5 Best Affordable Pontoon Boats in 2025
Pontoon boats can be expensive — or not! Check out the best budget pontoon boats of 2025.
If you’ve been searching for the best pontoon boats you may have a bit of sticker shock. Pontoons have become incredibly advanced in recent years, and many have uber-luxurious interiors, massive powerplants, and fancy arches or tops. This stuff is great, but it’s also expensive. What if you need to find an affordable pontoon boat? The average price of a new car in America is hovering just below $50,000 and a $30,000 car is downright cheap these days, so we’ll use that price-point as our measure. And you might be surprised at just how many cool, new, fun pontoon boats are actually this inexpensive.
- Princecraft BrioE 17
- Sea Doo Switch
- Starcraft LX 16 R
- SunChaser Vista 16 LR
- Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 16 XL Select
Princecraft BrioE 17 Electric Pontoon Boat
With a starting MSRP of $23,849 the Princecraft BrioE 17 is among the largest affordable pontoon boats on the water and it’s also among the greenest. Powered by a Torqeedo or Mercury Avator electric motor (the equivalent of up to the six hp range), you’ll be silently tooling around the lake at the speed of up to six and a half mph without leaving any carbon footprints. The power systems include 24- or 48-volt lithium ion batteries and provides hours of operation.
The boat is surprisingly full-featured with three sofas, a helm and helm chair, a Bimini top, vinyl floor coverings, and 5052-H36 marine aluminum pontoons with extruded keels and skirting. For anglers, there's also an available stern storage conversion kit that turns the standard storage module into a fishing station with an aerated livewell and three rodholders.
See Princecraft BrioE 17 boats for sale.
Sea Doo Switch Pontoon Boat
The Sea Doo Switch offers a couple of models which fit into our budgetary parameters; pricing starts at a mere $23,799 for the 13-foot base boat, and the price tag goes to $27,799 for the 16-footer. That's with a trailer included, but this is one of the few pontoons around that doesn’t include an outboard. Rather, it comes with a Rotax 1630 ACE engine that produces 130 horsepower and blasts water through a jet drive. The steering system is just as unique, and instead of coming equipped with a wheel the Switch enjoys PWC-like handlebars. It also enjoys some of Sea Doo’s perks like iBR Intelligent Brake and Reverse and cruise control.
Rather than ride on aluminum pontoons, the Switch has a triple-log configuration. Except that these aren’t normal logs. The boat is built from Sea Doo’s Polytec material, which is polypropylene reinforced with fiberglass. From the deck up the boat is customizable and reconfigurable thanks to a deck tile system that utilizes Sea Doo’s LinQ attachment points. If you want to move the chairs here or the cup holders there, just pull the lever, move the item, place it over the mounting point where you want it, and shove the lever back into place. And all LinQ accessories fit, so you can add coolers, tool boxes, fuel tanks, fishing rod holders, and more. Note that several larger Switch models are available, but they break through our price ceiling.
See Sea Doo Switch pontoon boats for sale.
Starcraft LX 16 R
The Starcraft LX 16R starts at $23,995 with a 25-hp outboard. That price-point doesn't include a trailer, but there's plenty of room left in the budget to get one if you need it. And this is one of the cushiest pontoons in this class, with three big sofas plus a helm chair with arm rests for the captain. Additional comfort perks include Sea Weave flooring, a sporty Torcello Lite steering wheel, a five-step boarding ladder, cup holders, fore and aft swim platforms, and even a Bimini top.
The LX 16 R is designed for cruising and partying, and as such is rated for a crowd of up to six passengers. At 17’0” LOA and with an 8’0” beam there’s plenty of elbow room aboard, and this model can handle 40 horses on the transom. Note that for the anglers among you, there’s also a fishing version (the 16 F) available with a livewell and two fishing seats forward instead of the flanking sofas.
See Starcraft LX 16 R boats for sale.
SunChaser Vista 16 LR
Starting price for the SunChaser Vista 16 LR is posted at $23,990 with a 25-hp outboard (a Trailmaster trailer adds $3,874). They come standard with Sea Weave flooring and a Bimini top, and can carry up to six happy boaters.
The base model layout is simple but comfy: sofas face each other in the bow and a third port-side sofa sits to port in the stern, across from a helm chair with arm rests. It all rides atop a pair of 23” tubes constructed from .08” gauge aluminum, and the boat comes with a “Lifetime +6” warranty which covers the hull and structure for lifetime and gets you six years of coverage on components, carpet, upholstery, and electronics. Plus, it’s transferrable to a second owner.
See SunChaser Vista 16 LR boats for sale.
Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 16 XL Select
With a 20-hp Mercury outboard on the back a Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 16 XL Select has a list price of just $19,870. Add in a trailer for $2,995 and you’re still under the $25K mark, with plenty of room in the budget to also goose the power to a 50-hp outboard for another $2,875. The stock package includes goodies like twin bow fishing chairs, an aft L-lounge, and a helm seat, rod holders in the console, a nine-gallon aerated livewell, no-feedback steering, courtesy lighting, front and rear boarding/swim platforms, a four-step folding boarding ladder, and fold-down cleats. Construction includes plasma- and laser-cut aluminum and robotic welding, and the 24” diameter logs are multi-chambered with internal bracing.
New improvements to this model have been made in recent years, and the modern Bass Buggy 16 XL comes with a stock Wet Sounds Bluetooth stereo system. It also has one-piece full-length M-bracket deck supports, and Sun Tracker is so confident in the Bass Buggy 16’s construction that they back it up with their surprisingly strong “10+Life” warranty, which out-shines the coverage most of the industry offers. It includes a 10-year bow-to-stern warranty on factory-installed materials and workmanship, on top of a limited lifetime structural and deck warranty.
See Sun Tracker Bass Buggy 16 XL Select boats for sale.
Which Pontoon Boat Is Right For You?
Which of these five best affordable pontoon boats would be the best pick for you and your family? That’s a question only you can answer. But if you can afford to buy one of the less expensive new cars on the market, you can afford these boats — and buying one will deliver a lot more fun than any land vehicle can provide.
See all pontoon boats for sale on boats.com.
Editor's note: This article was previously published in February of 2022 and was last updated in March of 2025.
