufacturer. Another good thing about Westinghouse is that their customer support is known to be very helpful. Westinghouse cares about its reputation and customers which needless to say is a great thing. If you want to learn more about this gen, read the full review post. If you are looking for the cheapest generator – hardly any can beat the PowerSmart. It usually sells for only around $100 on sites like Amazon (click to check the current price). The generator provides 1000 starting watts and 900 running watts of power. This is enough to run the most essential electrical devices used for camping such as a refrigerator. You can also use it to run smaller power tools like a 1/2″ hand drill. The generator produces less than 5% THD. That makes it good for running sensitive electronics such as laptop computers. The PowerSmart generator is very compact and lightweight. It weighs only 40 lbs, so you won’t have any trouble carrying it with one hand. The fuel tank has got a total capacity of 1.1 gallons. At half load, this would give you a runtime of around 5 hours, which is pretty good for such a small generator. Overall, considering its very cheap price tag, this is a good generator for a variety of uses. If you need an affordable and reliable portable power source – you should get the PowerSmart PS50A. The generators mentioned above usually cost several hundred dollars less than the most expensive models. On average you can expect to save between 300-500 dollars if you decide to buy eg. the WEN 56200i or a Westinghouse generator instead of a Honda. It doesn’t mean that these portable generators are significantly inferior in quality. Buying a cheap generator that breaks after several months and consumes a lot of fuel wouldn’t be much of a saving. We took the longevity and fuel efficiency of the generators into account when making our recommendations. We’d never advise skimping too much on a generator since it’s one of those tools you don’t want to fail when needed. However, there are plenty of situations when you don’t have to break the bank and can get away with cheaper portable generators. Ask yourself: If you answered yes to any of these questions then you cannot go wrong with an inexpensive generator. Especially since many of them such as the ones listed in this article do their job just fine and attract overwhelmingly positive reviews. Buying a generator from a company like Westinghouse, Champion or WEN would save you quite a lot of money. You would also end up with a solid generator costing only a fraction of the price of Yamaha or Honda. Ask yourself a couple of important questions: If any of these apply to you, then you would be best advised to spend a bit more on a well-known brand such as Honda. Those generators are known to be very strong and durable and are contractors’ favorite choice, worth the money spent on them. Another important thing is servicing. You’re never going to have any difficulties finding somebody to fix your Honda. These are extremely popular portable generators and spare parts are widely available. This might not be the case with even the best cheap generators. A: You can find generators for as low as $100 – $200. However, these are usually very small units and offer just enough power to run small electronics. If you need to power anything more serious (eg. a fridge or AC) you would need at least a 2000-watt generator. Decent quality cheap 2000-watt generators cost anywhere between 300 to 800 USD. A: You can find a small generator (less than 1000 watts) for less than $200. WEN 56105 is a good example of a cheap and small portable inverter generator ideal for camping. A: For a mid-sized household you should expect to spend at least $3000 for a standby unit. This does not include installation costs. You can also use the large portable units as long as you hook them up via a transfer switch. What size generator do you need to run a normal house? This can be a difficult question to answer, as there are many factors that come into play. Size of the house, type of appliances being used, climate – all of these things will affect how big of a generator you need. The first thing you need to take into account is the size of your house. The bigger your house, the more power you will need to generate. If you have a large home with many appliances, you will need a larger generator than if you have a smaller home with fewer appliances. Another factor to consider is the type of appliances you are using. Appliances that use more power, such as air conditioners and refrigerators, will require a larger generator than those with less power demand, such as lights and televisions. Finally, you need to take into account the climate in which you live. If you live in a part of the country known for extreme weather conditions, you will need a generator that can handle the additional power demand. To conclude, there are many factors to consider when choosing the best affordable generator for home. The size of your house, the type of appliances you have, and the climate in which you live are all important considerations. When in doubt, it is always best to consult with a professional to find the perfect generator for your needs. It really depends on what type of generator you are looking for. If you need a portable generator, those are usually the cheapest during the summer months. This is because demand is lower and manufacturers are more likely to offer discounts. However, if you are looking for a standby generator, then it is usually the cheapest to purchase during the spring. This is because many people are preparing for hurricane season and manufacturers offer discounts to encourage sales. However, there are typically always discounts throughout the year to be found if you know where to look.1. A-iPower SUA2000iV
2. Pulsar PG2000iS
3. WEN 56200i
4. Champion 4000-Watt Open Frame Inverter
5. Westinghouse iGen2200
6. PowerSmart PS50A 1000 Watt Generator
How much can you save by buying a cheaper generator?
When Buying a Cheaper Generator is a Good Idea
When You Shouldn’t Buy a Cheap Generator
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much do small generators cost?
Q: How much is a small generator?
Q: How much does it cost to buy a whole house generator?
Q: What size generator will run a normal house?
Q: What time of year is it cheapest to buy a generator?
