The analysis below is based not on our lab reviews, but on expert and user reviews from other sites. To learn more about how we lab test shoes, see Ariat Expert ESD Womens Safety Toe Shoe, which explains in detail how every test is conducted.
Are expensive workout shoes worth it?
This study analysed 323,776 reviews of 336 workout shoes from 20 different brands.
The analysis focused on the pricing, rating, and savings for shoes across the entire category as well as individual brands.
The data makes it clear that expensive workout shoes are not better than more affordable ones and are not needed to enjoy the benefits of working out.
In fact, the inexpensive workout shoes are overall rated better than the more expensive workout shoe options.
For School Leather Brogue Shoes | Key Findings
- The cheaper a shoe is the higher ratings and user satisfaction are.
- The top 10 most expensive workout shoes cost 183.05% more and had a 2.3% lower rating on Jannis than the 10 cheapest workout shoes.
- The three worst workout shoe brands: Merrell, Vivobarefoot, The North Face.
- The three best workout shoe brands: NOBULL, Skechers, Jordan.
- Sneaker Beige Safari 0408.
- The three most expensive workout shoe brands: Vivobarefoot, NOBULL, Inov-8.
Price vs Rating: Users more satisfied with lower-priced shoes
All 336 workout shoes from our database had their prices and ratings plotted against each other.
This data produced a trend line that clearly indicates a steady decrease in user satisfaction as the price increases.
Jannis price of shoes at each rating
This trend holds up when we analyse the Jannis price for all shoes with the same score.
To do this, all shoes with the same score were “bucketed” or put into “groupings”.
The Jannis price for each “bucket” of shoes was then calculated and plotted. Providing a graph that shows the Jannis price for all shoes with the same score, anywhere between 0-100.
The same significant findings appear that workout shoes with higher ratings are cheaper overall.
Expensive workout shoes vs affordable workout shoes
To further investigate this, we pulled the top 10 most expensive and top 10 most affordable shoes in our database.
For School Leather Brogue Shoes!
Not only are the top 10 most affordable shoes significantly less expensive they also had a 2.3% greater user rating and user satisfaction.
Top 10 most affordable workout shoes:
- Reebok Flexagon Energy
- Avia Avi-Edge
- For School Leather Brogue Shoes
- Skechers Haniger
- Avia Avi-Tangent
- Avia Avi-Rival
- Scarpa Атом Trail Running Обувь
- zapatillas de running HOKA ONE ONE mujer ritmo bajo talla 39.5
- Avia Avi-Verge
- Avia Avi-Solstice
Top 10 most expensive workout shoes:
- Under Armour ArchiTech Futurist
- ASICS Gel Fit Vida
- Vivobarefoot Motus
- Vivobarefoot Motus II Mesh
- GT-2000 10 Goretex Running Shoes
- Vibram FiveFingers KMD EVO
- Nike Metcon DSK Flyknit
- Vivobarefoot Primus Trio II
- Reebok Froning
- Reebok CrossFit Nano Pump Fusion
What are the best workout shoe brands?
To determine how each brands’ workout shoes compared against one another, the prices and ratings of each brands’ shoes were analysed.
For School Leather Brogue Shoes | Brand Matrix: Jannis price vs Jannis rating
Analysing the brands started by plotting the Jannis score and rating of each brands’ workout shoes.
The data produced the below brand matrix which provides a clear visualisation of the value offered by each brand.
Using the eye-test, look at the top half brands (from ASICS and above). It's clear the majority of these brands are producing very similar quality products, minus a few outliers.
It is the pricing that seems to go from one extreme of $63.11 (Skechers) to the other like $129.00 for NOBULL and $123.75 for Inov-8.
We can also analyse these two factors of Jannis price and rating individually for each brand.
5 Most expensive workout shoe brands on Jannis
- Vivobarefoot: $139.17
- NoBull: $129.00
- Inov-8: $123.75
- Jordan: $118.75
- Topo Athletic: $110.00
5 Most affordable workout shoe brands on Jannis
- Avia: $49.17
- Skechers: $63.31
- Ryka: $73.57
- Puma: $85.93
- New Balance: $88.52
5 Highest rated workout shoe brands on Jannis
- NoBull: 95/100
- Skechers: 91/100
- Jordan: 91/100
- Inove-8: 89/100
- Puma: 89/100
5 Lowest rated workout shoe brands on Jannis
- Merrell: 74/100
- VivoBareFoot: 76/100
- The North Face: 77/100
- Altra: 79/100
- Superfine sneakers til en god pris