8 Honda CR-V Alternatives To Consider (And Why They're Worth It)

If there is any kind of vehicle that has seen a dramatic rise in popularity over the last 20 years, it is the compact crossover SUV. It's totally understandable: These are tremendously flexible cars that can be just as useful to a single driver as to a whole family. You get the space without driving something too large, and you tend to have pretty good fuel efficiency options, whether that be hybrid or even all-electric models. One of the top compact crossover SUVs on the market today is the Honda CR-V.

As of the writing of this article, this is the second best-selling vehicle of its kind in the U.S. according to Car and Driver and even cracks the top five of best-selling vehicles across all types as well. It consistently scores high reliability scores from the likes of Consumer Reports and J.D. Power, and its starting price of $30,100 for a new 2025 model makes it a relatively affordable option too. 

While the CR-V has been a more than satisfactory vehicle for many years now, there are plenty of alternatives on the marketplace if you like the Honda but are not fully in love with it. Frankly, there are too many worthy alternatives out there for one list, so this has been narrowed to just eight different SUVs that would be just as satisfactory as the Honda CR-V, if not more so.

For this Honda CR-V alternative, you won't even need to leave the Honda dealership. If the compact CR-V is still a little too large for you, you might try the Honda HR-V, a subcompact crossover SUV. Not only is this a smaller alternative to the CR-V, but the HR-V is also an even more affordable one with a starting price of $25,400 for a brand new model.

Where this vehicle scores highly is with its reliability. The HR-V nameplate has been used for many years, but it was totally rethought for the 2023 model year and built on the same platform as the Honda Civic. So far, each year of this revamp has received an 85 out of 100 reliability rating from Consumer Reports, placing it among the most reliable vehicles of its kind across all brands. For comparison, the CR-V actually falls a little behind this with a 78 out of 100 score from the publication. J.D. Power is just about as high with its quality and reliability scores for the HR-V as well, each year dolling out an 82 out of 100.

The mileage on these subcompact crossover SUVs is also quite good, averaging about 26 mpg in the city and 32 mpg on highways. Unfortunately, there is no hybrid option for the HR-V like there is for the CR-V, but if you were going with a gas-powered vehicle anyway, it's worth examining whether you want to save a few thousand dollars on this smaller alternative.

The next entry on this list is built on the exact same platform that the CR-V is built on, as it too comes from Honda. However, this is not a Honda-branded compact crossover SUV. It comes from the company's luxury arm of automobiles, Acura. The Acura RDX first hit the market for the 2007 model year and has been a staple of the company's SUV lineup ever since.

What is great about the Acura RDX is that you are still getting that signature reliability that you hope to get with any Honda automobile you purchase. The most recent generation of the SUV started with the 2019 model year, and its Consumer Reports reliability score has been growing year after year, typically in the 70s or 80s out of 100. That peaked with the 2023 model, which had a remarkable reliability score of 91 out of 100. The J.D. Power overall scores are right in line with the previously mentioned Hondas, earning in the high 70s out of 100 with its most recent model years.

When it comes right down to it, the Acura RDX is essentially a luxury version of the Honda CR-V. While this is most evident with the vehicle's technological features and interior trims and materials, the RDX does also come with a larger, more powerful engine that produces 272 horsepower. The starting price of $44,350 may price out some customers, but this is a quality upgrade if you can afford it. 

Unlike many of the compact SUVs you should avoid, the next alternative on our list beats the Honda CR-V in terms of sales and is the third best-selling vehicle in the United States in 2024 so far. That vehicle is the Toyota RAV4, which has been at the forefront of the rising popularity of the compact crossover SUV since the mid-1990s.

If there is one company that has a better reputation for reliability than Honda, it would be Toyota, which consistently ranks at the top of lists as the most reliable car brand in the world. That reliability is present in the RAV4 as well. For the last four model years, the Toyota RAV4 has earned a consistent 80 out of 100 reliability rating from Consumer Reports. The most recent 2024 model year also earned an 80 out 100 score from J.D. Power for quality and reliability as well.

Compared to the CR-V, the RAV4 is also a little bit cheaper with a starting price of $28,675. Unlike the previous two entries on this list, the RAV4 also is available as a hybrid that gets you an impressive 41 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway. The Toyota RAV4 tops the charts for compact crossover SUVs, and that success is well warranted.

The next Honda CR-V alternative ranks sixth on Kelly Blue Book's list of the best compact SUVs of 2024 and 2025. That would be the Mazda CX-5, which the company introduced for the 2013 model year.

