TLDR: What’s the best keyboard piano for beginners at/under $150-$200? (6 ideas w/ prices at end of post.) Sorry, ADHD = Talks ()WAY() too much! 🫣

My 11 year old daughter loves playing on her friend’s keyboard/piano every now and then when she’s able to go to her house, and she has been asking for one for probably over a year now.

We finally decided to get her one for Christmas this year since she seems consistent with wanting one, but she’s the oldest of FOUR GIRLS (1, 3, 8, & 11) so that budget is reallllll tight this time of year as you can imagine, especially just coming off of back to back to back birthdays! Haha. We’d like to keep the price between at/under $150ish (no more than $175 - $200 max).

Here’s the thing tho, I know absolutely ()NOTHING() about pianos and the little I read on a couple websites today about various actions and pedals and whatever else confused me. I’m not at all musically inclined, so this is all like a foreign language to me. Hell, I can’t even sing along to songs without absolutely butchering it, and ()FORGET() about seizing vertically— ahem, I mean— “dancing”! Lmfao!

Strongly desire one that comes with a stand and bench, built-in speakers, and preferably headphones and/or a microphone too, or at the very least jacks for them. Bluetooth or USB connectivity seems like a nice feature too maybe? Aside from that idk. Maybe one that does teaching? How does that even work? She also likes the keyboards that play other instruments sounds (like guitar, bass, organ, etc.), or at least that’s my understanding of their function. Also, I doubt she’ll ever practice and be consistent enough to ever teach performing or even using using a traditional piano with the heavy keys, so maybe unweighted or semi-weighted keys? And is 61 keys a good number for a preteen, or should I be looking at less?

Basically I need someone to explain it to me like I’m 5, or even better just tell me the best one or two of the keyboards below! Haha.

The top 3 were rated 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in best for beginners on various websites, and 3 I found while searching on Amazon this morning.

Any help or insight would be immensely appreciated! I really want my daughter to love it because she’s super smart, gets great grades, got student of the month the first month, won 2nd place in the spelling bee (and she won 1st place last year!), and she is overall just a really good girl so she deserves the best I can find within our means!

1– Best Choice Products 61 Key Beginner Complete Keyboard (#1 Winner on two different websites I saw) 4.6 Stars / 5,955 Reviews $160 https://a.co/d/eMHne3L

2– Yamaha PSR-E283 61 Key Portable Keyboard (Only one on list without stand/bench, but only brand I’ve ever heard of before.) 4.7 Stars / 112 Reviews Currently $130 (Normally $190) https://a.co/d/dGCiFC6

3– Best Choice Products 61 Key Electronic Keyboard 4.6 Stars / 3,210 Reviews $110 https://a.co/d/j67hMBL

4– Rockjqm 61 Key Keyboard 4.5 Stars / 43,718 Reviews (#1 Best Seller on Amazon) $110 https://a.co/d/eb4RsRH

5– Hamzier 61 Key Keyboard 4.5 Stars / 4,974 Reviews $130 https://a.co/d/hfHdz3q

6– Donner 61 Key Keyboard 4.4 Stars / 3,752 Reviews Currently $120 w/ coupon (Normally $170) https://a.co/d/i5qqdRz

What are your thoughts on the best budget keyboard for anyone wishing to learn the piano?

Regarding budget, which would be best in each price range (preowned/used keyboards included):

-100$ or less

-100-250$

-250$+

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

I'm planning to learn piano (previously played guitar) and wanted to buy something that is affordable and still good enough. I'm not doing classical music, but just simply play some popular songs (mostly using chords) so that I can sing along with. With that purpose, do I need weighted keys and 88 keys? Or semi-weighted and 61 keys should be good enough for my purpose?

My budget is <$300 if possible, and prefer a new one. Currently looking at Yamaha NP12, Yamaha PSR-E463,... but not sure. Open to any other suggestions.

Thank you so much!

I was hoping to find something under $200 on Amazon but I keep seeing digital keyboards with only 61 keys. The ones that have 88 keys go way over my budget ($200-300+) that just seems like a lot for what I'm trying to achieve. I just want to play the piano for fun but I also want something that sounds relatively nice yet affordable. Should I buy one used off Mecari? Or could I possibly find something new around my budget? I really think I would love to play the piano and digital is just what I need, but the prices are kind of tricky.

