The Best Under-Desk Footrests (2024)

As a senior staff writer at Wirecutter, I’ve researched and tested all sorts of office furniture and hardware, including lumbar support pillows, desk chairs, and ergonomic keyboards. I’ve also been working out of my home office for more than two decades, writing about technology and productivity for sites such as Consumer Reports, Lifehacker, PCWorld, and Laptop Mag. At 5 feet 2 inches tall, I’m probably the ideal tester for footrests, since many office chairs—even at their lowest height—leave my feet dangling, and I sometimes sit at my desk for more than eight hours a day.

We consulted two ergonomics experts for this guide. Laura Punnett, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, specializes in job design to optimize workforce musculoskeletal, mental, and cardiovascular health. Kevin Weaver, a clinical assistant professor of physical therapy at New York University, helped us determine what you should look for when you’re purchasing a footrest and why you might want one in the first place.

To sit comfortably at a desk for long stints, many people need some help. Most fixed-height desks range from 28 to 30 inches tall, which is ideal if you’re between 5-foot-9 and 6 feet tall. At that height, you could keep your feet firmly flat on the floor, your thighs parallel to the ground, and your wrists at or below elbow level while typing—as recommended by ergonomics experts.

But most people aren’t 6 feet tall (PDF).

If you can’t keep your feet firmly flat on the ground at your desk while also typing comfortably with your arms parallel to the floor, you need a footrest.

Biomedical engineering professor Laura Punnett told us that “when your feet are hanging, pressure builds up quickly on the underside of the thigh, compressing nerves and blood vessels.” NYU physical therapy professor Kevin Weaver said that compression can lead to a host of issues, including trigger points in the hamstring muscles and irritation of the sciatic nerve.

If you’re already experiencing back, leg, or foot pain, a footrest could help alleviate that discomfort by offering needed support.

Anything can be a footrest, of course: a stack of books, a cardboard box, a large dog who likes to sleep near your feet. A dedicated footrest, however, is more durable and more comfortable than a makeshift option (and definitely less likely to get up and walk off than your pup). Also, the tilting and rocking features found on most footrests let you change your leg position and add in some movement for more-active sitting, helping offset some of the hazards of prolonged, static sitting.

Based on advice from our ergonomics experts, we prioritized footrests that have adjustable heights and tilt and are able to rock. We eliminated those that have lots of owner reviews recounting poor durability, as well as under-desk hammocks and footrests designed for propping up your feet on airplanes.

Our research and our experts’ advice showed us what to look for in a great footrest:

• Comfort: Compared with not using a footrest, your legs and feet should feel better almost immediately, and your entire body should feel more supported. You should be able to angle your feet and legs in a position that feels comfortable and reduces strain.
• Ease of rocking: The smoother the back-and-forth rocking, the easier it is to subtly add movement at your desk. If the footrest is clunky or noisy when it rocks, it will distract you from your work. We dismissed ottomans/footstools like this one because, although they look sturdy, they don’t provide a rocking mechanism; most also have a fixed height that won’t work for everyone.
• Stability: A footrest is for planting your feet on, not for chasing around under your desk. Anti-slip grips are a must for keeping your footrest in place.
• Durability and ease of cleaning: A sturdy footrest will survive constant and heavy use. And a removable cover or a simple, solid surface will help keep your footrest from becoming a dirt trap.

To test the footrests, I used all the candidates side by side for over two weeks, and also recruited groups of four to six panelists who are shorter and taller than I am—ranging in height from 4-foot-8 to 6 feet tall—to join me in footrest-testing parties.

Sitting around a 28.5-inch-high table, the panelists propped up their feet (in socks, shoes, or slippers, according to their preferences) on each footrest, rocked each one back and forth, complained about or complimented the comfort of each model’s surface, and scribbled notes about each footrest’s looks.

The ComfiLife Foot Rest is the pillow your feet didn’t know they needed, especially if you work at your desk without shoes on. Compared with competing and similarly priced foam footrests, its high-density foam maintains its shape over months of use, and the cover and inserts are easier to keep clean.

It hits the sweet spot between firm and soft. The footrest’s high-density foam has just enough give to let you joyfully squish it with your feet throughout the day, without it caving in or losing its shape. It’s like a stress ball for your feet.

