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Rowing is one of the most efficient and effective forms of exercise, offering a total-body workout that can help you improve your cardiovascular fitness and build strength while putting minimal stress on your knees and other joints.
But rowing is a technical sport that requires coaching and practice to learn, and doing it wrong could result in injury. Moreover, rowing indoors on a basic machine is about as exciting as sawing wood.
Our favorite high-tech rowing machines for your home gym solve both problems: They can teach you how to row properly and reinforce good technique so you stay safe, while keeping you entertained for every stroke so you're more likely to hop on day after day. All of the rowing machines on our list feature a built-in color touch screen on which you can access interactive features such as live classes, virtual races, fitness games, scenic workouts, and streaming services like Netflix. These interactive features vary by model, so be sure to check out our individual reviews for a full rundown of the experience you get with each one.
Keep reading for our top picks, followed by our Buying Guide with more information and tips to help you narrow your options.
Our Top Tested Picks
NordicTrack RW900 Rowing Machine
Best Value
NordicTrack RW900 Rowing Machine
- Large, bright screen
- iFit gives you access to a massive library of beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts
- Includes outdoor, studio, and map-based workouts
- Automatically adjusts resistance level to match wind and water conditions for outdoor workouts
- Quiet
- Folds up to save space when not in use
- Works with heart rate monitors
- Expensive
- iFit membership costs extra after the first year
Why We Picked It
The NordicTrack RW900 is a monorail-style rower featuring a 22-inch HD touch screen that tilts and rotates, and a silent magnetic resistance system. Its SmartAdjust feature uses machine learning technology to automatically adjust the resistance during your workout based on your performance and preferences and the trainer's cues.
An iFit membership gives you access to a vast library of iFit global workouts filmed in picturesque locations in more than 40 countries on all seven continents. The platform's world-class trainers (including Olympic athletes) will help you perfect your technique and motivate you to push harder. The membership also includes a vast library of off-rower workouts including strength, yoga, HIIT, and more.
Who It's For
If you want a workout with a view, it's hard to beat the NordicTrack RW900, which offers the widest selection of global workouts to virtually transport you all around the world as you exercise. Following a legal battle with Peloton, NordicTrack's rower now lacks leaderboards, so if you are motivated by competition, there are better options. This model has a 82-by-22-by-54-inch footprint, weighs 163 pounds, and supports riders up to 250 pounds.
Best Form Feedback
Peloton Row
- Premium build
- Smooth ride
- Fun, effective classes with engaging metrics
- Live classes and competitive leaderboards
- Form feedback
- Appropriate for all fitness levels
- Large, varied workout library
- Excellent Spotify, Apple Music integration
- Expensive
- Few scenic guided rowing classes
- No third-party video streaming support
Why We Picked It
Not only is it one of the smoothest and quietest rowing machines on the market, the Peloton Row is also the smartest. It boasts a unique Form Assist feature that tracks your movements to determine whether you're performing each stroke correctly and warns you when your form isn’t right. The Row features an electronically controlled magnetic resistance system and a 23.8-inch 1080p touch screen that tilts and swivels. Peloton's workout library offers everything from challenging rowing, strength, and floor cardio classes when you want to work up a sweat, to meditation, stretching, and yoga to support you on your rest days. The Row delivers the same excellent interactive features that Peloton Bike and Tread owners know and love, including live workouts, competitive leaderboards, social high fives, and flawless integration with Apple Music and Spotify.
Who It's For
The Row is suitable for all experience levels, and its innovative Form Assist feature—a first for a rowing machine—makes it particularly well suited for beginners. Peloton's rowing machine measures about 94 by 24 by 45.5 inches (LWH) and weighs 156.5 pounds. It's recommended for riders at least 16 years old, between 4 feet 11 inches and 6 feet 5 inches tall, and weighing up to 300 pounds. The Row's closest competitor is the original Hydrow, which offers a similarly luxurious experience and better scenery during classes, but no form feedback.
Most Comfortable
Aviron Strong Series
- Comfortable, smooth ride
- High seat
- Adjustable foot carriage
- Excellent rowing coaching
- 507-pound rider weight limit
- Supports multiple media streaming services
- Clunky interface
- Speakers could be louder
- Lackluster workout music selection
Why We Picked It
The Aviron Strong features a higher seat than most of the competition, so it's easier to get on and off, and it offers a smooth and comfortable ride with adjustable foot width support. Most rowing machines only let you adjust the foot pad length; the Aviron Strong is the only rowing machine with a built-in mechanism that lets you customize the width between your feet for optimal comfort and range of motion.
