What it costs
How much does a crossbow cost?
Complete packages start near two hundred dollars and stop near twenty-five hundred. What changes across that range is mostly the cocking system, not the speed.
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Ranked
Quick picks
| # | Product | Cocking aid | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank 1 | Barnett Wildcat CRX | Cocking device included; Rope-Hold technology | 7.2 | $239.99Amazon |
| Rank 2 |  CenterPoint Hellion 400 | 8.3 | $339.95Amazon | |
| Rank 3 |  Wicked Ridge Rampage XS | ACUdraw crank, integrated | 8.8 | $649.99Amazon |
| Rank 4 |  TenPoint Titan X De-Cock | ACUdraw De-Cock, integrated | 9.0 | $799.99Amazon |
A complete hunting crossbow package starts around two hundred dollars and the top of the market is around twenty-five hundred. Budget another hundred to two hundred for the accessories a package leaves out — a target you cannot shoot through, string wax, a case, and real broadheads.
Prices on this site come from a live data layer and are dated wherever they appear, so the figures on each pick below are current rather than remembered. What follows is the shape of the market: what changes as you move up, and where it stops changing in ways you will notice in the field.
What each bracket buys
Around $200 to $350: a complete bow, cocked with a rope
This is a real crossbow, not a toy. Expect 280-405 fps, an illuminated 4x32 scope, three bolts, a quiver and a rope cocker in the box. What you are not buying is a crank, a published cocked width in many cases, or a quiet shot. The rope means roughly 50 percent of a 150-220 lb draw is still on your shoulder every time you cock. Our best crossbow under $500 page covers this bracket in detail.
Around $350 to $600: the crank appears
This is where a crank starts arriving in the box rather than as an upgrade, and it is the most important fifty dollars in crossbow buying. It is also where published specifications get better: cocked width, uncocked width and kinetic energy start appearing on listings. Speed barely moves.
Around $600 to $1,000: integrated cranks and de-cocking
Cocking effort drops to single digits — TenPoint publishes 5 lb — and some bows will unload themselves. Cocked widths of 9-10 in become normal. Speed still barely moves. The full breakdown is on best crossbow under $1,000.
Above $1,000: geometry and raw speed
Past a thousand dollars you are buying narrow — Ravin's 5.75 in cocked — and fast, up to 470 fps. You are not buying lower cocking effort, because 5 lb is already available below this line. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on whether width or speed is your actual constraint.
In detail
Four packages, four price tiers
Barnett Wildcat CRX
280 fps at 6.1 pounds with a red dot, three arrows, broadheads, a quiver and a cocking device in the bundle. It is the least bow on this site and it is priced like it. Buy it to learn on, or if your season opens in three days and you have two hundred dollars.
| Published spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Speed | 280 fps |
| Weight | 6.1 lb |
| Cocking aid | Cocking device included; Rope-Hold technology |
| Sight | Red dot |
| Included | Three 20 in Headhunter arrows, broadheads, side-mount quiver |
| Safety | Anti-dry-fire, finger safety reminders, pass-through foregrip |
| Cocked width |
What it does well
- Complete and shootable out of the box, broadheads included
- 6.1 pounds with the quiver on
- Anti-dry-fire on a budget bow
Where it falls short
Our rubric
- 6.4
- 5.4
- 6.6
- 7.8
- 9.0
- 9.2
CenterPoint Hellion 400
8 inches cocked, 12 uncocked, 400 fps off a 185-pound draw, for the price of a mid-range scope. It is the narrowest bow on this site under five hundred dollars, which makes it the budget answer to the blind-window problem. Note that it requires CP400 lighted nocks.
| Published spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Speed | 400 fps |
| Draw weight | 185 lb |
| Cocked width | 8 in |
| Uncocked width | 12 in |
| Limbs | Compression fiberglass quad |
| Arrows | Three 20 in .003 straightness arrows |
| Nocks | Requires CP400 lighted nocks |
What it does well
- An 8-inch cocked width is the narrowest here outside the Ravin line
- A 185-pound draw is lower than its rivals at the same speed
- Roller retention spring and CNC aluminum rails at a budget price
Where it falls short
Our rubric
- 6.6
- 8.4
- 7.8
- 9.6
- 8.0
- 9.0
Wicked Ridge Rampage XS
An ACUdraw crank built into a 31.5-inch bow that shoots 390 fps, from TenPoint's value brand and made in America. One of the least expensive bows on the site with an integrated 5-pound crank, which makes it a default recommendation when your shoulder, not your budget, is the limiting factor. The Commander 400 is the cheaper sibling if you can live with a longer bow.
