By budget
Two hundred euros buys a real machine — the question is which compromise you accept. At this price you choose between a published duty cycle, a real importer, gas capability, and raw amperage. You will not get all four.
Two hundred euros buys a real machine — the question is which compromise you accept. At this price you choose between a published duty cycle, a real importer, gas capability, and raw amperage. You will not get all four.
135 A · gasless · 60 % duty cycle stated · €110
The cheapest machine on this page, and — unusually for the price — one that publishes a duty cycle figure at all.
Best for: A first machine for someone finding out whether they enjoy welding at all
≈ 110 €
Gasless · 7.5 kg · D100 spools · €140
Seven and a half kilos, a set of tips and a reel of wire in the box — the machine you take to the work rather than the other way round.
Best for: Repairs away from the bench — gates, trailers, a bracket on a machine that cannot be moved
≈ 140 €
160 A · 230 V · 8 kg · €176
An 8 kg three-process inverter with a seven-year manufacturer's warranty and a German importer with a published address.
Best for: A first MIG where the budget is firm and the machine must still be repairable in five years
≈ 175 €
160 A · gasless only · 3-in-1 · €200
A gasless-only machine, on purpose: no bottle, no regulator, no shielding to be blown away — for people who weld outdoors.
Best for: Gates, trailers, fence posts and anything welded where you cannot close a door
≈ 200 €
Usually the duty cycle and the documentation. Machines here claim 160 to 200 A and mostly do not say for how long, which means short bursts. Torch fitments are often proprietary, so consumables come from one importer. And a warranty may exist without an address to send anything to.
Sometimes, and with a caution: a used professional machine at €200 is usually a better welder than a new hobby one, but welding machines are bought by people who work them hard, and an inverter with a failing board is scrap. Buy used from someone who will let you strike an arc first.
Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.
Welders and plasma cutters swing by a hundred euros or more across the year, and the biggest "discounts" often land at prices the same model sold for six weeks earlier. UniverTrack tracks the real price history across retailers, spots fake reductions, and alerts you when it is genuinely the moment to buy.
