The best travel backpacks under $50, tested by editors | CNN Underscored

There are countless travel backpacks out there — including many that are well under $50. But the problem many travelers have is figuring out which sub-$50 backpacks are worth buying. And as you might expect at this price point, some budget travel backpacks are great while others won’t withstand frequent travel.

To help you find the right budget travel backpack to potentially replace your luggage, I bought five of our best-selling travel backpacks under $50 and put them head-to-head on recent trips and my New York City commute, testing their durability, usability and general ease of use.

Here’s a look at my favorite travel backpacks under $50. I’ll discuss what I like about these backpacks, why I think they’re the best and who they’re best for.

This travel backpack is great for commuters and those traveling with a full-size carry-on bag. It has three compartments, with one housing a laptop sleeve. You can use it for one- or two-night trips and rest assured that your belongings are protected with anti-theft features like locking zippers and a small anti-theft pocket for your passport and other must-haves.

Read our review

Amazon Basics has long made great budget-friendly travel gear, and this backpack is no exception. It has a large main compartment for storing clothes and a separate laptop compartment. There’s also a quick-access pocket for your passport and other essentials. With 45 liters of packing space, it can replace your carry-on luggage for most week-long trips.

The Coowoz Large Travel Backpack is large enough to use for weekend trips but small enough for school or your daily commute. It has three compartments: a laptop sleeve, a main compartment for clothes and a secondary compartment for smaller items. There are two quick-access front pockets as well.

The main compartment is large enough for two or three days’ worth of clothes, and you might be able to maximize it further with packing cubes. There’s also a dedicated shoe compartment at the bottom of the bag. Meanwhile, the laptop compartment can fit a 13-inch tablet or 14-inch laptop with ease.

One of my favorite parts of the Coowoz Large Travel Backpack is the small anti-theft pocket on the back of the bag. I keep my passport and work phone here since it provides easy access while making them harder to steal when I’m wearing the bag on the subway.

The Coowoz backpack is relatively small for a travel backpack too. Measuring in at 16.53 by 12.59 by 7.87 inches, it’s small enough to use as a daily backpack when you’re not on the road. There are compression straps on the side of the bag that you can use to make it smaller when you don’t need all its packing space.

The backpack is lightweight and can fit up to 27 liters of stuff. It’s made from polyester that feels sturdy but not overly premium, but that’s to be expected given the bag’s low price.

This bag costs just $37 on Amazon, and it’s sometimes on sale for even less. Given the bag’s versatility, I think it’s a great choice for any traveler who wants a budget-friendly travel backpack for short trips and daily life.

The Shrradoo Travel Laptop Backpack is another Underscored favorite. It won’t replace your carry-on bag for anything more than a short trip, but it’s an excellent companion for your carry-on, and it’s perfect for your daily commute.

The bag has three main compartments. The back-most compartment is a padded laptop sleeve that fits up to a 17-inch laptop, the main compartment at the center of the backpack can fit clothes and other essentials and the front-most compartment can hold a tablet, pens and other small items. There’s a small quick-access pocket at the front of the bag.

The laptop compartment has locking zippers — just insert the zipper pulls into the three-digit combination lock on the side of the bag. It’s a great way to prevent someone from taking items from your bag when you’re in transit.

This backpack looks more like a traditional business backpack when compared to others on this list, so it’ll fit in as well at the office as it does at the airport. Its nylon material is thick enough to withstand daily use and the padded mesh back is extremely comfortable.

At just under $25, I think this backpack is a no-brainer if you’re looking for a functional backpack that you can use at home and on the road. It looks good and has enough space to carry daily essentials plus some clothes.

This is the largest backpack on this list with a whopping 45 liters of packing capacity. This means its main compartment can hold a week’s worth of clothing if you pack light and use packing cubes to maximize packing efficiency. It even has built-in internal compression straps to help you compress your clothing and increase packable space.

Beyond the main compartment, there’s a laptop sleeve at the back of the bag and a front pocket for smaller items at the front of the bag. I also like its single quick-access pocket that’s great for your passport or cell phone.

The bag includes a strap with an arm pad that you can use to turn it into a duffel bag, which can be useful when it’s fully packed. The shoulder straps can be zipped into the mesh back when it’s configured as a duffel.

The durable polyester material is thicker than the other bags on this list, and I do not doubt that it will perform well even with frequent travel. And with a $45 price tag, I think this bag is great for the budget-minded traveler who wants to break into one-bag packing for longer trips.

I tested these bags by traveling and commuting with them:

I also compared the size, price and special features of each bag to find which is best for each traveler’s needs. The comparison chart in the next section of this article will give you a good look at what to expect from each bag.

Finding the right budget-friendly travel backpack largely depends on your preferences. If you’re looking to replace your carry-on luggage, look for a large backpack that can fit a week’s worth of clothes. At the same time, you’re likely to want a smaller backpack if you want to use a single backpack for both travel and your commute.

Think through what you’re packing, too. Travelers who regularly pack an extra pair of shoes should look for a backpack with a dedicated shoe compartment. If you plan to bring a laptop with you, ensure the bag you’re bringing can accommodate your laptop’s screen size.

All this being said, you should set your expectations appropriately. Travel backpacks under $50 aren’t going to be the best travel backpacks out there. They will perform well for most of your trips, but those traveling monthly for work will likely get more value out of a more expensive bag that’s more durable and has more travel-specific features.

This 35-liter travel backpack from Target’s in-house Open Story brand is a good pick for those who want an open packing space and don’t mind a bag on the larger side. I like that the main compartment has organization pockets, including a water-resistant pouch for toiletries.

This travel backpack has adequate space for a week-long trip but compresses down to be small enough for your daily commute. I also like the two-toned design and the two included packing cubes that help you maximize space inside the bag.

Looking for a travel credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored Money chose as the best travel credit cards currently available.