Goal Zero · Yeti series
Goal Zero Yeti 500
The Yeti 500 is undefeated against other Goal Zeros, four of four, and loses to nearly everyone else’s, the champion of a very small house. Half a kilowatt-hour, sixteen pounds, 4,000 rated cycles, and one scene it clears, a CPAP night on three quarters of the tank. No owner reports yet; reviewers credit the cycle rating and stop there.
499 Wh · 500 W · 16.1 lb · 4,000 cycles · 25 head-to-heads
1,727
Power Score · Device Hub
- 499 Wh
- capacity
- 500 W
- output
- 16.1 lb
- weight
- 4,000
- rated cycles
Should you buy it right now?
Fair price today: $500 is what it normally sells for. It clears 1 of 6 real-world jobs and wins 8 of 25 matchups.
Real-world jobs
1 of 6
Falls short on Weekend Camping, 8-Hour Blackout, Remote Workday, Tailgate Party and Van Life Daily
Head-to-head record
8–17
25 adjudicated matchups
Verdicts by Wenny Zheng and the Test Desk·Figures computed 2026-09-07
01 · Six real-world jobs
What the Yeti 500 actually runs
The load profiles every comparison on the site is scored on, computed for this unit alone: energy needed against the usable tank after inverter losses, and whether the inverter holds and starts the biggest single load.
Weekend Camping
Falls short2 nights · Two nights off-grid with essential comfort
2,100Wh needed · 495% of the tank · 1,676Wh short
Peak 75W: starts and holds
8-Hour Blackout
Falls short8 hours · Keep the essentials running through a night without power
1,645Wh needed · 388% of the tank · 1,221Wh short
Peak 150W: starts and holds
CPAP Overnight
Clears it8 hours · Sleep therapy without interruption — the #1 medical use case
320Wh needed · 75% of the tank · 104Wh spare
Peak 40W: starts and holds
Remote Workday
Falls short8 hours · Full work day off-grid without power anxiety
910Wh needed · 215% of the tank · 486Wh short
Peak 60W: starts and holds
Tailgate Party
Falls short4 hours · Game day power for the crew
670Wh needed · 158% of the tank · 246Wh short
Peak 400W: starts and holds
Van Life Daily
Falls short24 hours · A full day of mobile living — the ultimate endurance test
4,685Wh needed · 1105% of the tank · 4,261Wh short
Peak 150W: starts and holds
02 · Head-to-head record
8 wins in 25 written matchups
Every matchup is a full verdict scored on the six jobs above plus price, longevity and portability. This is the set shoppers search for, not a random sample.
Win share
8–17
- vs Anker1–6
- vs EcoFlow0–6
- vs BLUETTI2–2
- vs Goal Zero4–0
- vs Jackery1–2
- vs DJI0–1
winsYeti 500 vs Goal Zero Yeti 500X
66 searches reached this matchup
winsYeti 500 vs Goal Zero Yeti 300
38 searches reached this matchup
winsYeti 500 vs Goal Zero Yeti 700
28 searches reached this matchup
winsYeti 500 vs BLUETTI Pioneer 50 BLUETTI AC60
11 searches reached this matchup
losesYeti 500 vs BLUETTI AC50B
9 searches reached this matchup
winsYeti 500 vs Goal Zero Yeti 1000X
9 searches reached this matchup
03 · From the verdicts
Who it is for, and when a rival won instead
Each line is lifted from a written matchup where it decided the verdict, and links to the page it came from. Repeated across many matchups means it is the unit’s signature, not one author’s opinion.
Buy the Yeti 500 if…
You want the longest-rated pack in this size and plan to cycle it hard for a decade or more [B1].
Decided 5 matchups · read one →
The person who wants a small backup that lives plugged in behind the desk. The under-20ms handoff is the only reason either of these belongs on that desk, and only one of them has it.
Decided 3 matchups · read one →
You carry it. 16.1 lb walks from the trailhead lot to the site without a rest stop, and 24 lb is a different errand with the same gear inside it.
