Outdoors & Fitness
The Best Rowing Machines: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)
We compared four buyable-in-2026 rowers on resistance feel, data accuracy, noise, subscription strings, and long-term value.
The verdict in 30 seconds
What mattered most
- Resistance type
- Noise level
- Data & monitor
- Subscription
- Build & storage
- Best use case
Rowing machines split into camps that barely resemble each other: bombproof performance ergs, quiet water-tank showpieces, and screen-led studios that lean on a monthly subscription. We synthesized independent testing and long-term owner reports across four of the most-bought models to sort the genuinely great buys from the ones that ask for too much. Two earn a clear buy, one is a real it-depends, and one we'd steer most people away from.
The indestructible gym-standard erg with the most accurate monitor and zero subscription strings.
Best for: Anyone who wants serious, repeatable training and long-term value without a subscription.
- Air resistance that scales naturally with effort and a damper to fine-tune the feel
- PM5 monitor is the reference standard for pace, watts and split accuracy, with app connectivity
- Separates into two pieces and stands upright for storage; famously durable with a strong warranty
- No membership required, ever
- Louder whooshing air noise than water or magnetic rowers
- Utilitarian steel-and-plastic looks that won't win a living-room beauty contest
A handcrafted solid-wood water rower with a soothing stroke that doubles as furniture.
Best for: Buyers who want a quiet, beautiful rower and a low-key stroke feel over hardcore data.
- Water-tank resistance delivers a smooth, self-scaling stroke reviewers consistently praise as natural
- Solid hardwood frame is quiet, stable and genuinely handsome; stores upright in a small footprint
- No subscription needed to just row; optional connected monitor available
- Long-standing reputation for durability and high weight capacity
- Base monitor is basic compared with the PM5; richest metrics need an upgrade or app
- Costs more than a comparable erg and the tank adds setup and occasional maintenance
A gorgeous wood water rower whose game-based coaching only shines if you keep paying for it.
Best for: Gamers and data-driven exercisers who'll actually use — and keep paying for — the competitive programming.
- Built on a proven wood water-rower frame, so the stroke feel is smooth and quiet
- Gamified races, intervals and technique challenges keep motivation high day to day
- Lower monthly membership than most screen-led competitors
- Handsome enough to leave out in a living space
- High hardware price on top of an ongoing membership to unlock the point of the machine
- Most of the value evaporates if you ever cancel the subscription
- No live human-coached classes; the draw is games and structured programs, not instructors
A near-silent, subscription-first studio rower that stops being worth it the day you stop paying.
Best for: Someone who specifically wants guided, class-style rowing and is happy paying monthly indefinitely.
- Electromagnetic resistance is exceptionally quiet and smooth
- Immersive touchscreen with scenic on-water rows and polished, well-produced coaching
- Compact for the category and folds upright for storage
- The experience is built around a pricey monthly membership; without it the machine is largely inert
- Resistance and metrics feel less authentic and less precise to serious rowers than air or water
- High total cost of ownership once you add years of subscription fees
| Criteria | Concept2 RowERG Top pick | WaterRower Original Series | Ergatta Rower | Hydrow Wave |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Buy it | Buy it | It depends | Skip it |
| Best for | Anyone who wants serious, repeatable training and long-term value without a subscription. | Buyers who want a quiet, beautiful rower and a low-key stroke feel over hardcore data. | Gamers and data-driven exercisers who'll actually use — and keep paying for — the competitive programming. | Someone who specifically wants guided, class-style rowing and is happy paying monthly indefinitely. |
| Price tier | $$ · mid-range | $$$ · premium | $$$$ · flagship | $$$ · premium |
| Resistance type | Air (variable, damper-adjustable) | Water tank | Water tank | Electromagnetic |
| Noise level | Moderate air whoosh | Quiet water swoosh | Quiet water swoosh | Near-silent |
| Data & monitor | PM5 — reference-grade accuracy | Basic (optional connected upgrade) | App-driven, game-based | App-driven, class-based |
| Subscription | None | None (optional app) | Required to unlock most value | Core to the experience |
| Build & storage | Steel/aluminium; splits in two, stands upright | Solid hardwood; stands vertical | Solid hardwood; stands vertical | Steel; folds upright |
| Best use case | Serious metric-driven training | Quiet daily rowing with style | Gamified, competitive workouts | Guided studio-style classes |
| Price tier | $$ · mid-range | $$$ · premium | $$$$ · flagship | $$$ · premium |
Which one is right for you?
