You don’t have to spend a fortune to get into car diagnostics & coding. There are lot of good options to get you started for even as cheap as $50. Over the past years I have tested more than 30 cheap OBD-II scanners and here are the best picks.
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Quick Recommendations
(There are also some more secret picks in the article)

Vgate Icar PRO 2s

Ancel AD310

Veepeak
Testing & comparing

Tester & Author: Juraj Lukacko
I care about giving you guys the best value-for-money tools as I am a DIY mechanic myself and I am sure I don’t want to spend money on crappy tools 🙂
I test new diagnostic tools every week, so I don’t just offer a few random products.
I have personally tested more than 100 car diagnostic tools, so I understand which ones are worth purchasing.
You can read the full review policy HERE, but now check what I found:
Testing cheap OBD-II scanners

There are not 4-system scanners or scan tools under $50, so that leaves us mostly with Bluetooth OBD scanners. However, I did find few options that can even supplement professional tools in this price range.
Have laptop? Try Delhpi DS150

Delphi DS150 is a clone of a professional OBD-II Windows program that you can buy with the device on Aliexpress for about $50.
US users are reporting it is not working for US brands very well, but when I tested it on multiple cars (European/Asian) it always worked fine.
It is packed with features like accessing different modules to read/clear faults, read live data, perform service tasks, or even do bi-directional testing.
Konwei Kdiag

Konwei KDIAG is the cheapest Bi-Directional Bluetooth scanner I tested so far. It worked fine on multiple cars for a full scan, accessing live data in all modules + I even did some Bi-Directional testing.
App supports 4 service procedures, but one big limitation is vehicle coverage.
It covers only about 40 brands and even for covered brands, you don’t get as many bi-directional tests or service procedures as with other Bluetooth Bi-Directional scanners.
Vgate Icar PRO 2s is the best budget ELM327

I have tested over 20 different ELM327 adapters and Vgate Icar PRO 2s is one of the best in this price range.
It was one of the few adapters that didn’t give me any trouble connecting and was working straight out of the box.
With ELM327 you can use different OBD2 apps to expand functionality further than what you get with a basic engine code reader.
But then engine code reader is just so simple to use, so I will recommend one.
Ancel AD310

Ancel AD310 is a top-selling code reader on Amazon and I approve that after testing it out. It shows a decent amount of engine live data and even can display live data graphs for selected values.
It does everything that a code reader should support like reading/clearing engine codes, freezing frame data, showing emission monitors, and getting rid of the check engine light.
It might not have as many features as you get with smartphone + ELM327 but it is most simple to use and you can read codes in just a few seconds.
Veepeak is the cheapest option for Androids

Veepeak adapter cannot be left out when we are discussing OBD-II scanners on budget. This one is the cheapest adapter that is still working without issues but costs the least of all the options we talked about.
If you have an Android phone all you need is a blue Veepeak, download Car Scanner App and you can start diagnosing faults in your car or even unlocking some hidden settings if the app supports your car model.
Conclusion: Best Cheap OBD-II scanners

I would consider the Ancel AD310, Veepeak, and IcarPRO 2s ultimate winners, even though they have fewer features compared to Kdiag or Delphi ds150. But they work on any car.

Vgate Icar PRO 2s
Best choice if you need reliable scanner that will work for any car and operating system.

Ancel AD310
Code readers are easiest and fastest way to scan engine for faults and Ancel AD310 does its job perfectly.

Veepeak
If you have Android phone, you can get even cheaper ELM like this one.

OBD-II scanner Buyer’s Guide
- Scanner features explained
- Different types of scanners
- Scanners for coding/odometer/ECU/checks
- Best picks + discount codes

Hi, I am Juraj “Yuri” Lukacko. I got frustrated by unhelpful and scammy mechanics, so I decided to learn everything about car diagnostics myself. I test dozens of new car diagnostic tools every month along with learning new strategies to fix and customize cars. About Juraj Lukacko (Yuri)