Best standing desks in 2024: May top picks

Best standing desks in 2024: May top picks

Switching from a regular desk to one of the best standing desks is not only better for your health but can also be the perfect upgrade for your home office.

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I've built and tested more than a dozen standing desks by myself to help you find the right model for your needs and budget. Based on our in-depth reviews, the best standing desk overall is the Vari Electric Standing Desk. It's easy to assemble, features an elegant design, and comes with useful accessories to make your life easier. If you're on a tight budget though, the Fezibo Electric Standing Desk can be had for just over $200.

Below you'll find everything you need to know about the best standing desks you can get today and learn more about our testing process. Whether you want a compact standing desk for a small space or even one with drawers for storage, there's something here for every budget and use case.

The quick list

The best standing desks you can buy today

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The best standing desk overall

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Vari electric standing desk with a chair and laptop

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Vari electric standing desk - closeup of desk controls

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Vari electric standing desk - closeup of desk controls to make it go up and down

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Vari electric standing desk raised to standing level

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Vari electric standing desk disassembled

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Vari electric standing desk with a laptop on top

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Vari electric standing desk with a laptop on top

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Vari electric standing desk - closeup of included hooks

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The Vari Electric Standing Desk stood out immediately for its gorgeous work surface, which not only looked better than the competition, but was thicker, too. I especially liked its chamfered edges, and the fact that Vari throws in two hooks—so you can hang your purse or a set of headphones—as well as a coaster to protect its surface. What’s more, the company also offers a range of accessories, from power strips to cable-management trays to monitor arms, to fully outfit your desk.

If you’re not particularly enamored with the reclaimed wood of our review model, the company offers a variety of other materials, including white, butcher block, black, and darkwood. While not as varied as other standing desks on this page, each option was very attractive. The model I reviewed also came with a programmable control panel that let me set four preset heights for the desk and had a small LCD readout that displayed its height. It’s a feature you can get with most standing desks, and it’s one worth spending a bit more on.

What especially impressed me about the Vari desk was the ease with which I was able to put it together. It took about 15 minutes total to get everything assembled, about half the time as other standing desks I've tested. If you’re not particularly handy, this is definitely the standing desk for you.

Read our full Vari Electric Standing Desk review.

Best standing desk for features

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(Image credit: Flexispot)

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Flexispot E7 Pro Plus

A premium standing desk at a reasonable price

Our expert review:

Specifications

Desktop size:

48 x 24, 48 x 30, 55 x 28, 60 x 24, 60 x 30, 72 x 30, 80 x 30 inches

Min/max height:

22.8 to 48.4 inches

Max supported weight:

355 pounds

Electric:

Yes

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Reasons to buy

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The Flexispot E7 Pro Plus is a dual-motor, electric standing desk that packs in plenty of premium features for the price. Besides a metal cable management tray that makes it easy to run wires up to the top of the desk, its keypad also has a USB port so that you can charge your smartphone, tablet, and other devices while working. This is one of my favorite features and one I wish more standing desks would adopt as well.

Flexispot makes it easy to customize the E7 Pro Plus with plenty of different desktop materials to choose from and a range of desktop sizes that go all the way from 48 x 24 inches up to 80 x 30 inches. Although building the desk isn't as easy as putting the Vari Electric Standing Desk together, the assembly process was pretty straightforward and all of the tools you'll need are included. I finished building this desk in just over 30 minutes. With a maximum height of 48.4 inches and a minimum height of 22.8 inches, the E7 Pro Plus can accommodate a wide range of users.

Read our full Flexispot E7 Pro Plus review.

The best budget standing desk

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(Image credit: Fezibo)

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The Fezibo Electric Standing Desk is a great option for people who want to upgrade to a standing desk on a shoestring budget. To reach its low price of just over $200, Fezibo had to make some cuts which is why this desk has a single motor and lacks the child lock settings you'll find on more expensive models. Still though, the Fezibo Electric Standing Desk can support up to 176 pounds (79kg) and has a maximum height of 46.9 inches and a minimum height of 27.5 inches. I was really impressed with just how many more premium features this desk has like its control panel with an LED display.

While the Fezibo Electric Standing Desk is my new budget pick, during testing it felt sturdy at all times and was still relatively quiet even with a single motor. I also like how there's a hook at the back of the desk that can be used for hanging your headphones, cables, or other accessories. Also, there is a cable management tray available but you will need to purchase it separately.

Read our full Fezibo Electric Standing Desk review.

The best compact standing desk

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The Branch Duo Standing Desk is Branch's second standing desk and it features a number of improvements over its predecessor such as a frameless design that leaves extra space for an optional desk drawer. There's also a new OLED control paddle that reminds you when it's time to stand up. Branch even offers an optional cable management tray that affixes to the back of the desk along with a custom power strip that screws onto the back of the desk.