- Anyone who wants serious, repeatable training and long-term value without a subscription. Buy it Concept2 RowERG
- Buyers who want a quiet, beautiful rower and a low-key stroke feel over hardcore data. Buy it WaterRower Original Series
- Gamers and data-driven exercisers who'll actually use — and keep paying for — the competitive programming. It depends Ergatta Rower
- Someone who specifically wants guided, class-style rowing and is happy paying monthly indefinitely. Skip it Hydrow Wave
How we judged the field
We don’t run our own lab. Instead, we synthesized a large body of independent testing and aggregated owner reports to see where consensus lands after months and years of real use. For rowing machines, a handful of things separate a great buy from an expensive regret: how natural and repeatable the resistance feels, how trustworthy the on-board data is, how much noise the machine makes in a shared home, how well it’s built and stored, and — increasingly the deciding factor — whether you’re locked into a monthly subscription to get the value you paid for. We weighed no-strings ownership heavily, because a rower you own outright keeps working long after a subscription-led rival has quietly become a clothes rack.
Concept2 RowERG — buy
The RowERG is the machine nearly every serious rower measures the others against, and the reputation is earned. Its air-fan resistance scales cleanly with effort, and a damper lets you dial the stroke from a light, quick boat to a heavy, grinding one. The real star is the PM5 monitor: independent testing and competitive athletes treat its pace, watts and split figures as ground truth, and it pushes data cleanly to apps. It’s near-indestructible, backed by a strong warranty, splits into two pieces for storage, and asks nothing of you monthly. The trade-offs are cosmetic and sonic — it looks like gym equipment and the fan is audibly whooshy. For value that lasts, nothing here beats it.
WaterRower Original Series — buy
If the erg is the athlete’s pick, the WaterRower is the one you’ll happily leave in the living room. Its water-tank resistance produces a smooth, self-scaling stroke that owners consistently describe as the most natural-feeling of the bunch, accompanied by a gentle swish rather than a mechanical whir. The solid hardwood frame is stable, quiet and genuinely attractive, and it stands vertically to reclaim floor space. You can row it forever with no subscription, though the base monitor is basic — richer metrics mean an upgraded head unit or app. It costs more than a comparable erg and the tank adds a little setup and upkeep, but as a no-strings rower you’ll actually want to look at, it’s an easy recommendation.
Ergatta Rower — it depends
Ergatta takes a proven wood water-rower frame and bolts on a screen with game-based coaching: races against other members, single-player score chases, interval games and periodized programs. The hardware feel is excellent for the same reasons the WaterRower’s is, and the membership costs less per month than most screen-led rivals. The catch is structural. You’re paying a flagship hardware price and then paying again every month, and the entire point of the machine — the games and programming — largely disappears if you cancel. For someone who genuinely loves competitive, gamified training and will keep the subscription live for years, it’s compelling. For everyone else, it’s a lot of money riding on sustained motivation.
Hydrow Wave — skip
The Hydrow Wave is the most polished studio experience here: whisper-quiet electromagnetic resistance, an immersive touchscreen, scenic on-water rows and slickly produced coaching. But it’s a subscription machine first and a rower second. Skip the membership and you’re left with an expensive frame that does very little, and once you total years of monthly fees the real cost climbs well past its sticker. Serious rowers also note the magnetic resistance and its metrics feel less authentic and less precise than air or water. If class-style, guided rowing is specifically what you want and you’re content paying indefinitely, it’s fine — but that’s a narrow case, and most buyers get more lasting value elsewhere.
