Best LED Grow Lights Under $200 – Top 10 Picks To Grow Cannabis Indoors in 2022

Grow lights are perhaps the most important part of any indoor grower’s setup, especially when it comes to growing cannabis plants. They may also play a role in outdoor growth, but when it comes to growing weed indoors, you just can’t ignore their importance. Grow lights are essentially replacing the sun – which is a big deal. Over the course of this article, we shall be taking a closer look at the ten best LED grow lights under $200. 

There are many different kinds of grow lights out there – HPS lights, Metal Halides, fluorescent lighting, etc. However, when it comes to getting something that lasts for really long, saves you a lot of electricity expenses, and operates at cool temperatures – there’s practically nothing that beats LED grow lights. These lights range from $50 to $2000 or more. 

However, most growers prefer not to spend too much on grow lights, especially if they are just starting off with their growth or want to grow in a small area. There are some people who are also looking for backup grow lights or temporary lighting solutions and might not want to spend too much on them. Hence, these sub-$200 lights are actually very well suited for their needs. 

As you go through this article, you will see that there are actually some very good quality grow lights in this price point – and from some of the leading brands too! Let us take a detailed look at the ten best options that you have in this price range:

Top 10 Best LED Grow Lights Under $200 in 2022

Here’s a closer look at ten of the best LED grow lights out there which are priced under $200. This is a price range that is very budget-friendly, and also one where there’s a heavy competition. A large number of brands are making products for this price range, which is what makes it even more confusing for a lot of people, as they are unsure about which grow lights to buy. This is why we have come up with the ten best options for you.

We have not ranked these grow lights in any specific order, but all of them are equally good. We have also tried to list out the three key features, as well as the pros and cons of each of these grow lights, so that you get a better idea about the entire product before you make a purchase decision. 

1. SPIDER FARMER SF-1000 LED Grow Light

• Consumes 100W of electricity 
• Fanless design 
• Covers an area of 2×2 (flowering) and 3×3 (veg) 

Spider Farmer is among the most popular names when it comes to the world of grow lights. The company makes some of the best modern-day grow lights in the thin panels that we are so used to seeing in 2022. This is one of the best LED grow lights under $200 for growing marijuana because of multiple reasons, but primarily because it operates at really cool temperatures and does not heat up.

Most LED grow lights come with a fan that helps keep things cool. However, in the case of Spider Farmer (SF-1000), this is a fanless model which operates at low temperatures. This fixes one major problem that growers otherwise keep complaining of – the noise of the fan. The LEDs that are used in this grow light are also quite interesting – these are the Samsung LM301B LED lights, which are really long lasting!

In addition to that, the grow light also comes with a dimmable mode, which allows you to adjust the brightness based on the needs of the plants. This is a really important feature, and is something that every grow light should have. Furthermore, this is a full-spectrum grow light, meaning that it provides just the right mix of red and blue lights so that your plants get the perfect kind of lighting, which is as near to the natural light of the sun as possible.

The light is also very energy efficient, operating at 2.5 umol/J. Moreover, you also save a lot of energy when you use it. The Spider Farmer SF1000 comes with support for daisy-chaining too, which allows you to connect multiple grow lights to each other and to have only one of them plugged onto the main power socket. 

This light consumes only about 100W of power from the wall socket, which is a 50% cut compared to what an HPS light would consume. You get a coverage of about 2 x 2 ft during the flowering phase when the lights have to be lowered, and about 3 x 3 ft when it comes to the vegetative phase. It also comes with a three-year warranty. 

2. BESTVA DC Series 1000W LED Grow Light

• 1000W LED Grow Light 
• Full Spectrum lighting 
• Uses Double LM301B diodes with aluminum reflectors 

A grow light priced under $100! This is a dream come true for many growers, not just because of the price, but also because of the performance. This grow light from Bestva not only provides you with the perfect full-spectrum lighting that your plants need, but also makes sure that you can use it for long hours without any risks.

