CS:GO Knife Tier List

Owning a knife skin is the dream for most CSGO players. Not all knives are the same though. With a total of 19 different knives that are available in CSGO, some are just nicer than others. In this article, we want to give you an overview of all the knives and how they compare to each other. All knives come in different finishes, meaning that they can have different styles of paint applied to them. We are trying to only look at the knife models themselves to give you a tier list of the best CSGO knives available. To achieve this, we made this ranking, starting with the worst knives and ending with the best available knife. Within this ranking we distinguish between low, mid, high and top-tier knives, to give you an easy point of reference when deciding on which knife you want to get. If you are looking to buy a knife, the easiest and most cost-effective way of getting one is to buy it directly. Skinport offers you a safe and easy-to-use marketplace where you can buy CSGO knives with up to a 30% discount compared to the Steam Community Market. Should you want to try your luck at unboxing one instead, make sure to check out our guide on cases to find out which case can contain which knives! Keep in mind though: Unboxing knives is luck-based and the odds are against you, so buying a knife directly is usually the better choice.

Low-Tier Knives

Not all knives are equally liked by the community, so it comes as no surprise that some are considered to be low-tier. Those knives are usually cheaper than higher-tier knives, but their looks leave a lot to be desired. On the upside, getting a good finish for them is a lot more affordable, so they can be a great first knife if you are just getting started or do not want to spend your entire savings on one item.

19. Navaja Knife

The Navaja Knife is the lowest tier of knife you can currently get in CSGO. Most people would agree that the relatively small blade and overall weird animations do not do this knife any favors. Some people call it a spoon, some just call it ugly. On the upside, a Navaja Knife Tiger Tooth in Factory New would only cost you around 80€, making it a solid choice on a tight budget – No other knife has cheaper high-tier finishes available. Apart from the price though, the knife does not have any other redeeming features.

18. Shadow Daggers

From the moment they were introduced, the Shadow Daggers had a hard time in the CSGO community. Often referred to as “butt-plugs”, their unique look was not met with great enthusiasm. Additionally, pulling out the Shadow Daggers in-game results in your Crosshair shaking ever so slightly. On the plus side, equipping the Shadow Daggers is the only way to wield a knife in each hand. If only one could mix and match different daggers, maybe that would make the Shadow Daggers more desirable. As it stands, the Shadow Daggers are one of the least liked knives in CSGO, resulting in relatively low prices.

17. Gut Knife

The Gut Knife is part of the first set of released knives for CSGO and has always been considered to be a budget option. Often lovingly referred to as a can opener, the design is not everyone’s cup of tea. It makes up for that with a relatively big blade and its low price. Sadly, the knife scratches very easily, so even Factory New ones will be scratched unless they come in a low float. The equip animation of the Gut Knife is nice though, making this one of the best bang for your buck knives in the low-tier category. As an example, a Gut Knife Doppler can often be bought for less than 100€, making it a great budget option.

16. Falchion Knife

Even though it has good-looking and unique animations, including a rare inspect animation where the player balances the knife in their hands, the Falchion Knife is still considered to be a low-tier knife. This is partially undeserved and might come from the fact that the preview picture shows the knife quite differently from the in-game model. While the handle is colored, it is usually covered by the player's hands. Therefore, the visible part of the knife looks much better than the preview pictures would lead one to believe. Of course, this does not make it a high-tier knife, but the Falchion is not the worst knife to have and another great option to get a good and cheap knife.

15. Stiletto Knife

The Stiletto Knife is the most recent entry in the low-tier category. With its slick equip animation, this knife could also be considered a mid-tier knife, but the small blade holds it back a lot. Additionally, the normal inspect animation leaves a lot to be desired. The Stiletto does have a rare inspect animation, but even that cannot save it into the mid-tier category. As of now, the Stiletto is the most expensive of the low-tier knives. For the price, you get a unique-looking knife with a nice equip animation, so this knife can be a good choice for a lot of people.

Mid-Tier Knives

With 19 different knives to choose from, a lot of them are decent choices and considered as average. Of course, not every knife in this tier costs the same, but the differences often come down to rarity more than looks. All the knives in this tier are good choices for a knife, while none are perfect. The mid-tier knives are hard to rank from worst to best, so take the order with a grain of salt. This is, in the end, always a subjective opinion and in no way set in stone.

