Hey friends, it’s Lizzie! Most “best gloves under $100” lists are assembled from spec sheets by someone who has never worn any of them. I can do something better than that here, because I have personally owned every glove on this list across ten years of kickboxing.
I’m a Hayabusa ambassador, so my pick at the top won’t shock you — but I bought the rest with my own money long before that, and I’ll tell you exactly where each one let me down.
The short list
- Hayabusa E1 — $99.99. The best glove you can get for under a hundred dollars, and the only one here I still train in.
- Venum Contender 1.5 — about $44.99–$49.99. The best value on the list. Mine lasted two years.
- Sanabul Essential / CORE — $17.99–$34.99. The honest budget pick if the sport might not stick.
- Basic Everlast — entry-level. Available everywhere, and that accessibility is its real strength.
1. Hayabusa E1 — $99.99
This is the one I’d actually spend the money on, and it sneaks under the line at $99.99 (about $90 with my code).
It’s the softest and most cushioned pair I own, which makes it the one I reach for on a long heavy bag session — it absorbs more, and it gives my favourite T3s a rest day. It’s also single-strap, so you can get in and out of it on your own in seconds, which matters more than it sounds like it should when you’re changing in a hurry three times a week.
It’s genuinely forgiving for someone newer, too. Full E1 review.
2. Venum Contender 1.5 — around $45–$50
The best pound-for-pound glove here. I trained in the grey Contenders for about two years before I moved to Hayabusa, and for a $45 glove that’s a fair deal.
More structure than anything cheaper, a closure that actually held my wrist through a session, and they looked good. They didn’t last as long as I’d hoped in the end, but nothing at this price does.
If you’re fairly sure you’ll still be training in a year and you don’t want to spend a hundred, this is the one. Compared against Sanabul here.
3. Sanabul Essential Gel / CORE — $17.99–$34.99
The honest budget answer. At under $35 this isn’t competing with the others on this list — it’s competing with borrowing the gym’s communal gloves, and it wins that comfortably.
I owned a pair and eventually gave them away once I was training in better gloves, so I can tell you how they felt but not how they hold up over years. They felt more considered than the basic Everlast pair I’d owned before, despite costing less.
Buy these if you’re a handful of classes in and genuinely don’t know yet. More here.
4. Basic Everlast — entry level
The name everyone knows, in every sporting-goods store in the country. My pair was the basic pink set, and its real strength is that you can buy it today, locally, without thinking about it.
Mine went soft faster than I wanted and never stopped feeling generic. I’d take the Sanabul over it for similar money. Worth saying clearly: Everlast also makes serious leather gloves in the $179–$299 range that I’ve never trained in, so this is a comment on the entry-level pair, not the brand. Venum vs Everlast.
How to choose between them
Spend $18–$35 if you’re testing whether this sport is for you. There is no shame in it, and it’s a better outcome than spending $169 to find out it isn’t.
Spend around $45 if you’re fairly confident you’re staying. The Contender will carry you through your first year or two.
Spend $99.99 if you already know you’re committed. The most common gear regret I hear isn’t buying the good pair — it’s buying twice.
The thing that matters more than any of this
Fit. A well-fitted $18 glove beats a badly-sized $100 one and it isn’t close. Gloves run snug before break-in and the fit changes completely once you’re wrapped, so trying them on bare-handed in your living room tells you very little.
Read my sizing guide before you order anything, and this one if you have smaller hands like me.
And the habit that doubles their life
Take them out of your bag the moment you get home. Damp padding that gets compressed again is what kills gloves at every price point — and it’s free to fix. More on that here.
Prices and the code
My code LILO takes 10% off Hayabusa in the US, and it matches whatever site-wide sale is running if that one’s bigger.
Shop Hayabusa with code LILO →
Outside the US? Use code LIZZIE on the Hayabusa Europe store, or shop my Australia storefront.
Stepping up from a Contender? Hayabusa vs Venum.
Every option, side by side
| Glove | Price | Owned it? | Buy it if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hayabusa E1 | $99.99 | Yes — still training in it | You know you’re staying |
| Venum Contender 1.5 | $44.99–$49.99 | Yes — about two years | Fairly confident, want one good year |
| Sanabul Funk Strike | $34.99 | Owned the women’s line | Testing the sport |
| Sanabul Essential Gel | $17.99 | Same line | Budget is genuinely tight |
| Everlast (entry) | Under $50 | Yes — the pink pair | You need gloves today, locally |
What under $100 can’t buy you
One honest limit: at this price nothing gives you the wrist lockdown of a $169 T360, and only the E1 moulded to my hand over time. If either of those is what you’re actually shopping for, the answer isn’t on this list — it’s saving a bit longer.
The mistake that costs the most
Buying at $30 three times over two years costs more than buying once at $99.99, and you spend those two years in gloves that were never quite right. Buy cheap deliberately while you’re deciding, not by default after you’ve decided.
Also worth reading: four glove brands in ten years and the best gloves for beginners.
Your Questions, Answered
What are the best boxing gloves under $100? The Hayabusa E1 at $99.99 — it’s the only pair on this list I still train in.
What’s the best value under $50? The Venum Contender 1.5 at around $45.
What’s the cheapest glove actually worth buying? Sanabul, from $17.99. A real glove, and far better than the gym’s shared pair.
Have you owned all of these? Yes — every single one, with my own money for all but the Hayabusas.
What is the best boxing glove under $100? The Hayabusa E1 at $99.99. It is the only glove on this list I still train in.
Are $20 boxing gloves worth buying? For a genuine beginner, yes. Sanabul from $17.99 is a real glove and beats the gym’s shared pair comfortably. Just expect months rather than years.
How much should a beginner spend on gloves? Enough to have your own pair, which can be under $35. Spend more only once you know you are staying.
Do more expensive gloves protect your hands better? In my experience the meaningful difference is wrist support and how long the padding holds its shape, not raw protection on day one. Wraps matter more than price for basic hand protection.
Which of these have you actually owned? All of them — the Hayabusa E1, the Venum Contender, Sanabul’s women’s line, and a basic pink Everlast pair. I bought every one except the Hayabusas with my own money.
Some links above are affiliate links — I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and I only link gear I actually train in.