| Published spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Speed | 390 fps |
| Cocking effort | 5 lb |
| Overall length | 31.5 in |
| Cocking aid | ACUdraw crank, integrated |
| Trigger pull | 3.5 lb |
| Scope | Lighted 3x Pro-View, 20/30/40/50 yd |
| Included | Three Match 400 carbon Alpha-Nock arrows, quiver |
What it does well
- 5 lb cocking effort from a built-in crank at an entry-level price
- 31.5 inches overall is short enough to swing inside a blind
- Made in the United States at a price point where that is unusual
- Safety wings and an enclosed trigger guard keep fingers below the flight deck
Where it falls short
Our rubric
- 9.4
- 7.8
- 8.0
- 8.8
- 8.6
- 9.4
TenPoint Titan X De-Cock
The de-cocking version of TenPoint's best-selling bow, and the most complete answer on this site to the question that brings most people here. The integrated ACUdraw De-Cock drops cocking effort to 5 pounds, and it backwinds, so you can unload the bow at the end of a sit without firing a bolt into the dirt. 400 fps and a 9.75-inch front end are the supporting cast.
| Published spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Speed | 400 fps |
| Cocking effort | 5 lb |
| Cocked width | 9.75 in |
| Cocking aid | ACUdraw De-Cock, integrated |
| De-cocks | Yes, backwind the handle |
| Trigger pull | 3.5 lb |
| Included | Pro-View 400 lighted scope, three Pro Elite 400 arrows, quiver, bow hanger |
What it does well
- 5 lb of cocking effort is the lowest figure any bow on this site publishes
- Safe de-cocking: the Auto-Brake gear system holds the handle wherever you let go
- A 9.75-inch front end clears blind windows and stand rails
- Ships assembled and pre-sighted, so first setup is a scope zero and nothing else
Where it falls short
Our rubric
- 9.6
- 8.4
- 8.5
- 9.0
- 7.8
- 8.6
The tier table
| Tier | What arrives in the box | Cocking | Speed you can expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Bow, red dot or 4x32 scope, 3 bolts, quiver, rope cocker | Rope, about 50% | 280-405 fps |
| Mid | Add a crank, illuminated multi-reticle scope, better arrows | Crank, about 93% | 370-430 fps |
| Upper mid | Integrated crank, lighted scope with calibrated holds | 5 lb published, some de-cock | 390-435 fps |
| Premium | Narrow geometry, 100 yd scope, proprietary arrows | Integrated, often silent | 400-470 fps |
The costs a package does not include
- A target rated above your bow's speed. Non-negotiable, and the item people skip. A bag rated to 350 fps behind a 430 fps bow is money thrown away — see crossbow target stopping power.
- Broadheads. Package heads are practice points in all but name. A pack of real ones is a genuine line item.
- String wax and rail lube. A few dollars, and the difference between a string lasting two seasons and four.
- A case, if the bow travels in a vehicle. Soft cases start low; a molded hard case for a premium bow does not.
- A cocking aid, if the bow did not come with the one you need. This is the upgrade that most changes a cheap bow.
Where the money stops buying hunts
For a deer-sized animal inside 40 yards from a blind or a stand, a 400 fps bow with a crank, a zeroed scope and a 400 gr arrow is a complete and effective setup, and that is available well under a thousand dollars. Above that you are buying solutions to specific problems: a blind window narrower than 9 in, a pack-in hunt where every pound counts, elk-class energy, or a 100 yd range session. If none of those is your problem, the money is better spent on bolts, a better target and more practice. Best crossbow for the money is the page for that argument.
Our pick
If the budget is firm at the bottom, the CenterPoint Hellion 400 publishes 8 in cocked, 12 in uncocked and 400 fps at an entry price, which is more published specification than anything near it. If you can reach the upper-middle bracket, the Wicked Ridge Rampage XS puts a 5 lb integrated crank and a 31.5 in overall length in the box, and that is the point where a crossbow stops being something you have to manage.
What about buying used?
A second-hand crossbow can be good value and it carries a risk a used rifle does not: the string, cables and limbs are wear items under enormous load, and none of them show their age clearly to an untrained eye. A bow that has been stored cocked, or shot with a worn string, is a bow with a failure in its future. If you buy used, budget for a string and cable replacement immediately unless the seller can show when it was last done — see crossbow string replacement for what that involves and costs.
The other used-market trap is the orphaned platform. A discontinued bow may have no replacement string in the right length, no crank that fits, and no arrows specified for it. That is a bow you cannot maintain at any price, and it is why we weight published fit lists so heavily throughout this site.
