

The good news is that if you’re looking to save some money, you can in fact get a great budget gamepad on Xbox or PC. The “best budget controller” title is going to come down to what your needs are. While the 8BitDo Ultimate Wired controller stands out as my personal favorite here, each of these might be more or less compelling to you for different reasons. There are any number of reasons for looking into cheaper controllers, and here I’m going to lay out the pros and cons of some of the most common options out there for Xbox and PC. Or you might be interested in trying out more modern pro controller features like assignable rear buttons and adjustable trigger ranges, but aren’t yet ready to spend over a hundred dollars on an Xbox Elite or Scuf controller. You might be wondering if you can save a few bucks by getting something a little south of that number.

Meanwhile, the regular official gamepads tend to go for about $60 brand new. The current Xbox Core controller might be one of the best Microsoft has produced, but it’ll set you back at least $130.
