Best air fryers under £100 in the UK — 5 affordable air fryers, reviewed by our expert

Far from being a gimmicky appliance, air fryers are increasing in popularity and they’re not going anywhere. But if you’re on a budget, can you still get one of the best air fryers for under £100?

It’s true that some of the best air fryers are priced at almost £300. With this in mind, it can be difficult to know whether you should save up for an all-singing, all-dancing model, or if it’s possible to bag a decent air fryer at a friendlier price tag.

As Ideal Home's expert reviewer and home economist, I've tested and reviewed a wide range of these appliances from the best small air fryers to the best air fryer for a family of four. And I think you can get a pretty good air fryer on a budget. They might not always be the fanciest or the largest capacity air fryers, but they’re up to the job and the list even includes air fryers from known brands like Instant and Ninja.

I have personally tried every single air fryer on this list, using each of them in my own home to bring you open and honest reviews. I’ll let you know how well they work, how easy they are to use and whether they’re big enough. So read on to see which air fryers are the best on a budget.

Quick list - The best air fryers under £100

Looking to spend less than £100 and just want the top line on which air fryer is best for you? Simply browse this quick list, which has all of the information you need.

Best air fryer under £100

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As far as air fryers under £100 go, they don’t get much better than this. It’s an excellent option, from a really reputable air fryer brand. Its touch screen display is super intuitive to use and the additional roast, bake and reheat functions mean it has plenty of functionality to offer - a rarity in this price bracket.

The spacious 5.7 litre drawer offers enough capacity to cater to up to four people. And if that’s too much, it also comes in a smaller 3.7 litre version that’s priced at around £79.99. I enjoyed using this air fryer and truly think it’s one of the best you can buy if your budget is tight. Though I wish the digital display didn’t switch off when the drawer is pulled out.

I used the roast function to roast some broccoli florets and they were done in just 9 minutes. And the air fry mode was equally efficient, cooking chips from raw in 25 minutes. There’s space for 5-6 bacon slices and it’s roomy enough for extra long breaded fish fillets, which I couldn’t fit into any of the others on this list. All in all, If you’ve got £100 to spend on an air fryer, your money will be well spent on this model.

My Instant Vortex 4 in 1 Air Fryer review has the full details.

Best Ninja air fryer under £100

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This is pushing the upper limit of a £100 budget, but if you can stretch to it this air fryer will not disappoint. In my time testing air fryers Ninja has always been setting the standard in terms of design and quality and the AF100UK is no different.

If you generally cook for one or two, there’s no need for a huge expensive air fryer that takes over your worktop. This 3.8 litre model will effortlessly cook up individual or double servings and has the user-friendly interface and features that make the Ninja brand so popular too.

Admittedly, I think it’s still a bit pricey given its size, but when I tested it I found it crisped and browned chips, bacon and frozen fish fillets to perfection. And for some foods like air fried mediterrean veg, I was able to squeeze in enough for two people.

I was impressed that given its small size, it could cook a generous 500g portion of homemade chips in a very speedy 23 minutes, which is even faster than Ninja's recommended cooking time. I was also able to fit three slices of bacon into the large basket, and over time, I've also made use of the other functions available on this product. If it's Ninja quality you want, this is by far your best budget option.

My Ninja AF100UK Air Fryer review has the full details.

Best air fryer under £100 for 2 people

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This Instant air fryer is a longstanding Ideal Home favourite, tested by several of the team. Its real star power is in its design, which boasts a viewing window so that you can keep track of how your chips are cooking, a sleek interface and a roomy capacity.

It also has a big range of cooking functions, including the ability to bake, reheat, grill and dehydrate. It also has an easy-to-use control panel which I found foolproof during testing.

I was very impressed with its cooking performance, in just 25 minutes home made chips were crisp, golden and fluffy in the middle. A selection of vegetables roasted beautifully and bacon crisped nicely too, with space for plenty of slices. Frozen breaded goujons were quick to develop a satisfying crunch. It did a great job and is the perfect size for potentially up to 4 people, depending on what you're cooking, which is a huge draw for this price. The only reason it's not higher in this list is that it's stretching a £100 budget to its very limits.

My Instant Vortex Plus ClearCook review has the full details.

The best air fryer under £100 for ease of use

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The Magic Bullet air fryer is an affordable option that's ideal for households of 1-2 people. It’s a compact model that doesn’t offer a cavernous capacity or much versatility in terms of settings. But, therein lies the beauty of this air fryer.

It is one of the simplest air fryers you can buy, so if you’re looking for a basic model, it’ll fit the bill. It has a straightforward dial control for time and another for temperature. There are absolutely no complicated settings or functions that you’ll need to master. The main downside is that the dials can’t be set as accurately as digital controls.

Despite not being able to set the time and temperature as accurately as I might have liked, I was still able to cook up foods faster and crisper than in my ordinary oven. I experimented with halloumi fries, which were a great success. Meanwhile the usual fare of chips and bacon both cooked well, as did air fried cauliflower.

Some foods were a little slower to cook than in my usual, larger capacity air fryer, but that’s not a deal breaker as far as I’m concerned.

My Magic Bullet Air Fryer review has the full details.

The best budget air fryer under £100

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Despite being one of the cheapest air fryers in this guide, at 4 litres, the Tower Vortex has the second largest capacity. For me, the look and feel is more budget than the slightly pricier options from Instant and COSORI, but that’s reflected in the price tag.

I had a few frustrations with this model, such as the display not being quite so intuitive as others, plus it switches off when you open the drawer. Furthermore, steam sometimes gets into the panel surrounding the digital display, which worries me that long term this could cause a fault.

That said, these issues don’t take away from the fact that it’s a bit of a bargain. Because, most importantly, when it came to cooking foods, it did a good job. Raw potato batons were cooked into tasty crisp and golden chips in 25 minutes. Meanwhile fish fingers developed a crunchy crumb and the fat on my bacon crisped up in 8 minutes.

Cauliflower took 17 minutes to cook and char on the outside, which is slower than I would like, but since everything else cooked fast, I can’t really fault its performance. Besides, it’s still much faster than roasting cauliflower in my oven.

How we tested the best air fryers under £100

I tried each of these air fryers in my own home on separate occasions. I used each of them in place of my usual air fryer for at least a week. During this time I was able to evaluate how easy they were to clean and how intuitive the interface and settings were to use on a daily basis.

I cooked a wide variety of foods in each air fryer. The types of foods and recipes vary according to the capabilities and capacity of each air fryer, for example, if it had modes other than air fryer, I might try these too. But generally speaking, I usually air fry home made chips, as well as bacon and something breaded from the freezer. These core foods form a good basis for comparison across all models. If recipes are supplied in the manual, I like to try out one or two of these too.

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With a lot of air fryer reviews under my belt, I can quite quickly gain an understanding of how capable the air fryer is and whether it’s up to the job. I then take into consideration the size, price and versatility of the appliance to determine the overall score.

Helen McCue

With a career testing, reviewing, and writing about home appliances that spans 15 years, Helen is an expert product tester. Having originally trained as a home economist, she draws on a wealth of experience when evaluating kitchen appliances. She has reviewed hundreds of household appliances over her career including dozens of air fryers, making her a trusted Ideal Home product tester.

FAQs

For air fryers under £100, we think these are the most capable and trustworthy buys out there. For perfectly cooked chips every time, and all the functionality of an oven on your countertop at these prices, you can't go wrong.