The Best MIG Welders (Review) in 2023 | Autance

Our best overall pick is a decent-priced model from Hobart that can be used for both MIG and flux core welding, so it’s an excellent go-to for auto or home use. Working with the durability Hobart provides, the welder is portable and comes complete with the essential tools you need. It operates on a 115V household current and has a five-position voltage control selector, so you can fine tune the arc for a range of metal thicknesses. The set up is also easy, and the whole unit is one of the best MIG welders for the beginner to handle. This wire feed welder works best with cast iron, brass, magnesium alloy and aluminum and is a great bet for auto body work, domestic repairs, and outdoor projects.

If you’re after a bargain-priced flux core welder for entry-level use, then the Forney Easy Weld is a nice addition to your workshop. You get a compact, lightweight unit that has Infinite voltage and wire feed speed control.

Going gasless makes it easy to for a beginner to use, and as a cheap MIG welder it has just enough power to enable you to weld mild steel up to 1/4-inch thick.  This is a good basic unit to use for DIY, auto repair and hobby projects and can handle 10-pound rolls of wire. A 30-percent duty cycle at 90A gives you a decent welding burst for the price before it needs to rest. It may not offer the neatest weld, but for domestic use this is a good starter MIG welder.

With the reputation that comes with the Lincoln brand, this is an impressively low-priced MIG welder that makes light work of smaller welding jobs. Portable and compact, the Lincoln Electric Handy MIG Welder is relatively easy to use and is a good option for the hobbyist or DIY’er who feels there is a welder-shaped hole in their lives.

The trade-off for its compact size is that it’s not as powerful as some other mid-priced models, meaning it has a metal thickness limit of 1/8th of an inch.  There’s no gauge so you don’t know how much gas you have left at any one time, but a quick trip to the DIY shop to buy an add-on will remedy that. And for heavier, more prolonged jobs it has a tendency to get a bit hot and flustered. But for the price and the Lincoln welders label, this is a more than adequate MIG and flux core welder for small jobs and essential repairs.

The dual-voltage Hobart Handler is an awesome piece of welding kit, making it an easy contender for our best MIG welder list. The Handler is a substantial beast, and gives the amateur welder a lot of options, from large DIY projects to auto repairs, while an optional spool gun gives you kit to effortlessly weld aluminum. As one of the best welders for home use, the dual voltage is a blessing, meaning you can switch from 115v to 230v in one easy twist. The Handler will then automatically adjust itself to the correct input power to maintain its arc performance. You also get seven voltage settings so you can fine-tune for a precise weld.

For a cheap and portable MIG welding machine when you need to make running repairs, check out the Goplus.

With its limit set at thin steel and iron, this should be $130 well spent, as long as you don’t expect more heavy-duty results. As a flux core welder, it’s easy to use, and you also get adjustable flow settings. It is a mini, but don’t let that put you off, this cheap MIG welder is a hard worker when it comes to sheet steel. The weld you lay may not be the most precise but for the money, you should be happy. You also get some nice additional safety features such as side air vents to help with heat dissipation, overheat protection circuit and a basic safety mask.

Easy to use, a portable size and a decent 125A output, as a basic flux-core welding machine at a low price, we think the Forney Easy Weld is hard to beat.  Users report a good weld, considering this cheap MIG welder is less than $165 and while not a match for the expensive, all-spec big boys, this is a MIG welder that will step up to most domestic jobs.

One of the best MIG welders for the beginner or DIY fan, you can whip through your maintenance jobs and it can take metals up to ¼ inch thick. Complete with a ground clamp and MIG gun, this wire feed welder uses .030″ flux-core wire and comes with adjustable wire feed speeds. It can also accept 2 and 10 pound spools and comes with a six-month warranty.

This is a mid-priced MIG welder, but we think the versatility of this neat unit puts it in the same bracket as a much more expensive device. And the reason is you don’t just get a MIG welding machine, you get a tool that can up its game and work as both a TIG and stick welder! Plus, if you go for the optional spool gun, you will also have all your aluminum welding needs covered.

With its 200-amp spec, the Weldpro not only automatically adjusts and compensates voltage and wire speed but gives you the option to independently fine-tune if you need to.   And its advanced induction settings give a smoother weld, with less spattering. You can also braze metals with the TIG technique. We think this is one of the best MIG welders for home use, that can step up as your DIY, auto project or outdoor repair work demands.

Our premium pick is the Lincoln Power Multi-Process welder, which certainly offers a lot of versatility and performance for your buck. What’s striking about this multi-welder is its compact size – at just under 40 pounds it is lightweight and portable.  But it is a heavyweight when it comes to performance.

