Best Rowing Machine in the UK (2026)

My pick: the Concept2 RowErg. It is around £990 (checked 30 Oct 2026), with free mainland GB delivery from Concept2, no subscription, no app to pay for and a performance monitor built for training rather than entertainment.

It is not the quietest machine, the prettiest or the most motivating. It is the one I would tell most readers to buy, because the things that go wrong with home rowing machines (a monthly fee you stop wanting to pay, a monitor you cannot trust, a machine nobody will buy second-hand) mostly don’t apply to it.

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 around Black Friday.

Best overall: Concept2 RowErg

The RowErg is an air rower. A flywheel sits inside a fan cage, and the harder you pull, the more resistance you feel. You change the feel with a damper lever and a setting on the monitor, which is why the drag factor is worth understanding before you start.

What the spec sheet gives you:

• 244 x 61 cm footprint (Concept2 says to allow 274 x 122 cm with clearance)
• Splits in two without tools for storage, to 63.5 x 83.8 x 137.2 cm
• 26 kg with standard legs
• PM5 performance monitor with a device holder, plus the ErgData app
• 2 years on moving parts and the monitor, 5 years on the frame, 30-day returns
• No subscription

Concept2 quotes 227 kg as the weight it tested to and 135 kg under the EN 20957-7 standard. Use the 135 kg figure when you are choosing.

The real argument for the RowErg is comparability. Concept2 machines are the common currency of rowing clubs, 2k tests and online rankings. If you want to know whether your 2k is good, or follow a 2k erg programme, you want the machine everyone else is using. Machines with their own monitors and their own resistance curves give you numbers, but not numbers you can compare.

What I would worry about

• Noise. Air resistance means a fan whooshing through the stroke. I have no decibel figure and won’t invent one, but expect it to be louder than a magnetic rower. Think early-morning flats and thin floors before you buy.
• Length. 244 cm is long. It splits in two, which helps with storage, but it will not tuck behind a sofa.
• No coaching. The monitor tells you what you did. It does not tell you what to do. If you need that, pair it with a plan such as the 12-week beginner to fit programme.
• Seat height. The standard legs are the low option. If getting down to the seat is hard on your knees or back, the tall-legs version raises the seat, at around £1,149.

Do not buy it if you need a screen with classes to turn up at all, if you live somewhere where a fan noise is a problem, or if you are heavier than 135 kg and want a machine rated well above that.

The full write-up is in the Concept2 RowErg review.

Best for a living room: WaterRower Original

Water rowers use a tank with paddles. The resistance builds as you pull and the feel is closer to a boat than an air flywheel. They also look like furniture, which matters if the machine lives in the room you sit in.

The WaterRower range was renamed. It is now Original, Performance, Hybrid, Lite and Metallic. The Original starts from around £1,199 (checked 30 Oct 2026) with the S4 Bluetooth monitor. The retailer listings show:

• 209 x 57 cm footprint
• Stands upright for storage
• About 30.5 kg before water
• 315 kg maximum user weight at Fitshop, 200 kg at John Lewis, so confirm this if it matters to you
• 5 years on the frame, 3 years on parts
• No subscription needed for the S4 monitor

The trade-offs are cost and monitor. It is £209 more than the RowErg, and that is the starting price: other finishes run to around £1,599. The S4 monitor is simpler than a PM5, and scores are not comparable with Concept2 rankings. It also needs somewhere upright to live, because it is 209 cm tall on its end. Check your ceiling.

Do not buy it if you are mostly interested in racing or testing yourself against others, or if you have low ceilings and nowhere to keep a 209 cm machine on its end.

If a WaterRower appeals but £1,199 does not, the Hybrid is from around £899, and John Lewis lists it with a simpler A1 monitor and a 130 kg maximum user weight. See the under £1,000 guide for how it compares.

The Decathlon-backed alternative to the Hybrid is the Domyos Woodrower 3-in-1, at £899.99 from Decathlon. 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. Decathlon’s real water rower is the Domyos x WaterRower WR3, at £999.99.

