Best Rowing Machine Under £1,000 in the UK (2026)

My pick: the Concept2 RowErg at around £990 (checked 30 Oct 2026). It is the pick outright. For a living room, buy the WaterRower Hybrid, from around £899. If you want a cheaper air rower, the JTX Ignite AirX is £799.

At this budget you are choosing between three ideas: an air rower you can train on seriously, a water rower that looks good, or a screen-and-class machine with a subscription on top. For most people the first one is the best use of the money, because it has no running costs.

This guide is based on manufacturer specs, retailer listings and rowing knowledge, not hands-on testing. More on that on the about page.

The shortlist

Prices will move ahead of Black Friday, so treat them as a snapshot.

Best overall: Concept2 RowErg

£990 direct from Concept2 with free mainland GB delivery, and the same at Fitness Superstore (checked 30 Oct 2026). It is an air rower with a PM5 monitor, a 5-year frame warranty and 2 years on moving parts and the monitor. It splits in two without tools to 63.5 x 83.8 x 137.2 cm, weighs 26 kg and has a 244 x 61 cm footprint. Concept2’s EN 20957-7 weight rating is 135 kg.

Over five years the sum is simple: £990, plus two D cells now and then. There is no membership.

The case against it is noise and length. The fan is the price of the air resistance, and 244 cm is a lot of room. If neither bothers you, it is the best machine under £1,000 for training. For the detailed view, read the Concept2 RowErg review.

Do not buy it if you want a screen with classes, a very quiet machine or something you can stand in a corner.

Best for a living room: WaterRower Hybrid

The WaterRower range is now Original, Performance, Hybrid, Lite and Metallic. The Hybrid is from around £899 at WaterRower (checked 30 Oct 2026), in solid oak. John Lewis lists an A1 monitor, 215 x 56 cm, 28 kg and a 130 kg limit. Fitshop lists a Hybrid with a Bluetooth monitor and a 170 kg limit from around £1,299, so check which version you are buying.

It is the cheapest way into the brand and has no subscription. It also looks good enough to leave in a living room. If you are still deciding on water, read the benefits of owning a water rowing machine.

The trade-offs: its monitor will not give you scores comparable with Concept2, and the 130 kg limit is low for a WaterRower. John Lewis lists a 3-year frame guarantee and 2 years on parts.

Do not buy it if you need to compare scores with rowing clubs, or you want a higher weight limit.

The Decathlon-backed alternative is the Domyos Woodrower 3-in-1, at £899.99. It is not a water rower. It has a wooden frame, a 9 kg flywheel and 15 resistance levels, so it gives you a similar wooden look without a water tank. It folds, and it takes up to 130 kg. If you want water from Decathlon, that is the WR3 below.

Best light water rower: WaterRower Lite (Oak)

The Lite is around £999 at WaterRower and Fitness Superstore (checked 30 Oct 2026). Fitshop lists 25 kg before water, a 130 kg limit, the S4 monitor, and 3 years on the frame with 1 year on parts. John Lewis lists it at 207 x 57 x 44 cm.

It is a good pick if you need to move the machine yourself. It costs £100 more than the Hybrid, so choose it only if weight matters to you. The small spaces guide covers this.

Do not buy it if you are over 130 kg or have no height for an upright machine.

Best value water rower: FluidRower Neon Plus

The Fluid Rower Neon Plus is around £699 at Fitness Superstore (checked 30 Oct 2026), down from a £1,399 list price at the time of checking. Tunturi’s listing gives 216 x 52 cm, upright storage at 216 cm tall, 35 kg and a 150 kg limit. Its monitor has no Bluetooth, and there is no subscription. Tunturi lists a lifetime warranty on the tank, 5 years on the frame and 2 years on parts.

It is £200 below the Hybrid and has a longer warranty on the tank than most, which is the part most likely to leak. You trade away brand recognition and, I’d guess, resale value. If you like the idea of water but not WaterRower prices, it is the one to look at.

Do not buy it if you want the best-known name or a machine that is easy to resell.