Decided 3 matchups · read one →
You'll cycle it daily. At that duty the Yeti's cells run 11 years to the Anker's 8.2, and the price difference finally has somewhere to go.
Decided 2 matchups · read one →
A rival won when…
You want the most station for the least money — it's the cheaper buy and the cheaper unit to own, full stop.
Decided 6 matchups · read one →
The desk worker who wants cheap ride-through for a router and a PC and values the tighter 10ms rated UPS, without paying for capacity they'll never drain at a desk.
Decided 2 matchups · read one →
The buyer who wants to spend $300 instead of $500 and already knows 288Wh covers a normal day of charging.
Decided 2 matchups · read one →
You already know you're pressed against 424Wh of usable energy (499Wh times 0.85) on the nights that count. Neither unit expands, so today is the only day you get to buy the bigger one.
Decided 2 matchups · read one →
04 · Price history
What the Yeti 500 actually sells for
The number on the buy button, read twice a day, one point per day. Never the sticker, never a “was” price.
Read from goalzero.com twice a day since July 17 · 53 days
Carried on 100% of days tracked · dips reach $500
Built from the Sep 7, 5 AM UTC read.
$500
Usual price
100% of days tracked
$500
Best we've seen
September 7
$500
Today
at usual
$500
Highest seen
0 days above usual
How to read this
- Usual is the price the unit carried most of the time, tested for how long it held rather than how often we looked. A weekend promotion cannot move it.
- Best is the lowest price we have read on the store itself. Typed coupon codes, member-only prices and marketplace listings are not counted; anything applied automatically at checkout is.
- A gap in the line is a day we could not read a price. We never draw across one, and we never show the store’s own “was” price.
Method on the methodology page.
Share the numbers
Goal Zero Yeti 500: usually $500, best $500 (Sep 7), today $500 on goalzero.com. Tracked twice a day since Jul 17. https://stationarena.com/products/goal-zero-yeti-500#price-history
Alerts for the Yeti 500
One email when it drops below $500, comes back in stock, or a newer model in this line appears. Nothing else.
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05 · Voices
What 1 owner reports say about the Yeti 500
Owner reports are paraphrased from public YouTube comments and each links to its source; reviewer consensus is counted from cited excerpts, never quoted; our own verdicts are quoted. Specs on this page never come from any of them.
- —
- positive
- 1
- self-declared owners
- 1
- measured reports
- 1
- videos
- 42%
- Goal Zero norm
- 2020–2020
- reporting period
0 for, 0 against
tenure rarely stated
numbers, not impressions
1 channel
across 448 reports
2020-11-15 to 2020-11-15
Weighted read
— positive weighted · corpus 51% · about typical
Raw counts reward whoever writes most, and people write when something breaks. Here each report is weighted by what the complaint costs a buyer (a failure outranks an app gripe) and by its evidence (a measured owner report outranks a shopper’s opinion), then compared with every report in the corpus.
- Failures, returns, support0 against · 0 for
- How it performs0 against · 0 for
- How it feels to use0 against · 0 for
By topic, against the Goal Zero norm
Bars count this unit’s reports; the tick is the share of positive reports for the same topic across every Goal Zero unit in the corpus.
left: negative · right: positive
What owners praise
- Nothing on this side yet.
What owners complain about
- Nothing on this side yet.
Reviewer consensus
3/4 positive excerpts, 4 sources
High 4,000+ cycle LFP rating and outage-backup capability (including running a fridge for hours) are the standout points.
goalzero.com · rei.com · propaneva.com · portablepowernerd.com · researched 2026-07-10
Goal Zero, brand-wide
42% positive across 448 reports. The brand-wide complaint is price & value (77% negative); the brand-wide praise is build quality (69% positive).
From the test desk
“Take the Yeti 500.”
“Buy the Yeti 500.”
“Buy the Yeti 500 and keep the $200.”
06 · Where each number comes from
Spec sheet, in four cards
Every field carries its source: green is the manufacturer’s own document, blue was adjudicated after sources disagreed, grey is the catalogue as imported. Then compare it line by line with the units people actually weigh it against.