It's large, rotating display gives you access to an excellent suite of interactive features, including immersive games and competitions, video streaming services, and more. You'll probably row longer than planned as you break down walls of bricks, shoot flying bugs, run from zombies, race Olympians, and compete against other members of the community. Aviron's membership also includes a limited selection of coached workouts, but gaming is the focus of the platform vs. trainer-led classes.
Who It's For
The Aviron Strong is the best rowing machine for those with mobility issues, or anyone seeking a more comfortable ride. It measures 84 by 27 by 48 inches (LWH), weighs 114 pounds, and is meant for riders up to 507 pounds and 6 feet 8 inches tall. It's also a top choice for those in search of a rowing machine with a variety of entertainment options to combat boredom.
Best Scenic Workouts
Hydrow
- Offers frequent live classes, competitive leaderboards, and racing challenges
- Smooth, comfortable, and quiet operation
- Sleek design with a large, bright screen
- Excellent classes and instructors
- Supports Bluetooth headphones and heart rate monitors
- Company donates to Water.org every 60 days you're active
- Expensive
- Limited selection of workouts not using the machine
- Class membership costs extra
- Can't play your own music
Why We Picked It
Combining top-of-the-line equipment with immersive live streaming workouts, the Hydrow is one of the most luxurious smart rowing machines you can buy. It offers a buttery smooth, quiet ride with an electromagnetic drag mechanism, and its 22-inch touch screen tilts and rotates for a good viewing angle on and off the machine.
Hydrow has thousands of workouts in its on-demand library across the following categories: rowing, pilates, mobility, strength, and yoga. Most of Hydrow's rowing workouts are filmed live on the water, with the coach in an actual boat, so you never know what might happen. During the rowing workouts, you have a third-person view of the coach, so you can easily follow along to match their stroke rate. Hydrow also brings an element of competition and philanthropy to your workouts with leaderboards, weekly challenges, and company donations to Water.org after every 60 days you're active.
Who It's For
If you want a premium at-home rowing machine with scenic trainer-led classes, the Hydrow is a top choice. It measures 86 by 25 by 47 inches (LWH), weighs 145 pounds, and supports riders up to 375 pounds with a 36-inch maximum inseam (a measurement from your inner thigh to the floor).
Best for Small Spaces
Hydrow Wave
- Competitive price
- Compact design
- Five color options
- Quiet
- Excellent scenic outdoor content
- Classes for all experience levels
- Daily live workouts
- Competitive leaderboards
- Not as smooth as the original model
- Screen doesn't rotate
- Apple Watch integration requires Watch Link device (sold separately)
Why We Picked It
The Wave is Hydrow's smaller and lighter rower. Like the original, the Wave is a monorail-style rower with a quiet electromagnetic resistance system. The Wave doesn't feel quite as smooth as the original Hydrow, and it features a smaller 16-inch display that doesn't rotate, but it offers access to the same fantastic workout streaming platform at a more reasonable price. Hydrow offers plenty of content for all levels, and its well-organized interface and filtering options make it easy to find suitable classes. With around 200,000 users, Hydrow's in-class leaderboards are highly competitive.
Who It's For
If the original Hydrow rower is out of your budget or too big for your workout space, you might be interested in the Wave. This model measures 80 by 19 by 43 inches (LWH), weighs 102 pounds, and is recommended for riders up to 375 pounds with a maximum 36-inch inseam.
Best Water Resistance Rower
Cityrow Max
- Fun and effective instructor-led workouts
- Excellent class variety
- Offers beginner, advanced, and partner classes
- Water resistance mimics rowing outside
- Rotating touch screen
- Compact, lightweight, and folds for upright storage
- Defective parts on test unit
- No leaderboards
- Can buffer on a slow internet connection
Why We Picked It
The Cityrow Max is a WaterRower-manufactured rowing machine like the Ergatta, but with a monorail-style design and a class-focused experience. With a wood frame, a clear water tank, and a 19.5-inch touch screen, the Cityrow Max is one of the best looking models on this list. Moreover, it will keep you coming back day after day thanks to a wide selection of live and on-demand coached workouts that bring the experience of a boutique fitness class to the comfort of home. It doesn't offer scenic global rows or leaderboards, but the Cityrow Max stands out for its Signature HIIT classes that alternate time- or distance-based rowing intervals with strength moves like bicep curls, lunges, squats, and deadlifts for a full-body workout. In addition to its on-demand library, Cityrow streams around 30 live workouts each week, during which the instructor can track your efforts and offer real-time feedback and shoutouts. Cityrow also offers mobility and yoga classes, which are a great supplement to the more intense HIIT and strength workouts, especially when you're sore.