The LEDs that are used here are double-chipped LM301B diodes, which, when combined, provide 1000W of lighting to the plants. To ensure that maximum possible light reaches the plants and that the light is not scattered or dispersed, each of the LEDs is covered by an aluminum reflector which focuses the light on the plant. This provides a very bright lighting experience, which is beneficial at all times but particularly during the vegetative and early vegetative phases. The light gives you a coverage of about 2×2 ft during flowering and 3×3 ft during vegetative phase of growth.

Besides that, there’s a switch on this grow light that controls the VEG and the BLOOM modes. You can turn on the VEG mode during the vegetative phase of growth and the BLOOM mode when your plants enter the pre-flowering and flowering phases. Up to 18-22 hours of light is needed in the VEG mode and about 16 to 10 hours is required during different points in the BLOOM phase.

There are two high-speed fans present inside the grow light. Bestva claims that their’s can cool the lights 42% faster than other grow lights, but that’s something that we really doubt. In any case, the lights don’t get too hot if used in moderation. There are nine bands of LED lights, operating together to give you full-spectrum lighting. Lastly, the Bestva DC series 1000W LED grow light also gives you a 3-year warranty period and a 90-day return period. All of this put together makes it not only one of the best grow lights under $200, but also one of the best grow lights for small-scale growers.

3. VIPARSPECTRA P1500 LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants

• Consumes 150W of power
• Fanless operations 
• Covers 2.5 x 2.5 ft during flowering and 3 x 3 ft during vegetative phase

It is impossible to make a list about grow lights for growing marijuana plants indoors without including Viparspectra’s products. They are one of the best light-makers out there, and have constantly evolved their products to meet the needs of the modern-day growers. This grow light is no exception! The Viparspectra P1500 offers you a very good lighting experience, but one of the best things about it is that it saves you quite a bit of electricity.

The grow light provides you with the lighting equivalent of what you would get if you were using a 300W HPS grow light, but while consuming only 150W. This is a straight-up benefit of 50%. The light uses high-quality SMD LEDs – Samsung LM281B+, and provides a good PAR output. Besides that, the light also comes with a dimmer, which allows you to set different brightness levels to get the most suitable lighting output. The dimmer has a large range going from about 5% to 100%

The P1500 from Viparspectra is one of the best LED grow lights under $200 for indoor cannabis growers because it also provides a full-spectrum lighting experience. The light is suitable for both the vegetative as well as the flowering phase of growth. It provides a coverage of about 3 x 3 ft during the vegetative phase and about 2.5 x 2.5 ft coverage during the flowering phase. 

The light is pretty easy to set up, install and operate and needs only a basic amount of skills. It is a simple plug-and-play design that has been made as user-friendly as possible. When you buy this grow light, you also get a 3 year warranty period, as well as easy returns from Amazon.

4. GREENGO 1200W LED Grow Light

• 1200W LED grow light
• Three fans to keep the light cool
• Consumes 248W from wall socket 

Greengo is a brand which one doesn’t really hear much about, especially in a market dominated by the likes of Viparspectra and Bestva. However, this 1200W LED grow light from Greengo is one of their finest products, and also one of the best LED grow lights under $200 that you can buy in the markets today. Growers absolutely love this light, especially when it comes to growing weed indoors.

This is a full-spectrum grow light that provides you with a good combination of lights on the red and the blue spectrum. There are two switches – the VEG and the BLOOM switch. When you turn on the VEG switch, you get a combination of blue and white lights, which are a good fit during the vegetative phase of growth, and when you press the BLOOM switch, you get red and white lights, which are great for the flowering phase.

Greengo makes use of a triple-chip LED system here, which is very bright as well as more efficient than single or double chipped LEDs. It consumes only 248 watts of actual power from the wall socket, but provides you a lighting output of 1200W, which is actually quite impressive. 