Battery
499
Capacity (Wh)
- ChemistryLiFePO4
- Charging Cycles4000+
- Battery Expansion FeasibilityNo
Power out
500
Output (W)
- Surge Peak1000W
- AC Outlets2
- 240V Outlets0
- 30A RV Outlets0
- 12V Car Outlets1
- USB-C Ports2
- USB-A Ports2
- USB-C Charging Outputs100W
Charging
200
Solar Input (W)
- Solar Input TypeStandard (12-28V)
Living with it
16.1
Weight (lbs)
- UPSYes (<20ms)
- App ControlYes
- Warranty (Years)5
Compare it with
Yeti 500 vs
leads on 7 · trails on 1
| Spec | Yeti 500 | Yeti 500X | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual price | $500 | $500 | $0 |
| Capacity (Wh) | 499 ● | 497 | +2 |
| Output (W) | 500 ● | 300 | +200 |
| Surge (W) | 1000W ● | 600W | +400 |
| Rated cycles | 4000+ ● | 500 | +3500 |
| Solar input (W) | 200 ● | 120 | +80 |
| Weight (lb) | 16.1 | 12.9 ● | +3.2 |
| Noise (dB) | N/A | N/A | |
| AC outlets | 2 ● | 1 | +1 |
| USB-C ports | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Warranty (yr) | 5 ● | 2 | +3 |
| Chemistry | LiFePO4 | NMC | |
| UPS | Yes (<20ms) | No |
● marks the better figure where direction is clear. Price is each unit’s usual price.
Read the full verdict →07 · Goal Zero Yeti line
Where it sits in the line
Capacity bars are to scale across the line; prices are each unit’s usual price, not today’s.
08 · At its usual price
Cost of ownership
Cycle life is the manufacturer’s rating to 80% capacity; the lifetime figure is that rating times the nameplate capacity.
$1.00
per Wh
at $500
$0.25
per lifetime kWh
1,996 kWh over 4,000 cycles
11.0 yr
if cycled daily
38 yr at weekends only
5 yr
warranty
$100 per covered year
09 · From the matchups
Questions people ask
Is the Goal Zero Yeti 500 the same as the Yeti 500X?
No, and the naming is the worst thing about this matchup. The 500X is the older Li-NMC unit rated for 500 cycles with a 300W inverter [B1]; the Yeti 500 is the LiFePO4 replacement rated for 4,000 cycles with a 500W inverter [A3][B4]. They share a $500 price and about a half kilowatt-hour of capacity, and very little else.
Does the Yeti 500X have a UPS mode?
No. There is no UPS or APS mode on the X series. What it does is pass-through charging, which lets it power a load while it charges but is not a switchover spec. The Yeti 500 transfers to battery in under 20ms, which is the number to look for if you are backing up a desktop, a modem or a router.
Is the Yeti 500X worth buying at the same price?
No. Same $500, same capacity, and the Yeti 500 beats it on cycle life, continuous output, surge, solar input, USB-C speed and warranty. The only column the 500X wins is weight, 12.9 lb against 16.1. If you are not carrying it on foot, there is nothing to weigh.
Is the Goal Zero Yeti 500 worth $150 more than the Yeti 300?
Yes, for most buyers. The $150 buys 202Wh more capacity and a 500W inverter with 1,000W of surge instead of 350W and 600W, and it works out cheaper per watt-hour, at $1.00 against $1.18. Take the 300 only if your entire load list is USB devices and a laptop and you're confident it stays that way.
Is the Yeti 500 the same as the Yeti 500X?
No, and it's the one thing worth double-checking before you buy. The current Yeti 500 uses a LiFePO4 pack rated for 4,000 cycles [B1]; the older Yeti 500X was NMC with a far shorter rated life [B3]. Some listings still mix the two together. If the cycle life quoted on a listing is in the hundreds, you're looking at the older unit.
Some links are affiliate links; they never change the price you pay or which price we show. Owner reports are paraphrased from public comments and link to their source.