Buying a digital piano can feel like a major investment, especially since some of the ones available on the market are so expensive. Rather than overspending on your new instrument, when you opt for the best digital piano under 500, you can enjoy all of the benefits of a great digital piano without overspending.
Make sure that you rely on this buyer’s guide to walk you through the shopping process. When you understand the pros and cons of various instruments, you will be able to choose the right one for you.
10 Best Digital Pianos Under $500 in 2019 – Buyer’s Guide
1. Alesis Recital – Best Digital Piano Under 500
There’s a lot to love about this great digital piano. Not only are the keys full size, which can be difficult to find on some smaller digital pianos, but they are comfortable to play and easy to press. The semi-weighted keys offer the playability of an acoustic piano without the expense.
Additionally, this digital piano offers lesson, standard, layer, and split modes, making it easy to coax the sounds that you want from this instrument and also to get in the practice that you need to become a better musician, which is sure to inspire new pianists to keep practicing to improve.
- Offers great timbre and depth
- The keys are responsive and playable
- It’s easy to layer in different sounds for custom songs
- Volume button doesn’t always work
- Even the loudest setting tends to be quiet
- Doesn’t have the correct weight on the keys
2. Yamaha P71 – Best Portable Option
Thanks to the slim design of this stylist digital piano, you can easily take it with you on the go, no matter if you want to practice in a hotel room while on a trip or if you are going to be playing for a group of people.
Because it’s easy to combine two voices together and to include digitally sampled tones when playing this instrument, you will be able to easily create custom sounds that are unique to you and to write music that is fresh and updated.
- Keys feel like a real piano
- Can play in two organ modes and two piano modes
- Only weighs 25 pounds, which is great for taking it on the go
- Sustain pedal doesn’t work correctly
- Piano doesn’t always ship with the power adapter
- Can sometimes be out of tune
3. Yamaha PSR-E-363 – Best for Absolute Beginners

- Contains on-board lessons to help beginners start playing
- Use MIDI files to practice at your own pace
- The touch sensitive keys are easy for musicians to press
- Doesn’t ship with a power cord, it has to be bought separately
- Will quickly use up batteries
- Incredibly light and feels easy to damage
4. Alesis Melody 61 MKII – Best for Recording and Creating New Songs

- Ships with headphones, a stand, stool, music rest, and microphone
- Features 300 built-in tones
- Includes 40 demo songs to play with
- Tone can be distorted and weak
- Speakers tend to emit a buzzing sound
- Doesn’t have touch-sensitive keys
5. Yamaha PSR-E263 – Best for Connecting with Other Music Devices

- Speakers are high quality and offer great tone and sound
- Loaded with features that make it easy to create custom music
- Can easily connect to a mixer, computer, another instrument, or MP3 player
- Aux input doesn’t always work correctly
- Batteries don’t last very long
- Doesn’t ship with an AC adapter
6. Casio PX-350 – Best with High-Quality Intelligent Resonation System

The redesigned keys are not only comfortable and offer great action, but are textured so that they feel like ivory and ebony, which is very nice for musicians who are used to playing on acoustic pianos. When the sustain pedal is used, then the digital piano sounds even more real and the sound is held, allowing for a rich and full sound that really sets this instrument apart from others in the price range.
- LCD screen is easy to read
- Scaled hammer action allows for incredibly play
- Each key has three sensors
- Keys sometimes fail
- Vibration is possible in some keys, lowering sound quality
- Sometimes the keys stick
7. Alesis Recital Pro – Best for Avid Students

Additionally, this instrument comes with a three-month premium subscription to Skoove for interactive online lessons. This is sure to inspire any musician who is looking to improve their playing ability and needs help from an expert to ensure that they are on the right track.
- Full 88 keys for great range
- Educational features are great for students who want to improve
- 128-note max polyphony
- Even when set to max, the volume isn’t very loud
- Tends to have sound quality issues
- Keys can sound clunky and muddled
8. Yamaha P45 – Best with Weighted Key Action

The dual mode makes it easy to combine voices together for a unique playing experience and encourages musicians to be creative when they are playing this instrument. Even though it is light and portable, it has some of the best keys on the market.
- Functions are very easy to navigate
- Included metronome makes it easy for beginners to practice
- Sustain pedal is powerful and easy to connect
- Some keys tend to stick
- Piano tends to fall out of tune
- Sometimes ships with keys fallen flat
9. The ONE Smart Piano – Best for Younger Kids

With more than 4000 different pieces of sheet music and the ability to sound like more than 128 instruments, it’s easy to see how this digital piano will hold a child’s attention. With a variety of learning modes, kids can choose the one that works best for them as they play and learn.
- Light up keys make it easy for kids to follow along to preprogrammed songs
- Light-up sheet music is easy for children to follow along
- There are 100+ piano related video games included to keep kids interested
- Only has 61 keys
- Keys aren’t weighted like an acoustic piano
10. LAGRIMA Digital Piano – Best for Adult Students

- Includes 200 preset rhythms
- Built-in speakers are powerful and offer plenty of sound control
- It’s easy to use the digital piano with headphones to prevent disturbing other people
- Keys are very weighted, which makes playing fast songs harder
- Digital piano can fail after months of use
- The lid scrapes the volume knob when being opened or closed
Also Read: 10 Best Digital Pianos Under $1000 and $2000