Desk Risers

Adjustable Desk Risers: Find your perfect fit

If you're looking for a fast and affordable way to convert to a standing desk, you can't beat an adjustable desk riser. Relative to other sit to stand products, desk risers are affordable, easy to install, and relatively light to ship.

Originally pioneered by Varidesk, the industry for these pop-up desk risers has grown drastically over the last 6-7 years - and so have your options. So we've put together this simple guide to help you find the right model of standing desk riser for you.

What is a Desk Riser?

A desk riser is typically described as a height adjustable desk surface that sits on top of your desk, and allows you to alternate between sitting and standing. They usually come in a 2-tiered design - an upper surface for your monitors, and a lower surface for your keyboard tray - although there are many options out there with only a single surface. Most desk risers are adjustable from about 6" high at their lowest setting, to a max height of 16" - 20" for standing.

Adjustable Desk Risers

Table of Contents

Why buy a Desk Riser
How to choose the right Desk Riser
Shop Desk Risers

Why Buy a Desk Riser?

Desk risers are great because they're easy to get started with, and extremely affordable. By nature, most desk risers require little to no assembly - just place them on top of your desk and you're ready to sit and stand as you desire. No designers, architects, or color matching required.

And at a fraction of the cost of a typical standing desk, it's no wonder that desk risers out-sell full standing desks by about 10 to 1.

Adjustable Desk Riser raising and lowering

Pros:

Extremely affordable: ranging from $100 - $500 (and you get what you pay for)
No assembly required (with some exceptions that require light assembly)
Fits right in with your current furniture
Fast and easy: easy to shop for and most ship within a few days
Low risk: if they don't suit your eye or fit your desk, they are easy to return

Cons:

Small work surface: which means you can't take everything with you when you stand
Bulky: desk risers take up a good portion of desk space and don't look as nice as some other options

How to choose the right Desk Riser for you

Now that you have a sense for what a desk riser is and why you should consider buying one, let's help you decide which model is right for you.

A quick search for desk risers will demonstrate a huge variance in price among models and brands, so comparison can be understandably confusing. So it's important to understand the key features of an adjustable desk riser that differentiate between a $200 desk riser and a $400 one (and as we always say... you get what you pay for).

It's also important to determine whether a desk will fit your desk space, and adjust to your height. So here are the key criteria to consider when shopping for an adjustable desk riser:

Monitor fit: The number and size of your monitors will be the 1st factor to consider when shopping for a desk riser. If you only have 1 monitor, then your options are wide open - just about any desk riser will fit. But if you have 2 monitors, then you need to make sure they will fit on your desk riser (and you'll need at least 35" wide). For more help with this, here is our Dual Monitor Standing Desk Converters page.
Desk space: Obviously, it's important that the desk riser fit on your current desk, but it's the depth of the desk is often over-looked. If your desk is 24" deep or less (particularly if your desk is attached to a wall or cubicle), then you need to pay particular attention to the measurements at the bottom of the product page. If you think you have a particularly small space for your desk, check out this Compact Standing Desk Converters page.
Max height adjustment: This is particularly important for tall people, or for companies purchasing multiple desks for a variety of people. Many cheap desks only adjust to 16" - 17" (not great if your over 5'8"), whereas the better quality desk risers will adjust to 19" or higher. If your 6' or taller, you need 19.5" minimum.
Work space: This is a bit more about personal preference, it's worth noting that some desks feature very little work space. If you plan to have anything else on your desk besides your monitors, try to find something with a larger work surface, like the InMovement Standing Desk or the Flexispot Desk Risers.
Weight capacity: The average desk riser supports around 35 lbs, so this isn't going to matter for most people. But if you have a particularly heavy set of monitors or equipment, make sure you find something with a bit more weight capacity, like an Electric Desk Riser, or this Loctek LXR48 Desk Riser.
Lifting style: There are two main types of lifting styles: Z-lift and X-lift. Z-lift desk risers articulate toward you when you lift your desk riser, whereas X-lift move straight up and down. We are big fans of the X-lift style, because they take up less space and lower the risk of tipping.
Ease of adjustment: Some desks are easier to adjust than others, and although it's difficult to quantify, you get what you pay for. We make sure to make note of any desk risers that are particularly smooth to adjust on our product pages.

Shop Desk Risers

Now you're armed and ready to begin shopping for your adjustable desk riser, but let's see if we can narrow down the field a little bit. Below are few of our most common collections of desk risers. Please click the category that best fits your needs, or just scroll down to see ALL of our sit to stand desk risers.