Best for classes: Hydrow Wave

Hydrow sells an electromagnetic rower with a screen and a library of on-water and studio sessions. The Wave is around £1,435 at Fitshop (checked 30 Oct 2026). The membership is sold separately and needed for full access.

The Wave costs £445 more than a RowErg to buy, and that gap is only the start. A Concept2 RowErg has no fee, so its cost stops at the purchase price, while a Hydrow keeps costing you every month. If the classes are what get you out of bed, that may be money well spent. If you would row to your own plan, it is not.

Fitshop lists a 203 x 48 cm footprint, a 16-inch screen, 46 kg and a 170 kg limit. Upright storage needs an anchor, sold separately. Fitshop shows 12 months in its manufacturer warranty table but also quotes 5 years on the frame, so ask before buying.

Do not buy it if you cannot commit to the membership for years, or if you want a machine you can still use fully when the subscription lapses. The step-up Hydrow Origin is around £1,515 at Fitshop, with a 22-inch pivoting screen, and it needs the same membership. For a longer look, see the Hydrow rowing machine review.

Best budget air rower: Xterra ERG780

Under £500, the best way to get something close to the RowErg’s feel is the Xterra ERG780, an air rower at around £449 at Fitness Superstore and £499 at Sweatband (checked 30 Oct 2026). It folds for vertical storage, weighs 26 kg, takes 150 kg and has a 4-inch LCD with Bluetooth and Kinomap support.

The costs are comfort and certainty. I would not expect its monitor to be comparable with a PM5, and a budget frame will not have the same service history as a Concept2. It is a good machine to start on if £990 is a stretch, and it is covered in more detail in the under £500 guide.

A cheaper way into rowing: magnetic and folding rowers

If the only goal is to row three times a week without noise, a magnetic rower like the Echelon Row, from around £599 (checked 30 Oct 2026), is a fair choice. The catch is the optional Premier membership, so add up the monthly fee over three years and only take it for classes you will actually use.

For the smallest options see the folding rowing machine guide and the small spaces guide.

Machines to skip or avoid assuming

• Peloton Row is not sold in the UK. The US model is now called the Cross Training Row+.
• Hydrow Arc does not appear at the UK retailer I could check, which lists the Wave and the Origin only.
• Kettler, York and Reebok rowers appear in older guides. Check a model is still on sale before you rely on an old review.
• Older WaterRower guides use model names that no longer match the range. Today it is Original, Performance, Hybrid, Lite and Metallic, with the wood finishes sold within them.

What I weighed

A few principles sit behind these picks, so you can disagree with them sensibly.

Running costs count. A machine costing £300 more with no subscription is cheaper than one with a £30 monthly fee after about ten months. I count subscriptions against every pick above.

Comparable numbers count. If you ever want to know whether a time is good, or follow a plan written in 500 m splits, a Concept2 is the shared scale. That matters less for someone who just wants to stay fit.

Storage is a real cost. The best machine is the one that is set up often. A rower that takes ten minutes of hassle to get out is rowed less.

Warranty length is a signal, not a guarantee. Concept2 and the WaterRower Original both list five years on the frame. For Hydrow, Fitshop’s listing shows both 12 months and 5 years on the frame, so ask before buying.

Sale prices change. Everything above was checked in the run-up to Black Friday. The ranking should hold, but the gaps between machines may not.

How to choose

Before you buy any rowing machine, check three numbers: the length with clearance, the ceiling height if it stands upright, and the weight limit against your own. Then plan how you will use it. A machine you are shown how to use is a machine you keep using. The first month on the erg, the common rowing technique faults and the stroke rate guide will save you from the usual early mistakes.

For the head-to-head between the big three, read Concept2 vs WaterRower vs Hydrow. If you are unsure about the resistance type, air vs water vs magnetic explains the differences. First-timers should read the beginners guide, and all machines are listed in the rowing machines hub.