The 7 Best Cheap Family Tents (Bought & Tested!)

What Counts as a Cheap Family Tent

To keep with the ‘cheap family tents’ theme, every tent here had to clear 2 bars: a stated capacity of at least 6 people, and a price tag of around $100 to $150 when I bought it. Here’s how the 7 stack up today:

*The price bracket is what I paid at the time. Prices move, so treat it as the entry rule for this review rather than a current quote.

• 5 of the 7 are still budget picks: 4 six-person tents and 1 eight-person
• The 2 that fell out keep their scores below — I still bought and tested them
• Nothing over 8 people survives in this bracket now the Ozark Trail is gone

The 3 Brands You Can Afford

On this budget, higher-end brands like The North Face, REI, Big Agnes, MSR and Marmot are closed off. That leaves 3 brands, and they are not equal:

The 3 budget tent brands I’ve bought from, and how they hold up.

• Coleman: the brand every camper has heard of, and the most reasonably priced for the quality. The Sundome is the tent I always suggest on a budget

• Core Equipment: the new kid on the block — my viewers tell me the founders came out of Coleman. Very similar quality, better instant tents, very slightly pricier

• Ozark Trail: rather infamous for quality. Fair weather only — not even light rain. It’s bargain-bin shopping, and one of my steel wall poles had rust on it

How Big a Tent Your Budget Buys

The bigger the tent, the more you pay — so your budget, not your family, sets the ceiling. Here’s the sizing I go by:

How many people each tent size really fits, and what you can reach on a budget.

• Marketed capacity is not real capacity: a 6-person tent is comfortable for 3-4, not 6
• Under 8 people, you get a real choice of brand and tent type
• At 10 people and up, the only budget option left was Ozark Trail — and mine is now discontinued

The Budget Tax: What You Give Up

Here’s the honest part. I ran the same heavy rain hose test on every one of these tents, and all 7 failed the 1-hour mark. What separates them is how long you get before the first leak:

*The Core is the odd one out: it stayed completely dry through an hour of light rain, but the heavy hose test still got through its untaped floor seam and its window latch.

• They all leak in the same place: the untaped, inverted seam where the tent body meets the bathtub floor. Seam sealant is the best few dollars you can spend on any of them

• Fiberglass poles snap. One of the Red Canyon’s broke on my first use — a tent pole repair splint fixed it for a few bucks

• Finishing gives the cheapest away: the Ozark Trail had sticky fabric, loose threads and snagging that my Coleman and Core tents didn’t

Backpacking and Winter Camping Are Off the Table

Two things you simply cannot buy at this price, whichever tent you pick:

• A packable family tent. Ultralight fabrics cost money and come from higher-end brands like MSR and Big Agnes, so car camping is the way to go on a budget
• Anything past summer. Every tent here is strictly a summer tent. 4-season family tents, and even 3+ season tents, are far more specialized and cost several times what these do

Is a Cheap Family Tent Worth It?

After 7 tents and almost 2 months of testing, here’s my honest read on buying cheap.

• Yes, in fair weather. Every tent here is a completely functional family tent I have actually slept in
• Yes, for longevity. My Sundome 6 is 4 years and more than 10 trips old, and still going
• Yes, for the headroom. A 6-foot peak height, a real bathtub floor and room for a family of 3-4 all fit this budget
• No, in prolonged heavy rain. All 7 leaked inside an hour, and 3 of them inside 15 minutes
• No, without a repair kit. Fiberglass poles break, and the cheapest tents snap theirs first
• No, above 8 people. That size has effectively left the budget bracket