The ComfiLife Foot Rest’s plushy comfiness encourages you to press your feet into it, but for added movement, you can flip it over to rock your feet back and forth, as ergonomics experts recommend. The rocking is less noisy with this foam model than with plastic or wood footrests, but it does require a bit more force due to friction from the fabric.

It has two height adjustments. The 2-inch detachable base can raise the footrest height from 3.9 inches to 5.9 inches. If you’re likely to use the ComfiLife Foot Rest with and without shoes, the height adjustability is nice to have.

Some other foam footrests, such as the Hokeki Foot Rest, lack this adjustable base. Some wood and plastic footrests can offer more granular and higher height adjustments, but our testers found that the two heights of the ComfiLife Foot Rest accommodated them well while also offering a more cozy experience.

It’s stable. Unlike some of the other footrests we tested, the ComfiLife Foot Rest actually stayed put on wood and carpeted floors in our tests. The grippy rubber texture on the bottom keeps the footrest in place, even as you pound it with your feet. By comparison, almost all of the plastic footrests we tested slid on hard floors with every foot movement.

It’s durable, well designed, and easy to clean. Compared with other foam footrests we tested, the ComfiLife Foot Rest’s cover was the easiest to remove for cleaning, thanks to a better zipper design and a separate cloth cover over the insert.

The zipper on its base attachment goes around two sides, versus the single-sided zipper on a former pick, the ErgoFoam Adjustable Foot Rest. It’s a tiny detail, but it makes removing and reinserting the insert easier.

The foam inserts in the main and base components of the ComfiLife Foot Rest are covered by nonremovable cloth encasements. These make the inserts easier and more pleasant to remove than grabbing spongy yellow foam; plus, they also help protect the foam from hair, dust, and other detritus while the velvet covers are getting washed and dried.

Even if you like to use your footrest with shoes on, this model from ComfiLife will stand up to the punishment; the cover can be vacuumed, as well as easily hand- or machine-washed (on the delicate cycle) and air-dried.

This footrest comes with a lifetime warranty should you have problems down the line.

You have options. Though many similar footrests come only in black, the ComfiLife Foot Rest is available in three colors—black, gray, and navy—and classic or teardrop shapes. The classic design is best for resting your feet beneath your knees, while the teardrop works best if you have your feet pushed out farther from you.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The ComfiLife Foot Rest’s removable outer covers make this footrest easy to clean, but cloth covers are also more likely to collect and show lint, hair, and other debris than a hard surface. Ideally, you’d use this footrest without shoes so it wouldn’t get too dirty.
• If your primary goal is to encourage smooth rocking while you sit at your desk, Humanscale’s wooden footrest rocks more smoothly than the ComfiLife Foot Rest and other foam footrests. But if you want the comfiest stationary footrest that you can also use as a foot rocker on occasion, this is the one we recommend.

How the ComfiLife Foot Rest has held up

“I am a fan. Haven’t needed to wash it yet either. I ran a handheld vacuum over it once when a bunch of fuzzies came off a new pair of socks.” —Alex Vaughn, senior product manager, owner of the ComfiLife Foot Rest since December 2022

If you want a footrest that looks more sophisticated than our top pick and that you can adjust more exactly for your height, the Humanscale FR300 Foot Rocker is a rock-solid option. The wooden platform sits atop a metal stand and glides smoothly back and forth.

It rocks smoothly and doesn’t slide around. Our panelists found the footrest to have a soothing rocking action, which prevents your legs and feet from being stuck in one position all day. Although you can’t lock it into one angle, the footrest is plenty stable if you do want to keep your feet still. However, it’s mostly ideal for encouraging constant rocking while you sit at your desk.

Despite that rocking action, the footrest doesn’t slide around, and thanks to the rubber feet at the bottom, it won’t damage hardwood floors.

It’s extremely sturdy and durable. Made of metal and wood, the FR300 is the sturdiest and most durable footrest we found (aside from its sibling, the Humanscale FR500 Ergonomic Foot Rocker, which isn’t height adjustable). Plus, while most foam and plastic footrests offer only a short, one-year warranty, the FR300—like our top pick, the ComfiLife Foot Rest—offers a lifetime warranty.

