Best Welding Helmet Under $100

While we advocate buying quality welding gear from trusted, most popular brands, doing so isn’t always practical. Not everyone wants an ESAB Sentinel A50 or a Lincoln Viking 3350, both of which cost significantly more.

They’re great for professional welders, but not everyone who does welding is a professional. And even professionals don’t always want to spend hundreds of bucks for a welding helmet. 

So the question is, can you find a good helmet for under a hundred dollars? Of course. You just have to know where to look.

Miller Welding Helmet Shade 3, 8-12 

This auto-darkening welding helmet is probably the best among the budget welding helmets based on it’s many favourable reviews. Because of its weight, it’s completely comfortable to wear for long hours of work. It has a clear replaceable lens.

The lens shade is adjustable. So is the fit. It’s good for anyone regardless of the size or shape of their head. This sturdy helmet uses two AAA batteries and is also complimented with solar power so you can expect about 2000 hours battery life. Your only gripe most likely is its small viewing window. 

YESWELDER Auto Darkening Welding Helmet

It’s hard to find reliable auto-darkening helmets for under $100, but you’ll find the Yeswelder M800HP surprisingly good. With a viewing area of 13.4 square inches, there’s nothing to complain about. The True View technology means you get almost accurate colors, not the green color of most welding lenses. In fact, it has an optical rating of 1/1/1/2, which essentially means you get remarkable optical quality. 

The auto-darkening function works fast, about 1/10000 of a second, although some owners report that the auto-darkening filter can be inconsistent for DC TIG. Nonetheless, it’s alright for other types of welding. 

The headgear isn’t as durable as that of the expensive models, but you can buy a replacement headgear, which is quite affordable. 

The Yeswelder M800HP welding helmet is a great budget welding helmet.

Antra AH6 Auto Darkening Welding Helmet

Another budget welding helmet to consider is the Antra AH6 welding helmet which is a solar-powered auto-darkening helmet. Like many budget welding helmets, this one has a smaller view lens than expensive helmets do. It also auto darkens more slowly.

This unit has a number of good features. One, it’s lightweight. It doesn’t feel like a heavy, cumbersome thing on your head. It’s also one of the most inexpensive helmets out there, so it’s great for beginners and casual home DIY people. 

It features a variety of shades that include 4/5-9/9-13 to visible light and is designed for TIG MIG/MAG MMA Plasma Grinding. It’s design includes full face and neck coverage and protection.

If you’re just learning how to weld or doing few casual projects, investing in inexpensive gear is a good way for you to gain experience and find out whether welding is something you actually want to do as a profession.

TACKLIFE PAH03D Auto Darkening Welding Helmet

If an auto-darkening speed of 1/25000 of a second is too slow for you but you don’t have money for the top tier models, then the TACKLIFE PAH03D auto darkening welding helmet is for you. 

This inexpensive helmet boasts a swift reaction time of 1/25000 of a second and 1/1/1/1 optical clarity. This helmet has two shade ranges; 3-9 and 9-13.

The TACKLIFE helmet can handle Plasma Cutting, abrasive wheel cutting and grinding, and DC TIG, AC TIG, MIG/MAG, and MMA/Stick welding.

You can adjust the settings including delay time and sensitivity of the welding helmet.

on the inside of the helmet. The grind mode switch is also inside, which some users didn’t like. That and the cheap headgear could be deal breakers. Then again, you can’t deny its lightness, large viewing window, and true color lens. 

DEKOPRO Auto Darkening Welding Helmet

This one seems to be one of the more durable budget welding helmets. It’s great for you if you’re doing just light welding and it’s not as fragile as other models in its class.

It doesn’t break easily, which is a huge plus for a lot of beginners and hobbyists working in not so ideal situations. Nonetheless, the plastic isn’t made for heavy duty welding, wherein large debris can damage the unit.

Another good thing about the DEKOPRO helmet is its big viewing area. A wider field of vision is always a benefit for welders. The optical clarity isn’t bad either. At 1/1/1/2, there’s really nothing significant to complain about.

This welding helmet offers optimal eye protection with it’s auto-darkening feature which can switch from light to dark in 1/25000 of a second. It also offers adjustments to sensitivity and delay to meet various requirements and is suitable for welding MIG, TIG, arc welding and grinding. Equipped with solar power functionality, the expected battery life if around 5000 hours.

Tanox ADF-206S Auto Darkening Welding Helmet

Tanox goes a little further than the crowd by adding extras that are worth about half the price of the unit. When you have a hard hat adapter and a pair of 16-inch gloves that come with a budget helmet, you’re getting a good deal. 

In terms of performance, this helmet is no slouch. It has 4 arc sensors that remain sensitive even down at 5-amp TIG welding. The optical clarity of this helmet is 1/1/1/2, which is not bad for a helmet under $100. This optical clarity is matched with a considerably good viewing window. 

This is a great helmet for the DIY welder, suitable for Arc, TIG, MIG, MMA or Plasma Cutting projects. It has a fast response time being able to switch from light to dark in 1/25000 of a second. It also has adjustable sensitivity.

This Tanox welding helmet is solar powered and features automatic on/off power for Grinding, Arc, MIG and TIG welding along with Plasma Cutting.

Conclusion

Beginners sometimes make the mistake of buying the most expensive welding gear only to realize welding isn’t really for them a year later. When you’re just starting out and you’re not sure whether metal fabrication is just a hobby or a profession you intend to take seriously, it’s good to first buy inexpensive gear to test the waters. 

On the other hand, if you’re a serious hobbyist or DIYer on a budget, you still can’t go wrong with any of the welding helmets under $100 mentioned above. If budget is not as much of a problem for you you can compare all of what we consider to be the best welding helmets here.