There are three high-speed fans placed inside the grow light, which are quite effective when it comes to keeping the system cool. However, this does have its own drawback when it comes to noise. If you’re running multiple of these grow lights together, you won’t be able to sleep in that room. 

This grow light from Greengo also supports daisy chaining, which makes it very easy for you to use grow lights. Essentially, you hook them all to each other and have one of them connected to the main power source, rather than having each of them connected individually. However, do make sure you’re not connecting more than three of them at a time. The grow light comes with a 36 month warranty period.

5. KingLED Newest 1000w LED Grow Lights with LM301B LEDs

• 1000 Watt LED grow light 
• Covers 3 x 3 ft during vegetative phase and 2.5 x 2.5 ft during flowering
• Uses latest LM301B LED chips

KingLED is also one of those names that you keep hearing of every now and then if you are a marijuana grower. The company makes some good quality LED grow lights, but their price is always kept lower than regular market rates. This is why it comes as no surprise that KingLED also makes one of the best LED grow lights under $200. This is their 1000W light (growers can also find 600W and 1200W variants on the same page), which makes use of some of the finest LEDs out there. 

The LED chips used here are of some of the latest designs, which provide maximum brightness while operating at minimal temperatures and can last for a really long time too. To make things even better, there are reflectors added around the LEDs which help you focus the light on the plant growing underneath it – which penetrates better than what it would otherwise do. The light is actually so bright that a free pair of sunglasses has been provided along with the grow light to protect your eyes.

This is also a very energy efficient grow light from KingLED, operating at 2.8 umol/J. This grow light covers about 2.5 x 2.5 ft of an area during the flowering phase, and a little larger 3 x 3 ft area during the vegetative phase. This is pretty much the standard coverage that you get for grow lights under $200 so don’t expect anything impressive. You get full-spectrum lighting from this grow light, which is great for your marijuana plants. There are separate switches for the VEG and the BLOOM mode, which is good for growers.

These lights are very durable too, especially given that they use the latest LEDs that don’t heat up too much. For whatever heat that it does generate, there are fans on the back that help you dissipate it pretty well. You need to hang the grow light and all the accessories needed to do so come bundled with the package. You also get three years of professional service with this grow light.

6. VIPARSPECTRA 600W LED Grow Light

• 600 Watt LED grow light
• Full spectrum grow light 
• Covers 3 x 3 ft during vegetative phase and 2.5 x 2.5 ft during flowering

We are back with yet another Viparspectra grow light on our list. The company makes so many good products at such an affordable price point that they are bound to appear multiple times. Also, this isn’t even the last time they’re here, as there’s a third Viparspectra grow light coming up too. In any case, this is a 600W LED grow light from the company, which also happens to be one of the best LED grow lights under $200 in the markets today.

This grow light makes use of a full-spectrum lighting setup, which provides your plants with red as well as blue lights, helping them grow better during their vegetative as well as flowering phases. There are separate switches marked VEG and BLOOM for each of these modes. The kind of coverage that you get here is the standard 2.5 x 2.5 ft during the flowering phase, when the lights are closer to the plants, and about 3 x 3 ft during the vegetative phase, when the lights are placed at a higher distance. 

Some people might be wondering if this grow light heats up – the answer to that is actually no, it does not. There are quite a few measures that Viparspectra has taken to make sure that this light does not heat up and operates at cool temperatures. These include the usage of high-power, yet silent (or at least that’s what the company claims) fans. There are also upgraded aluminum heat sinks, which ensure that there’s always space for heat to escape. 

Much like most other viparspectra grow lights, this one also supports daisy chaining, which allows you to connect multiple such units together to maximize coverage and minimize cables. There’s also a three year warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee with this grow light. Furthermore, Viparspectra is a very trustworthy brand and their customer support is always ready to assist you with any problems that you may face while using their grow lights.