Height adjustability means it works for a range of body types. Unlike many of the other footrests we looked at, the FR300 is height adjustable, so you can use the knobs on the side to raise it up to 3 inches higher—from 3.75 to 6.75 inches. (It took us a little while to figure that out because the footrest doesn’t come with instructions.) That versatility puts this footrest ahead of competitors that aren’t height adjustable—the FR300 is just easier to use if you’re sitting at different table heights and if you’re sharing a desk with other people.

It works best with shoes or slippers. If you’re working without shoes, the FR300 won’t be as comfortable as a foam footrest due to its hard surface and tough, textured grips. If you like to work barefoot, consider our top pick.

If you need a tall height-adjustable footrest that you can lock into place: Check out the Vivo STAND-FT01. This mostly metal stand can be adjusted from 5 to 10.2 inches by inserting the platform into six pairs of holes in the frame. It reminds us of a rung on a ladder. Although we like the platform’s nonslip, grippy texture (best used with shoes or sandals) and the rubber feet on the bottom, the Vivo footrest wobbled just enough from side to side to keep it from being a pick.

This is not a comprehensive list of all footrests we’ve tested. We have removed models that are discontinued or no longer meet our criteria.

The ErgoFoam Adjustable Foot Rest, a previous top pick, hasn’t fared well in our long-term testing; the model we tested for nearly three years now sags too much, especially in the middle. In addition, its cover is harder to remove than that of the ComfiLife Foot Rest, and the foam inserts don’t have their own covering.

The teardrop-shaped IKEA Övning Multifunctional Ergonomic Footrest has an elegant look with a light-gray and light-green cover. However, our testers said it was too stiff and had a beanbag-like texture underfoot. It caved in a bit in the middle after using it for a couple of hours, and it lacks the nonremovable cloth cover for the foam insert found on our top pick.

Two foam footrests we tested, the BlissTrends Foot Rest and the CushZone Foot Rest, were almost as comfortable as our top pick, the ComfiLife Foot Rest, but they have a rougher cloth cover that’s easier to clean but less luxurious underfoot. Like the ErgoFoam Adjustable Foot Rest and the IKEA Övning, they lack cloth coverings for the foam inserts, and the covers were a bit more difficult to remove. These footrests have large, 20-inch-wide variants, though, so if you want an extra-wide model (the ComfiLife Foot Rest is 17.5-inches wide), you might consider one of these.

The Hokeki Foot Rest is comparable to the ComfiLife Foot Rest, with a similarly velvety cover. The cushion was firmer than we wanted, and we preferred both the ComfiLife model’s feel and its removable base for adjustable height.

We considered the IKEA Dagotto Footrest because it has a metal base that looks sturdier than the all-plastic ones we previously tested. But in testing, the footrest felt flimsy—sometimes the platform even fell off the base—and the whole thing slid around on our hardwood floor.

The plastic Mount-It Adjustable Ergonomic Foot Rest MI-7804 slides too easily under pressure, as did the Mind Reader Anchor Collection Adjustable Ergonomic Foot Rest. The latter also has large, plastic bumps that are designed to massage your feet, but none of our panelists found them comfortable.

The Fellowes Standard Footrest is the worst footrest we tried. It has an uncomfortable plastic, textured surface similar to that of the Mind Reader model. It’s noisy, feels plasticky and cheap, and slides all over the place. One panelist, whose employer had provided him with this exact footrest, said he tried it for five minutes and promptly returned it.

The Kensington SoleMate Comfort Foot Rest with SmartFit System is one of the few footrests we found that has several height settings, from 3.5 to 5 inches, and you can lock the angle in place or use it as a rocker. It combines a plastic base with a thin, memory-foam top, and it’s more comfortable than the other plastic footrests we tried. But it’s not as comfortable as the foam footrests, and it was difficult to adjust the height via the screws. It’s also a little noisy and stiff when you rock it. A few of our panelists remarked that it felt cheap, and several owner reviews complained that it broke after a few months.

The wooden, rocking costs less than the Humanscale FR300, but we decided against testing it after reading customer reviews that say it doesn’t stay in place or that the rubber on the bottom peels off.

Like our upgrade pick, the Humanscale FR300 Ergonomic Foot Rocker, the Humanscale FR500 Ergonomic Foot Rocker boasts an attractive, solid-wood and metal design, as well as a lifetime warranty. It has smooth rocking action in a one-piece design, and the little grips on the surface keep your feet from sliding off. It’s a sturdy foot rocker, but we recommend the FR300 for its height adjustability.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.