5 Cheap Embroidery Machines to Check Out In 2022

Got the itch to stitch but prefer a cheap embroidery machine over a crazy expensive one?  You’ve come to the right place! 

Embroidery is a great hobby for any sewing artist – or it could even become a side hustle if you are minded to go for it. You can easily get hooked on personalizing all your favorites clothes – and any other fabrics within reach.

But while embroidery threads are certainly affordable enough, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for embroidery machines, with many costing over $1000.

However, there are some more affordable machines out there on the market today, and we’ve been sifting through them to pick out the very best ones.

Coming up next are our reviews on the top best-selling cheap embroidery machines that cost under $1000. We decided to include regular embroidery machines, and include some combo machines that do both embroidery and sewing.

Please note, we’re using “cheap” to mean “more affordable.” Quality always matters when it comes to sewing and embroidery machines. That said, here goes – enjoy!

Category	Model	Built-in Designs		Warranty
Best Overall	Brother SE1900	138		25-year
Best Computerized	Brother SE600	80		25-year
Best Basic	Brother PE550D	125		25-year
Best Cheap	Brother LB5000S	80		25-year
Runner Up	Brother PE535	80		25-year

Best Cheap Embroidery Machines

Brother SE1900 Sewing and Embroidery Machine

Admittedly this machine is not particularly cheap, but it does come under our $1000 cut-off point. (Don’t worry if this still sounds too steep a price we’ve got some less expensive ones coming up.)

The reason this one made it to the top of our shortlist is the phenomenal customer feedback. It’s not very often you see a product rated at a full 5 stars out of 5 on Amazon – especially after so many individual ratings and reviews.

What we love about this embroidery machine is that it also doubles as a sewing machine, and it comes from top brand Brother, which we would argue is out-performing Singer – at least when it comes to embroidery machines.

It has a fairly large embroidery hoop, measuring 5 inches by 7 (vs the standard 4 x 4), so you don’t ever need to worry about the hoop being too small. And the preview touch screen display is in full color.

It comes with a very nice 138 built-in embroidery designs as well as 11 different embroidery fonts, AND a whopping 240 built-in stitches, including an impressive 10 styles of buttonhole.

It has all the modern conveniences such as an advanced needle threader and a jam-resistant drop-in top bobbin.

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Brother SE600 Sewing and Embroidery Machine

Now, for those of you who are more budget-conscious, this is a great pick. It has a lot of the great features we saw in the Brother SE1900 we showed you earlier but is available at a fraction of the price.

Like the SE1900, the SE600 also doubles as a sewing machine, AND you get 7 sewing feet included in the price. And as a sewing machine, it’s really good, offering a whopping 103 built-in stitches, so you can get really decorative.

Speaking of built-in features, there are 80 built-in embroidery designs. And while this may be far less than the amount provided in the SE1900, the beauty of this machine comes from being able to use any design you like, by simply importing it through the USB cable.

We love the large touchscreen display which is in full color, and how you can use it to preview your designs and tweak them before you start working on them.

The biggest drawback is that rather than featuring a large embroidery hoop, it has a standard size one, at 4 by 4 inches. Which isn’t bad, just isn’t great. It’s still big enough to accommodate a large monogram or badge.

That said, it’s been incredibly popular and is a bestseller with online retailers. If you check out the Amazon page, you’ll see there have been well over 2000 individual customer ratings on this product, resulting in an average rating of 4 and a half stars out of 5.

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Brother PE550D Embroidery Machine

Now, this is a fantastic embroidery machine for Disney fans. It comes with 45 Disney embroidery designs already built-in. Plus you can always get more online and hook them up to your machine via the USB cable.

In addition to the Disney designs, there’s also a further 80 other embroidery designs already built-in. There are also 9 different fonts to enjoy already built-in, including 6 from the English alphabet, and 3 decorative Japanese lettering fonts.

We love the large touchscreen display which is in full color, and how you can use it to preview your designs and tweak them before you start working on them.

Now, this is purely an embroidery machine and does not double as a sewing machine also. But this isn’t a bad thing if you’ve already got a great sewing machine, and it makes using the machine a lot less complicated.

The other drawback to this machine is that rather than featuring a large embroidery hoop, it has a standard size one, at 4 by 4 inches. Again, not bad, just not particularly big for large scale designs.

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Brother LB5000S Sewing and Embroidery Machine

If you’re not into so much Disney as you are into Star Wars, then this beauty might be more up your alley.

It comes with 3 interchangeable Star Wars faceplates, but better yet it also comes with 10 downloadable Star Wars designs. Great for kitting yourselves out for Comic-Con. (You can get more but you’d have to pay.)

There are several embroidery designs built-in too, totaling 80 in fact. And there are 9 built-in fonts, including 6 in English and 3 in Japanese. And you can view them all before you get to work, with the use of the large full-color touchscreen display.

But better yet, this machine also doubles as a sewing machine. Included are 7 quick-change sewing feet, and a whopping 103 built-in stitches. And it has all the modern convenience of an automatic needle threader.

One drawback to this machine is that rather than featuring a large embroidery hoop, it has a standard size one of 4 by 4 inches. It’s still big enough to accommodate a large monogram or badge. And anyway, at this sort of price, it’s still pretty great.

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Brother PE535 Embroidery Machine

What we love about this machine is its affordability. It’s the cheapest “cheap embroidery machine” on our shortlist so far, and it offers the best value for money.

But despite the low, affordable price, there were no corners cut in the building of this machine. It has all the features you’ve come to expect from a modern-day Brother embroidery machine.

This includes a 4 by 4-inch embroidery hoop, a USB port to upload your favorite embroidery designs, and a large touchscreen display in full color. You can use it to preview your designs and tweak them before you start working on them.

But that’s not all. There are also 80 different built-in embroidery designs including kids’ ones, holiday ones, floral ones, and much more. In addition, you also have 9 different fonts to choose from including 6 English fonts and 3 Japanese.

A larger embroidery feel would have been better, but at this sort of price, you can’t have everything.

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The Finishing Touch (a.k.a Our Final Thoughts)

You may have noticed that all our shortlist of cheap embroidery machines are all from top brand Brother. We would argue that Brother is an industry leader when it comes to embroidery machines.

And a quick look at customer ratings will reflect exactly that. Brother embroidery machines are far more well-received than their competitors, including the likes of Janome and Singer.

Your first decision when shopping for value and buying a cheap embroidery machine is whether to go for a straightforward embroidery machine or to get one that also doubles as a sewing machine. 

If you prefer an embroidery only machine, then we recommend our number 3 listing, the Brother PE550D Embroidery Machine. But if you want to replace your sewing machine as well, then we would recommend the first on our list, the Brother SE1900.

If budget is your first concern, then the cheap embroidery machine recommendation for you is our listing number 5, the Brother PE535 Embroidery Machine.

But really, any of the machines in our top 5 picks would make a great choice. 

Happy embroidering!