7. Phlizon 600W LED Plant Grow Light 

• 600 watt LED grow light 
• Full-spectrum lighting 
• It Covers 2 x 2 flowering area and a little larger vegetative coverage

While we made this list looking for the best LED grow lights under $200, this one comes at almost a third of that price, and also offers you with a lot of other stuff that you might need when growing a marijuana plant indoors. This is from Phlizon, another well-known brand that makes low-cost lighting solutions for your plants. This is a 600 Watt LED grow light, which checks all our boxes as it offers a full-spectrum lighting experience, along with separate switches for VEG and BLOOM modes. 

The math here is simple, there are 60 chips, each providing a 10W lighting, giving you a total of 600 Watts. The company also claims that theirs is a safer product to use, because it does not come with a built-in reflector which can heat up and potentially melt. Other than that this is a pretty standard grow light that we have so grown used to seeing over the years – it comes with separate switches for VEG and BLOOM, which are for the two different phases of growth. 

LEDs are angled at 90 degrees and 120 degrees to ensure maximum penetration as well as maximum coverage. The company also makes use of universal blue as well as red IR UV lights, which gives your plants an additional boost, as it helps replicate the natural sunlight in a pretty good manner. You get a coverage of about 2 x 2 ft during the flowering phase and a little larger coverage during the vegetative phase. 

There are double cooling fans used on this grow light to ensure that all the heat escapes it. There are a lot of heat vents to ensure that the heat doesn’t remain trapped inside. These lights are developed with a strong Research and Development team working on them, and they are also tested multiple times before being released. You get two years of warranty on this grow light, as well as a thirty-day money-back guarantee. 

8. BESTVA DC Series 1500W LED Grow Light

• 1500 Watt LED grow light 
• Uses Samsung LM301B diodes  
• Also comes in 600W and 1200W variants 

One of the first lights on our list was a Bestva grow light, and we are back with one more from the company. This is a basic 1500 W LED grow light which offers full-spectrum lighting, making it suitable for both the phases of your plant’s growth cycle. The light makes use of high quality Samsung LM301B diodes along with reflectors which ensure that the light is focused on to the plants and can penetrate deep.

This Bestva grow light is so bright that you actually have to shield your eyes while working with it. This is why the company ships it along with a pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes. The use of aluminum reflectors actually helps improve the overall penetration of the light by as much as 50%, which is pretty impressive. The company uses double-chipped diodes which are twice as effective as single-chipped diodes.There are nine different types of lights used here to combine and provide you with the best possible lighting experience. 

However, don’t make the mistake of assuming that since this is a very bright grow light that offers full-spectrum lighting, it also heats up a lot. The fact is, that this grow light actually operates between 50F to 60F, which doesn’t damage it at all. The lights make use of high-speed fans which help ensure that no heat remains trapped inside them. 

As we’ve seen with many other grow lights on this list, this one too carries a VEG and a BLOOM mode, which allows you to switch the kind of lighting that your plant is getting during different phases of its growth. There’s a 600W and a 1200W variant of this Bestva grow light available from the same web page if you wish to buy them. You get a three-year warranty period and a 90-day money back guarantee on this light.

9. VIPARSPECTRA Dimmable Series PAR450 450W LED Grow Light

• 450-Watt LED Grow Light
• Full-Spectrum Grow light with 12 bands 
• Front-facing fans 

Time to bring out the big guns! While we are used to seeing thinner and flatter grow lights, here’s one that’s rather big and bulky, but also provides a pretty good lighting experience for someone who needs low-wattage lighting. This is a 450W LED grow light, which has a pretty unique look and feel to it.

When we say this grow light has a unique look, we really mean it because it has a solid, sealed back and instead has fans that are located on the front. These 3.2-inch fans make sure that the light remains cool, but also help create a soft breeze among the plants. The lights are also dimmable, and there are three individual dimmers for Red, Blue, and White lights, which is a really cool feature.

