I test standing desks for a living and these are my top 5 picks for every budget

May 14, 2023

Find the right standing desk for you and your space with these tips

The right home office upgrade can make a huge difference when it comes to your productivity and since your desk is where you’re likely doing most of your work, it's worth investing in one you’ll be able to use for years to come.

While you could go the traditional route and upgrade your home office with one of the best desks, opting for a standing desk instead gives you a lot more flexibility when it comes to how you work. This is because the best standing desks allow you to work from either a sitting or standing position with the option to alternate between the two throughout the day.

Working at a standing desk comes with a number of benefits like improving your posture, reducing back pain and burning a few extra calories. Doing so can even improve your mood while helping you focus on the task at hand. However, even if you plan on sitting most of the time, there are still plenty of reasons why choosing a standing desk over a traditional desk might be the better choice.

I’ve tested more than a dozen standing desks from the biggest brands in the business over the past few years and I’ve used my experience with them to put together this list of my top five picks for every budget.

Whether you’re looking for an inexpensive way to try out a standing desk for the first time or if you want to upgrade to a more premium desk after using a budget one, there's something here for everyone along with some tips and things to consider when making the switch to a standing desk.

The Fezibo Electric Standing Desk is currently our top pick for the best budget standing desk due to how many features it manages to pack in at such a low price point. While the desk itself has a list price of $269, it's currently on sale for $169 on Amazon with a $20 coupon bringing the price all the way down to $149.

The Fezibo Electric Standing Desk is great for both small and larger spaces as it has a surface size from 40 x 24 inches all the way up to 63 x 24 inches. The desk can support a max weight of 176 pounds and it's also easy to assemble. There are even hooks at either end of the Fezibo Electric Standing Desk for hanging a pair of headphones, extra cables or even your bag.

Normally at this price point, you’d have to compromise by getting either a manual standing desk or an electric one with a simple control panel without any presets. The Fezibo Electric Standing Desk has three programmable preset buttons but if you have small children running around, just be aware that it doesn't have a child lock feature.

One of the reasons you might not want to avoid making the switch to a standing desk is that you often have to give up your precious storage space. This isn't the case with the Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk though. It has two fairly deep drawers at the front (20.5 x 11.8 x 1.6-inches) and there's also a grommet or small hole at the back left side to make it easy to run cables up to the top of the desk.

While the Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk has a list price of $629, you can often find it on sale for around $50 less. Besides this natural wood color, there's also a black and gray variant of this desk for the same price.

As you may have noticed from the name, this is actually a smart desk that in addition to the keypad at the front, you can control with an app on your smartphone. If you want a standing desk to improve your health, the app lets you set wellness goals and even schedule reminders to stand up throughout the day. Besides these smart features, you’ll find a pair of USB-A ports along with a single USB-C port for charging your devices while you work.

In addition to the drawers, smart features and USB charging ports, one of my favorite things about the Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk is that instead of a tray, it has a whole compartment at the rear for cable management. It's more than big enough to fit one of the best surge protectors along with several large power bricks like the kind that often ship with the best monitors. The folding door even has a cutout to let you run larger cables up from the center at the back of the desk.

Unlike the first two desks on this list, the FlexiSpot E7 Pro Plus is a dual-motor standing desk which means not only does it go up and down faster, it's also quieter in operation. In addition to this, there are also a number of customization options available on FlexiSpot's website. For instance, you can choose your desktop material and color, desktop size, frame and frame color. While the chipboard version of the FlexiSpot E7 Pro Plus (pictured above) normally sells for $579 it's currently on sale for $429.

The FlexiSpot E7 Pro Plus is a great standing desk if you plan on using it with a desktop and multiple monitors as it has a maximum weight capacity of 355 pounds. The 3-stage legs have a holeless design which gives them a sleeker look and the cable tray under the desk makes it so you don't have any cables hanging out.

FlexiSpot also makes an excellent cable management tray to go along with this desk but you’ll need to purchase it separately for $35. Still though, it's certainly worth the price if you plan on using this desk with a desktop computer and a monitor.

One of my favorite things about the E7 Pro Plus and many of FlexiSpot's other newer standing desks is their keypads. Besides four preset buttons, they also have a USB-A port at the side that makes it easy to charge your smartphone, tablet or other mobile devices while you work.

The Vari Electric Standing Desk is the most expensive standing desk on this list at $750 for the 48 x 30 inch version but there are several reasons I recommend it over some of the cheaper options out there. For starters, this is the easiest standing desk to put together by far and it can be built in less than 15 minutes with only eight bolts. Also, Vari throws in some useful accessories like a rubber coaster, cable ties and two detachable hooks for hanging your headphones and other accessories.

While you have several desktop finishes to choose from, there's not much else to customize when configuring your Vari Electric Standing Desk. Still though, this desk offers a premium experience akin to unboxing and using an Apple product. The desk itself supports up to 200 pounds and its keypad lets you choose between four preset heights. The T-Style legs are really stable and since this is also a dual-motor standing desk, it's really quiet when in use.

Besides the dead simple assembly process, one of my favorite things about the Vari Electric Standing Desk is the optional cable management tray available for $50. Sure, it's a bit on the expensive side but this cable management tray is quite different from all the others I’ve tested. There are holes at both ends to run cables through but the best part is the fact that it swivels backwards and forwards. This lets you plug in new devices or run extra cables really easily without having to move the desk itself.

The Uplift V2 is the most customizable standing desk I’ve reviewed yet. For instance, there are 30 different desktop styles to choose from and almost everything else about the desk can be customized as well. You can pick from two frames in four different colors, five keypad styles in three colors and there's even an optional foot switch for controlling the desk's height. While the base model of the Uplift V2 starts at $599, things can get expensive fast if you fully kit out this standing desk. In fact, if you choose the largest size (80 x 30 inches) you can even add an under desk hammock that you can sleep in.

The Uplift V2 can support up to 355 pounds and unlike with the other desks on this list, UPLIFT Desk throws in a free cable management tray with your order. The desk's keypad has a grippy rubber texture and there are four programmable keys for adding your favorite heights. Another thing that sets the Uplift V2 apart from other desks is that its frame has 48 small holes for mounting accessories. Assembly is a bit more difficult than with the Vari Electric Standing Desk but overall, it wasn't too hard to put together.

Although there are plenty of different desktop styles to choose from including butcher block wood and less expensive laminate, I specifically chose the whiteboard option as this was the first time I saw it available with a standing desk. I found the whiteboard desktop great for taking notes but it's also incredibly easy to clean.

When it comes to upgrading to a standing desk for the first time, there are a number of factors you want to consider first.

While manual standing desks are often cheaper, electric ones are more convenient and can be had for a similar price. Plus, you don't have to wind a crank or physically lift them up each time you want to raise the height of your desk. You also want to make sure that the keypad you get with your desk is programmable with at least two preset buttons. This way, you can have one saved setting for standing and another for when you want to take a break and sit down.

Although you can get some pretty large standing desks, I’ve found that 48 x 30 inches is the sweet spot for most home offices or apartments. This size desk is also easier to move as it can fit through a door frame without having to be disassembled. Grommets on either side of the desk are another useful feature which in addition to a cable management tray, make it much easier to keep all your cables neat and tidy.

Regardless of which model standing desk you get, you’re going to want to pair it with one of the best office chairs so that you can be comfortable and have good posture when taking a break from standing while working.

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Anthony Spadafora is the security and networking editor at Tom's Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to password managers and the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. Before joining the team, he wrote for ITProPortal while living in Korea and later for TechRadar Pro after moving back to the US. Based in Houston, Texas, when he's not writing Anthony can be found tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.

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