14. Flip Knife

We are starting with the worst of the mid-tier knives: The Flip Knife. With its medium-sized blade, there is a lot of potential for this knife to be great. Sadly, the handle is way too big and its color does not fit in well with most finishes. Combining those facts with the mediocre animations leads to an overall sub-par knife. A lot of people also just do not like the serrated blade style of the Flip Knife, sometimes jokingly comparing it to a bread knife. The Flip Knife is not a bad choice, but it is not the best in any way.

13. Nomad Knife

The Nomad Knife is also a promising knife that sadly falls short due to its weird handle and partially clunky animations. The blade itself is big and has a lot of potential for finishes to look nice. The overall look of the knife is not that special though, so this knife is usually not the first one people would think about when you mention CSGO knives. The handle is also a bit too big and overly detailed, though the color scheme in black and silver looks good with basically all finishes. Should you like the handle, this knife is a very good choice and offers a well-designed knife at a good price point.

12. Survival Knife

Next up we have the Survival Knife. With its decently sized blade and relatively small and solidly black handle, the Survival Knife has a lot going for it. The blade design is a bit over the top though, with loads of details and a big hole in the middle. Most people would prefer a simpler blade that can showcase the finish a bit better. Equipping the knife has the chance for a rare animation that nicely flips the knife around in the air. The inspect animation is mediocre though. Overall, the Survival Knife is a good choice for a knife but there are still a lot of better choices.

11. Ursus Knife

The Ursus knife takes a solid middle of the pack ranking. A big and straight blade and decent animations, including a rare equip and inspect animation, are the big plus points for the Ursus. Sadly, the handle is kept in the standard tan color with most finishes and does not fit in well. As long as the knife is held by the player, this is not too noticeable. But once you inspect it, the handle really does not do the knife any favors. The Ursus can at least partially make up for this with its low susceptibility for scratches. Even relatively high floats do not look that scratched when compared to a lot of other knives, so the Ursus can be a good choice in that regard. Overall, the Ursus is a solid knife with a lot of wasted potential for most finishes due to its tan-colored handle.

10. Huntsman Knife

With its large blade and black grip, the Huntsman Knife is a good-looking mid-tier option. Sadly, the equip animation is recycled from the Gut Knife and no rare animations exist. The Huntsman was the first CSGO Knife to be released after the original five knives, so this could explain the lack of better animations. The Huntsman is liked by a lot of people and looks great with colorful finishes. Its most direct competitor would be the Bowie Knife. The ranking between the two knives usually comes down to personal preference, so take this ranking with a grain of salt.

9. Bowie Knife

When people talk about the Bowie Knife, the first thing that comes to mind is its size. The huge sword-like blade has a lot of potential to show off the knife’s different finishes. While some people do not like that the knife takes up a big part of your screen, others like the Bowie for just that. The animations are decent and the handle on the knife is appropriately sized in relation to the blade, making the Bowie a more than just solid choice. In comparison to the Huntsman Knife, the blade design is simpler and slicker, making it slightly more desirable. The Bowie is also not that expensive, with good finishes like the Factory New Tiger Tooth costing you around 150-160€.

8. Classic Knife

Owning a Classic Knife is a nice reminder of how Counter-Strike started out. The Classic Knife is taken from Counter-Strike 1.6, with the Vanilla finish looking just like the original. If you are looking for full nostalgia, a vanilla Classic Knife might be the right choice. But the other finishes also have a lot going for them, the waved pattern on the blade adds a nice design to a lot of finishes. On some finishes, a Field-Tested knife with a high float might be the most desirable, since this shows off the wave pattern perfectly without having the rest of the knife fully scratched. The Classic Knife’s blade is also decently sized and shaped, making the Classic Knife an all-around good choice.

High-Tier Knives

With the low and mid-tier behind us, we can start looking at some of the best knives in CSGO. The high-tier knives combine a lot of positive factors and are guaranteed to look nice. Picking up one of the knives in this tier is usually not a bad choice, though you will have to spend more than for a mid-tier knife.

