Sitting at your desk all day is literally a pain. It’s bad for your mental and physical health and slowly turns you into a hunched-over keyboard gargoyle. You could take walking breaks away from your screen, but even then, you’re still spending a lot of the day on your butt.
Enter: the walking pad. These tiny treadmills fit under standing desks and allow you to rack up steps while you work. It might sound far-fetched, but yes, you can exercise and be productive on your computer at the same time. In fact, I’m convinced these things actually make me more efficient. They keep my energy up, and I’m more locked in. Working from home is exponentially better with my little office hamster wheel.
There are tons of walking pads on the market, with varying speed capabilities, extra features like built-in desk platforms, and durability. We tested the ones below to help you narrow down your search to the best of the best. Are you trying to get more fit in 2025? Don’t forget to check out our picks for the Best Treadmills, Best Fitness Trackers, and Best Running Shoes.
Power up with unlimited access to WIRED. Get best-in-class reporting that’s too important to ignore for just $2.50 $1 per month for 1 year. Includes unlimited digital access and exclusive subscriber-only content. Subscribe Today.
How to Pick a Walking Pad
Obviously, budget is a major factor. Outside of that, here’s what you’ll want to consider as you pick out a pad.
Space constraints: Walking pads are typically much smaller than full-blown running treadmills, but most home office areas aren’t exactly sprawling, either. Make sure the footprint will work for you, or consider a foldable option. If you’re planning to store the thing when you’re not using it, make sure it can fit under the bed or couch in your room.
Weight capacity: Walking pads aren’t as heavy, as strong, or as durable as treadmills, and that means they tend to have a lower weight capacity. Make sure the one you’re interested in will work for you and anyone else who will be using it. Typically, a higher weight capacity means it should hold up longer in general. Per the reviews I’ve read, walking pads are notorious for falling apart after only a few months or a few years of use, so it might be worth getting something that’s a little more heavy-duty.
Tracking your metrics: Most walking pads have some kind of display on them that shows you the steps and mileage you’re tallying, but many don’t keep that count going if you step off and get back on later. Most also have an app, which can sometimes sync your metrics from the machine so you can check them from your phone. If tracking is important to you, you’ll probably want that option. Otherwise, make sure you’re wearing a fitness tracker.
Extra features: Some walking pads have an incline, a speed range that allows you to run on them, and built-in desks. Some allow you to set the pace with a remote or quicken or slow your steps to automatically adjust the speed. Consider how you’d like to use the walking pad most often and then look for options that can meet those needs.
Best Overall
This little guy is a top pick on Reddit, and I can see why! It’s incredibly lightweight and easy to set up, the deck feels comfortable underfoot and has good energy return, it has a good weight capacity for a walking pad, and it’s very affordable. The remote connectivity is solid, and the app (called Sperax Fitness) syncs easily with the machine. These things might seem basic, but after testing some other walking pads with wonky functionality, it was a refreshing change.
It was easy to assemble; I had it out of the box and up and running in a matter of minutes. It also has a vibration mode; I’m not really sure what this does, but I guess getting a full body shake feels good. It’s also only 3.5 inches tall, so you can easily slide it under a couch or prop it against a wall in a closet. Since it’s on the shorter side (39 inches), I thought I might feel like I was going to fall off, but I didn’t have to shorten my strides at all. (If you’re tall, this might be a problem for you.) Even though I have a few walking pads to choose from, I want to keep using this one.
However, this pad is quite noisy. There’s a significant whirring every few minutes—I thought it was a leaf blower in the distance at first. The display on the machine is tiny, and your step count starts over if you take a break. The machine doesn’t turn off right away if you step off, like some others, which could be a safety issue.
I don’t like the app; it doesn’t log your steps from the machine. The app has workouts where you can walk in different parts of the world, and those steps are logged, but you have to have the app open with the workout video playing on your phone, which is annoying. The machine is also so light (27 pounds!) that I am a bit worried about its durability. I hope it holds up, because I like this one a lot!
Best Foldable Walking Pad
WalkingPad C2 Mini Foldable Treadmill
This is a much longer and heavier walking pad; it’s 57 inches (32.5 inches when folded), which means it’s a good choice for taller folks or anyone who has a long stride. The deck feels good, though not as springy or as padded as the Sperax. This machine was a bit of a pain to set up. Getting the Bluetooth remote and app (called KS Fit) to connect with the pad was a struggle, initially. I also didn’t like that when you first start using the machine you have to spend time walking at slower speeds before you can “unlock” the upper end of the range.
I like the level of control and the tracking capabilities of this device more than the Sperax, though. You can adjust the speed via either the remote or the app, and you can use the pad without the app. You can check your time, speed, distance, calories, and steps on the large display. The app is a little wonky—if you don’t start a workout with the app, your progress won’t be tracked or logged, and it doesn’t sync later. It also saves each walking session separately, so if you take a break, you start from zero again, but you can see your daily steps on KS Fit if you do a little digging (that is, if you’ve been using it with the app).
There are also workouts in the app, which, whatever, since I like to use the machine in manual mode, which means it doesn’t change based on my pace. Automatic mode uses sensors under the belt to adjust the speed to your pace. It felt awkward, since I couldn’t figure out how to slow the pace without the device totally stopping. You switch between modes with the app or the display and can stop and start the machine using the app or remote. I tend to use the app more than the remote, because the remote connectivity is inconsistent.
The machine feels like it will be durable and last a long time. Its heft makes it harder to move around than the Sperax, and while the folding capability is a win in general, if you plan to slide this under something, make sure the folded height (5.4 inches) will work.
Best Incline Walking Pad
The EgoFit is about the same length and width as the Sperax but taller, thanks to its fixed 5 percent incline. It will make your walking a bit more of a workout but may pose some storage issues. It has similar app and tracking capabilities to the WalkingPad C2. When former WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano reviewed the EgoFit, she noted that both the remote and app (called FitShow) controlled the machine well, but only the app preserved her step data.
A screen on the front of the machine cycles through time, calories burned, distance walked, steps, and walking speed, and if you step off the pad for a break, those numbers will go back to zero. The app will save each session, but you need to use it to control the treadmill for it to start tracking; it won’t automatically sync later if you use the remote. The app also zeroes out if you pause your walking, so you’ll have to add up your sessions to get your daily step count.
Giordano appreciated how quiet and lightweight the EgoFit was, saying it was easy to move around her home to use in different places. It helped her increase her daily step count from a few hundred to an impressive 14,000 or more.
“For me, gyms are a nightmare. I don’t want to carve out the time to drive there or have to look presentable when I’m exercising. With the Egofit, I can walk for as long or as little as I want, knowing I can do more later,” Giordano wrote. “I can walk for 20 minutes, make lunch, walk for 10, go snuggle the cats, and then do a night session while I binge Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. You can’t do that with a gym membership.”