I gave myself a $100 budget — can I build the perfect home vlogging setup?

We live in a time where vlogging equipment is readily available, cheap, and seemingly more than enough to get you started on your journey. Just how cheap can you go, though? It's something I've been wondering about recently.

Well, as it turns out, pretty damn cheap. I gave myself an arbitrary budget of $100 to put together what I would buy personally if I were just getting started, and the results were surprisingly decent. As you're about to see, I put together a pretty good setup for shooting basic YouTube or TikTok videos for just $92.

Most of this is made possible by Amazon's ongoing Spring Sale, which currently covers a wide range of vlogging equipment. Everything from tripods to lights are on sale, so I've leaned on the event heavily to squeeze as much value from my $100 budget as possible.

It's a pretty basic setup, of course, so I've also included a more advanced kit just below, in case you're looking to get a little more serious.

My $100 home vlogging setup

My basic vlogging setup comes in at just $92, and honestly? You might be able to get even cheaper if you cut out the RGB lighting. There is one major caveat, of course, in that I'm assuming that you have a relatively modern smartphone that can shoot 1080p video. I think the vast majority of people do have a smartphone like this, however.

Breaking down these choices, you have a focus on lighting and audio, essentially. You get a very basic diffused portrait light that's going to be more than enough for talking head videos, as well as one of the best reviewed budget lavaliar mics. You're also getting a basic tripod to mount your smartphone on, so all you need to do is set it up somewhere with a bit of space and boom — a basic vlogging setup.

All the above products are what I'd call essential for decent footage, but I've also included an RGB projector in the budget. This is a 'nice to have' because you can use it to create more visually interesting backgrounds. You could, for example, project it onto a blank wall to add some color to your shots.

My advanced home vlogging setup

Want to get more serious? This is the kind of thing I'd aim for.

The obvious addition here is the excellent Sony Alpha ZV-E10, which is one of the best video cameras for beginners. Annoyingly, it's not on sale today at Amazon, so you may want to check out second-hand listings for a bargain.

Even relatively cheap mirrorless cameras can shoot excellent footage, so note that you don't have to spend $900 on something like the ZV-E10. I've just included it because it's an example of a fantastic vlogging camera.

Otherwise, included is a more advanced camera-compatible mic kit, a sturdier tripod (essential for a camera), and some backup batteries for extended shoots.

I've also chosen some different free-standing RGB lights for a more flexible studio setup. The context is the same, however, you can use these lights to create more interesting backgrounds and moodier scenes.