Who It's For
The Cityrow Max is best suited for those in search of fun and efficient exercise classes, who also favor the sound and feel of a water resistance rower. Most of Cityrow's classes are suitable for all experience levels, and there's plenty of beginner-friendly content for those who are new to the sport, as well as advanced classes to challenge experienced rowers. Measuring 85 by 22 by 45 inches (LWH) and weighing just 75 pounds dry (or around 112 pounds with water in the tank), the Max supports users up to 375 pounds with a 39-inch maximum inseam.
Best Meditative Experience
Ergatta
- Attractive design is compact and lightweight, plus folds for upright storage
- Features competitions, training programs, and monthly challenges
- Personalized workouts and races based on your fitness level
- Water resistance mimics rowing outside
- Supports Bluetooth headphones and heart rate monitors
- Expensive
- No instructor-led rows or any workouts off the rower
- Smaller display than competitors
Why We Picked It
No rowing ergometer can truly replicate the experience of being on the water, but the Ergatta comes close. With a handsome cherry wood frame and a clear water tank, it's easily the best-looking rowing machine on the market, and it makes a relaxing swooshing sound. This water resistance rower features a dual-rail design and a 17.3-inch touch screen on which you can browse and play gaming- and racing-inspired workouts that are personalized for your fitness level.
Who It's For
The Ergatta is best for those who would rather play a fitness game or join a race than take a workout class. It doesn't offer trainer-led classes or floor-based workouts, but it's a solid option if you're motivated by competition and value aesthetics. It measures 86 by 23 by 40 inches (LWH), weighs 76.5 pounds without water (and around 103 pounds with water), and supports users up to 6 foot 8 inches tall (with a 40-inch maximum inseam) and up to 500 pounds.
How Much Should You Spend on a Rowing Machine?
All of the options on this list top $1,000, and are meant to be paired with a subscription for access to classes and other interactive features. Membership fees typically cost around $30 to $45 a month, though you can generally secure a lower rate by prepaying for a year or longer.
The most expensive model we have tested is the Peloton Row, which will set you back more than $3,000, plus $44 a month in membership fees.
With any smart workout machine, membership fees help fund regular updates with new content and features to improve the experience and keep you entertained. Without a membership, you can typically only access basic metrics on your machine's display.
When assessing your options, pay close attention to what's included in the membership. Many smart fitness machines offer mat-based workouts like yoga and strength training to supplement your cardio, adding value to their membership fee.
Also consider how many people will want to use the machine. Some companies let you create an unlimited number of profiles under one membership, so everyone in your household can maintain a separate account to track their workout history and stats. Others limit you to a certain number of profiles under one account; Peloton, for instance, limits you to 20 user profiles per All Access account.
For more affordable alternatives, companies such as Concept2, Echelon, ProForm, and others make sub-$1,000 models that work with your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth to offer similar interactive features via companion or third-party mobile apps. These options are good if you're on a budget, but they don't offer as immersive an audiovisual experience as models with built-in screens and speaker systems.
How Much Space Do You Need for a Rowing Machine?
Rowing machines typically require a space about 6 to 8 feet long. If your high-tech rowing machine offers mat-based exercise classes, like many of the models on this list, you'll also want at least enough free space to place a yoga mat beside the rower.
Some rowing machines fold up and/or can be stored vertically to save space. If you plan to store your rowing machine vertically, be sure to note its dimensions in the upright position (a spec we include in our individual reviews) to ensure your ceiling is high enough. The Peloton Row, for instance, requires an 8-foot ceiling for vertical stowing.
Also be sure to heed any safety warnings for vertical storage. Most companies recommend using a wall anchor when storing your machine in an upright position. Peloton includes a wall anchor with the row, while some other companies require you to purchase one separately.
Air vs. Magnetic vs. Water Resistance: Which Is Best?
There are several different types of rowing machines including magnetic, air, and water. There's no one best type, and each offers unique advantages.
Magnetic rowing machines have the benefit of being virtually silent, which makes them well-suited for home use. Some of our favorite at-home rowing machines use magnetic resistance, including the Peloton Row, the Hydrow, and the NordicTrack RW900.
Air (or wind) rowers are loud, but typically less expensive than magnetic options and often do not require a power outlet to operate. The air-powered Concept2 RowErg, a staple at CrossFit gyms, has a cult-like following with many devoted fans, but it doesn't offer much in the way of built-in entertainment features, so boredom can be an issue. Some machines, like those from Aviron, combine both air and magnetic resistance.
