Laptop Stand in store

Whether you're heading back to the office or working permanently from home, having the right laptop stand can make life more comfortable. It's probably time to upgrade from a stack of old books, and it's definitely time to stop craning your neck while you work. 

The best stands raise your laptop's screen closer to eye level, which is better for maintaining a healthy posture. Some can even fit into a backpack for easy travel or switch configurations from sitting to standing. These are our favorites.

Need more options for your home office? Read our guide to Work-From-Home Gear.

Updated October 2021: We've added the Yogibo lap desk and a few options from Rain Design.

Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 [$25 off]. This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine [if you'd like]. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

Peripherals Are Important

Snagging one of the laptop stands below is one of many ways you can improve your posture when sitting at a desk for long periods. Connecting your laptop to a computer monitor is another. You'll be able to multitask more easily, and you won't have to crane your neck as much.

Some of these laptop stands are best paired with a separate keyboard and mouse. These peripherals mean you can set your laptop farther away and at various heights, and you won't need to stretch your arms in awkward ways to type. The right mouse can even prevent muscle strain or carpal tunnel syndrome, so check out the picks in our Best Keyboards and Best Gaming Mouse guides. [You don't need to be a gamer to use a gaming mouse!]

ObVus Solutions Laptop Tower Stand

This is the laptop stand I kept coming back to out of the many I tried. It's sturdy, light, and sleek [as far as office supplies go]. I love that it can be raised to various heights and positions, so it should work for most people's home or work setups. You can easily go from sitting to standing, no standing desk needed [unless you are particularly tall], though it does take some muscle power to change the height and angle. That's probably a good thing, as it won't collapse while you're working and spill your coffee everywhere. I've been using it consistently for over a year, and it has stayed just as sturdy, with no issues.

$80 $70 at ObVus Solutions

A Standing Desk Converter 

Monoprice Sit-Stand Desk Converter

If you already have a desk you like but want to incorporate a sit-stand routine into your workday with all your peripherals, you'll need something bigger than our top pick. Monoprice's Desk Converter is cheaper than most standing desks, and it's dead simple to operate. Just use the buttons on each side to raise or lower the stand to your preferred height. It's surprisingly lightweight, and at its lowest setting, it's quite thin.

The only downside—and this is an issue with any converting stand—is that if you plan on raising it up and down every day, you'll lose the desk space underneath the stand that could be used for storage. My desk suddenly started looking messier when I had to find space for things that were usually tucked away.

Superjare Dual Monitor Stand Riser

I've been using this Superjare laptop stand [also available in white] for a few years, and even after testing all the others for this guide, it's still one of my favorites. It's made of particleboard, but it's strong enough to hold my monitor and laptop. It's a nice break from industrial-looking metal stands. It's also really affordable!

There are three sections—one middle piece and two adjustable sides—and you can even collapse the sides into the middle to make it shorter. I keep my monitor in the middle and my laptop slightly angled on the left side for a better two-screen setup [with the ObVus stand too]. The best part? There's space underneath for storing notebooks, a keyboard, and other stuff that tends to clutter up my desk. If you occasionally want to stand up and work, this isn't a good option. Plus, it's not easy to tote from room to room. But if you're mostly going to sit at a desk, it'll do the job.

Work From the Bed or Couch

I've been working from home since 2018, and even though I love my desk [and my computer monitor], sometimes it's too hard to leave my bed in the morning or make it off the couch in the afternoon. The Nnewvante, which is also in our Home Office Gear guide, is a great stand for those lazier days. You can't adjust the stand's height, but you can raise the base to an angle suitable to whatever you're doing—sketching, watching a movie on a tablet, eating breakfast, or typing on a laptop—and the built-in stopper keeps things from sliding off into your lap.

The smaller surface on the right stays flat and is a good place for your morning coffee. There's even a cute, small drawer for storing knickknacks! And when you're done with it, you can fold up the legs for slimmer storage. Even better, it's made of bamboo and feels very nice.

★ Aluminum Alternatives: The Uncaged Ergonomics WorkEZ Best Laptop Stand [$43] and the very similar Smart Universal Laptop Stand [$80] are other options to take from your desk to bed or the couch. The leg joints are easily adjusted by pressing each button [they lock again when they snap into place]. They both work on a desk or can be shimmied and tilted for working while you're lying down. The Uncaged stand also comes with a removable mouse pad. Neither is as sturdy as the Nnewvante, so we don't recommend using a separate keyboard on either of them—feverish typing detached from a laptop might cause them to shift around a bit—but you probably wouldn't do that from bed anyway.