Concept2 RowERG vs WaterRower Original Series: which should you buy?
This is the decision most people should actually be making, because both are excellent, subscription-free, and built to last. Choose the Concept2 RowERG if you care about numbers: it has the most accurate monitor in the category, the most repeatable resistance for structured training, and the toughest reputation, all at a mid-range price. Choose the WaterRower Original Series if ambiance wins over analytics — it’s quieter, prettier, and its water stroke feels closer to real rowing, at a premium you’re partly paying for craftsmanship and looks. Put simply: the RowERG is the better tool, the WaterRower is the better piece of furniture, and both are honest, no-strings buys.
What to look for
- Resistance type: air for repeatable, effort-scaling training; water for a natural, quiet stroke; magnetic for near silence but a less authentic feel.
- Subscription strings: confirm what the machine does with no membership — some are fully usable, others are nearly inert.
- Monitor accuracy: if you want to track real progress, prioritize a proven, precise monitor over a flashy screen.
- Noise: matters a lot in apartments and shared spaces; water and magnetic are quieter than air.
- Build and storage: check the row-out length, the folded or upright footprint, and the frame material and warranty.
- Total cost of ownership: add several years of any subscription to the sticker price before comparing.
Our final take
For the widest range of buyers, the Concept2 RowERG is the rowing machine to get: accurate, durable, endlessly usable, and free of monthly fees. If a quiet stroke and handsome design matter more to you than raw data, the WaterRower Original Series is a worthy runner-up you’ll enjoy having in the room. The Ergatta Rower can be the right call for the specific person who thrives on gamified, subscription-based training and will stay engaged — go in clear-eyed about the ongoing cost. And unless guided, class-style rowing is exactly what you’re after, we’d skip the Hydrow Wave, because the best rowers here keep delivering value long after the last payment clears.
Questions, answered
Do I need a monthly subscription to use a rowing machine?
It depends on the model. The Concept2 RowERG and WaterRower work fully without any membership — you just row and read your stats on the monitor. The Ergatta Rower and Hydrow Wave are designed around a subscription, and while they'll physically move without one, you lose most of what you paid for if you cancel. If you dislike recurring fees, stick with the erg or the water rower.
What's the difference between air, water, and magnetic resistance?
Air rowers (Concept2) push a fan, so resistance rises the harder and faster you pull and they make a noticeable whoosh. Water rowers (WaterRower, Ergatta) spin a paddle through a tank for a smooth, self-scaling stroke and a softer swishing sound many owners find soothing. Electromagnetic rowers (Hydrow) use a magnet-braked flywheel that's the quietest of the three but feels the least like real on-water rowing to experienced rowers.
Which rowing machine is best for serious training and accurate metrics?
The Concept2 RowERG. Its PM5 monitor is treated as the standard for pace, watts, split times and calories, and independent testing and competitive rowers rely on it precisely because a split on one machine matches a split on another anywhere in the world. If your goal is measurable progress or structured programming tied to real numbers, the erg is the clear choice.
How much space do these take, and can I store them?
All four are designed for home use and can be stood or folded away. The Concept2 separates into two parts and stands upright; the WaterRower and Ergatta stand vertically on end and take up roughly the footprint of a dining chair; the Hydrow Wave folds upright. Full-length, expect each to occupy roughly the space of a couch while in use, so measure your row-out length before buying.
Are rowing machines a good low-impact workout for beginners?
Rowing is a popular full-body, low-impact form of exercise because the seat carries your weight and the motion is smooth rather than jarring. All four machines here suit beginners, though the Ergatta and Hydrow add guided, on-screen instruction that some new users find helpful for learning form. This is general product information, not medical or fitness advice — if you have any injury or health concern, consult a qualified professional before starting a new exercise routine.