If you look over at Consumer Reports, the CX-5's reliability ratings do not stand up nearly as well as the previously mentioned vehicles here. The last several years range from the mid-60s to the mid-70s out of 100 for the current generation of the SUV that started back in 2017, but these numbers still represent an overall good level of reliability for the publication. However, when you look over at the quality and reliability ratings from J.D. Power, the CX-5 stands up just as well as these other alternatives. This current generation has remained remarkably consistent, earning between 81 and 85 out of 100 scores for every single model year.

The Mazda CX-5 has a starting price of $28,570, which is slightly lower than that of the Honda CR-V. There is no hybrid option for the SUV, but with a combined mileage of 28 mpg, you are getting pretty good bang for your buck when it comes to fuel efficiency. Mazda may not be the first company you think of when looking for an alternative to Honda, but the CX-5 is terrific replacement.

Subaru's biggest hit in terms of SUV crossovers that competes quite favorably to the Honda CR-V is the Subaru Forester. This is another one of those early vehicles of this type to hit the market back in the 1990s, and even this year, it ranks among the 15 best-selling vehicles in the United States.

With a starting price of $29,695, it is a few hundred dollars cheaper than a CR-V in its most basic form, but you are not losing any sense of quality or reliability with that slightly lower price tag. Starting with the 2021 model year, every single model of the Forester has earned above an 80 out of 100 reliability rating from Consumer Reports, and the most recent 2024 model earned a 90 out of 100 road test score from the publication. In that same time frame, J.D. Power has either given the SUV an 83 or 84 out of 100 overall as well.

Currently, there is no hybrid option for the Subaru Forester available like there is for the CR-V. That being said, the plans are in place to introduce a hybrid Forester to the market for the 2026 model year, so if you don't mind waiting, that is coming down the pike.

Although the Subaru Forester is the company's best-selling vehicle in this department, there is still another compact crossover SUV that it produces that is able to crack the top 25 best-selling vehicles overall as well. That would be the Subaru Crosstrek, which first hit the market a little over a decade ago for the 2013 model year. In some ways, a lot of people may prefer this model over the Forester, even if that Subaru has more of a legacy behind it than the newer Crosstrek.

While the reliability scores for the Forester are great, the Subaru Crosstrek outperforms it. The current 2024 model has a nearly perfect 99 out of 100 reliability score from Consumer Reports, and the previous two years have earned an 85 and 91 out of 100 as well. These are some stellar scores, and for that 2024 model year, it is far and away the most reliable model of any vehicle that size by a wide margin. J.D. Power isn't quite as effusive in its praise, but the last two years have received a score of 83 or 84 out of 100 in quality and reliability, which is still quite impressive.

Another benefit for the Subaru Crosstrek is its price. With a starting price of $25,195, it is significantly lower than the $30,100 starting price for the Honda CR-V. Subaru had previously made a plug-in hybrid version of the Crosstrek, but that was discontinued after the 2023 model year.

This South Korean compact crossover SUV comes in just behind the previously mentioned Subaru Forester on Car and Driver's list of the best-selling vehicles in the United States, and that would by the Hyundai Tucson, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary of production in 2024.

The last few years for the Hyundai Tucson have been quite good when it comes to their reliability scores. The 2024 model was given a predicted score of 69 out of 100 points by Consumer Reports, but the previous year's model earned a tremendous 85 out of 100, meaning that the more recent model could wind up with a higher score when that prediction becomes set in stone. The publication has not yet rated the 2025 model, but J.D. Power has. It gave the latest Tucson an 81 out of 100 quality and reliability score, which is the exact same as the 2024 model as well.

A 2025 Hyundai Tucson has a starting price of $28,355, which is a couple thousand dollars less than a Honda CR-V. If you are wanting a hybrid, Hyundai also offers the Tucson as both a regular hybrid and a plug-in hybrid too, giving you even more options than the CR-V does. Whatever kind of compact crossover SUV you want to drive, the Hyundai Tucson can deliver.

Last but not least, we move over to another South Korean automaker for the final Honda CR-V alternative on this list. Yet another vehicle that makes its way onto Car and Driver's list of the 25 best-selling vehicles in the United States, the Kia Sportage is another one of the early compact crossover SUVs from the 1990s that has stood the test of time.

Unlike the other vehicles mentioned on this list, the reliability ratings from Consumer Reports for the current generation are actually not all that stellar. The revamp occurred for the 2023 model year, and so far, each year has received a 60 out of 100 reliability score from the publication. These are not bad scores by any means, but they just do not reach the heights of the rest of this list. However, J.D. Power tells a different story. The 2023 through 2025 model years earned an overall rating of 83 out of 100. That puts this vehicle in a tie with the Subaru Forester as the best vehicle in its class for the 2025 model year.

The Kia Sportage has a very appealing starting price of $27,190. As a bonus, the company also offers hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the Sportage too. While this may not be at the top of the list of alternatives to the Honda CR-V, it's still a quality vehicle overall.