The Best Under-Cabinet Lighting That Will Seriously Upgrade Your Kitchen

If you want to brighten up a dark kitchen or bathroom and add some ambience, the best under cabinet lighting will do the trick — and for a pretty economical price point, too. The best lighting options feature long-lasting, budget-friendly LED bulbs and are easy to mount either using adhesive or stick-on magnets (so there's no need to drill) or with slightly more permanent screws if you prefer.

When it comes to under cabinet lighting styles, there are three main options. Puck lights create a spotlight-type effect and are often the cheapest choice. Bar- and strip-style lights feature many LED lights, providing more even lighting. Some light strips can be cut to customize the length. To get an idea of how bright a light will be, pay attention to the lumens, which indicate the amount of light the unit puts out; the higher the number of lumens, the brighter the light. The amount of lumens to aim for depends on your preferences and how closely you plan to cluster the lights, but if you aren't sure, opt for dimmable lights.

You’ll also have to decide between a wireless model or one that plugs in. With wireless lighting, you won’t have to mess with pesky power cords, but you'll have to remember to change out the light’s batteries or recharge them via USB, depending on how they’re powered. Plug-in lights have a power cord that plugs into a wall outlet, so make sure you have one nearby. Once installed, though, you won’t need to deal with charging or changing out batteries. If you’re handy or want to hire an electrician, some under cabinet lighting can be hardwired, meaning powered by being directly connected to the existing wiring in your house. While these lights are long lasting, they can be more expensive up front.

It’s worth noting that many under cabinet lights come with extras including a remote control, a timer, motion sensors, or a dimmer. Some can be controlled with an app or even your voice. Consider if these features are important to you.

Brighten up your kitchen, bathroom, or other spaces with these seven under cabinet lights — all of which are wildly popular on Amazon.

1. A Fan-Favorite Bar Light That Lasts 100 Hours On A Set Of Batteries

With more than 7,000 reviews on Amazon and a solid 4.3-star rating overall, this bar light from Brilliant Evolution is clearly quite popular on the site, and it’s largely because of how long it lasts — up to 100 hours on three AA batteries. The wireless bar light can be mounted either with adhesive or screws, and the bar itself is thin (less than 1 inch, to be exact) so it’s easy to hide if desired.

The light doesn’t come with extra frills, but it is certainly effective for brightening up your space since it puts out 65 lumens. To turn the LED light bar on or off, simply give it a quick tap. The batteries for this pick are sold separately.

Enthusiastic Amazon review: "Purchased 4 units for under kitchen cabinet lighting. Great product, ample light, slim design, easy to install batteries and attach to cabinet with double sided tape. Adds bright white light to my work area. Easy of use with the touch feature, rather than a motion detection use. Would recommend this item. Going to purchase more for other areas in my home."

2. A Set Of Trimmable Strip Lights

For customized under-cabinet lighting, this set of light strips from MY BEAUTY LIGHT is your best bet, since the strip can actually be trimmed to the exact length needed (there’s a safe spot to cut every third light). The lights are mounted using adhesive foam tape, and they’re wired, so you’ll need access to a wall outlet for power. With an output of 1,526 lumens over more than 32 feet, this pick is actually super bright, but don’t worry — the lights have a built-in dimmer that allows you to customize the brightness as desired.

This pick comes with 32.8 feet worth of LED lights, but there is also a 16.4-foot option. Choose from white, yellow, or warm white light color options.

Enthusiastic Amazon review: "I use this light under my kitchen counter. I was a little hesitant to buy it because I've never installed LED lights before. The directions were very simple, and installation was a snap. They adhere well, great as a matter of fact be sure to draw a straight line before you start or you'll end up with a small curve like me. Once you taped them on there is no going back. I would like more for the rest of my kitchen. Not only does it brighten my food prep, but helps with reading directions on boxes. This light was such a great investment for me. I use it every day. I only wish I would have purchased it earlier."

3. A Set Of 6 Puck Lights For Less Than $20

For less than $20, you can get your hands on six of these wireless puck lights from LEASTYLE, which come with a variety of helpful add-ons like a remote control, a built-in dimmer (to adjust the brightness to 10%, 40%, 80%, or 100%), and even a timer to help preserve the battery life since the lights run on three AAAs (sold separately). The LED lights are easy to install with adhesive, and each light puts out 60 to 120 lumens. To turn each light on and off, you can either use the remote control or manually tap the light.

The manufacturer indicates that when set to 10% brightness, each light will run for 100 hours on a single set of batteries. Choose from either white or multicolored lights.