Water resistance machines like the Ergatta and the Cityrow Max most closely mimic the feel of rowing an actual boat and make a pleasant swooshing sound, but you need to remember to add a purification tablet to the tank every six months to prevent algae growth.
Magnetic rowers allow for more control over a resistance setting called drag factor than air or water rowers, but you shouldn't have to adjust this often. For a traditional aerobic rowing workout, you generally want to keep the drag factor somewhere in the middle of the supported range while a high drag factor setting will give you more of a strength training workout. Regardless of resistance type, drag factor should not be thought of as a general difficulty setting.
As a rule of thumb, newbies should stick with the recommended default drag factor for their rowing machine. Advanced rowers might want to tweak this setting, but many people, including Olympians, never do.
Magnetic rowing machines let you adjust your drag factor via the touch screen, physical buttons, and/or a knob. Some air rowers feature a damper lever on the side of the flywheel that lets you change the drag factor, while others are not adjustable. To change the drag factor on a water resistance machine, you must add water to the tank, or siphon it out.
How to Row: Proper Technique Is Key
Rowing might look like it mostly involves your arms, but if you're doing it correctly, most of your power comes from your legs. If you do it incorrectly, you can hurt your back or shoulders, which would obviously be a major setback for any fitness goals.
The rowing stroke is a complex movement consisting of four parts: the catch, drive, finish, and recovery. You start out leaning slightly forward with your knees bent and your arms extended holding the handle (the catch), then push your feet into the footboards to extend your legs before you hinge at the hips to slightly lean your torso back (the drive), and finally, bend at the elbows as you pull the handlebar back to your sternum (the finish).
You move in this order: legs, body, arms. On the recovery, you reverse that sequence to make your way back to the catch position, first extending your arms, then hinging at the torso so your hands pass beyond your knees, and finally bending your legs.
When you're doing it right, rowing is a full-body workout that engages more than 80% of your muscles. It's commonly said that rowing is about 60% legs, 20% core, and 20% arms, so if you're muscling it with arm strength alone, you're doing it wrong and putting yourself at risk of injury.
Common Rowing Metrics: Understanding Split and Stroke Rate
Sorry, Americans: In rowing, distance is measured in the metric unit of meters. While rowing, you'll mostly want to pay attention to your pace and stroke rate.
Pace, also called split time, typically indicates how long it would take you to row 500 meters. In other words, a 2:00/500m split time means it would take you two minutes to row 500 meters at your current pace. Just like when you're running a mile for time, the lower your rowing split, the better. This will vary person-to-person, but beginners may want to shoot for a sub-3:00 split, and work towards decreasing it over time. The fastest 500m split times on record are around 1:10 for a man and 1:24 for a woman. To lower your split, you must increase your intensity (push harder with your legs), but increasing your stroke rate can also help.
Stroke rate, also called strokes per minute (SPM), indicates your average number of strokes per minute. The higher the number, the quicker you must perform each stroke. For most workouts, stroke rate varies from around 18 to 30.
Output, another common rowing metric, is a measure of your power in watts. The higher the number, the better. Like pace, output can help you gauge your intensity throughout your workout. The best way to increase your output is to push harder with your legs, but again, increasing your stroke rate can assist here.
Which Rowing Machine Is Best for Beginners?
All of the models on this list offer beginner-friendly instructional content as part of their membership, but the Peloton Row is the best model for newbies thanks to its unique Form Assist features. Using sensors in the handlebars and seat, the Row can track your movements to deliver real-time and post-workout form feedback.
Following an initial calibration, a Form Assist visualization on the Peloton Row class screen will sync with your movements and highlight areas for improvement in real time. If you do something wrong or out of order—like bend your knees too early, lean back too far, or slump forward—the corresponding body part will light up in red, so you can adjust your technique accordingly.
At the end of each workout, you receive a Form Rating score out of 100% based on your performance. Peloton also gives you a score out of 100% for each phase of the rowing stroke, so you can see which parts you need to improve on. In your workout history, Peloton offers a detailed form report for each rowing class you have taken, with a breakdown of your errors and tips to improve.
Regardless of which rowing machine model you choose, it's important to start slow and easy, spend time learning the fundamentals of the stroke, and be patient with yourself. When I first started rowing in 2020, I could only do it for about 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Since then, I've spent countless hours training on these high-tech rowing machines while testing them for reviews. With proper technique, I can now comfortably row for upward of 45 minutes at a time, and I'm able to generate a lot more power with each stroke.
