The Best Cheap LEGO Sets in 2025

One of LEGO's trademark 3-in-1 builds, Playful Cat can also become a Playful Puppy and a Playful Pigeon. All three models are articulable, but the Cat comes with two buildable accessories: a food bowl and a ball of yarn to bat around.

Donut Truck

A simple yet eye-catching build, the Donut Truck has a massive Homer Simpson-style pink-frosted donut attached to its roof. The donut kiosk, which comes with coffee machine and cash register accessories, detaches from the truck and acts as a sort of pop-up shop. Don't let the set's age range fool you; this is an excellent starter build for anyone who wants to try LEGO without breaking the bank.

Wild Animals: Surprising Spider

The Surprising Spider has bright red and yellow coloring, which makes it look both terrifying and poisonous. As a 3-in-1 set, the Surprisjng Spider can also be rebuilt as a scorpion or a snake, which gives you a lot of LEGO building for your buck.

Joy, Sadness & Anxiety

Inside Out 2 was a box office hit, marking a return to form for Pixar Studios. This new set, which features Joy, Sadness, and Anxiety in Blockheadz form, makes an adorable dekstop display and is quite affordable, especially for a Disney licensed set.

2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)

A 300+ piece count set for $25 is a pretty good bargain. The car itself is cool-looking and detailed, and it even comes with a Paul Walker-inspired LEGO Minifigure.

Potted Groot

This is Groot as you see him at the end of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie – potted and grooving to the Jackson Five. This is a model in LEGO's collectible Brickheadz line, and you might want to check out all of them, since they're each $10.

Simba the Lion King Cub

It's a Disney set – featuring a popular character – that's under $25. That's a rarity, and the final product looks adorable, capturing Simba's carefree days before things went horribly, horribly wrong.

Japan Postcard

LEGO has numerous postcard builds, each from a major city around the world. This one of Japan includes Mount Fuji, a cherry blossom tree, and a recreation of Himeji Castle.

Spider-Man Venom Mech Armor vs. Miles Morales

There are LEGO mech builds in both the Marvel LEGO and LEGO Ninjago lines, and they are typically a great bargain. You get a fully articulable, large model for $15 on average. This particular set contains a Symbiote-laced mech and two Minifigures: one of Miles Morales, and another of Venom, who also fits in the mech's cockpit. These mech builds also make great LEGO sets for kids.

Cherry Blossoms

An entry in LEGO's Botanical line, these cherry blossoms are pink-on-pink and pink-on-white. There are even some buds mixed in with the blossoms, which really sells the illusion and makes it look real from a distance.

Technic Heavy Duty Bulldozer

LEGO Technic sets are often inspired by real-like automobiles, and tend to be on the expensive side. But this bulldozer set is a perfect, affordable introduction to Technic. It rolls on treads, and its shovel blade moves up and down.

Retro Camera

This 1980's styled camera has a lot of fun features and accessories, including a multi-colored strap, film that loads into the back of the camera, and a rotating lens. You can also take it apart and rebuild it into a retro TV or a retro camcorder.

The big sets get the press, but there are plenty of cheaper sets that give you a great building experience and an attractive end result. They're perfect to give as a small gift, either to a friend or to yourself, or as a stopgap measure, while you're saving up for the expensive set that you've had your eyes on.

How are LEGO sets priced?

A common rule of thumb among LEGO fans is 10 cents per brick – that's approximately how much a LEGO set typically costs. So a LEGO set that's 200 pieces sells for around $20. A LEGO set that's 2000 pieces sells for around $200. And so forth.

By that metric, a 300-piece set that sells for $20 is priced well. When a set's pricing is disproportionately higher than its piece count would indicate, it often comes down to licensing fees from third parties.

How Much Should You Spend on Value LEGO Sets?

All of the sets listed above are $25 or less. These are great builds, but on the downside they won't take you very long to put together, as one of the main factors determining price is piece count. How much you want to spend on a LEGO set is up to you, but it's good to know that there are fun sets for frugal fans.

Are There Any Cheap LEGO Alternatives?

There are a number of suitable LEGO alternatives, many of which cost significantly less than official LEGO sets. Mega makes some of the most notable, because they have the Pokemon license – though they can be pricy as well (see them on Amazon). A number of Chinese companies like LOZ also offer builds similar to (but with smaller pieces than) LEGO.

For more cheaper-than-usual sets, take a look at our always updated best LEGO deals. And for more great set ideas, check out our picks for the best Harry Potter LEGO sets as well as the best Star Wars LEGO sets.

Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.