Enthusiastic Amazon review: "I love these lights. They make my kitchen look a bit more modern in a way. I love that you get to play with the settings on the remote. You can adjust how bright you want the lights, and can set how long you want the lights on. I believe the default duration for all of them is like 30 minutes, but you can choose to have it on for up to 2 hours by changing it on the remote. I’ve had these for about a month and use them quite often, and I still have not had to change the batteries on any of the lights."

4. A Pack Of Rechargeable Bar Lights With Motion Sensors

If you don’t want to mess around with single-use batteries, these bar lights from HYSUSPEH are rechargeable via USB for your convenience, and they’ll last an impressive 10 hours on a single charge. The bar lights are wireless, and they're mounted with magnets (oh, and a quick note: the bars themselves are magnetic, so you can attach them to anything that’s magnetic as well). Each of the three bars features 10 LED lights, and the output is 100 lumens per bar. Another cool feature? This pick actually has a built-in motion sensor; the light will flip on when it detects motion within a 10 foot range, and it’ll shut off automatically after 20 seconds of no movement.

Choose from white or warm white lights. And if you're needing a brighter option overall, there's also a pick with 20 LED lights per bar.

Enthusiastic Amazon review: "Perfect for adding some illumination where you can't have a plug in light. I put one in my closet and it makes a big difference in being able to see my wardrobe - and the motion sensor seems to work well. The other two went under kitchen cabinets to add some extra lighting in the kitchen. They could be a tad bit brighter, but considering they are rechargeable they work better than battery powered versions I've purchased in the past."

5. A Set Of Smart Strip Lights You Can Control With Your Phone

These smart strip lights from TORCHSTAR can be conveniently controlled with your phone via the Smart Life app, or even with your voice using Alexa. The strip lights can be installed with 3M adhesive tape or screws, depending on your personal preference, and you’ll need access to a wall outlet in order to power them. This set comes with six strips (each with a connector to link them all together) that have 18 LED lights per strip for a total output of 150 lumens per strip. In terms of features, this pick has a built-in dimmer, and a timer that can be set to automatically turn the lights on and off based on your schedule.

Choose from two light color options — daylight or warm white.

Enthusiastic Amazon review: "I absolutely love these lights! Connecting and concealing the wiring took lots of forethought but it was definitely worth it! It bathes my counters with just the right amount of light to work in the kitchen or for ambience. The ability to turn them all on or off with Alexa to makes it even more perfect!"

6. A Set Of Rechargeable Puck Lights

These puck lights from LightBiz are packed with features that’ll make you want to click "add to cart." For one, the LED lights are rechargeable via USB (it only takes about two hours for a full charge) so you don’t ever have to mess with changing out expensive single-use batteries. Additionally, the lights can be set to four different levels of brightness, and there is a motion-sensor option that’ll flip on the lights once movement is detected within 10 feet — and automatically shut them off after 20 seconds if no motion is detected. An included remote control makes it simple to change all of these settings. The lights are super easy to set up; they attach to your cabinet using magnets, and they’re wireless, so you won’t need access to an outlet. If you don't want to use magnets, the lights also come with adhesive.

When fully charged, these puck lights can last about 7 to 20 days on the motion sensor mode, or about 6 to 24 hours on the regular "on" mode.

Choose from one, three, or six packs, depending on how many lights you need. The lumens for this pick are not listed, but many Amazon reviewers mentioned that they’re pleased with the brightness of the lights overall.

Enthusiastic Amazon review: "I have no idea how this light will change my life, until it arrived and installed...I use the metal sheets to stick under my cabinets, it just took me 5 mins to complete it! Then I adjusted all of them to auto models, and the fun part just begun, I just can't stop to go the kitchen play with the motion sensor lights, feels like my kitchen are red carpet."

7. A Hardwired Bar Light

If you’re looking for a hardwired under cabinet lighting option, this bar light from HARRRRD is highly rated on Amazon — with a solid 4.6-star rating overall, after more than 1,000 reviews — and it’s mainly because it is both bright and long lasting with an average 50,000 hour lifetime (fully justifying the slightly higher price tag of around $30 for one light). The fixture is hardwired for power and it is mounted to your cabinets with screws. This pick is simple to operate with a switch to turn it on and off. When on, the light gives off a warm white color with an output of 900 lumens for the 18-inch length.

Choose from 12-, 18-, 21-, 24-, and 36-inch lengths.

Enthusiastic Amazon review: "I installed 5 of these lights in 3 different sizes underneath my cabinets to replace old florescent ones. The installation was super easy. They are bright. Took about an hour to do all 5 lights. Everything I needed was included in the box. Glad I purchased these on amazon, because I saw a similar option at a big-box home improvement chain store this week and they were priced about 35% more than these are."