Hygger left and Nicrew right are both good budget options. I bought a 24" of each to compare. Hygger Full Spectrum $26.99 on Amazon and Nicrew Plus Planted $29.99 on Amazon. Picture is them side by side on the end of my 125. Will keep buying Hygger for fish oriented tanks and Nicrew for my planted.
Hygger has intensity options, a timer, and color control at that price. Color rendering is much more pleasing and the intensity control is really the only option I use. Build quality on the Hygger is much more refined and almost as good as my Finnex. It's slimmer, feels more solid, and is better sealed than Nicrew. I'll continue to buy these for fish focused tanks with some plants. Mostly because I can dial down the intensity to keep algae in check and I think the fish look much better under it than the Nicrew.
Nicrew just has a switch for on/off/moon with blue lights only, and I never really mess with it. Overall it feels cheaper and is more bulky. That being said all my planted tanks are now running Nicrews. I even swapped my two 30" Finnex Planted Plus lights for two 30" versions of the Nicrew on my planted 125. The 125 is mostly crypts and hygro. I like how simple they are and I have had less algae issues with them compared to my Finnex and Hygger lights.
Finnex feels like a Ferrari, Hygger like a BMW and Nicrew like a Honda.
