Best Rowing Machines in 2023 Reviewed!

After an amazing full body workout? Or a reliable piece of cardio kit for your home gym? Our list of the very best rowing machine recommendations are here to help:

Best Rowing Machines in 2023: 

• Best rowing machine overall – Concept 2 RowERG
• Best rowing machine for home – LIT Method Rowing Machine
• Best rowing machine for beginners – Concept 2 RowERG
• Best rowing machine under £500 – Stamina ATS Air Rower 
• Best rowing machine compact – Sunny Health Folding Rowing Machine

Whether it’s been part of a CrossFit workout, or  your cardio routine, you’ll know that rowing machines provide a fantastic workout. No only does it get the heart pumping by triggering a cardio response, it also works muscles in the legs, arms, back and pretty much everywhere else. 

Due to their fantastic health and fitness benefits, rowing machines are becoming more and more popular. A mainstay in any CrossFit Box, the indoor rowing machine is now making its way into home gyms across the globe too. 

What’s more, there’s a huge range of products out there to choose from, that are suitable to just about any home gym and budget. Whether it’s a water rower, hydraulic or adjustable resistance, there are plenty to challenge your body. 

And, if you’re tight on space, you might be looking for a compact rowing machine, which can be brought down for use and neatly stored away while you do the rest of your workout. 

When it comes to finding a rowing machine, best approach is to look at what you need in relation to your fitness levels and your budget and go from there. Once all that’s laid out, you’ll be able to start searching for the right product for you. 

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If you’re not sure about where to start on your hunt for the best rowing machine for you, we’ve laid out our top picks for categories which we believe are important for someone who might be looking to buy a rowing machine. Each product we have explored in this reviews has something unique to offer you, and will be suitable to certain people or needs, and some will be better suited to you than others. 

Rowing Machine Best Overall – Concept 2 RowERG

For us, when it comes to a truly reliable rowing machine, that give you great performance, a variety of resistance, and doesn’t cost thousands, we can’t fault the Concept 2. Used in competition at the CrossFit games, the Concept 2 RowErg is effective, powerful and easy to use. 

You may even recognise this rower as it’s probably one of the most well-known rowing machine brands on the market. And, after reviewing it, for a good reason too. When it comes to rowing machines, the best one we tried with the highest value for money was definitely the Concept 2. Find out more below. 

With adjustable foot beds, an easy-to-use, yet effective workout screen and changing resistance, we think it suits everyone, from a seasoned pro to a beginner looking to start out with indoor rowing. 

While we know there are other, fancier options out there with impressive smart screens and video displays, we struggled to find a rowing machine that offered more in terms of the practical elements of working out, than the Concept 2. Sure enough it’s simple in that respect but we found it to be incredibly effective too – we weren’t sure we’d need anything else from a rower. 

When our team tried it out, we all felt it delivered on performance and ticked all the boxes on functionality – when it comes to getting in a good workout we felt you really don’t need all the extra frills a lot of rowers come with nowadays.

What’s more, while this rower doesn’t fold away, it can be stored compactly by lifting it up and storing on one end, which frees up plenty more room for your home gym. 

At $900, sure enough it’s more expensive than other options on this list. However, other machines we’ve found (those with the smart screens etc) are in the thousands. It’s our favorite overall because it’s effective, it’s reliable and it’s nowhere near as costly as some other rowers on the market. 

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Best rowing machine for home – LIT Method Rowing Machine

Our top pick for the best rowing machine for home is the LIT Method rowing machine. While we say it’s a rowing machine, it really does offer a lot more than that. 

On top of a four-options water resistance, the LIT (Low Intensity Training) Method rower is also designed to help you perform low intensity, yet we found, very effective pilates and strength training workouts.

We liked this a lot, because you’re getting more than just a rower, which is so important for something that you’ll have in your own home. We enjoyed the fact we could row, stretch and do a strength workout, using just one versatile piece of kit.

The website says you can do more than 500 movements on the LIT Method trainer, we didn’t get a chance to try them all, but we can see how this would be very handy if you have limited space and want a versatile workout.

What’s more, when you buy a LIT Method rowing machine, you also get access to a huge selection of workouts. We liked this for our top pick for best rowing machine at home, as it means you have support if you’re struggling for workout inspiration.

In terms of tech, the LIT Method rower also offers Smart technology, so you can track you workout, with ease too. We found it easy to use and effective.

And, as this is our top pick for rowing machine for home, we also were pleased to find it stored away easily, as it can be tilted up and wheeled around with ease, then stored vertically. This makes it a great option if you need to store it away, and bring it out when you need to use it. 