The Nnewvante is great and affordable, but a lap desk is another good option for occasional work away from a regular desk. It even works in the car. Yogibo's lap desk has a squishy pillow bottom that's comfortable against your legs—not surprising from a company known for its pillows and bean bags—and a bamboo top. Most importantly, the entire tray stays still as you type because there are no legs to wobble on.

There's also a slot to hold up a tablet or phone for watching movies or video chatting. When you're done working, you can ditch the computer and use the lap desk for drawing or writing comfortably.

Despite being simple and made of thin aluminum, this Rain Design stand is sturdy. You can type away without worrying about it buckling and take it from your office to your living room or a coffee shop. It folds up to just 9.5-by-6 inches, so it fits into any bag you'd also put a laptop in. It also weighs less than a pound. It's a set height, raising a laptop about 5 inches at an angle.

The mBar Pro Plus holds 9.7-inch iPads [and up!] if placed horizontally. There's also the mBar [$25] stand, which raises a laptop 3 inches and doesn't fold up, and mBar Pro [$55], which raises it the same amount but folds.

★ More From Rain Design: This brand offers a ton of stands for tablets and iMacs too, including this robot-esque iGo stand. I tried and liked the mStand 360 [$55], which swivels on a Lazy Susan-like disc. I also liked the iLevel [$60], which has a slider for easily adjusting the height while your laptop is on it. All are designed with Apple products in mind, but most should work with other laptops too; just be sure to check the measurements and description.

VariDesk Portable Laptop Stand

The Varidesk is a solid option for standing, depending on your height. It raises your laptop 12 inches, which is 2 inches higher than the Moft stand below. It may not reach your eye level, but I really enjoyed using it for short bursts of time during the day. It folds down super flat, so it fits in my backpack, and it's light, at just over 2 pounds. The VariDesk also has a nice squeeze-to-unlock feature, so it won't collapse while you're using it.

A Multi-Height Portable Stand

Moft Z 5-in-1 Sit-Stand Desk

The Moft Z 5-in-1 stand can be easily configured into five different positions. At its tallest 10-inch height, you can comfortably stand for a little while. If you're standing for most of the day, go for the ObVus Solutions Tower, which can go higher and is more likely to reach eye level for most people. But what I really like about this one is that it's light and folds down to just half an inch thick, so you can take it anywhere without adding much bulk.

G.flow Stone Foldable Laptop Stand

This stand is made from one sheet of recycled stone paper [which is made up of stone waste from the mining industry], and it's meticulously folded to give it an accordion-like design. Unfurled, it holds your laptop steady—I was surprised it didn't buckle under the weight—with a nice viewing angle. You can then fold it up to an inch thick to take it anywhere. It's waterproof: I purposely spilled my coffee on it and was able to wipe it up without a wrinkle or stain left behind.

A Converter With a Keyboard Tray

The Smarter Office Passage Desk Converter

This standing desk converter gives you even more space than the Monoprice one, with a dedicated keyboard tray you can angle to your liking—an option I didn't know I wanted until I had it. It's very easy to raise and lower without much effort, but it's bigger and bulkier, so you'll have less free space on your desk. Plus, it's about $300 more than the Monoprice option. For comparison, the standing desks we tested range from $300 to $600. This is only a good option if you like its aesthetic, the price doesn't startle you, and you already have a desk you love.

Grovemade Walnut Laptop Stand

If you want your home office to match the other decor in your home, Grovemade's Walnut Laptop Stand might do the trick. WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu recommends it in his Home Office Gear guide, saying it's best suited for a desk or table to make room for a separate keyboard and mouse, though you can use it on a couch too. There's a stainless steel stop to keep your laptop from sliding off, and the stand's feet are made of cork to prevent it from moving around. The American black walnut base is gorgeous, and it supports up to 200 pounds. Just be prepared to spend a little cash.

★ Alternative: We also tried and liked Grovemade's Walnut Laptop Riser [$150], which looks just as nice [and is very light]. Neither stand is adjustable, but if you need your laptop at a higher angle, go with the Riser.

Twelve South makes some of our favorite accessories for iPads, and the ParcSlope is another win. It's a minimal stand that raises your device by 18 degrees. If you're using a laptop, it angles it into a slightly nicer typing position—but this stand is more suitable if you regularly draw or work on an iPad [or another tablet]. It keeps it angled just enough to comfortably work on a touchscreen.

Lention C-95 Docking Station

Apple finally decided to bring back ports—thank goodness—but that doesn't help those of us who can't drop $2,000 or more when we have a perfectly good MacBook Pro at home. If you're in the same boat, the Lention 11-in-1 docking station corrects the frustrating lack of ports. 

