The gap between a $90 running shoe and a $160 one has never been smaller — trickle-down means budget trainers now get real midsole foams, not the dead EVA of a decade ago. What separates a good budget shoe from a cheap one is where the corners were cut: a great sub-$100 shoe saves on the upper materials and colourways, not the foam and outsole rubber. The picks below come from SoleHunt's engine with a $100 budget cap, ranked with the same nine signals as every other shoe — value score does the heavy lifting here. All prices are full retail; last season's premium models on discount are also worth a look.