Best Chairs & Stools
for Standing Desks 2021
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Ryan Fiorenzi, B.A.
Updated: March 13, 2021
What is a Standing Desk Stool?
A standing desk stool, also known as a standing desk chair, is a type of seat that is often paired with a standing desk. It allows you to rest in a position between sitting and standing. Many avid standers appreciate the third option aside from standing and sitting while working at their desk. There are also other options like drafting chairs, yoga balls, and active sitting stools that can compliment a standing desk.
If you'd like to learn more about standing stools and chairs, what to look for, and the various types, check our in-depth guide: Buyer's Guide to Standing Chairs and Stools
Why Get a Standing Desk Chair or Stool?
Standing desk stools are quickly gaining popularity among standers. Here are the main reasons people use standing desk stools:
- More options - simply having another position to choose from is one of the main benefits of getting a standing stool or chair. Changing positions frequently is one of the keys to staying active at your desk and avoiding pain and soreness.
- Reduced pressure on your joints - leaning takes a lot of pressure off your feet, knees, and spine without the increased lower back stress of sitting. It's a great middle-ground.
- Less sitting time - as more people become aware of the risks of excessive sitting, a leaning stool or chair can significantly reduce the time spent in a chair. You are actively sitting to remain upright. While it burns fewer calories than standing, it burns more than sitting.
Our Process
Our review process is simple, but each step is in-depth and critical to make informed recommendations for our readers.
While we do have extensive experience in office furniture, standing desks, chairs, and stools, we also tap our network of experts, doctors, and chiropractors to understand what our bodies need in a chair or stool. This is especially important for office furniture that enables you to sit. When seated, your spine endures much more stress than when standing. Having proper support while still enabling movement is key.
Once we've established a foundation of what to look for in a chair or stool for a standing desk, we then survey the market and create a list of manufacturers and models for us to consider. This list is then refined by customer reviews, features, and price points to generate the list of products we will review.
Our team spent several weeks testing chairs and stools in our own offices to provide unbiased reviews so that you can decide which chair or stool will work best for you. Here are our criteria and what we've found to be important when considering a standing desk stool or chair.
- Stability - most leaning chairs and tools have a single tube supporting the seat. With the high pressure applied when leaning, it's important for the stool to be stable and confidence-inspiring.
- Height adjustment - just like the standing desks these are often paired with, you will want to adjust the height to your exact posture needs.
- Seat comfort - fairly self-explanatory, we look for seat surfaces that are forgiving and ergonomic to create comfortable office chairs.
- Design - this is a little subjective but design matters. We see a wide variety of design and quality in the standing chair and stool market. Some are very boldly designed, and others are more generic.
- Quality - how is the finish? Is it going to last? What areas, if any, are likely to fail with continued use? We ask ourselves these questions when reviewing any product.
- Overall value - value is always very important to us. Our definition of value is getting the most benefit from the stool or chair for money spent.
Best Chairs and Stools for Standing Desks
While we pick an overall top recommended stool, we realize that you may find one thing more important than another, especially when it comes to standing desks, as you can go in many different directions with your chair or stool. With this in mind, we have picked chairs and stools spanning multiple categories so you can choose which is best for you:
Songmics Stool
Best Budget and Value
Modway Veer
Best Drafting Chair
Best Drafting Chair Runner Up
Learniture Stool
Best for Active Sitting
Varier Move
Varier Move Tilting Saddle Stool (Black Revive Fabric with Natural Ash Base) (Kitchen)
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Best High-End Stool
Best Stability Ball
Compare Table
Use the table below to compare the stats of our top recommended chairs and stools. You may want to pay special attention to the minimum and maximum height range. Whether you prefer leaning, sitting, or both, shop for a stool with a height range that will work for you and your needs.
Types of Standing Desk Chairs and Stools
| Chair/Stool | Min Height |
Max Height |
Seat Width |
Seat Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Songmics Stool |
19.7" | 27.6" | 15" | 15" |
| Modway Veer | 21.5" | 29.5" | 20" | 19" |
| Flash Furniture Drafting Chair |
17.5" | 25" | 20" | 19" |
| Learniture Stool |
18.5" | 28" | 12.6" | 12.6" |
| Varier Move | 22" | 32.25" | 16" | 16" |
| Vivora Luno | 22" | 24" | 22" | 22" |
As you can tell from our list, there are a variety of seating types you can pair with your standing desk. Here's a breakdown of the different types of seating on our list and what they enable you to do differently than a conventional chair.
- Leaning stool - a leaning stool like the Varichair allows you to rest in a position between standing and sitting. You keep your desk a little lower than standing height and lean back on your stool to take the weight off your lower body. Most stools like the Varichair are designed to be sat on as well and require support from your lower body to prevent tipping over.
- Drafting chair - are a conventional office chair with a high minimum and maximum height that is designed for a fixed standing desk, reception counter, or other high work surfaces. Drafting chairs are great because they allow you to simply step off your chair to begin standing. Some can be used for leaning and some even offer an adjustable height. Just make sure to match the height of the chair to the height of your desk to ensure proper ergonomics.
- Active sitting chair - a somewhat new type of chair, active sitting chairs allow you, as the name suggests, to be active while you sit. They allow your body to move while you sit due to the lack of a backrest, armrests, and stability. The objective is to use your lower body to stabilize yourself and encourage movement while you sit. These chairs/stools are a great pairing with a standing desk because you can stay active both standing and sitting.
- Stability ball - a stability or yoga ball chair is also a version of an active sitting chair but enables even more movement allowing you to continuously move side to side, up and down, and oscillate while you work. Stability balls also provide a light core workout and can be a great way to form good posture habits.
- Kneeling chair - kneeling chairs are gaining popularity for a lot of great reasons. They allow many benefits, including allowing your body to remain in a natural position as it forces you to be upright, and engaging the muscles used for good posture. If you are going to try it, make sure that your standing desk can get low enough for you to kneel comfortably with your forearms parallel to the desk and ground.
Standing Desk Chair Frequently Asked Questions
Here are our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the standing desk chairs and stools.
What is a standing desk chair?
A standing desk chair is a stool that you can lean against while working at a standing desk. Standing desk stools reduces pressure on your feet, knees, hips, and lower back.
Why should you get a chair for your standing desk?
Many standing desk users use a chair or stool to give them even more flexibility when working: they can rotate between sitting, standing, or leaning.
How do you make a standing chair?
Making your own standing desk chair or stool will require some skill working with wood and or metal to ensure that the base doesn't slip, is sturdy, and is comfortable.
Where can you buy a standing desk chair?
Standing desk chairs and stools are available online through companies that specialize in standing desk products. You can go directly to a manufacturer's website, and some companies sell on amazon.
Do chairs for standing desks offer lumbar support?
Some standing desk chairs, such as a leaning stool, offer no lumbar support but position your hips in a way that correctly supports your lower back. Other traditional options provide lumbar support.
More Resources
If you're interested in leaning chairs and stools or standing desks in general, we encourage you to check out the following related resources:
- Proper posture - even with the use of a leaning chair, you're likely to spend a decent amount of time standing or sitting at your desk. Check out our guide to Proper Sitting & Standing Desk Ergonomics.
- Preventing back pain - standing and leaning will help back pain, but there is more you can do to help. Here are 17 things you can do to prevent back pain.
- Avoid common mistakes - when you're just getting into standing or leaning it's easy to make mistakes. We've compiled a list of 10 common problems and what you can do to avoid them.
- Interested in kneeling? - our resident chiropractor Dr. RJ Burr lends his expertise on the cutting edge topic of kneeling and how it can benefit you and your spine.