Besides these new improvements, one of the things I really like about the Duo standing desk is that in addition to a 48 x 25-inch version, there's also a much more compact 36 x 24-inch model which is great for smaller workspaces and apartments. Branch also includes reusable inserts for this desk so that it's easy to disassemble if you have to move. The Duo Standing Desk pairs well with the new Branch Verve Chair too.

Read our full Branch Duo Standing Desk review.

The best standing desk for customization

For more information, please visit electric standing desk with storage.

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Uplift V2 standing desk with laptop on top

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Uplift V2 standing desk controls close-up

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Uplift V2 standing desk disassembled

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Uplift V2 standing desk with laptop and notepad on top

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Uplift V2 standing desk with laptop on top

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I'll admit, I wasn't the biggest fan of the walnut veneer that came with the Uplift V2 standing desk I reviewed. Fortunately, Uplift offers the desk in a variety of surfaces, from laminate to bamboo to solid mahogany; there’s even a whiteboard option, in case you like the idea of writing on the desk itself.

Like the Fully Jarvis, the Uplift can support up to 350 pounds, the most among the standing desks I've tested so far. It also took about half an hour to assemble for me to assemble which isn't too long at all but still not as easy as putting the Vari standing desk together. Ultimately, the Uplift is a very good standing desk, but not my favorite model. However, if you want a desk you can sleep as well as work at, Uplift also sells an under-desk hammock but it's only compatible with the wider models of the V2. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to try it out myself but it's one of the most talked about features in the reviews on Uplift's website.

Read our full Uplift V2 standing desk review.

The best standing desk for storage

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Realspace smart standing desk with a chair and a laptop

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Realspace smart standing desk with its drawers open

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Realspace smart standing desk with a desktop PC and an ultrawide monitor

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The Realspace smart standing desk's built-in cable management tray

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The two USB-A ports and one USB-C port on the side of the Realspace smart standing desk

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The Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk sets itself apart from the other standing desks on this list in a few ways. Not only is it a smart standing desk you can control with an app or your voice thanks to Google Assistant and Alexa support, it also has fairly large drawers for storage and three USB ports on the side for charging your devices. The Realspace smart standing desk comes pre-assembled for the most part and I just needed to install the legs and its keypad which took about half an hour.

The built-in drawers gave me more than enough space to store a laptop and other accessories. However, the design of the Realspace smart standing desk limits the amount of weight it can hold to 88 pounds. This should be more than enough for most people’s needs but if you want to use a bulky gaming PC and multiple monitors, you’ll be better off with one of the other standing desks on this list like the Uplift V2 or the Vari standing desk.

Read our full Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk review.

Other standing desks we've reviewed

Vari Curve Electric Standing Desk - Like the original Vari Electric Standing Desk, the Vari Curve Electric Standing Desk is one of our favorites. While it was our top recommendation for a bit there, this particular model has now been discontinued and replaced by the Vari Electric Standing Desk with ComfortEdge. It doesn’t have the same curve but it does have the waterfall edge the company first introduced with its Curve Electric Standing Desk.

EverDesk Max - The EverDesk Max is from the Sinaporean company NorthDay which also makes the ErgoTune Supreme V3. This electric standing desk is just as customizable as the Uplift V2 but you will need to purchase accessories like the cable tray, pegboard panel and cable spine separately in one of NorthDay’s bundles. This is worth doing though as these accessories add a lot of extra storage and allow you to fully customize this desk to your liking.

IKEA Trotten - The IKEA Trotten is by no means a bad standing desk but it is a manual one and we’ve chosen to prioritize electric standing desks for this guide. This means that instead of pushing a button, you need to manually turn a crank to adjust its height which can get tiring real fast. If you are in the market for a manual standing desk, I’d suggest you take a look at pneumatic ones instead as you just need to lift them or push them down to adjust their height.

Fully Jarvis Bamboo - The Fully Jarvis Bamboo is a nice-looking standing desk with plenty of customization options when it comes to the desktop as well as accessories. It costs as much as the Vari Electric Standing Desk which we think is a better standing desk overall and a lot easier to assemble.

FlexiSpot EC1 - The FlexiSpot EC1 is still available at some third-party online retailers but it has been officially discontinued by FlexiSpot. Still, we were really impressed by how well this budget desk performed in our testing along with the customization options. If you’re interested in the EC1 but want to buy this desk directly from the company, FlexiSpot has replaced it with the FlexiSpot E2 which is slightly more expensive.

IKEA Bekant Standing Desk - The IKEA Bekant is a nice looking standing desk that we think costs a bit too much for what you get. For instance, its keypad is quite basic with only an up and down button and its cable management tray is made