For shoppers focused on price and what comes standard, the Seltos wins out. It’s priced about $2,005 under the Crosstrek, its base LX gets a full 12.3-inch touchscreen while the Crosstrek’s entry display is split into two 7.0-inch panels, and Kia’s 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty adds up to nearly twice what Subaru covers (5 years/60,000 miles). The Crosstrek fights back with all-wheel drive standard across its entire trim walk and a hybrid variant on offer; Seltos, meanwhile, offers AWD on LX, S, and EX, with it built in standard on both X-Line trims.

It does. Symmetrical AWD comes on every 2026 Crosstrek trim, from the base model all the way through Limited and Wilderness — not many subcompact SUVs can say that about their whole lineup, so it’s a genuine advantage for Subaru. The Seltos takes a different approach: AWD is available on LX, S, and EX, and comes standard on the two X-Line trims, but you get there at a lower starting price with a much longer powertrain warranty attached.

Depends which engines you’re putting side by side. Base against base, the Crosstrek’s 2.5L four-cylinder (182 hp, 178 lb-ft) beats the Seltos’s standard 2.0L at 147 hp. But step into the Seltos X-Line SX and its 1.6L turbo flips the script, edging out the Subaru gas engine with 190 hp and 195 lb-ft. Subaru does have an answer the Seltos can’t match right now, though — a Crosstrek Hybrid rated at 194 combined hp and about 36 MPG combined. A Seltos Hybrid is coming, but Kia hasn’t released pricing for it yet.

It is. MSRP on the 2027 Seltos LX starts at $24,990, which lands about $2,005 below the Crosstrek’s roughly $26,995 base price — and the Seltos still manages to include a larger 12.3-inch touchscreen standard, versus the smaller dual 7.0-inch setup on the base Crosstrek. Destination charges aren’t factored into either number.

It’s a sizable gap: Kia covers the powertrain for 10 years/100,000 miles plus a 5-year/60,000-mile limited warranty, while Subaru’s numbers are 5 years/60,000 miles on the powertrain and 3 years/36,000 miles limited.

Give credit where it’s due — the Crosstrek has real strengths of its own: AWD standard on every trim (versus LX/S/EX availability and X-Line-only standard on the Seltos), a Crosstrek Hybrid that the redesigned Seltos hasn’t rolled out yet, a rougher-terrain Wilderness trim with 9.3 inches of clearance and towing up to 3,500 lb, and years of proven reliability from its EyeSight driver-assist tech. If standard AWD or serious off-road capability tops your list, the Crosstrek deserves a test drive. But for price, standard tech, warranty length, and cargo capacity, the Seltos is the stronger pick.

You’ll find Dean McCrary Kia at 7124 US Hwy 98 in Hattiesburg, right where I-59, US-49, US-98, and US-11 all meet in the Hub City — convenient whether you’re coming from Petal, Oak Grove, Purvis, Columbia, Laurel, Ellisville, Sumrall, Wiggins, or Lumberton. Stop in and park a Seltos next to a Crosstrek to judge the difference for yourself.