The short answer
An artificial tree wins on convenience and, if you keep it long enough, on cost. A real tree wins on smell, look and the day out, and is greener unless the artificial one lasts many years. The deciding question is how long you would keep an artificial tree: under about five years, real is cheaper and greener; past ten, artificial usually comes out ahead on both.
| Real tree | Artificial tree | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | About $85 for a 6 ft cut-your-own tree at the middle farm on this site, every year | About $50 to $350 for a 7.5 ft pre-lit tree at big stores; $700 and up for premium brands; once |
| Lasts | One season, about four to five weeks if watered | Typically five to ten years |
| Environment | Grown as a crop and recyclable as mulch | Plastic and steel, mostly made overseas, ends up in landfill |
| Smell and look | The real thing | Better every year, but no scent |
| Work | Trip to the farm, set-up, daily watering, needles | Assemble, fluff, store the box |
| Safety | Fire risk if it dries out | Lower fire risk; check for a fire-resistant label |
| Allergies | Mould and pollen can bother some people | Dust from storage instead |
Is a real or artificial Christmas tree cheaper?
A real tree costs the same every year; an artificial one costs a lot once. So the answer depends on what you pay for each and how many years the artificial tree lasts.
Real trees, 2026. At the farms on PickingHours that have published a 2026 price, a 6 ft cut-your-own tree costs $75 to $95 at the middle half of farms, and $85 at the middle farm. A 9 ft tree costs $120 to $180. The cheapest 6 ft trees are about $30 (pine, by the foot) and the dearest go past $170. See what a Christmas tree costs for every farm’s price.
Artificial trees. A 7.5 ft pre-lit tree runs from about $50 to $150 for a basic one on sale at Home Depot or Walmart, around $350 for a fuller mid-range tree, and $700 to $1,100 for a premium brand such as Balsam Hill. Import tariffs pushed artificial tree prices up 10–15% in 2025, the trade group says.
How many years until an artificial tree pays for itself?
Compared with an $85 real tree each year:
| Artificial tree price | Pays for itself after about |
|---|---|
| $150 (basic pre-lit, on sale) | 2 years |
| $350 (mid-range, fuller) | 4 years |
| $750 (premium) | 9 years |
| $1,100 (premium, full price) | 13 years |
If you buy a cheaper real tree, $50 to $60 at a pine farm or a by-the-foot farm, every line roughly doubles. If you buy a big tree, $150 or more, it halves.
Two things the simple sum leaves out. A real tree needs a stand you buy once (see Christmas tree stands for real trees), and many families count the farm trip as the outing, not a cost. An artificial tree needs somewhere to store a big box for eleven months, and when a section of its built-in lights goes out, it can be fiddly to fix.
Which is better for the environment?
This is where the two industries disagree most, because both have paid for studies. What all of them agree on is the shape of the answer: an artificial tree has to be kept for a number of years before it beats buying a real tree every year. They disagree on how many.
| Study | Who paid | Years an artificial tree must be kept |
|---|---|---|
| Ellipsos, Montreal (2009) | Canadian consultancy | About 20 years, on climate impact |
| PE Americas (2010) and WAP Sustainability (2018) | American Christmas Tree Association (artificial-tree industry) | About 5 years (4.7 in the 2018 study) |
| Dovetail Partners review of both (2018) | Independent | At least 4 to 6 years, looking at all environmental impacts, not just climate |
| Virginia Tech, Jennifer Russell (2025) | University | 7 to 10 years |
The gap comes from what each study assumes: how far the real tree travels, whether it ends up as mulch or in landfill, and how long people really keep artificial trees. The artificial-tree industry says the average is around ten years, though trade figures also put the typical buying cycle at five to six years.
What makes a real tree greener:
- Buy close to home. A tree from a farm down the road, not one trucked across the country, cuts the biggest part of its footprint. The farms on PickingHours are listed by state and city, so you can find the nearest.
- Recycle it. A real tree chipped into mulch puts its carbon back into the soil; one sent to landfill is the worst ending. Most towns collect trees in January; see Christmas tree disposal.
- It is a crop. Christmas tree farms replant every year; trees are not taken from wild forests. Some farms on the site tell you so on their card, such as Am-Jac Tree Farm in New Jersey, which plants one for every tree cut.
What makes an artificial tree greener:
- Keep it a long time. Ten years or more is what most studies need.
- Don’t replace it for a new look. Change the decorations instead.
- Pass it on when you are done: a school, church or charity shop will often take a working tree. Artificial trees are mostly PVC and steel and are very hard to recycle.
Or skip the question: a living Christmas tree in a pot can be planted afterwards, or rented and returned.
Safety, allergies, mess and smell
Fire
Christmas tree fires are rare but serious. US fire departments answer an average of about 155 home fires a year that start with a Christmas tree, real or artificial, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Lights and wiring are involved in about two in five of them, and a heat source too close to the tree in many more.
- Real tree: the risk is a dry tree. Keep the stand full every day, keep the tree away from heaters and fireplaces, and take it down when needles start dropping by the handful. A watered fresh tree is hard to light.
- Artificial tree: look for a label saying it is fire-resistant. Built-in lights still need checking for frayed wires each year.
- Both: use LED lights, which run cool, and switch them off at bedtime and when you go out.
