We like doing car comparisons in order to bring you a fair and even comparison between two competitors in the same segment. After all, comparing apples to apples is a good idea when shopping for the second-biggest purchase of your life. But what if you’re more of a price shopper and are looking to stick to a certain budget?

In that case, we figured it would be interesting to compare two cars from the same brand that are in different categories but in the same price bracket. For this comparison, we’ll take a look at the 2020 Honda CR-V and the 2020 Honda Accord so that you can decide which one works best for you.

Why compare these two?

Most car shoppers nowadays are typically interested in crossovers and SUVs, even though a large sedan is really all they need. By including a sedan in this comparison, we can highlight the benefits of going with a car, rather than a crossover, in order to add another option to a prospective buyer’s shopping list.

Of course, if the extra cargo room is of the utmost importance, then the crossover would be the better pick. But if it’s not, then the sedan could make more sense. The Accord and the CR-V are two of the best-selling vehicles in Honda’s lineup and they compare pretty evenly in terms of interior room, fuel economy, features, and pricing.

What’s the difference between these two?

For an easier comparison, we’ll highlight three factors that will give you the most bang for your buck when deciding between these two vehicles: Interior volume, fuel economy, and pricing. If you’re in the market for either of these vehicles you’re probably curious about having enough room for people and their cargo.

Once you stuff those people and cargo into the car, you probably want to make sure you can get to your destination in a fuel-efficient manner. And lastly, before you make your decision, the pricing of each car is important as cost is an important part of the value.

How do these two vehicles stack up?

Believe it or not, the overall interior volume of both of these vehicles is nearly identical. The Accord measures in at 105.6 cubic feet on the base LX trim, while the CR-V measures in at 105.9. Both cars drop a couple of cubic feet in the higher trims due to the sunroofs.

The actual head, leg, and shoulder room measurements compare pretty evenly as well. In the front seats, the Accord measures in at 37.5 inches (head), 42.3 inches (leg), and 58.3 inches (shoulder), while the CR-V measures in at 38,42.3, and 57.9 inches respectively.

The rear seat room is pretty even as well: 37 inches (head), 40 inches (leg), 56 (shoulder) for the Accord and 39 inches, 40 inches, and 55 inches, respectively, for the CR-V. Of course, cargo volume is where the two parts ways as the Accord measures in at 16.7 cubic feet  and the CR-V has 39.2 cubic feet with the rear seats up.

As for fuel economy, the two vehicles vary because the Accord is available with two different engine options and the CR-V is available with all-wheel drive. Since the gasoline version of both vehicles is powered by the same 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and that’s the more-popular engine choice, we’ll compare the figures with that powertrain.

In that case, the Accord achieves 30 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway, while the CR-V gets 28 mpg in the city and 34 on the highway. The CR-V does weigh about 200 more pounds and is shaped differently, so weight and aerodynamics may be a factor. However, the Accord is better more fuel-efficient all around.

Pricing is somewhat straightforward at the Accord has a starting base price of $24,020 and goes as high as $36,250 for the Touring trim, while the CR-V starts at $25,050 and goes up to $33,250 for the top trim. Adding AWD to any CR-V trim adds $1500 and adding the 2.0-liter engine to any Accord commands a premium of $4,530, so we’re looking mainly at the base pricing. In that case, pricing is very similar between the two.

Which one is a better buy?

As always, is up to the buyer to decide which vehicle would work better for them, especially when choosing between a crossover and a sedan. Also, both vehicles are optioned out similarly as they both have the same trim levels and both come in hybrid variants.

As far as this comparison, we can see that the Accord has about the same amount of interior room as the larger CR-V and obtains better fuel economy for around the same price, depending on the trim level.