Hi there! Used to play piano as a kid and eventually stopped. I'm now a broke college kid and have realized how much I regret that. I'm trying to find a decent, but far more importantly, on-budget, keyboard. When I look on Amazon I see a bunch of nearly identical keyboards with nearly identical names, for around $40. I'd love to get something nicer but it's not something I can afford, but I'd also hate to find out it's a scam or something. Does anyone know if these keyboards are at least serviceable? If you want to look for it yourself, the name is usually "61 key piano keyboard, Electronic Digital Piano with Built in Speaker Microphone..." with some minor variations or occasionally typos (which is one of the more worrying parts). Any help would be awesome! And mods if this is the wrong place to ask about this I'm very sorry

Hello,

I have always wanted to learn piano, I love to listen to classical music. But I never dared to actually start, and this for a few reasons:

- I have not much money to spend (I can´t play piano, so I don´t wanna spend a lot for an instrument that I won´t use at its full capacity)

- I had no time to learn, I mean, it takes a great amount of courage and time (I believe) to start learning an instrument alone, with no teacher.

But time goes on, life is short , so I decided that I would start as soon as I find which piano to buy.

I am looking for a piano which is less than 200€, which has dynamic keys and (?) weighed keys (?). I have read that it is highly recommended to start with a weighed keyboard, is that true? Or can I start learning without it?

Here are the piano that I found (sorry the links are in german, I am currently working in Germany, my german is trash though...):

- https://www.thomann.de/de/yamaha_ez_220_set.htm

- https://www.thomann.de/de/casio_ctk_3500_deluxe_bundle.htm

- https://www.thomann.de/de/startone_mk300.htm

None of them has weighed keys, in fact, I can't find affordable pianos with weighed keys? However they have dynamic keys. Does it make sense to start on a non weighed keyboard, knowing that I am interest playing classical songs. I currently can´t afford something more expensive than 200€.

What do you think of these pianos? Could you recommend me pianos?

Thanks in advance! :)

Hello, I have never used a keyboard/piano before, and I really want to practice and learn it. I'm in a very poor country so I don't have that much of a budget. I'm looking for a keyboard that doesn't exceed 60$. Any help would be really appreciated!

Hi everyone!

I am looking for a 88 key keyboard. Actually, I need something to learn music theory. Here are my requirements -

1. 88 keys

2. Action - as light as possible, doesn’t matter if it’s weighted, semi-weighted etc.

3. It must be vegan meaning no felt or cushioning strip beneath the keypad or that red strip of cloth/felt on top of the keys. These are mostly wool felt. I have seen that it is mostly these cushioning pad that are not vegan.

I hope you have something to recommend me.

I'm a spanish student who just came to United Kingdom to study at university. At home, I have a rolland or yamaha (not sure) digital piano that has been working perfectly for around 10 years (although I wish the sound was a bit more similar to an acoustic piano).

Now that I've moved to UK I don't want to leave behind my piano skills, so I'm thinking of buying a keyboard. This is because at the moment, I'm living in a dorm but next year I will have to get an apartment or something, so I will have to transport the piano.

At first I thought that with £150 would be enough for a decent keyboard, but looking through the internet I've seen that this may not be enough. I would like a keyboard with similar key-pressing to an acoustic piano (this is the most important feature for me), and with good sound. Features like recording or 20 pre-built voices are not important to me as I won't be using them.

Could I get all these requirements for less than £300? Which keyboard do you know they have what I need? Which keyboards do you recommend?

BTW, I've been playing since I was 6, although my piano level may lie between intermediate and advanced.

Thanks.

Hey everyone. I'm looking to buy a cheap 88 key, weighted keyboard so I can get practice whenever I come home from college. I saw a few options on Amazon for less than $250, but either there were very few reviews or there were bad reviews. I don't need anything fancy with hundreds of instruments/tones, preferably sust something simple if that's possible. Can anyone vouch for any of them? I'm not looking to spend more than $250

I've read the FAQ and it's clear you guys hate cheap keyboards, anything less than $500 and 88 fully weighted keys is a disaster.

In any other hobby, usually there is an understanding that most beginners will fail to stick with it, and quit after a few months. Due to this fact it is often recommended that noobs purchase cheaper equipment so that they can try it out, and if after this trial period the beginner decides that this should be a permanent hobby, more money can be spent on better equipment.

