We Tried Four Under-$100 Cashmere Sweaters. Here’s the One You Should Get.

In an effort to make apples-to-apples comparisons, we considered only 100% cashmere sweaters, made from the soft undercoats of cashmere goats. And we looked only at those available in crew-neck styles. Our maximum budget was $100.

Four clear contenders emerged: Quince’s Mongolian Cashmere Crewneck Sweater (women’s, women’s plus, men’s), Naadam’s The Original Cashmere Sweater (women’s, men’s), Gobi’s $99 Cashmere Hat and Sweater Set, and Uniqlo’s Cashmere Crew Neck Long-Sleeve Sweater (women’s, men’s).

We assessed the sweaters based on these five key criteria.

Texture: Quality cashmere is soft, smooth, and warm. While it should never be rough or itchy, it also shouldn’t feel excessively soft, mushy, or slick; these are signs that a sweater has been overwashed or treated with chemical softeners.

Aesthetics: We wanted sweaters that look opaque when you’re wearing them, so we looked for ones with a refined, even surface. Design-wise, we wanted sweaters to fit properly and to flatter, and to be stylish.

Construction: Well-made sweaters have neat seams and sturdy ribbing at the cuffs, collar, and hem. Fully fashioned marks (small rows of upraised marks, often at the shoulder and armhole) indicate higher quality and help with fit.

Durability: Even the best cashmere pills, but it shouldn’t do so too readily. It should have good stretch recovery, snapping back quickly when tugged. And it should retain its shape and texture after being hand-washed.

Fiber quality: Long, fine fibers translate to more-luxurious garments. Fiber length can range from about 28 to 42 mm. Fiber fineness ranges from around 14 microns in diameter for Grade A cashmere (the finest and best) to 30 microns for Grade C (the coarsest) cashmere. It’s worth noting, however, that cashmere grading is not regulated by a global standard, and brands aren’t legally required to verify grading claims, so take ’em with a grain of salt.

I ordered each sweater in my usual size, a women’s medium. When the sweaters arrived, I felt the fabrics between my fingers and against my (more sensitive) cheek. I wore the sweaters on their own and layered over and under other garments.

I scrutinized hems, seams, and ribbing, and I examined the knits. I tugged on the sleeves to check how quickly they snapped back into shape. I rubbed their surfaces with a finger to make them pill. And I hand-washed them, drying them flat, to see how they’d fare.

Finally, I considered the information that the brands provide about the cashmere itself, including the length and fineness of the fibers.

Quince vs. Naadam: The sweaters changed, so our minds changed too

For this article, we did an initial round of testing in 2023, and Naadam’s The Original Cashmere Sweater emerged the victor. In the fall of 2024, Quince revamped its Mongolian Cashmere Crewneck Sweater, making it with 20% more cashmere and a tighter tension knit. We tested the new version and found that it felt significantly thicker and more luxurious, although the Naadam sweater remained our favorite at that time.

In 2025, we retested the Naadam and Quince sweaters, and we noticed that the new Naadam sweater we’d received for testing felt thinner and less resilient than the same model had in the past. We did side-by-side comparisons between the old and new models, just to be sure that our memories weren’t deceiving us.

We asked for a second Naadam sample in a different color, and we found that it was also different from the previous version we’d loved. A rep for Naadam confirmed that the latest iteration of the crewneck has “a slight loosening of tension, to make it a bit more breathable and seasonless,” but claimed that it is otherwise unchanged.

As a result of these developments, we have updated our recommendations. We now think that the Quince sweater, which feels softer and heftier — and costs less — is the best under-$100 option. (Visit our cashmere sweaters guide for details.)