UPDATED REVIEW | Nov 1, 2025 – Top 5 Best Electric Pianos $999 or less | LOWER PRICES HERE | My Name is Tim Praskins and I am an Electric Piano & Keyboard Expert and have been for over 40 years. I know more about the subject than just about anyone else out there. Not only do I play piano, keyboards, guitar, and organ professionally, I have taught thousands of students how to play and have fun doing it. I am also a widely known and respected digital piano reviewer of Roland, Korg, Casio, Yamaha, Kawai, and many other digital pianos. This review is about “electric pianos” (aka: digital pianos) at $999 or less.
You will not find “Buy Now” Amazon links on this site because I don’t try to get you to buy pianos on Amazon (for the purpose of making Amazon affiliate commissions) like most of the other “so-called” digital piano review sites do. They do that and it would appear they don’t really care what piano you buy, good or bad, because their primary goal is to make money. Most of them don’t know what they are talking about and they say things that are just not true, although they pretend to know what they are talking about. Be careful out there because it can be a “minefield.” Below are my personal picks for the best 2025 electric pianos less than $1000 so that you will make the right buying decision.
THE BEST 5 88-KEY DIGITAL PIANO BRANDS $999 OR LESS
The overall best digital Electric Piano brands less than $1000 are (in no particular order) Kawai, Roland, Casio, Yamaha, and Korg. These brands have been around for decades and overall have produced top quality models of digital pianos that offer most of the things that shoppers look for. Generally speaking you cannot go wrong with any of these brands although one or more of these brands may have a model or two that I do not recommend. But as I said, overall those brands do a good job of producing nice digital pianos in a variety of price ranges including under $1000.Play It Safe – Stay with the BEST brands! Do Not Buy a PSO!
Although you may find cheaper/lower prices on some of the lesser known or off brands, those brands are sometimes cheaper price for a reason…and they will likely not fulfill your piano playing expectations, especially as you spend more time on those pianos. They make pianos that look good on the outside but don’t rise to the occasion on the inside. I call those pianos a PSO (aka: Piano Shaped Object). They may look like a good piano on the outside and may even have an attractive piano cabinet, but do not be fooled…they just do not normally cut it when it comes to offering a good and satisfying piano playing experience. I would personally recommend you avoid those brands if at all possible based on my playing experience with them. You get what you pay for and they are not a cheap price for no reason!TOP 5 Electric Piano Models $999 or Less
When it comes to recommended digital piano models $999 or less you can choose from portable or cabinet digital pianos. Portability is a good choice if you need or want to take it places occasionally or you need to put the piano away from time to time in a closet or room. Portable digital pianos normally have the buttons and controls on the top of the keyboard above the keys and the portables do not have a sliding key cover.Furniture cabinet digital pianos under $1000 usually have buttons and controls above the keyboard on the cabinet facing you or on the side of the keyboard and those pianos normally have a sliding key cover built in to them. Of the brands and models in my BEST category, I would recommend you stick to 5 brands: Kawai, Casio, Roland, Korg, and Yamaha. Without a doubt they offer a better return on your piano investment in realism and value than any other brand.
My picks for the TOP 5 BEST MODELS $999 or less FOR A PORTABLE DIGITAL PIANO would be the Casio Casio PX-S3100, Kawai ES120, Korg B2SP+, Kawai ES60, and Yamaha P-225.
Although these TOP 5 digital pianos do a good job trying to reproduce a real piano playing experience, it’s good to know that for a bit more money above $1000, you can get an even more authentic piano playing experience. Also, with all kinds of technology products these days, there seems to always be one or two of them that rise to the top in offering “the best bang for the buck” in their respective price ranges and product categories
#1 Pick for Portable Electric Piano – Casio PX-S3100
The Casio PX-S3100 portable electric digital electric piano is my pick for the #1 spot under $1000 down to $600 for a portable digital piano and it is just $849 internet discount price. The other models in the “top 5 best” are very good and in the lower price range around the Casio price range, the Korg B2SP is impressive at $649 (including furniture style stand & triple pedal unit).But when it comes to the most realistic piano playing experience for less than $1000 in a portable digital piano, the 2025 model Casio PX-S3100 tops my list at the moment. It also has some impressive additional “bells & whistles” such as Bluetooth wireless audio & MIDI connectivity and when it comes to piano playing, the Casio PX-S1100 stands above them all for a “portable” digital electric piano in this price range. Here are the reasons why:
1. Key action – Easy to play, balanced weighted keys, relatively quiet key movement and responsive key action that allows for a good musical expression and tone over other competitive models. The weighted key action is overall not heavy and responds to light finger touch and yet heavy enough to pound out an aggressive piece. I was impressed with what Casio was able to do in this model concerning key action. Is it perfect…the answer is no. You won’t find “perfection” in this price range. But is this Casio piano weighted key action “playable” and able to trigger impressive dynamics from the piano sound? Th answer is definitely yes.2. Piano sound – Beautiful, balanced, stereo, resonate, organic, and consistent acoustic piano tone which offers a noticeably realistic musical expression and dynamic tonal range not found in other portable digital pianos under $1000 in my opinion. The piano sound is not “perfect” as compared to a real top quality acoustic piano or higher priced portable digital pianos such as the Kawai ES520 at $1399. However, this would be the case for any digital piano in the lower price range under $1000. But the PX-S3100 certainly rises above most other portable digital pianos that I know of in the same price range for what it does and how it sounds.
