The Best Ukuleles Under $100: Our Top 7 Picks

Read our list of recommendations for the best ukuleles under $100. Even though you’re on a budget, you can still pick up a great sounding uke for this price!

Written by Jay Searle / Published January 8, 2024

Last updated: February 24, 2024

Ukuleles under $100 are typically preferred by beginners and players on a cash-strapped budget, but there are a few hidden “gems” that even more experienced musicians won’t turn away. 

We’ve handpicked the best-sounding, most valuable ukuleles under $100, with a short review of each. We also talk about the main elements you should consider when searching for a budget uke, so that you know what to look for. 

Our List of the Best Ukuleles Under $100

Top 7 Ukuleles Under $100 – Reviews

1. Kala Learn To Play Soprano Ukulele Starter Kit

Easily the most popular beginner’s uke bundle, Kala’s “Learn To Play” comes with a gratis gig bag and ukulele lessons, instantly bumping the value of the package. 

The uke itself is a standard all-mahogany soprano, featuring 12 frets, a walnut fretboard, and a satin finish. It’s a fairly tall uke with a surprisingly low scale length; its tone might not be ideal, but its high playability and solid specs make it well worth the money. 

We primarily chose this ukulele because it has everything a beginner may need to start playing right away. Marginally cheaper than most models in this list, it’s a well-rounded starter uke. 

2. Fender Venice Soprano Ukulele

While Fender is globally renowned as one of the top guitar brands, they’ve made a few ukuleles in the past. The Venice soprano ukulele represents the company well with an instantly recognizable guitar shaped headstock with its in-line chrome tuners. 

Sonically, Fender’s Venice soprano ukulele is remarkably versatile, mainly because it features a mix of eastern mahogany and basswood. Even though a bit of its potential is lost with the laminate construction, the perfect balance between warm and bright tones achieved with this combination of tonewoods helps this uke stand out from the majority of similarly priced instruments.

Similar to Kala Learn To Play uke, Fender Venice has a slightly lower scale length, so to ensure its tone is in tip-top shape, you may want to raise the action a bit. 

3. Cordoba U1B Baritone Ukulele

Moving onto baritones, Cordoba’s U1B is a hulking uke with a bellowing sound characterized by exemplary sustain and presence. 

In terms of specs, it was built on the old Cordoba recipe featuring an all-mahogany construction with a Pau Ferro fretboard. Its tone is warm and gritty, to the point that it could substitute for a bass guitar. 

Since baritones are tuned D-G-B-E, they make a great gateway instrument for guitarists looking to try their hand at the ukulele. The tuning corresponds to the top four strings of a guitar, so many baritone uke chord shapes should be very familiar to guitar players.

4. Kala Meranti Watercolor Soprano Ukulele

Kala’s “Watercolor” is a premium soprano ukulele built with Meranti tonewoods – an exquisite type of wood that many refer to as an “upgraded mahogany”. Warm, robust, and punchy, meranti helps this ukulele stand out from the sea of all-mahogany laminated counterparts while being decently affordable. 

To ensure that more experienced players can make use of this uke, Kala decided to implement the same hardware setup in its Watercolor soprano – 13.5-inch scale length, open-gear tuners, 12 frets, and virtually all other specs of this uke are either identical or marginally different from classic Kala flagships. 

5. Cordoba 15TM Tenor Ukulele 

Cordoba upped its game with the “15” series, casting a tall shadow over its Protege franchise. The Cordoba 15TM Tenor is built after the same specs as one of the most popular beginner-level Concerts, the renowned 15CM. 

Mahogany is an ideal match for this massive ukulele, granting its warm sonic signature a hearty bump of extra grittiness. The rosewood fretboard further defines the bass sound of this ukulele as dark and atmospheric, making it an ideal choice for rhythm-oriented players. 

6. Kala Surf Concert Ukulele (Far Out)

Beginners who learned the ropes on a soprano typically upgrade to a concert uke. Kala’s Surf Concert ukulele is a well-made, highly affordable instrument with booming mids and strong lows, although its gorgeous aesthetics play a part in why it’s different from all other concerts. 

From Dawn Patrol and Far Out (shown) to Riptide, Swell, and several other styles, we recommend this ukulele because it meshes unique visuals with a solid, all-rounded performance. Additionally, its intonation is pristine for a ukulele with a shorter-than-average scale length. The preset action is just a tad lower, boosting its playability without sacrificing tonal stability. 

7. Luna Tribal Mahogany Pineapple Soprano Ukulele

Functionally identical to its flagship “Tattoo” ukuleles, yet aesthetically unique, Luna’s Tribal Mahogany soprano is a pineapple-shaped uke with specs you’re probably already familiar with. 

All-mahogany laminate construction with a walnut fretboard, a standard soprano scale length of 13 inches, and classic fret spacing make this ukulele very similar to an average soprano. We mainly recommend it because it boasts exquisite graphics and a more portable shape while having the same price tag as most Luna sopranos. 

How to Choose a Uke Under $100

Ukuleles under $100 are usually built on the “cookie-cutter” principle, meaning that you’ll find a lot of similarities in terms of sound, tonewoods, and looks. However, it’s important to pay attention to these aspects to get the biggest bang for your buck:

Ukulele Playability

The majority of budget ukes may not sound terrific or look as great as their boutique counterparts, but they should play and feel good. This means that your attention should be focused on the fret spacing, fingerboard material, and if possible, the set of strings the uke comes with. 

Sound Quality

We dub tone and sound second in terms of relevancy when ukuleles under $100 are at stake simply because you’ll probably want to upgrade once you’ve learned the basics. Still, there are a few models with a surprisingly good tone like Fender’s Venice, or Kala’s Meranti Watercolor ukuleles. 

Specs & Uke Build Quality

Hardware, strings, tonewoods, and other more technical aspects of a ukulele play a part in determining how it looks, sounds, feels and performs intonation-wise. 

It can be difficult to spot the differences in specs when most brands use ukulele woods like mahogany, simple tuners, and composite saddles for ukuleles under $100. You want to look for major game-changers like all-solid construction, open-gear tuners, or features that aren’t as common. 

Conclusion

If you’re thinking about trying your hand at the ukulele, or just want to buy an inexpensive instrument to have some fun with, then you really can’t go wrong with any of the ukes on our list. You’ll find there are plenty of other ukes out there for players on a tight budget, but the quality can vary wildly. If you stick to our list, you can be confident that you’ll find a great ukulele for under $100 that won’t break the bank.

Jay Searle

Website Founder & Writer

Jay is a self-professed music nerd and ukulele lover. When not working on the website you’ll find him strumming along to his favorite tunes, spending time with his family, or learning to play the piano.