It keeps everything plugged in while staying tucked away beneath your laptop, instead of dangling off the side. It's not much of a stand, but it does offer a slight lift, which is better than nothing. You can also pair it with another laptop stand [I use it with the ObVus].

This dock includes ports for HDMI, VGA, and DisplayPort; SD and Micro SD card readers; one USB-C port, two USB 3.0, and one USB 2.0; Ethernet; and a 3.5-mm audio port. You can see a list of compatible [and incompatible] devices on the company's site.

There are many laptop stands out there, and most of them do the job just fine. We didn't love the ones below as much as our other picks, but they're worth considering.

• Monoprice Universal Riser for $24: This stand involves some assembly, and the result is a bit dull, but it can hold the weight of a monitor. Plus, it's cheap.
• Moft's Slim stand for $25 and Universal stand for $27: The Slim stand sticks to the bottom of your laptop so it's there whenever you need it, giving you the ability to raise the laptop's keyboard at different angles. The Universal version doesn't have an adhesive, so it's a better choice if your laptop's air vents are on the bottom.
• Twelve South HiRise for $66: The HiRise's aluminum build is durable, and the nonslip arms mean your laptop won't slide off. It offers a small range of heights to choose from, and it's best used in conjunction with a separate keyboard and mouse. It's expensive for what it offers, but the price often dips.

Whether you're heading back to the office or working permanently from home, having the right laptop stand can make life more comfortable. It's probably time to upgrade from a stack of old books, and it's definitely time to stop craning your neck while you work. 

The best stands raise your laptop's screen closer to eye level, which is better for maintaining a healthy posture. Some can even fit into a backpack for easy travel or switch configurations from sitting to standing. These are our favorites.

Need more options for your home office? Read our guide to Work-From-Home Gear.

Updated October 2021: We've added the Yogibo lap desk and a few options from Rain Design.

Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 [$25 off]. This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine [if you'd like]. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

Peripherals Are Important

Snagging one of the laptop stands below is one of many ways you can improve your posture when sitting at a desk for long periods. Connecting your laptop to a computer monitor is another. You'll be able to multitask more easily, and you won't have to crane your neck as much.

Some of these laptop stands are best paired with a separate keyboard and mouse. These peripherals mean you can set your laptop farther away and at various heights, and you won't need to stretch your arms in awkward ways to type. The right mouse can even prevent muscle strain or carpal tunnel syndrome, so check out the picks in our Best Keyboards and Best Gaming Mouse guides. [You don't need to be a gamer to use a gaming mouse!]

ObVus Solutions Laptop Tower Stand

This is the laptop stand I kept coming back to out of the many I tried. It's sturdy, light, and sleek [as far as office supplies go]. I love that it can be raised to various heights and positions, so it should work for most people's home or work setups. You can easily go from sitting to standing, no standing desk needed [unless you are particularly tall], though it does take some muscle power to change the height and angle. That's probably a good thing, as it won't collapse while you're working and spill your coffee everywhere. I've been using it consistently for over a year, and it has stayed just as sturdy, with no issues.

$80 $70 at ObVus Solutions

A Standing Desk Converter 

Monoprice Sit-Stand Desk Converter

If you already have a desk you like but want to incorporate a sit-stand routine into your workday with all your peripherals, you'll need something bigger than our top pick. Monoprice's Desk Converter is cheaper than most standing desks, and it's dead simple to operate. Just use the buttons on each side to raise or lower the stand to your preferred height. It's surprisingly lightweight, and at its lowest setting, it's quite thin.

The only downside—and this is an issue with any converting stand—is that if you plan on raising it up and down every day, you'll lose the desk space underneath the stand that could be used for storage. My desk suddenly started looking messier when I had to find space for things that were usually tucked away.

Superjare Dual Monitor Stand Riser

I've been using this Superjare laptop stand [also available in white] for a few years, and even after testing all the others for this guide, it's still one of my favorites. It's made of particleboard, but it's strong enough to hold my monitor and laptop. It's a nice break from industrial-looking metal stands. It's also really affordable!

There are three sections—one middle piece and two adjustable sides—and you can even collapse the sides into the middle to make it shorter. I keep my monitor in the middle and my laptop slightly angled on the left side for a better two-screen setup [with the ObVus stand too]. The best part? There's space underneath for storing notebooks, a keyboard, and other stuff that tends to clutter up my desk. If you occasionally want to stand up and work, this isn't a good option. Plus, it's not easy to tote from room to room. But if you're mostly going to sit at a desk, it'll do the job.