Not only can you dim them individually, but you can also turn them on and off individually as there are VEG and BLOOM switches, allowing you to customize the lighting based on the phase of growth that your plant is currently in. The light, as the company claims, has been scientifically engineered to get a high PAR per Lumen output as well as a large coverage. It provides a 2.5×2.5’ ft coverage during the vegetative phase and a 2 x 2 coverage during the flowering phase. 

A pretty unique design, but something that only a select group of buyers would prefer, as most modern-day buyers would opt for the slimmer variants. These lights come with a 3 year warranty period, along with a 30 day return guarantee. 

10. G8LED 90 Watt RED Flower Booster LED Grow Light

• 90 watt flower booster LED grow light
• Provides 770μMol/m2/s of PAR 
• Suitable for up to 8 square feet of growing area

All the products that we have seen on our list so far are regular LED grow lights that can be used during both the phases of a plant’s growth cycle. This one, however, is a different beast altogether. This is a ‘flower booster’ LED light that is used only during the flowering phases. Using this grow light assures you of an increased number of trichomes, which ensures a higher THC level, as well as a better quality growth overall.

The grow light provides a very high PAR score of 770uMol per m2/s, which is pretty impressive. This is an award-winning LED light, which has been praised by a large number of organizations operating in the marijuana sector. Using a single flower booster grow light is enough to cover a very large area, allowing you to cover up to 8 sq. ft. of grow space.

The light doesn’t really heat up too, as it comes with lots of vents on the sides, and also features three fans on the back. It measures less than 12 inches in total length and breadth, which is also pretty good. One thing that you need to know is that you cannot use this light in isolation, and it has to be used along with other HPS/LED grow lights to get the best results. 

11. Vivosun VS1000 LED Grow Light

Vivosun is among the most popular names when it comes to the world of grow lights, especially if you are planning on growing marijuana plants indoors. This is one of the best affordable grow lights out there, priced well under $200, offering you an all-round solution with its full-spectrum lighting. One of the first things about the VS1000 that you’ll notice is the modern design. This grow light doesn’t look similar to those bulky lights that are usually seen in the markets these days. It is a flat and fanless device, which is lightweight as well as slick.

The grow light does not make use of a fan, which is one of the key highlights here. This gives you two advantages, first off, it ensures that the weight and the bulk of the light is reduced, and secondly, there is no noise. The fan is usually the most annoying part of a traditional grow light that causes the most noise. However, despite the fact that there is no fan, this grow light makes no compromises on the cooling system. It can operate at very low temperatures and all the heat is let go making use of the heat sinks. This make sure that the circuits aren’t damaged, and also ensures that the heat doesn’t end up damaging the plants either.

This is a full spectrum LED grow light, which means that it carries lights of both the red and the blue spectrum, which can be used across both phases of the growth cycle. Primarily, the blues are considered great for the early stages of the growth cycle while the red lights are great to provide an additional boost to the flowers during their flowering phase. This grow light also makes use of Samsung’s high-quality LM301H diodes, which provide a rather bright output and can last you for a longer time than compared to other low-quality diodes. 

This grow light ensures a uniform distribution of lights, and ensures that you get an efficient spectrum as well as high PPFD levels, all of which are essential for the growth of the plant. This is a waterproof grow light, which ensures that your device is safe even if there is an accidental spillage. The grow light offers a lifetime of about 54000 hours, which is rather impressive. It weighs a little over 3lbs and comes with a 6ft power cord, LED glasses, and custom suspension hooks and ropes included in it. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About LED Grow Lights

Here are the answers to some of the most common and frequently asked questions about LED grow lights. We’ve tried and answered them from a perspective of these grow lights (under the $200 price point). Do go through them, but let us know in the comments if there are any more such questions that you want answered. 