3. Pedaling – The Casio PX-S3100 has the option of a portable 3-pedal unit that offers full pedaling response along with half-damper pedaling which reproduces actual acoustic piano sustain pedaling with different amounts of sustain time depending on how far down you push the pedal. Beyond that, the amount and length of sustain decay time is much greater, and noticeably more natural and resonate than some other portable digital pianos in this price range.
4. Internal speaker system – When it comes to good, full volume and overall even dynamic tone, the PX-S3100 internal speaker system really does a good job putting out enough power for a normal size room. At just 24 lbs in weight, the PX-S3100 is surprisingly good at putting out a pleasing full tone & volume whether you want to play quietly or turn up the volume.
However, if you really want to increase the bass response for the piano and “feel” the piano sound, you can also connect an external sound system or powered monitors to the 1/4″ audio outputs of the piano and then it really sounds amazing! So no matter where you are, you can get the volume and quality piano sound you need out of the Casio PX-S3100. Please click on the following link to read my detailed review on the Casio PX-S3100: Casio PX-S3100 Review
#1 Pick for Furniture Cabinet Electric Piano – Casio PX-870.
The Casio PX-870 furniture cabinet digital electric piano with actual cabinet and closing key cover is my pick for the #1 here. The PX-870 has been $1199 internet discount price and sells very well at that $1199 price. Even though this price is above the $999 or under models, it is definitely worth looking at for a higher level home digital pianos that’s is not much higher in price than the $999 level. Other than the popular Korg LP-380U at $999 price right now (which we also recommend), there are not furniture cabinet pianos under $999 that has enough audio power and resonate sound quality to be on this list. You really need to be well above $999 to get that, and with the Casio PX-870, it’s worth it for just a couple hundred dollars more.
Yes, there are a few of the other furniture cabinet digital pianos and brands are quite nice and overall offer a good product for their price range, but they are quite a bit more money.
*SPECIAL UPDATE: For the month of November or when supplies run out at Casio warehouse, whichever comes first, there is an unadvertised “instant rebate” on the popular Casio PX-870 (in the black cabinet color), which rarely happens. If you decide that this model will best fit your musical needs and budget, then before you purchase anything anywhere, please contact us right away because not only can we help you get this special instant factory rebate, but also an extra discount beyond that one!
When it comes to the most realistic piano playing experience you will get in this price range in a furniture cabinet digital piano, the Casio PX-870 tops my list. It may not have the most “bells & whistles” like the Casio PX-S3100, but when it comes to more piano playing authenticity, along with some built in educational features, the Casio PX-870 stands above them all under $1200 for a furniture cabinet digital electric piano in its price range. Here are the reasons why:
1. Key action – Balanced & and responsive key action which allows for very wide musical expression over other competitive models. Key action is not heavy and responds even to light finger touch and yet heavy enough to pound out an aggressive piece. I was overall impressed with what Casio was able to do in this model concerning key action.2. Piano sound – Full sounding, balanced, stereo, resonate acoustic piano tone which offers great musical expression not found in any other furniture cabinet digital piano under $1000 in my opinion. The piano sound is not “perfect” as compared to a real top quality acoustic piano which would be the case for any digital cabinet piano in the lower price range. But it certainly rises above any other furniture digital piano model in this price range that I know of.
3. Pedaling – The PX-870 has a built-in triple pedal system for a realistic sustain, sostenuto, and soft pedaling experience in this price range. It’s a well built and also triggers half-damper sustain pedaling which reproduces actual acoustic piano pedaling with different amounts of sustain time depending on how far down you push the pedal. Beyond that, the amount and length of sustain decay time is very good, and noticeably more natural and resonate than any other furniture cabinet digital piano in this price range.
4. Internal speaker system – When it comes to good, full volume and overall even dynamic tone, the Casio PX-870 internal speaker system really does a great job putting out enough power through its main speakers and its top board sound escapement system going through 40 watts of power to do the job for a larger room coming out of a smaller instrument.