I've followed this pattern for every hobby I've had and it's never been a problem for me. My parents bought me a $150 surfboard which I later replaced with a more expensive option. I started homebrewing with a $150 kit and I've since replaced every item, spending thousands of dollars on it. I didn't purchase a proper set of dance shoes or spend money on private dance instructors for several months, until I decided I loved dancing and wanted to drop serious money on it. In all of these examples, while the cheaper equipment is totally crap compared to the more expensive equipment, it was still fun to do and a good entry point.

Is it really that bad of an idea to buy a cheaper keyboard just to try it out and see if this is something you enjoy and want to stick with? Worst case scenario is that you want to stick with it, and later buy a $500+ keyboard, effectively wasting the $250 you spent on a cheaper keyboard. On the flip side, if you quit the hobby, you would have saved $250.

Is there really a compelling reason why a beginner should plunge in with a full $500 instead of starting off cheap and replacing with more expensive equipment overtime?

I want to learn piano but don't have much money to spend on buying one. I have about $100 budget and want to get something that works with synthesia. I see a lot of Casio CTK models used for around that price. Can someone recommend a model to keep an eye out for?

Call it a new years resolution or whatever you will, I have decided to attempt to learn piano

I am 30 and have very little experience with music or playing instruments other than a little bit of guitar in high school.

Because of this and not looking to ever be amazing, play an acoustic piano, perform or anything like that, I want to find a very basic, budget keyboard that does just enough to allow me to try and learn the basics and a few songs and just have fun with it. I don't want to spend a lot as it could end up not being for me.

From looking around, it seems 88keys is a must? As are some sort of weighted keys.

So out of these two keyboard are either a viable option and if so which would you go for? (I know they are only semi-weighted)

RockJam 88 Key Digital Piano Keyboard Piano with Full Size Semi-Weighted Keys, Power Supply, Sheet Music Stand, Piano Note Stickers & Simply Piano Lessons : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ

Alesis Recital 88 Key Digital Piano Keyboard for Beginners with Semi Weighted Keys, Built-In Speakers and Piano Lessons : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ

Any information epecially if anyone has used / owns either of these would be great.

*EDIT*

I appreciate people's suggestions but £400 - £500+ isn't 'budget' to me unfortunately, looking at sub £200 really, if at all possible, whether that be new or used, although my local used market seems pretty scarce (Manchester, UK)

So lately I have gotten invested in pianos and I would like to know what is for YOU the best digital piano/keyboard. I don't have a lot of space in my room so I can't buy the wooden pianos (and they would be a little heavy to move!). SO I have been wondering what was YOUR best/ or what is your best digital piano/keyboard you had? You can recommend any video, review or your own best digital piano/keyboards you had. I would love to hear your suggestions. I know the budget says 1k but if you know one that is a little pricier I won't mind... (Same for the cheaper one!). I know I should probably look at the "there are no stupid questions" post... but I really want to know your suggestions and experiences with those keyboards/digital pianos... (also an 88 key piano would be nice because I won't run into problems with any kind of score that exists.... I think...)

Thanks in advance.

(PS: I wouldn't mind a link to a website that sells them)

Friends that know piano tell me that I should buy a keyboard that's at least $1k or it could ruin my learning. I don't really get it.

I am looking for a keyboard either a console or slab style keyboard that feels the most real to an acoustic piano. In terms of action, weighted keys, polyphony, feeling potential for, dynamics. etc... The price I mentioned above is pretty much my budget I just want something that performs really well in terms of action. So that I can also slap on a VST on it to make it sound nicer. So I don't really care too much about sound quality from the keyboard itself. Any suggestions or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.

I have no experience at learning piano at all.

My mom's friend was giving me roll up piano and i've been using it for about 2 months and i really enjoy playing with it.

I am self-taught, i learn the music i like by watching people play it on midi version and i try to remember every notes they pressed.

Until i saw some of reddit post here say playing piano with roll up piano is a big no. And when i look it up the price of average piano most of them cost twice as much as my phone's price lol.

Should i stay with roll up piano? Or do you guys have super cheap recommendation? Thank you!

P.s. : yes i have trouble when pressing the key, it wont sounds if i dont press it on the middle and i found it troubling to press more than 2 keys at once. But i have no experience with the real piano so beat me, i still can manage it... i guess.

Sorry for my bad English

Theres a million posts asking this question but it seems they're kind of outdated and most of the keyboards in the posts are out of stock. I currently have a 66 key midi piano with a sustain pedal looking to upgrade. Also how important are the 3 pedals when learning piano? Im not too far in my piano journey but I feel like Im missing out by only having one pedal(sustain pedal). Thanks