Ideal for the DIYer, hobbyist and car enthusiast, it’s one of the most popular Lincoln welders. Whether MIG, TIG, stick or flux-core, you can choose your welding style to match your job, and the set-up is quick and easy with a digital display to fine-tune your settings. Its perfect welding home is with carbon and stainless steel, and the 210 amps provided means it can handle most domestic welding tasks.

A 3-in-1 welder that can weld up to 1/2“aluminum, and all for less than $600 – that’s the package promised by the MTS-205. And all in all, it is an impressive MIG welding machine for the auto hobbyist or home DIY’er.

First up, it is nicely compact and relatively lightweight, and the various components are intuitive and quick to set up. For the price – typically less than the cost of the more well-known welding brands – the MIG and flux core works with steel, copper, alloy, cast iron and aluminum plus you get a TIG torch and a STICK function as part of the bargain.

The LOTOS Mig175 is a versatile and reliable MIG welder that can tackle both steel and aluminum jobs with some ease. With a spool gun included for aluminum welding, you have everything you need for basic, quality home welding or auto jobs. Plus, it’s well-made and portable so a great addition to your favorite tools. 

At a mid-price, there’s a lot to like about the LOTOS, and it’s intuitive to use.  And with its output rated at 175-amp the overall performance is good – mild/stainless steel:  it welds 18 Gauge up to 1/4″ for stainless steel and 3/16″ for aluminum. The LOTOS MIG welder will also easily connect to your home 220V wall outlet. A nice starter MIG welding machine for the price.

The Lincoln Electric Easy MIG has the right name, as it’s an easy-to-use welder with the Lincoln credentials to attract the serious hobbyist. Built to last, this substantial unit is also portable although it’s a bit of a heavyweight. But that aside, you get a lot of decent welding for your 600 or so bucks.

You have the option of gas-shielded MIG or flux-core welding, with a slick action that with a little practice, enables you to lay down some neat beads. And at such a good mid-range price, this excellent Lincoln MIG welder can also step it up for more serious jobs, making it a good investment as you develop your welding and project skills.

If you’re new to welding and want a decent starter unit but don’t want to splash out, then take a look at the 140A MIG welder from LOTOS. It may not have the power of more expensive MIG welding machines but match it to the right job and you have a welding workhorse for your DIY or auto projects.

This MIG welder works well with mild and stainless steel, and with a spool gun add-on will also neatly weld thinner aluminum. Connect the welder to your 110V wall outlet and it takes minutes to set up, plus it has a thermal overload protection system to protect your welder. You also get an adjustable wire feeder so you can control the speed and welding voltage, with two digital displays so you can see you are on track. Add in a semi-auto switch for longer jobs and you get an effective but cheap MIG welder that’ll get you powering through those domestic jobs in no time.

As an inverter MIG welder, you get a decent shot of power and an improved arc from this 120V welding dynamo. The result is not only an increased duty cycle (35%) at its maximum, compared to a typical 20% in comparable transformer models. Add in a lightweight but sturdy body and you get a dynamo entry-level welder that is capable of a weld thickness of ¼ inch in when working with steel. It can also swap up to use flux core if you have the drive roller and will work with aluminum, but you will need to buy an additional spool gun. Plug directly into your home socket, this is a solid starter MIG welder for the amateur or garage use.

An inexpensive flux core welder that does a basic job well, the Super Deal Pro is worth a look.  The price is low, so don’t expect a tough or super powerful unit. But for occasional use or a quick domestic welding job it ticks the box. For your money you get a portable MIG welder that’s intuitive and easy for a novice to use. The arc is reasonably soft, and the end weld with a little practice is pretty precise. And you get a range of wire feed speeds and temperature controls to give you a fine-tuned edge to each job.  As you would expect from a bargain welder, the duty cycle is on the lower side – 10 percent at 104A, although it can be boosted to 35 percent at 60A but you do compromise on the power.

We finish on another premium welder, from welding stalwarts, Miller. At $1,500+, the 120 is not cheap but it is an investment welder that will cover pretty much all of your home welding bases. We think this is a good bet for the serious DIY’er, hobbyist or home auto repairer as it offers all the main functions as well as quality results you would expect from a Miller MIG welder. It does MIG or flux core and works effectively with the main metals, from stainless steel to aluminum. There’s a host of auto and manual adjustment features as well as thermal overload protection and the input voltage of 240V with an impressive duty cycle of up to 40% ensures you have the power you need to do a good job.