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12 Sep 25

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Burair

CS2: 10 Cheap Knife Skins That Look Great

You don’t need to spend thousands to get a good CS2 knife! There are great, cheap CS2 knife skins that will flair up your loadout without leaving a dent in your wallet.

It’s common knowledge that skins in CS2 are not cheap, and among them, knives can be extremely expensive. The average CS2 player can’t pull out a thousand dollars for a CS2 knife skin. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find solid knife skins while staying in budget.

There is a misconception that budget skins often look cheap and just don’t have the oomph of a premium knife skin. That’s not true; if you look hard enough, you can find great-looking cheap knife skins that look as good as premium skins without costing an arm and a leg.

Things to Note

When it comes to budget knives in CS2, the amount you set as your budget depends on you. A cheap knife for one person could be expensive for the other. For this reason, we have listed knives in all different price ranges, starting from under $100 up to under $400. Anything above that wouldn’t be called "budget" for most people.

Secondly, knives in CS2 are still expensive when compared to other games. You can’t just throw 30-40 bucks and get a good skin. A decent knife skin can cost in the hundreds. However, the great thing about CS2 skins is that you can sell them, so you are not just wasting your money. Of course, the price of a skin can go up or down, but you can still sell it to get your money back when you get bored with the skin.

Secondly, skins are subjective. We decided to list some of the more mass appealing skins in this list, but there is a slight chance you might not like any. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find a skin in your budget; there are tons more, all you need to do is Google a bit.

CS2 Knife Skins Under $100

$100 is a great starting budget to get into the skins space in CS2. You can get a decent knife skin in this budget, but nothing too crazy.

Navaja Knife | Ultraviolet (Field Tested)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

While Navaja isn’t the most loved knife in CS2, it’s a great entry point into the knife space. It’s vastly better than the default knife, and while it might not have cool animations like, say, the butterfly knife, it still gives you the feeling of owning a nice knife.

As for the skin, the Ultraviolet is a fan favorite skin, and it looks terrific on the Navaja. The purple and black dual tone gives it a sleek and minimalistic look. Considering the price, the Navaja Ultraviolet offers great value for money.

Survival Knife | Urban Masked (Field Tested)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

The Survival knife is usually a mid-range option, so finding a skin for it in this price range is a blessing. The survival knife is bulky and mean-looking, which is what fans of it are attracted to. It’s a less rounded version of the gut knife and slightly better looking. Not to mention, it has a pretty good rare animation.

While the Urban Masked isn’t the most popular of skins, it looks really good on the survival knife. The white and silver give it this shiny look, which makes it look quite sleek and clean.

CS2 Knife Skins Under $200

The 100-200$ range is where we start to have a bit more options. Of course, you still can’t get the higher-tier knives here, like the Talon or Paracord, but you still have some great options to choose from.

Bowie Knife | Freehand (Factory New)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

The Bowie knife is quite big and bulky, and the equip animation isn’t that great, which is why a lot of people shy away from it. However, in this price range, it’s much better than the alternatives. On the other hand, the Freehand is an acquired taste type of skin. It’s got a graffiti-like design on the blade with purple accents. It’s one of the unique skins in CS2, but not for everyone.

Survival Knife | Tiger Tooth (Factory New)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

Survival Knife is considered a mid-to-high-tier knife, so finding a good skin for it in this price range is a great value. The Survival Knife is a fan-favorite because of its balanced and well-proportionate design. While the normal equip animation isn’t that great, the rare animation makes it worth buying.

Combined with the Tiger Tooth skin, which is a bold and flashy orange-yellow design, the Survival Knife Tiger Tooth is worth considering in this price bracket.

Kukri Knife | Crimson Web (Field Tested)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

The Crimson Web is a fan-favorite skin in CS2. The scarlet red color, combined with small webs around it, makes it one of the coolest skins to own in CS2. Secondly, this skin looks great on the Kukri knife. The Kukri Knife isn’t the most sought-after knife in CS2, but this Crimson Web makes it stand out and is worth considering in this price range.

Related: CS2 Skin Rarity, Explained

CS2 Knife Skins Under $300

We are stepping into the early mid-range tier of knives. You will find better knife options here, like the Bayonet, Paracord, and Nomad. There are tons more varieties to choose from.

Nomad Knife | Damascus Steel (Factory New)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

If you don’t like flashy knives with bold colors and prefer something a bit more sleek and minimalistic, then Nomad Damascus Steel is worth checking out.

The Damascus Steel skin is popular because of its gray and silver design and color scheme. It’s not flashy, but it has a clean and realistic look to it. Plus, the Nomad Knife on its own is quite good; it has a solid rare inspect animation and a decent equip animation.

Survival Knife | Fade (Factory New)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

But if you are someone who likes flashy colors and patterns on your knives, the Fade skin is worth checking out. It’s a gradient of multiple colors and looks well on knives with big blades, like the Survival knife.

Fade is a pattern-based skin, which can be confusing if you don’t know what pattern-based skins are. To put it simply, the more colors on the skin, the more expensive it is. But you can still find a good Fade pattern in this price range.

Bayonet | Black Laminate (Field Tested)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

Who doesn’t love the Bayonet? It's a simpler and cleaner version of its M9 alternative. And, it has much better-equipped animation than the M9. This is why it’s considered one of the best knives in CS2.

The Black Laminate gives the knife a used and scarred look, which fits the Bayonet well. It’s not for everyone, as the skin makes the knife look used. However, if you like skins that give a used and wounded look, then check this one out.

CS2 Knife Skins Under $400

$400 is where you will start to see some premium-tier skins. This is a great budget if you want to buy a knife skin that turns heads.

Bayonet | Case Hardened (Field Tested)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

Case Hardened is one of the most popular and loved pattern-based skins out there. So much so that the most expensive skin in CS2 is a Case Hardened AK-47. Now, because this is a pattern-based skin, you can find a cheaper pattern for it. There is a whole lot of detail on what makes a case-hardened pattern expensive, but to keep it short, the more blue the skin has, the more expensive it is.

You can find other options in this price range if you are not a fan of the Bayonet. You can find a Skeleton Case Hardened if that’s what you like.

Talon Knife | Urban Masked (Minimal Wear)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

A lot of people consider the Talon Knife an inferior version of the Karambit, and it's quite true. However, a Karambit Knife skin can cost in the thousands, so if you want the same feeling on a budget, Talon is the way to go.

However, the Urban Mask is not the best skin out there, to be honest. But if you want the Talon Knife, it’s the best you can get in this budget. However, there are great and better options in other knives in this price bracket.

Paracord Knife | Doppler (Factory New)

Image Credits: CSGOSkins.gg

Paracord is another fan-favorite knife in CS2. Paracord features a straight blade with a straight handle, no curves or grooves of any type. This simplistic and straightforward design is what makes it a popular knife choice in CS2.

Combine that with one of the most popular pattern-based skins—the Doppler, and you have a cool-looking skin under $400.

Conclusion

Good CS2 knives are indeed very expensive, and far from the affordable range for the average gamer. However, you still can get a good looking knife skin for cheap. Of course, when it comes to CS2 knives, cheap usually means starting from at least $90. These skins are great options if you are searching for knives on a budget.

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