Due to it’s adaptability, versatility and easy-to-move and storage features, we rate it as a great option for an at home rowing machine. 

When it comes to price, there’s a few options to choose from. The starter package offers just the rowing machine, resistance bands, ankle cuffs and handles so you can perform quite a lot of the movements. This comes in at $2,099 but we have seen it reduced to $1,749, which is good deal. Plus, there’s a financing option so you can pay monthly, which works out as a similar price to most gyms! 

Or, you can go for the performance package where you get everything we’ve listed above, but with a strength bar, more resistance bands, a heart monitor and a phone holder too. This comes in at $2,460 but again, we often see this going for $2,099 so definitely snap up a discount quickly if you can! Again, this is available on finance too which could make it more affordable in the long term.

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Best rowing machine for beginners – Concept 2 RowERG

If you’re starting out with a new indoor rower, you need something reliable with adjustable resistance settings and a straightforward interface. For that, we turn once again to the Concept 2 RowERG. 

When we were trialing different rowing machines, the best thing for a beginner definitely seems to be the ability to start off with a lower resistance, learn the technique and build in strength and confidence from there. 

Once that’s been perfected, we found that the Concept 2’s interface was simple and easy to use, giving you everything you need as a beginner. You can monitor and track your power output, your time, strokes per minute, calories burned and pretty much anything else you might need, whatever your ability level. 

The Concept 2 is powerful, reliable, easy to use and comfortable. For us, it ticks all the boxes for a great beginners rowing machine. 

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Best rowing machine under $500 – Stamina ATS Air Rower 

If you’re looking for the best rowing machine on a budget, our under $500 is sure to be a winner for you. We tried and tested a range of reasonably priced rowers and found that the Stamina ATS Air Rower came out on top. 

For your money, you’re getting a whole lot of rower. While you can’t adjust the resistance yourself, the rower matches your pace, so it never feels ‘easy’. We found this to work well, and ensured that the workout was still challenging even as we moved faster. 

The interface is the most simple of any of the others on this list, but as you’re paying less for it, it really does everything you need it to. Think Strokes Per Minutes, distance and speed, and timer and calories. 

What’s more, this is a foldable rowing machine, so storing it away is quick and easy, so you have space in your home gym for the rest of your workout. 

We found the seat to be comfortable, but didn’t have the ergonomic design of other, more expensive options. 

Despite the elements that might not be there compared to other rowing machines on this list, the Stamina ATS is still a great piece of kit that allowed us to do a great, challenging workout. Plus, at a price of just $329.99, you’ll have change to spare on your new home gym from your $500 budget.

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Best rowing machine compact – Sunny Health Folding Rowing Machine

If you’re creating your own home gym, the likelihood is that you’re probably a bit tight on space. Not everyone has room for everything piece of kit they need, and space is so often at a premium. As such, you need the best compact rowing machine that you can take out when you need it and store away when you’re done. 

Pretty much all of the options on this list can either be stored vertically, or folded away when you’re done. But, if you’re looking for a rower that we think would be the smallest or easiest to store away, we’ve picked the Sunny Health Folding Rower. 

With dimensions of 23-inches (width), 36.3-inches (depth) and 47-inches (height) we found it to be a good size that freed up a good amount of room in a small space. 

And, when unfolded, at 77-inches long, we found it to be a reasonable size, which came in under many others on the list. It is worth considering that, if you are quite tall, then you may hit the stopper on the back of this rowing machine, which may not make for the smoothest rowing experience. Something to bear in mind before you think about buying. 

How we review the best rowing machines

For our review of rowing machines, the best approach is to trial and test a range of models in the exact same way. As such, our team selected a set of workouts, some short and fast, some intervals and some longer, distance workouts. 

Between these, we managed to get a good feel of how effective the resistance was in fast, changing environments, and how comfortable and reliable it was for longer stints. 

We also took into account the useability of the machine, thinking about the interface available, vs what you really need to use. Some of the more expensive rowers out there have plenty of bells and whistles that really aren’t necessary. It might not suit everyone, but we appreciate the simplicity of knowing how fast you’re going, how hard your going and how far you have to go. Anything else starts to rack up the cost quite significantly. 

Once we tried and tested the rowers on this list, we worked as a team to compare, contrast and evaluate the pros and cons of each. With this information, we were able to understand what they would be best for. 

The categories we chose to evaluate the rowers on are based on what we believe people are looking for in a rower, based on conversations we’ve had with home gym owners. We found overwhelmingly that potential buyers were looking for a rowing machine that best fit into a good budget, was good for beginners, and would fit in well at home in a smaller space. So, with this information in hand, we carefully reviewed each product, and many more, to find the best options for these categories.