The cheapest CS2 knives, per wear, on the day we looked
Six knife shapes cost $34–43 in a worn Safari Mesh on 9 September 2026. This page lists the floor for every type, explains why worn beats Factory New at the bottom of the market by a factor of three to six, and shows how far the floor has fallen since May.
The cheapest knife in CS2 right now
The cheapest CS2 knife on 9 September 2026 was a Field-Tested Navaja Knife Safari Mesh at a $34–37 lowest ask, with the Shadow Daggers, Kukri, Survival and Paracord all within five dollars of it. That is the floor of the entire knife market: a real ★ item, same drop rarity as a Karambit, for the price of a game.
Anyone printing a single "cheapest knife" number without a date is guessing on your behalf. The floor fell from roughly $52–56 in late May 2026 to $34–37 in September on the same shapes, so a spring roundup is already $20 wrong. Our full ranking of all CS2 knives carries the same check-date; this page zooms in on the bottom.
Every knife type's floor, cheapest wear first
| № | Knife | Cheapest wear | Worn floor band | Factory New band | FN premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Navaja Knife | Field-Tested | $34–37 | $220–225 | 6.5× |
| 2 | Shadow Daggers | Field-Tested | $35–41 | $140 | 4× |
| 3 | Kukri Knife | Well-Worn | $35–41 | $75–80 | 2.2× |
| 4 | Survival Knife | Battle-Scarred | $36–38 | $75 | 2.1× |
| 5 | Paracord Knife | Field-Tested | $36–40 | $80 | 2.2× |
| 6 | Gut Knife | Field-Tested | $40–43 | $480 | 12× |
| 7 | Bowie Knife | Field-Tested | $42–50 | not listed | — |
| 8 | Ursus Knife | Battle-Scarred | $45–50 | $145–150 | 3.2× |
| 9 | Huntsman Knife | Field-Tested | $46–58 | $295–300 | 6.4× |
| 10 | Falchion Knife | Field-Tested | $49–56 | $105 | 2.1× |
| 11 | Classic Knife | Battle-Scarred | $56–68 | $150 | 2.6× |
| 12 | Nomad Knife | Field-Tested | $61–66 | $110 | 1.8× |
| 13 | Flip Knife | Well-Worn | $102–108 | $170–175 | 1.7× |
| 14 | Skeleton Knife | Battle-Scarred | $106–114 | $200 | 1.9× |
| 15 | Bayonet | Well-Worn | $107–117 | $305–310 | 2.9× |
| 16 | Stiletto Knife | Well-Worn | $112–121 | $255 | 2.3× |
| 17 | Talon Knife | Field-Tested | $176–190 | $320 | 1.8× |
| 18 | M9 Bayonet | Well-Worn | $259–276 | $805–810 | 3.1× |
| 19 | Karambit | Battle-Scarred | $365–380 | $525 | 1.4× |
| 20 | Butterfly Knife | Field-Tested | $408–428 | $675 | 1.7× |
Read the last column before you buy. Safari Mesh, Scorched, Boreal Forest, Forest DDPAT and Urban Masked all have a 0.06–0.80 float range, so Factory New copies are scarce and priced like collectibles; a Gut Knife Safari Mesh costs $40 in Field-Tested and $480 in Factory New for a finish nobody can tell apart at arm's length. At the floor, buy worn.
Why the floor is where it is
The floor is set by supply, and supply is set by case pools. Every shape under $45 drops from at least two cases that are still cheap to open, and the October 2025 trade-up update added a second supply line: five Covert skins from any of those cases can now be turned into a knife from the same pool. Cheap Covert inputs plus a random-shape roll means the least-wanted shape in each pool absorbs most of the new supply.
That is why the Navaja (Horizon pool, four cases) and Shadow Daggers (Shadow pool, five cases) sit at the bottom, and why the Kukri — introduced in February 2024 and dropping from Kilowatt and Gallery — reached the floor within eighteen months of release. The cases themselves are outside this site's lane, but the pool logic is in the all-knives index and the trade-up mechanics in how the update changed knife prices.
The cheapest way into a popular shape
If you want a Karambit, M9 or Butterfly rather than a floor shape, the cheapest honest route is still a worn common finish. On 9 September 2026 that meant a Karambit Safari Mesh at $365–380, an M9 Bayonet Safari Mesh at $259–276 and a Butterfly Safari Mesh at $408–428 — a Butterfly floor that had been $600–700 through most of the year after the update. Ultraviolet, Boreal Forest, Scorched and Night usually sit within $20–40 of Safari Mesh on these three shapes and look better on most of them.
The next rung is a worn premium finish. A Karambit Crimson Web in Field-Tested was $590 on the same date against $6,400+ in Factory New; a Karambit Case Hardened in Battle-Scarred was $614 against $1,540 in Factory New; a Karambit Lore in Battle-Scarred $463 against $1,128. The Karambit file lays out the whole ladder per wear.
Cheap knives that are not bad knives
Some floor shapes deserve better than their price. The Gut Knife is the cheapest of the five 2013 originals and the only floor shape with an Arms Deal finish ladder — its Doppler was $110–130 in Factory New, the cheapest Doppler of any knife by a wide margin, which the Gut Knife file makes the case for. The Falchion ($49–56) has a genuinely good inspect animation and a Fade at $185–230; the Huntsman ($46–58) is a big, clean blade with a Fade at $210–250. Both have their own files: Falchion and Huntsman.
The Navaja and Shadow Daggers are cheap because the community does not like their animations, not because anything is wrong with them as items. If you are indifferent to the inspect, they are the rational floor buy.
Buying at the floor without getting clipped
Fees matter more at $35 than at $3,500. Skinport charges buyers nothing and sellers 8%; CSFloat's 2% seller fee is the lowest of the cash markets; DMarket runs about 2% on liquid items. Steam's community market takes 15% and cannot pay out. Since July 2025, trades are reversible for seven days and P2P markets hold proceeds about eight days, so a knife bought today off a third-party market is also not trade-up eligible for a week.
Cash listings: SkinBaron, DMarket, white.market, Skinport, Lis-Skins, CSFloat. Trade-in bots if you are converting skins: Tradeit, SkinSwap, Swap.gg, CS.TRADE. Some are affiliate links that may earn us a commission at no cost to you; none affect the bands, and none are case-opening sites.
Cheapest-knife questions
What is the cheapest knife in CS2?
A worn Navaja Knife Safari Mesh at $34–37 on 9 September 2026, with the Shadow Daggers, Kukri, Survival and Paracord within $5. The floor moves; the date is part of the answer.
What is the cheapest butterfly knife in CS2?
A Field-Tested Butterfly Knife Safari Mesh at $408–428 on 9 September 2026. Forest DDPAT, Scorched and Boreal Forest in worn condition usually sit within $20 of it.
What is the cheapest karambit in CS2?
A Battle-Scarred Karambit Safari Mesh at $365–380 on 9 September 2026; Damascus Steel in worn condition was $575–585 and is the cheapest patterned finish on the shape.
Is a Battle-Scarred knife worth it?
At the floor, yes. Common finishes have a 0.06–0.80 float range, so Factory New copies cost three to twelve times the worn price for the same look at normal viewing distance. Premium finishes with 0–0.08 floats (Fade, Doppler, Tiger Tooth) have no worn copies to buy.
Why are new knives like the Kukri so cheap?
Supply. The Kukri drops from two active cases and, since October 2025, from Covert trade-ups on both, so it reached the $35–41 floor within about eighteen months of its February 2024 release.