Best Decathlon option: Domyos x WaterRower WR3

The WR3 is £999.99 at Decathlon (checked 30 Oct 2026) and made with WaterRower. Decathlon’s support page lists 209 x 56 cm, 32 kg and a 150 kg limit, with 5 years on the structure and 2 years on other parts.

It costs more than the Neon Plus and the Hybrid, so you pay for the retailer, not the spec. It is mainly worth a look if you want to try it in a Decathlon store first.

Do not buy it if you can get the Hybrid for around £899.

Best for classes: NordicTrack RW300 and ProForm 750R

If you want a screen and guided sessions, two options are in budget.

NordicTrack RW300: around £799 at Fitness Superstore (checked 30 Oct 2026). It has 26 levels, a 206.5 x 63 cm footprint, a weight of about 50 kg and a 136 kg limit. iFIT Train is £14 a month. Three years at that rate is £504, bringing the total to £1,303. John Lewis lists a 2-year guarantee.

ProForm 750R: around £699 at Fitness Superstore. It folds, measures 216 x 55 cm and weighs about 45 kg. iFIT Train is sold separately, and John Lewis does not list the weight limit or folded size.

I’d be careful with both. Check the ProForm’s weight limit before you buy, and the RW300’s storage size is not listed. If you will use iFIT, the RW300 plus subscription over three years costs more than the RowErg on its own. If games are more likely to keep you rowing than classes, our guide to which rowing machines have games sets out what each brand offers and what to check on subscriptions.

Do not buy either if you dislike subscriptions, or want a long warranty.

Best quiet and foldable: Echelon Row

The Echelon Row is a folding magnetic rower, from around £599 direct from Echelon UK (checked 30 Oct 2026). I have no confirmed size or weight limit for it, so check both before you buy.

The Premier membership is optional. Add three years of the monthly fee to the machine price before you compare it with anything else here.

Do not buy it if you want the classes but not the subscription, because the classes are the reason to pick it.

Best air alternative: JTX Ignite AirX

JTX sells the Ignite AirX at £799 direct (checked 30 Oct 2026), which makes it the cheaper air rower here. It splits in two for storage, like a RowErg.

It is £191 cheaper than a RowErg, but I’d expect the monitor to be less useful for comparing performance. I would pay the extra £191 for the Concept2 unless budget is genuinely tight. If it is, our JTX Ignite Air budget rower guide sets out how to judge any cheaper air machine.

Cost over three years

Machine	Purchase	Subscription, 3 years	Total, 3 years
Concept2 RowErg	£990	None	£990
WaterRower Hybrid	£899	None	£899
Fluid Rower Neon Plus	£699	None	£699
NordicTrack RW300 (iFIT Train)	£799	£504	£1,303

Any machine with a monthly fee keeps costing more the longer you own it, so run the same sum for every subscription rower on your list. Our guide to rowing machines without a subscription covers the ones that avoid the fee altogether.

What I would do with £1,000

If I had £1,000 and no strong feelings, I would buy the RowErg and spend nothing else. If I had a strong feeling about water, I would buy the Hybrid at around £899 and keep the £100 for a mat and a heart-rate strap. If I wanted classes, I would look at whether three years of membership is really what I want to pay for, and if so, I would add that to the machine price before comparing. If it is the group class you want more than the machine, our comparison of rowing machines vs CrossFit sets out the cost and coaching on each side.

The machines I would be slowest to buy at this level are the ones that look cheap and are not. A rower that is £300 cheaper but has a £30 monthly fee costs more after about ten months of membership. Do the arithmetic for the way you will actually use it, not the headline price.

One more point on timing. The prices here were checked before Black Friday. Some may fall further and some may return to higher prices. If a machine on this page is dearer when you check, the comparison still holds, but the gap to the RowErg may not.

What to do next

If you are new to rowing, read the beginners guide and the first month on the erg. For help choosing between resistance types, see air vs water vs magnetic. For a head-to-head with the premium brands, read Concept2 vs WaterRower vs Hydrow. If £1,000 is too much, the under £500 guide has options, and the main best rowing machine guide puts this one in context.