Sex toys are more widely available than ever, making it tempting to spend big bucks to build your arsenal. But it can take a minute to find your preferences, and when you consider that sex toys are rarely an easy product to return (although we’ve found some that are), the appeal of an inexpensive choice is more powerful. .

Whether you’re looking to get your first toy or you’ve been thrilled to infinity and beyond before, we’ve rounded up some of the best cheap sex toys around.

Is it safe to buy cheaper sex toys?

Let’s be clear: cheap does not mean cheap. Quality was a non-negotiable when compiling this list. After all, it’s not worth saving a few bucks if you’re using an unsafe toy (and not in the fun NSFW way) to put on your genitals.

We bet you want to avoid anything that can easily harbor bacteria, so we choose toys that use body-safe, non-porous materials(Opens in a new tab)such as silicone, metal and borosilicate glass. The more porous a toy is, the easier it is for bacteria to grow on it, even if you clean it regularly after each use (as you should with any toy).

That’s not to say that porous materials like PVC, rubber, TPE, or even some silicone blends are completely insecure(Opens in a new tab) — it’s just that they require a lot of special care to maintain that safety, and they should always be used with a latex condom.

Note: The only toy on this list that is not made from completely non-porous materials is the Fleshlight Quickshot Vantage, but we chose to include it since almost all masturbation sleeves use some type of rubber to provide a comfortable, flexible, and realistic feel. Fleshlight uses their proprietary SuperSkin material and while the exact blend materials are not known, the rubber mixture is safe to use(Opens in a new tab), and in the case of the Vantage, easier to clean due to its double open-ended design. Still, it carries a higher risk of harboring bacteria, so you’ll want to be on top of cleaning.

When shopping on budget, knowledge is power and diligent care is key.

What to expect when buying a cheap sex toy

So what’s the big trade off with a cheaper sex toy?

As you may have anticipated, you won’t be fed up with fancy features like Lelo Ina Wave 2’s self-moving rabbits, Womanizer Premium 2’s automatic pulsing(Opens in a new tab)or the orgasm tracking of the Lioness Vibrator 2.0(Opens in a new tab), which cost hundreds of dollars. You’re also less likely to find Bluetooth-enabled toys worth using.

Does that mean fancy toys are just better? Hell no. There are plenty of high-end toys that former Mashable culture reporter Jess Joho described as “a living nightmare.”

What you are most likely to find in the range of affordable sex toys are features that stick to the basics. That could mean three to five vibration settings instead of 11, or a toy with water resistance instead of full waterproofing. Its design could be simpler in appearance and function, with a button serving as an on/off and settings switch.

If you’re thinking “none of those things sound like a huge handicap”, that’s because they aren’t. Inexpensive sex toys can also be very good.

Be careful where you buy your sex toys

As a final note before we get into our picks, we want to address the mega-retail monopoly elephant in the room. You can often find more expensive toys on Amazon at cheaper prices than on brand websites or online sex shops.

While there are some really great deals on the website, third-party retailers like Amazon don’t always guarantee an authentic product, so if a price seems too good to be true, it probably is.

There is no need to take the risk of buying a toy that is made with lesser quality materials or comes with a battery that will fail in a few months. Instead, spend your hard-earned money directly supporting the brands that make good, affordable toys, or the sex shops that do the hard work of curating them. You may spend a little more on shipping, but it’s worth the trade.

Plus, you’ll likely get better customer service, and in some cases, the ability to return a toy you don’t like too much. In this list, we chose only one toy from Amazon, the Luna Massage Wand, because we’ve tested it and said it’s a quality, safe toy, and because the only retailer that carries it is Amazon.

With all the cleaning out of the way, let’s look at our top picks for the best cheap sex toys.