Which supermarket is the cheapest in Austria? On average, the discounters: the AK price monitor puts them 10.1 percent below Billa, Spar and the other full-range chains. In the 2026 AK Upper Austria check, Hofer most often had the cheapest budget basket. For a real weekly shop at Hofer, Lidl, Spar and Billa, there is still no permanent winner.
That is why 2026 does not need a blanket ranking. It needs the cheapest supermarket among Hofer, Lidl, Spar and Billa — for your list, this week. mitbringen is built to run that list-level comparison automatically.
Three different questions hide inside one search — and they do not share one answer.
The cheapest average basket. Arbeiterkammer Wien compares 40 cheap everyday items across seven Vienna chains each month: Billa, Billa Plus, Spar, Interspar, Hofer, Lidl, Penny. In March 2026 that budget basket cost about €76, down from almost €81 in March 2025. Since autumn 2021 the same basket is still 49 percent more expensive. In that comparison, supermarkets are 10.1 percent more expensive than discounters on average.
Source: wien.ORF.at, 25 March 2026, covering the AK Wien price monitor.
The cheapest own-brand swap. That is a different sum. At Billa and Spar the lever is large; at Hofer it is tiny — because the discounter already is the cheap range. Post #1 covers that in full: why own-brands have the biggest lever at Billa and Spar.
Your weekly shop this week. Milk, bread, coffee, whatever actually goes in the trolley — plus the deals that only last a few days. Here the ranking can flip every week. That is this article.
A Vienna budget basket of about €76 is a useful unit of comparison. It is not your shop. Shopping only to the average is often right — and it still misses weeks when Spar or Billa, on a strong promotion, would have been cheaper for the list you actually buy.
No invented milk-butter-eggs price table. As of 15 August 2026 there is no publicly citable full-shop matrix for all four chains this week. What we do have are solid roles from the 2026 AK checks.
Hofer — often the budget-basket winner, rarely the brand lever. From March to July 2026, AK Upper Austria found Hofer had the cheapest basket of cheaper alternatives four times. Over the same stretch the gap between brands and the cheap line shrank from just under €4 in March to 15 cents in July. Switching to own-brand at Hofer barely moves the needle — the discounter is already the cheap range.
Lidl — the neighbouring discounter. Lidl sits in Hofer’s league, not Billa and Spar’s. The own-brand lever in the AK Upper Austria check was about €7.50 to €10 on the 20-item basket — real money, clearly smaller than at the full-range chains. Whether Hofer or Lidl is cheaper in your week depends on the list, not on a standing rank.
Spar and Billa — more expensive on average, with the biggest counter-lever. The AK Wien monitor says supermarkets cost 10.1 percent more than discounters. On the same 20 items, the brand-versus-cheap gap at Billa and Spar was about €20 to €23. They also more often run the stronger weekly deals on individual branded lines. That is why a split shop or a list-level compare can beat a blanket Hofer trip — not because Spar or Billa “are cheaper”, but because your list is not the AK budget basket.
Sources: help.ORF.at, 13 July 2026 and 5min.at, 13 July 2026 on the AK Upper Austria comparison, March–July 2026.
| Chain | Role |
|---|---|
| Hofer | often the cheapest budget basket; brand gap only 15 cents in July 2026 |
| Lidl | neighbouring discounter; own-brand lever about €7.50–€10 on 20 items |
| Spar | more expensive on average; large own-brand lever, often strong brand deals |
| Billa | more expensive on average; large own-brand lever, often strong brand deals |
Roles from the 2026 AK checks — not live shelf prices and not a mitbringen measurement.
1. Discounters only. Simple, and right on average. Doing most of the week at Hofer or Lidl follows the AK Wien 10.1 percent finding. Good when time is short and the list is staples.
2. Split shop. Staples at the discounter, one or two extra stops for whatever the full-range chain has on offer this week. More walking, often a better total — especially if the list holds branded items that Billa or Spar are pushing hard.
3. List compare. One basket, four chains, then the store (or the pair) that makes this list cheapest. That is the honest answer to “which supermarket is cheapest?” — not Hofer forever, not Lidl forever, but the compare before you leave the house.
None of the three needs an invented price table. They need your real list.
You can do it by hand. It costs exactly the time most people do not have.
Honestly: steps 4 and 5 mean four flyers or four chain sites. Every week. That is what mitbringen automates: one list, current prices and deals at Hofer, Lidl, Spar and Billa, then the cheapest basket — without four flyers.
mitbringen puts your weekly shop next to Hofer, Lidl, Spar and Billa and shows where the basket is actually cheaper this week — free, set up in under a minute.
There is no permanently cheapest supermarket in Austria in 2026. According to the AK price monitor, discounters are 10.1 percent cheaper than supermarkets on average, and Hofer most often had the cheapest budget basket in the 2026 AK Upper Austria comparison. For any one weekly shop, the cheapest store still depends on your own list and the current prices at Hofer, Lidl, Spar and Billa.
No. Hofer more often had the cheapest budget basket in the AK Upper Austria check from March to July 2026, but Lidl sat in the same discounter league. Whether Hofer or Lidl is cheaper in your week depends on the items on the list — not on a fixed first place.
Yes, when the list holds branded items or strong weekly deals that beat the supermarkets’ 10.1 percent premium. For staples only, one discounter is often enough. More than one extra stop usually eats the saving again.
Write the list first, separate brands from staples, then hold all four chains against the same basket — by hand via the flyers, or automatically with mitbringen. Comparing single prices without totalling the basket almost always sends you to the wrong store.
Build your list in mitbringen and compare Hofer, Lidl, Spar and Billa in one pass — fresh every week, without four flyers.
All prices and savings figures in this article come from the original sources linked above (Arbeiterkammer via ORF and 5min.at) and are not mitbringen’s own measurements. This section must stay visible and linked on the published page.
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