7. Paracord Knife

Simple and stylish, those 2 words best describe the Paracord Knife. The Paracord knife is basically one piece of solid metal with a paracord wrapped around the handle. This gives the knife a unique look and pairs well with a lot of knife finishes. The color of the paracord switches depending on the finish, with – as an example – a grayish color on the Fade, a darker gray on the Vanilla and even a black paracord on the Crimson Web. Scratch susceptibility seems to be another strong point of the Paracord Knife, even Field-Tested skins with average floats can look good. The animations on it might not be everyone’s cup of tea though.

6. Talon Knife

The Talon Knife is often compared to the Karambit – and for good reasons! The claw-shaped blade looks similar, while still remaining distinguishable. The biggest difference between the two has to be the handle. The Talon has a handle made from ivory with a unique look. On some finishes, the color of the handle changes, but on most knives, it remains in the original ivory color. Sadly, this ivory color is the biggest weak point of the knife, since it does not fit as well as the Karambit’s handle. On the bright side, the Talon has unique animations, including a nice inspect animation in which you spin the knife around your index finger. It also comes with a noticeable clacking sound when you inspect it, so by spamming inspect and reload you can not just spin it around your hand, it also gives you some sound feedback that some people love, while others cannot stand it.

5. Bayonet

The Bayonet is another all-time classic in CSGO. The simple yet elegant design leaves not much to be desired. It has a straight and simple blade and comes with loads of different finishes, great animations and a good-looking handle. Though the Bayonet might not be as flashy and eye-catching as some other knives, this could also be considered a positive thing. The only real downside on most finishes is the fact that the knife’s spine scratches quite easily, leading to higher float values not looking as good as they could on other knives. In the end, this knife really deserves its place in the top 5, being one of the most well-liked knives in CSGO – Finding someone who hates this item is honestly hard to do.

4. M9 Bayonet

Taking a normal Bayonet and adding more blade area, a bigger handle and more details will get you the M9 Bayonet. This knife is considered by many to be a straight upgrade from the regular Bayonet. While not everyone agrees with that sentiment, there is no doubt that the M9 Bayonet is a great-looking knife and one of the coolest knives in CSGO. Its massive blade allows you to really show off the look of your knife. Sadly, the M9 Bayonet also suffers from being scratched quite easily, so a low float value is a must if you want as few scratches as possible.

Top-Tier Knives

The best of the best and the dream for most CSGO players: The top-tier knives. This group is relatively small since it only includes the all-around perfect knives. All three knives in this category combine the best possible factors, being the general look, great equip animations and better than average inspect animations.

3. Skeleton Knife

The Skeleton Knife is the most recent entry in the top-tier category. It got added during Operation Shattered Web and instantly became the most well-liked of the four new knives. The knife is basically pure metal with tape wrapped around the handle. It has a hole in the middle that allows the user to spin the Skeleton Knife around their finger. And this leads to the best part about this knife: The animations! Sadly, the normal animations are not that special, but the rare equip animation and inspect animations have you spin the knife around quite nicely. Playing with the Skeleton feels satisfying thanks to this, while also making this knife a sight to behold.

2. Karambit

Being one of the most iconic skins in CSGO, the Karambit deserves its place at the top of this list, though even this legendary knife is still outshined by one other entry. A simple handle with a curved blade gives this knife its instantly recognizable look. Being one of the older knives, the Karambit sadly also suffers from looking quite scuffed even with relatively good float values. Especially the corners between handle and blade suffer from this. If you can live with this issue though, the Karambit offers a legendary knife with good animations and lots of finishes to choose from. You really cannot go wrong with this one.

1. Butterfly Knife

This leads us to the last and arguably best knife in CSGO, the Butterfly Knife. The Butterfly has it all: Extremely good animations, a great-looking blade and perfectly applied finishes. Playing with the butterfly allows you to really use your knife as a fidget toy, constantly spinning it around your hand. If money were not a limiting factor, the Butterfly Knife would likely be the most used knife in CSGO. As it stands, a good-looking Butterfly is a real status symbol and deservedly so. A Butterfly Doppler Sapphire will currently cost you upwards of 7500€, so seeing them is extremely rare. But even more common Butterfly finishes will cost you at least a couple of hundred Euros.