Best cheap smart trainers 2025: get connected without the cost

Getting started with indoor training doesn't need to cost a fortune if you use one of the best budget smart trainers

cyclist in a garage, riding one of the best cheap smart trainers
Getting started with indoor training doesn't need to cost a fortune
(Image credit: Future)

One of the best cheap smart trainers will kickstart your indoor training without the expense of many of the best smart indoor trainers or best indoor smart bikes, and it is certainly much easier to get the hang of over the best bike rollers.

As indoor cycling has become more popular, trainer makers have trickled their technology down to lower price points. Once a premium product, the best budget smart trainers now offer similar functionality at a more reasonable price. A prime example of this is our best overall direct-drive trainer, the Tacx Flux S, which far surpasses trainers that are twice its price.

Paul Norman

Paul started writing for Cycling Weekly in 2015, covering cycling tech, new bikes and product testing. Since then, he’s reviewed hundreds of bikes and thousands of other pieces of cycling equipment for the magazine and the Cycling Weekly website.

He’s been cycling for a lot longer than that though and his travels by bike have taken him all around Europe and to California. He’s been riding gravel since before gravel bikes existed too, riding a cyclocross bike through the Chilterns and along the South Downs.

With contributions from