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Best Pressure Washers Under $200 of 2021 – Reviews & Top Picks

Last Updated on December 17, 2021 by Mark Johnson

We took a look at a handful of pressure washers and wrote reviews of them to help people looking for one on a budget. These aren’t necessarily people who don’t have a lot of money, but people either looking for just an occasional tool, one to keep stored on a boat or in an RV for travel or even a spare in case their front line pressure washer goes down. Whatever the reason, these models are priced pretty modestly for pressure washers and most of them are pretty serviceable for any of those purposes.

It is a pretty crowded market and we didn’t hit everything that is available. At the end of the reviews, we’ve included a buyers’ guide to help guide your purchase decisions. Although we’d love to think that you will want to go out and buy a budget pressure washer based on our say-so, we’d be just as happy if you found something useful in our buyers’ guide.

Our Top 5 Picks of 2021

5 Best Pressure Washers Under $200 – Our Reviews

1. Sun Joe SPX3000 – Top Pick

Our top pick is the Sun Joe SPX3000 for a nice range of reasons. It’s easy to put together, it has a nice long power cord, and it’s powerful. Plus, because it’s electric, it’s also pretty quiet. That hits just about all the high notes in terms of what you could look for in a budget pressure washer.

One concern was that it isn’t necessarily a good budget model. We set a price limit in defining that, and on an average day this one brushes up pretty close to that to where we thought of it as a drawback. It doesn’t exceed it, so we didn’t feel like we could downrank it based on price, especially since other models were just as expensive.

Overall, this was our top pick for reasons that you’d expect out of a top pick. It delivered good value, it is simple to put together, it’s powerful and portable. It’s also quite to use.

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2. Flagup MEDITOOL 3000 – The Runner-Up

Talk about your close calls in terms of rankings. We nearly, nearly gave the Flagup MEDITOOL 3000 our top ranking. It’s less expensive than the Sun Joe and just a little more powerful. Plus with five different attached nozzles, it’s also pretty versatile in different kinds of sprays. That makes it just about perfect for cleaning whatever you need cleaned of whatever kind of grime is on it. For a backup cleaner or one you keep for portable use, that makes it just about perfect. We think you’d even consider making it your first choice in pressure washers, because it just has enough power to do that.

So, what was our hang up? We found the pressure to be inconsistent. At peak performance, there was no question which one was better. But, like a really talented drunkard, you had to hope that the really talented pressure washer showed up and the drunkard stayed home in bed. For us, that was enough to downrank it to a very close runner-up position.

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3. Greenworks 1500 PSI GPW1501 – Best for the Money

Our Best for the Money choice is the Greenworks GPW1501. Compared to our top two picks, it takes the standard price and chops it right about in half. If you’re looking for a budget pressure washer, that ought to be enough to make you sit up and take notice.

It’s an electric model, so it’s quiet. That also means that it’s also limited by the length of power cable that comes with the unit. As a portable unit, that’s something that ought to be a concern, especially since trailing off extension cords means reducing the juice and therefore the power of the washer. But this one comes with a 35-foot power cable. That’s probably enough to reach just about anything you want to clean, or at least come close that an added short extension cord won’t reduce it’s power too much.

One thing that is worth considering is that while you’re cutting the price roughly in half, you’re definitely cutting the amount of water pressure in half. Our runner-up model is a 3,000 PSI pressure washer. This one can crank out 1,500 PSI.

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4. Stanley SHP2150

We don’t hate the Stanley SHP2150. It’s a good, workman-like pressure washer, and fits our description of being a budget model. You spend not much money and get a pretty okay value for it. You also get a serviceable back-up or front-line portable power washer that fits into your camper or onto your boat. There is nothing wrong with any of that.

It’s also versatile with a built-in foaming cleaner and plenty of attachments for a good range of cleaning operations. Plus, with a 35-foot power cord, it’s easy to locate it to where you need to do your cleaning. It’s also one of the lighter models we looked at. This really shows itself when you have a big job to do and have to drag your pressure washer all over the place.

What we didn’t like about it is that it just didn’t deliver that great a value. It’s almost as expensive as our top two models without delivering the cleaning pressure. Its maximum pressure wasn’t all that better than our best for the money model. It ought to be noted that this is the maximum pressure possible. If you need to add extension cords or extra hoses for more reach, the pressure will drop off. There’s not a lot of wiggle room here for that.

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5. Ivation IVA-9175L

As we stated from the outset, all of the models we looked at are pretty serviceable. Not a real clunker in the bunch. The closest is the Ivation IVA-9175L, which is probably a lot more mediocre than terrible. It does a decent job and delivers pretty good value. We’re looking at budget models, so that’s a pretty big plus.

Specifically, it’s one of the more underpowered models we looked at, and even though it’s more inexpensive than other, more powerful models, the power cut is enough that it shows in the quality of the work. Plus, like with the Stanley, the amount of pressure it delivers doesn’t leave it a lot of wiggle room in case you need to add extension cords or additional hoses to extend the cleaning reach. Once you’ve hit the limit, you start to lose pressure quickly and there’s not much here to lose.

It’s also not all that well constructed and even though it’s not complicated to build it can be tricky to get working when you have it put together. It’s not a bad pressure washer. It’s just that we looked at much better ones.

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Buyer’s Guide

When buying a pressure washer on a budget, the first question you need to ask yourself is what kind of power source you want.

The rising cost of power

Gas power washers offer a lot of power but are noisy and expensive. If you opt to go this route, be aware that they also come with certain built-in running costs for fuel. While it’s true that you still have to pay your electric bill, trons are cheaper than fossil fuels. Electric power washers aren’t as powerful, but they’re quieter and more affordable and don’t come with added fuel costs.

Also, keep in mind that while there isn’t a direct relationship between price and quality, that a lower end gas power washer will probably be a lower quality tool in general than a higher end electric washer. You can get a lot of power in a gas washer on a budget, but you might get an overall much better value in opting for a better quality construction of a better electric.

Pressure from power

One thing this choice will hinge on is just how much water pressure you need. This is a bit different than raw gallons per minute because each kind of power washer is going to pressurize that water in slightly different ways. You might have a powerful gas power washer that doesn’t produce quite the pressure that an electric model. So, don’t just look for power, look for pressure, too.

Price

Based on the headline of this article, you’re already shopping on a budget. Price is very clearly a big part of that. That in mind, you’ll want to pay close attention to getting the most value for what you spend. Make a list of what features you absolutely need, what features are important luxuries and which things you can easily live without. This will help you figure out how to get the most of your money.

Construction

Finally, we get to the basic construction of your power washer. You’ll want to make sure that you get the right length of power cord and hose to connect to an outside spigot. You’ll also want to find one constructed to withstand whatever punishment you need to mete out to it. If you knock over your power washer, you’ll want to make sure that the one you bought is still going to work when you set it upright. This might mean that you skip the really great value you think you found and spend a little more because the cheaper one will break if you look at it cross.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a budget pressure washer, the Sun Joe SPX3000 was our favorite. It delivered the best combination of value and cleaning power, was simple to put together and is quiet. It’s also on the expensive side. Also on the expensive side, the Flagup MEDITOOL 3000 was almost better. If not for the fact that it doesn’t always deliver consistent high pressure, it might have been our top pick. Our best budget model, the Greenworks GPW1501, cut its price in half. It also cut the pressure it brings in half. The  Stanley SHP2150 is a good pressure washer, but it underdelivers pressure for what it costs. Ivation’s IVA-9175L is an okay model. It