Best Air Conditioners Under $500

A quiet, efficient pick for bedrooms and living rooms up to 450 sq ft. The U shape lets you keep using the window and keeps the compressor noise outside.

A good-value smart inverter unit for a bedroom or office up to about 350 sq ft. It’s quieter and cheaper to run than TCL’s fixed-speed models for little extra money.

A stylish, quiet inverter unit for a bedroom up to 350 sq ft. It’s priced close to the big-brand inverter models.

A compact inverter unit for a bedroom up to 350 sq ft. It’s quieter and cheaper to run than budget fixed-speed models for a modest premium.

A quiet, efficient bedroom unit for rooms up to 350 sq ft. It’s worth the premium if low noise matters most.

A compact, efficient inverter unit for a bedroom up to 350 sq ft. It’s easy to lift into the window and quiet on its lowest setting.

A good fit for a 350 sq ft room that needs cooling in summer and some heat in the shoulder seasons. The inverter keeps it efficient and fairly quiet.

A solid inverter pick for a bedroom up to 350 sq ft if you value the two-year warranty. Otherwise the TCL Q-Series does the same job for less.

A straightforward inverter unit for a bedroom up to 350 sq ft if you don’t need app control. The Keystone version of the same chassis publishes fuller specs.

The budget pick for a small bedroom, dorm or office where price matters most. Expect noise and basic dial controls.

An efficient, compact inverter unit for a living room or large bedroom up to 450 sq ft. Good if you want quiet and low running costs without paying for smart features.

A cheap way to get app and voice control in a 450 sq ft room. If noise or running cost matters, the TCL Q-Series inverter is worth the step up.

A plain 10,000 BTU unit for a living room where noise and smart features don’t matter. Inverter models cost a bit more and run quieter and cheaper.

A budget 6,000 BTU unit for a small bedroom or office up to 250 sq ft. It’s Amazon’s best seller because it’s cheap and easy to install, not because it’s quiet or efficient.

A plain, no-frills 10,000 BTU unit for a living room. Inverter models from Keystone or TCL cost about the same and run quieter and cheaper.

A basic 8,000 BTU unit for a spare room or office. For a bedroom, an inverter model is noticeably quieter for similar money.

A low-cost unit for a small office or guest room up to 250 sq ft. Light sleepers should spend more on an inverter model.

For a small bedroom where you want to keep the view and a quiet night. You pay a lot per BTU for the saddle design.

A budget unit for a room up to 350 sq ft where price matters more than noise or running cost.

The portable to get if you need real cooling from a unit that sits on the floor: the dual-hose duct and inverter compressor make it far more efficient than ordinary portables.

A low-cost smart portable for a medium room when budget matters more than efficiency or quiet.

A budget portable for a bedroom or small living room when price is the priority.

A slim portable for tight corners; most buyers get more for less with a standard-size unit.

A basic portable for a small-to-medium room; its real (SACC) capacity is much lower than the headline number.

A sensible smart single-hose portable for a medium bedroom or office, if you can live with typical portable-AC noise.

A plain, well-supported 8,000 BTU SACC portable sold directly by Amazon, for people who don’t need app control.

A simpler, cheaper dual-hose portable for people who want Whynter’s two-hose design without paying for an inverter. Its efficiency is ordinary, so running costs are higher than the NEX models.

A compact portable for a small room where a bigger unit won’t fit; most buyers get more cooling per dollar elsewhere.