Cheap Kit or Fancy Mod? We Crunched 12 Months of Vaping Costs So You Don't Have To

We've all seen them — the £9.99 vape pen sitting by the till at the corner shop, and the shiny £50 pod mod gleaming in the display case. Both promise to get you off the fags, but which one actually makes sense for your wallet?

We decided to find out. Over a 12-month period, we tracked every cost associated with vaping on both ends of the price spectrum: upfront kit price, e-liquid spend, coil replacements, and the occasional emergency purchase when things went wrong. The results were more interesting than we expected.

The Contenders

Budget kit (£10–£15): A basic refillable vape pen, typically 400–600mAh, with fixed wattage and a small built-in battery. Think of the kind of kit you'll find in most UK vape shops and supermarkets.

Premium kit (£45–£55): A pod mod or mid-range sub-ohm setup with adjustable airflow, variable wattage, a 1500–2000mAh battery, USB-C fast charging, and replaceable coils.

For our test, we assumed a moderate vaper — roughly 10ml of e-liquid per week — using 10ml bottles of 50/50 freebase juice for the pen and shortfills plus nic shots for the mod.

Upfront Costs: The Obvious Bit

The £10 kit wins round one, obviously. But the sticker price is only ever the beginning of the story. What matters is what happens in month two, month six, and beyond.

The Hidden Costs Nobody Mentions

Coils

Budget pens tend to have proprietary or hard-to-find coils costing £3–£5 each, and because the devices run hot on small batteries, those coils burn out faster — often every 5–7 days. Premium kits use widely available coil ranges (usually £2–£4 each) that can last 10–14 days with sensible use.

E-liquid Consumption

Here's the counterintuitive bit. Sub-ohm premium kits drink juice faster — a 0.16ohm mesh coil at 40W can chew through 10ml in a couple of days. A tight-MTL pen sips the same amount over a week. If you're a heavy flavour chaser, your liquid bill will be higher on a mod, full stop.

Batteries and Repairs

Budget pens typically die entirely within 6–9 months of daily use. Once the built-in battery degrades, that's the end of the road — no repairs, no recycling value. Premium kits, while not immortal, tend to survive the full 12 months and beyond, and spare parts are easy to source.

The 12-Month Cost Breakdown

*Figures based on typical UK high-street and online pricing, moderate use, as of early 2025. Your mileage will vary.

Surprised? So were we. The budget kit isn't dramatically cheaper over a year — it just spreads the cost differently and hides more of it in coils and replacements.

So Which Should You Buy?

Go budget if: you're a light vaper (under 5ml a week), you're quitting smoking and want to test the waters before committing, or you're prone to losing things. A £10 pen lost down the pub is annoying; a £50 mod lost down the pub is a bad night.

Go premium if: you vape daily, you care about flavour and battery life, or you're a former heavy smoker who needs a satisfying hit all day. The adjustable settings and consistent performance genuinely matter once vaping is part of your routine.

The middle path: don't overlook the £20–£30 range. Several UK-available pod kits in this bracket offer premium features — USB-C, decent coils, solid build quality — without the flagship price. For many vapers, this is the sweet spot.

The Bottom Line

The real cost of vaping in the UK isn't the kit on the shelf — it's the running costs over months of daily use. Budget kits are brilliant entry points but often cost as much as premium setups over a year, while premium kits front-load the expense and reward you with reliability.

Whichever bracket you land in, buying from a reputable UK retailer (with proper age verification, naturally) will always beat grabbing a mystery device from a garage forecourt. Happy vaping — and may your coils live long and flavourful lives.