At just 81 lbs in weight, the compact Casio PX-870 is surprisingly good at putting out a pleasing tone & volume whether you want to play quietly or turn up the volume and make it sound like a big upright acoustic piano. The cabinet looks good, has a nice sliding key cover, and traditional music rest. There is also a proprietary app that Casio has called Casio Music Space which can work on iOS or Android devices and it makes playing the PX-870 a lot easier and more fun than otherwise you might think. Please click on the following link to read my detailed review on the Casio PX870: Casio PX870 Review
Extra “Bells & Whistles”
All Digital Pianos come with extra “bells & whistles” which means they have extra digital functions which can enhance the piano playing experience. Some of these functions include drum rhythm patterns (rock, jazz, country, Latin, etc), additional instrument sounds from around the world including trumpets, guitars, flutes, synthesizers, organs, string symphonies, woodwinds, percussion, and many more, extended multi-track recording and playback, additional sound editing, interactive auto-accompaniment, extra external and internal connectivity features for audio, USB, MIDI, and Bluetooth, color display screens, and all kinds of other electronic features and functions. Examples of these kinds of “portable” digital pianos less than $1000 are the Yamaha DGX-670, Roland FP-30X, Korg XE20SP, and the Casio PX-S3100 (as we already talked about).
Whether you really need these extra things in your piano is relative to what your musical goals are, how you play, what kind of music you like to play. and how comfortable you are with technology. However I will say that even the pianos which are more pianocentric and focused mostly on piano playing, such as my #1 piano pics, they still have a few “bells & whistles” which makes things fun and interesting.
I personally find that the extra features can be fun and engaging and help motivate the student and the player in a variety of musical ways. Since these features vary quite a bit depending on the brand and model of the digital piano you are looking at, it would be best if you emailed or called me directly (US/Canada calls only) and let me know what model you are looking at and then I can discuss specific questions with you directly.
If you noticed, I selected 2 Casio models for the “top picks” (even though one of them is normally over $1000) because they are clearly the best bang for the buck. Nevertheless, there is a very close runner-up to the Casio PXS3100 portable model, and that one is called the Kawai ES120 portable digital piano at $949. If you want to focus more on the “piano playing experience” and not quite as much needing the vast amounts of “bells & whistles” as you would find on the Casio PX-3100, then the new Kawai ES120 would be the one we would choose. Read my detailed review of the impressive Kawai ES120 at the following link: Kawai ES120 ReviewTOP ELECTRIC PIANOS NEAR OR UNDER $600
For piano shoppers who just cannot spend much more than $500, then are are some new portable digital electric pianos in this price range. The BEST options in my opinion for a piano in this range is the Kawai ES60 at $499 and the Casio CDP-S360 88-key digital piano (Casio stand optional). The Casio model offers a satisfying piano graded & weighted piano style key action and responds well with an impressive up & down key movement across all 88 keys, especially for its low price. The CDP-S360 has a lot of “bells & whistles” which adds to the enjoyment of playing piano experience and can help in learning to play piano better and overall just makes it more fun to play.
Although the CDP-360 is not as authentic as some models nearer to the $1000 price range, it is still a very good choice. As far as other 88 key piano weighted key digital pianos less than $500, basically this price range is limited to Casio and Yamaha for the better 88-key digital pianos. There are some off-brands like Donner, Artesia, and Alesis out there, but I recommend you stay away from those brands and stick to the name brands for a noticeably better and more realistic piano playing experience.
FINAL THOUGHTS & CONCLUSION
All of the electric digital pianos I listed in my TOP 5 digital piano models would be fine to own and could last you quite a few years and provide a relatively good piano playing experience. You should take a look at my reviews of those pianos just to be sure you have considered all the possibilities that are in this “under $1000” price range. But as it is with all types of products, certain models do rise to the top over the other ones and in my opinion the models I have mentioned here offer the things that shoppers are looking for and that are needed to play piano. These things make it as realistic as possible for the price you are paying. Being a seasoned piano & keyboard teacher for many years I can tell you that having the right musical instrument makes a big difference in the outcome of playing piano and it’s easier for a student to play music on a good digital piano in a way that allows them to sound better and play better, and that’s what it’s all about.
So spend your money wisely and stay away from the “off-brands” so you can avoid the piano playing deficiencies those models have. If you can spend more money than $1000 on up to $2000, then you will find some piano upgrades which may motivate you to spend that extra money for a longer term investment getting a better and more realistic piano key action, piano sound, and pedaling experience, along with digital interactive features that makes playing piano even more rewarding, no matter what age you are…and that’s the way it should be as far as I am concerned.:)
Go to the following link for my review on electric digital pianos from $1000-$2000: Digital Pianos between $1000-$2000
If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.
Tanks for a real helpful and inspired site! Keep on the good work!
Dennis, Swden
Considering the piano sound and key action, what would be your suggestion between Kawai ES110 and PX870?
they are both latest model in 2017