10 Best Clip-On Lamps to Keep Your Space Lit Without the Clutter

If what you want is a clip-on lamp for your bedroom that doesn't look like a clip-on light, this is the one to get. It was made specifically for use with upholstered headboards that are too thick for other types of lamps to latch onto.

This brass-colored gooseneck light comes with a detachable back that extends down your wall and is held in place by the weight of your headboard. Its half-moon base also sits flush with your wall. This lamp has a dimmer dial and an on/off switch on its cord, making it super easy to adjust for late-night reading in bed.

“I love that it’s easily movable to be placed at the right spot over my headboard,” one reviewer noted. “The gooseneck allows me to point the light directly to my own reading area at the most appropriate angle and height that least tires the eyes.”

As for the look, they add, “the gold accent adds a little glitz and glamour to my bedroom ... it looked way better than regular clip lights.”

More: The Best Desk Fans for Keeping Cool While You Work

This popular gooseneck style of clip-on lamp makes it easy to mold to your workspace needs. At over a foot long and embedded with 38 LEDs in its lamp head, this one is best for illuminating a desktop space rather than using it as a bedside light.

This LED light also offers three color temperatures and 10 brightness levels, all adjustable from a small control bar on its cord. Though, it should be noted that “brightness levels” would be helpful for the cord itself, which sports a blue “on/off” light that some reviewers suggest is too bright.

“This light is great,” one reviewer shared, being sure to single out that “I like that it comes with both a USB plug and the ability to plug it into the wall.” But they echoed the sentiments of many: “Only drawback is the bright blue light on the on/off switch,” adding, “I’ve ended up having to hide it under a pillow.”

This gooseneck-style clip-on lamp is a smaller, simplified version of our previous pick. It is slightly shorter in length with a much smaller lamp head that holds 10 LEDs. Users can flip between two brightness modes and three color temperatures.

This one is more bedroom-friendly because of its easy, pared-down functionality. We also like that it comes in black or white.

Users love this “great, inexpensive, and adaptable small lamp,” saying that though the directions aren’t the best, the lamp was “easy to use.” Others agree that this “excellent” lamp is just what they needed and that it is “perfect,” “very bright,” and “easy to position.”

This architect-style lamp is a great, reliable standard to have at your workstation. It clamps, as opposed to clips, to the lip of a desk — but while it stays stationary, its arm can swivel, raise, and lower, and the lamp head itself can also turn to any side.

This lamp includes an LED bulb, and just note that its simple on/off operation doesn’t allow for color temperature or brightness adjusting.

“It’s very well designed and built, functions quite well, and most amazingly, is sold for a bargain. Quite impressive,” says one happy customer.

“I was pleasantly surprised [that this] came with a good, sturdy metal-bodied clamp and not a plastic clamp like other similar lamps near this price point. No complaints about any other aspects,” says another.

When a simple clip-on lamp is all you need, this compact spotlight is the way to go. It’s perfect for those who feel a wide array of angle options or color options isn’t a concern, but price certainly is. At just 6 inches, it’s small enough to be relatively portable, so you can move it from room to room as long as there’s an outlet to plug it in.

Though, be mindful that compact simplicity can also mean a lack of maneuverability, as well as a mini clip that limits how wide a surface it can grip onto.

Nevertheless, users like this little lamp, saying, “[It’s] perfect in many ways. It is lightweight and connects to my easel when I paint, giving me the extra light I need when working indoors.”

“Small but very bright!” says another.

Naturally, the main reason for getting any desk lamp is increased visibility for whatever you're working on. But whether your work requires meticulous work with miniature tools, or the ol' eyes just aren't working quite like they used to (happens to the best of us), adding a magnifying glass element to your desk illumination set-up is the way to go.

This magnifying lamp offers all of the maneuverability and illumination of a standard swing-arm lamp, in addition to a clear, reliable diopter glass magnification lens beneath an easy-to-open lid, for whenever you need that extra bit of visibility.

For those who work remotely full-time and need to be video-call-ready at any moment, this clip-on ring light is a great multitasker. A ring light focuses the illumination toward your face in a flattering way while also diffusing it so that you don’t look washed out by a bright beam.

But even if your days of meeting on Zoom are behind you, this “bright and versatile” desk lamp is still incredibly useful, providing three different color temperatures and 10 different brightness levels.

“I love it! My Zoom crew noticed an instant improvement,” says one particularly enthusiastic review. “[It] even helped me select the type of light that made me look best for meetings. Plus, when moved to the bedroom, it makes a great reading light. The clamp is firm and heavy-duty. The arm is tight but flexible. You can’t beat this for the price point.”

This clip-on lamp’s embedded LEDs help to provide more illumination to a desktop than a single bulb. Though it looks simple, this lamp’s infinitely adjustable joints can tilt, raise, lower, or swivel the angle of the lamp in five different places.

It is equipped with three color temperatures and 10 brightness levels (“The ‘Warm’ color setting is perfect,” says a review), so you can keep it adjusted to your comfort level at all times.

“It doesn’t replace a floor lamp, but it is perfect for my needs,” says one user. “It’s not overwhelming while I work and definitely reduces eye strain.”

One rave review says that this lamp is the “absolute best” you can get: “This light is perfect in every way, from very bright illumination to [a] dull [light] barely illuminating the room. The arm is much longer and more versatile than I expected ... you can’t go wrong.”

This clip-on lamp from Multitasky is too cute for words — it even has cat ears! Surprisingly, they actually serve a unique function. This light clips to a surface and can shine its main task light down on whatever you’re working on, or you can illuminate the cat ears if you prefer a more ambient nightlight glow. Both lights can also shine together brightly.

The Clampy Bendy Lamp is also rechargeable, so you can travel with it or move it around to different areas of your home as needed.

“Super cute! I love that it has different brightness settings and is cordless,” says one review.

“I love this lamp. Easy to charge and use,” says another. “I got it for my toddler’s big-kid bed and I needed something that I could clamp on the bed without a cord. Works perfectly!”

This small, simple book light is one of our favorite gadgets ever. While it’s definitely not lamp-sized, it’s one of the most well-designed clip-on lights we’ve ever come across.

It has a single button that turns it on, toggles through the three brightness levels, and turns it off. It’s also rechargeable and holds a charge for weeks, even with nightly use.

More than 17,000 reviews make this 4.7-starred product a game changer in many people’s homes. “I’m getting older. My eyes are dimming. But even if they were perfect I would still use this book light,” says one user, who said they “can’t live without it.” They add, “It’s great for darker spaces in your house, reading in bed while trying to wind down, and it’s perfect for travel.”

Another just says for readers to simply add this little lifesaver to cart and hit “Buy Now”: “Very nice light. Better than expected. I use it attached to a clipboard for coloring. It’s light and dainty enough to not be a burden.”