1. Which is the best LED Grow Light for marijuana plants in an early stage?

When it comes to plants in their early stage, the best kind of LED grow light for them are the ones which emit both red and blue lights, but primarily focus on the blue lights. If you’ve got a switch or a dimmer via which you can control the kind of lights, make sure you are providing them with cooler lights from the blue spectrum. In the early stages, marijuana plants require a lot of light, but the kind that does not hurt them and provides them with cool lighting, so these would be ideal.

2. What kind of lighting is best suited for flowering plants?

When it comes to flowering plants, you need to provide them with lights that are warmer, and from the red end of the lighting spectrum. These lights need to be provided to the plants for lesser hours than compared to the blue lights, which are sometimes provided up to 22 hours. As you reduce the lighting, it triggers the flowers to bloom – as that makes the plants believe that it is winter (when the natural sunlight tends to fade away quicker).

3. How long should I keep the lights on to trigger flowering?

If you are not using an autoflowering plant, then you will need to reduce the lighting manually to trigger flowering. Reduce it from 16 hours to about 12 hours in the pre-flowering phase, and down to 10 hours in the peak flowering phase to get the best results. If you are growing an autoflowering plant, then you don’t really have to worry about it too much because they will flower regardless of the lighting conditions.

4. Can using LED Grow Lights for too long damage my plants?

Yes, using LED grow lights for too long will damage the plants because the non-lighting hours are when the plants are resting. Plants keep producing enzymes and ‘food’ when you are providing them with light. It is during the night time that these functionaries get some rest. If you provide constant lighting, the systems would get overworked and the plant will begin to collapse.

5. Where to buy the best LED Grow Lights?

The best place to buy LED grow lights for growing cannabis plants is the Amazon web store. Not only do you get a lot of options here, but this is also a great platform for someone who wants to return products. In case you are not happy with the kind of lighting that you are getting, you can simply ask Amazon to come and take that away. The other major benefit is that Amazon tends to run a lot of discounts as well, so you always get a better price. However, you can always buy grow lights from your nearby gardening stores too, as these are some really common gardening equipment. 

6. Where can I buy the best LED grow lights under $200?

$200 is actually a pretty good budget to get hold of a good quality LED grow light. You can get some really high-performing devices at this price. These lights can be bought from pretty much any store that sells lights and lighting equipment. However, most physical stores don’t really have too much of a choice to offer and it is best advised to buy these grow lights from online sellers such as Amazon, where you get a lot of options, as well as hefty discounts and deals!

7. Can I buy fanless LED grow lights under $200? 

Fanless LED grow lights are the top trend in 2022 and pretty much any grower who is buying a new light is trying to go for fanless lights. Yes, it is possible to buy fanless LED grow lights under $200. In fact, there are many choices that you can choose from. These grow lights are great for growers because they generate minimal noise and ensure that all the heat is also emitted out with the help of heat sinks and vents. If you can, you should totally go for these types of lights. 

8. What factors do I need to keep in mind before buying a grow light under $200? 

One of the first things that you need to check out in a grow light is – the mount of power it draws from the wall socket vs the kind of output you get out of it. The next thing that you need to check is the kind of coverage that you get from it. If your grow light is covering the amount of area your plants need (specifically during the flowering stage), then it is a good fit. Other than that, you might also want to check out if it is a full-spectrum grow light, getting full-spectrum lights is great for your plants across all phases of growth. Dimmability, waterproofing, and quality of LEDs are some more factors that you must check out. Lastly, keep an eye out for good heat dissipation mechanisms. 

Conclusion

We hope that by the time you reach this section, you’ve got a fair idea about what to expect from these grow lights. One needs to understand that LED grow lights are critical when it comes to growing weed indoors. However, one doesn’t always need to buy expensive lights, because sometimes cheaper lights do the trick too. And it isn’t right for one to associate that cheap lights are bad lights. If you buy one of the lights from our list, or if there are any grow lights that you would want us to review, or add to our list, do let us know in the comments below, or drop us a mail and we shall get it done as soon as we can!