Best Budget Shredders 2021

A shredder can be a useful office feature to protect your privacy and ensure that no one can look at any sensitive printed documents. While they’re not particularly exciting pieces of tech, they’re useful. Modern technology has allowed shredders to operate quietly as well as reduced their size. Some models offer extra features like the ability to handle staples, shred multiple pages at once, or shred CDs and credit cards. All of these features can even be found in budget models, so you don’t have to spend a lot.

To help you get a good deal we’ve drawn up a list of the best budget shredders 2021.

The Bonsaii 10- Sheet Cross-Cut Paper Shredder is a paper shredder capable of handling up to 10 sheets of paper at once. It can also handle stapled paper, and credit cards, although only one card can be shredded at a time. it can shred continuously for up to four minutes before needing to cool down over a 40-minute period.

The bin has a capacity of 21 litres which is enough for roughly 320 sheets of shredded paper. It also has a window to make it convenient to see how full it is. When it needs emptying a handle on the top makes it easy to separate from the bin. Operation is automatic when something is placed in the opening.

The Aurora AS810SD 8-Sheet Strip-Cut Paper, CD, and Credit Card Shredder offers a thorough shredding repertoire. It can shred up to 8 sheets of paper, CDs, credit cards, and staples. If it does get jammed, it features a manual forward and reverse button to help you unjam it.

The three-way safety switch automatically stops shredding if it detects errant fingers. The 15 minute cooldown time is relatively long if you’ve got a lot to shred, but is shorter than others. The strip cut design is less thorough than cross cut, furthermore, the strips are relatively large so may leave sensitive information in a readable form. The included bin doesn’t have a window, the lid does have a cut-out though to let you see in. The lid also can expand to fit slightly wider bins.

The Amazon Basics 8-Sheet Capacity, Cross-Cut Paper, and Credit Card Shredder is a decent cheap shredder for light usage. It can shred up to 8 pages at once as well as staples, paper clips, and credit cards. It uses a cross cut style to achieve the P-3 security standard.

The window in the bin is useful for seeing when it needs to be emptied. The continuous running time is relatively short and the cool down time is long, making it impractical for heavy usage scenarios. The shredder can’t shred CDs but users have also reported it getting jammed on the plastic windows on envelopes.

The Aurora AU1010MA High-Security 10-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper, Credit Card Shredder is a micro cut shredder for the highest security. It’s capable of shredding 10 sheets of paper at once, as well as staples, paperclips, and credit cards. The 24l capacity bin means that it needs to be emptied less often than smaller alternatives.

The 5 minute run time and 10 minute cool down period are favourable compared to other budget models. CDs and other plastics can’t be shredded and will jam it. The price is relatively high for a budget shredder but is still very affordable.

The Bonsaii Paper Shredder for Home Use is a fairly capable shredder for a low price. It can shred up to 6 pages at once as well as CDs, staples, paperclips, and credit cards. It uses cross cut to achieve a P-3 security rating.

The included bin has a large window making it easy to seen when it’s getting full. The handle on the top makes it easy to remove the top to empty the bin. The run time of four minutes is relatively short while the 40 minute cool down time is very long. This makes it only really suitable for light or occasional moderate workloads.

That was our roundup of the best budget shredders in 2021. Have you recently bought a budget shredder? Which model did you get, and would you recommend it? Let us know down below.