Allergies
A real tree can carry mould and pollen in from outside, which bothers some people with allergies or asthma. Shaking it at the farm (many farms on the site have a shaker; it’s on the card when they do) and hosing it down before it comes in both help. An artificial tree can carry dust from a year in the attic; wipe or rinse it before decorating, and store it in a sealed bag.
Needles and work
A real tree means a trip to the farm, setting it up, watering every day and sweeping needles. Choosing a fir with good needle hold helps a lot: see Fraser fir vs Douglas fir vs balsam and how long a real Christmas tree lasts. An artificial tree takes 20 minutes or more to assemble and fluff, then needs a dry place to live for the rest of the year.
Smell and look
No artificial tree smells like a balsam fir. Some people add scent sticks or a fresh wreath nearby. On looks, the gap is closing: the best artificial trees mix moulded tips that copy real branches with cheaper flat ones, and look real from a few feet away. Up close, and in photos, a real tree still wins for most people. For which real tree smells best, see types of Christmas trees.
If you choose artificial: the most realistic artificial Christmas trees
What makes an artificial tree look real is mostly three things:
- The tips. Moulded “PE” tips are cast from real branches and have rounded, three-dimensional needles. Flat “PVC” tips are cut from sheets and look like tinsel up close. The most realistic trees use a lot of PE, especially on the outside; cheap trees are all PVC.
- Tip count and shape. More tips mean a fuller tree, but a real fir isn’t solid. The best artificial trees copy a species, with gaps and a natural shape, rather than packing in as many tips as possible.
- The lights. Warm white LEDs, many of them, spread deep into the branches look far more natural than a few bulbs on the outside.
Pick the species you would buy real: a Fraser fir or balsam fir look-alike for the classic Christmas tree, a blue spruce for stiff branches and a bluish colour. For what the real ones look like, see types of Christmas trees.
Best artificial Christmas trees by budget
Where to buy an artificial Christmas tree
The big stores (Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Target, Amazon) carry the widest range and the deepest sales, often from early November and again after Christmas. Premium brands such as Balsam Hill sell mostly from their own websites. Buy early if you want a particular model: popular sizes sell out by December, and the trade group warned of tight supply after the 2025 tariffs.
If you choose real: find a farm near you
Cutting your own at a farm is the freshest tree you can get and, for many families, the best part of December. PickingHours lists Christmas tree farms in every state it covers, with opening dates, hours, prices and what each farm offers, all read from the farms themselves.
- Find a farm: Christmas tree farms by state, or check when Christmas tree farms open this year.
- Pick the right size: our Christmas tree size calculator works out the tallest tree for your ceiling.
- Get it home and keep it fresh: how to get a Christmas tree home, the right stand for a real tree, and how long a real tree lasts.
Questions people ask
Is a real or fake Christmas tree better?
Neither wins on everything. A real tree smells and looks better, supports local farms and is greener unless an artificial tree is kept for many years. An artificial tree is easier and cheaper over time if you keep it five years or more. If you will keep an artificial tree ten years, it is the better buy on cost and probably on carbon; if you would replace it sooner, buy real.
Is a real Christmas tree cheaper than an artificial one?
In the first few years, yes. A 6 ft cut-your-own tree costs about $85 at the middle farm on PickingHours this year. A $150 artificial tree pays for itself in about two years, a $350 one in about four, and a $750 premium tree in about nine.
How many years do you need to keep an artificial tree for it to be greener?
Studies range from about 5 years (paid for by the artificial-tree industry) to 7–10 years (Virginia Tech, 2025) and up to 20 years on climate alone (Ellipsos, 2009). Ten years is a fair rule of thumb.
What is the most realistic artificial Christmas tree?
Look for a tree with many moulded PE tips (not just flat PVC ones), a natural species shape, and lots of warm white LEDs. Premium brands such as Balsam Hill are usually rated most realistic; National Tree Company’s “Feel Real” range is the mid-price option.
Are real Christmas trees bad for the environment?
Not when bought near home and recycled. They are grown on farms as a crop and replanted, not cut from forests, and a tree chipped into mulch returns its carbon to the soil. The worst case is a tree trucked a long way and sent to landfill.
Are artificial Christmas trees safer?
They are less likely to catch fire than a dried-out real tree, especially if labelled fire-resistant. A real tree kept watered is hard to ignite. With either, lights and heat sources cause most fires.
Sources
- PickingHours farm price data: 2026 prices from the farms’ own sites or emails, on what a Christmas tree costs.
- American Christmas Tree Association (the artificial-tree industry): its 2025 survey (about 83% of homes with a tree use an artificial one), the 2018 WAP Sustainability life cycle assessment, and its lifespan figures.
- Dovetail Partners, “Environmental Assessment of Natural vs. Artificial Christmas Trees” (2018), reviewing the Ellipsos (2009) and PE Americas (2010) studies.
- Virginia Tech News, “How long you use your Christmas tree determines what you should buy” (November 2025).
- Associated Press (December 2025): artificial tree prices up 10–15% on tariffs.
- National Fire Protection Association: home fires that start with Christmas trees, 2018–2022 average.
- Retailer listings (Home Depot, Walmart, Target, Lowe’s) for artificial tree prices, read November 2026.
Nothing on this page is sponsored, and no farm pays to be listed. Products are named because readers ask about them. Farm details are read from each farm’s card on PickingHours, with the date we checked it.
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