The Best Massage Guns

A massage gun might appeal to you if you feel the effects of hunching over a phone or computer regularly or any other work-related aches and pains; if you face chronic tight spots, sore muscles, or other soft-tissue complaints; or if you simply enjoy the sensation of a percussive massage.

Massage guns have grown especially popular among athletes (and weekend warriors) of all levels. In professional settings, massage guns can enhance what a massage therapist, physical therapist, or athletic trainer can offer — with less wear and tear on the practitioner’s hands, wrists, and elbows. “It gets you a lot in a very short span of time,” said Ericka Clinton of the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences.

Unfortunately, massage guns are not the most accessible devices for people with difficulty grasping objects.

If you’d like to try a massage gun but are unsure if it’s a good option for you, talk to your doctor or a medical professional. Certain scenarios could preclude their use, including bleeding or skin disorders, as well as pregnancy (particularly high-risk pregnancies), a recent surgery, nervous-system disorders like epilepsy, or cancer. In a 2021 case study, researchers in China advocated for additional research on the safety of massage guns. If you find massage in general to be uncomfortable, or if you bruise easily, a massage gun might not be for you; a foam roller is another option for bodywork, though using one can also come with a degree of discomfort.

Editor Ingrid Skjong is a National Academy of Sports Medicine–certified personal trainer, and she previously covered fitness at Wirecutter.

Seth Berkman is a writer covering fitness and the author of our guides to foam rollers and massage chairs, among others. For this guide:

• We’ve attended various home fitness trade shows over the years, where we scout and research massage guns.
• We chose the experts we consulted for this article for their knowledge and independence. We have disclosed any affiliations that experts have with companies mentioned in this article for transparency and accuracy.
• In accordance with Wirecutter editorial standards and to avoid any conflict of interest, we don’t own stock or have any other financial interest in any company or industry that we cover or are likely to cover.

• Like all Wirecutter journalists, we review and test products with complete editorial independence. We’re never made aware of any business implications of our editorial recommendations.

We’ve compared 26 massage guns side by side since 2021. We looked for models that are likely to deliver a satisfying experience for people with different priorities, whether that be after workouts, before runs, or in pursuit of knot relief, focusing on the following criteria:

• Overall massage experience: We noted the three main specs often associated with massage guns — amplitude, percussions per minute, and stall force — and assessed how they combined to produce a satisfying massage. We preferred a variety of discernible speeds. We also ran each device for 15 minutes straight at various speeds to check for overheating.
• Controls: We looked for intuitively placed control buttons that we could access easily during a session (ideally with one hand). We noted if the buttons were too sensitive or overly difficult to press.
• Weight and feel: We weighed each massage gun. We noted how each one felt in our hands, including how the length, diameter, shape, and material of the handle contributed to ergonomic comfort.
• Attachments: We looked for a variety of attachments, which helps you access a diversity of muscles more easily and comfortably. We also noted the attachments’ material (plastic, closed-cell foam, lighter foam) and stability (a few attachments popped out mid-massage).
• Noise: We switched between listening to a podcast (without headphones) and watching a TV show while using the devices and noted if we had a hard time hearing.
• Battery: We paid attention to the overall battery life, noting if a massage gun seemed to lose its charge earlier than promised, which is usually about two to three hours of cumulative use. We also looked for a relatively obvious battery-level indicator on the device itself.
• Portability: You might want to tote a massage gun to the gym, from room to room in your home, or on a trip. A carrying case can help with that, as well as with storage when you aren’t using the tool.
• Warranty: We’ve stumbled across more than a few “worked fine until it didn’t” sentiments within customer reviews of massage guns: Batteries stop charging, motors peter out, attachments refuse to hold. Most of the models we tried have a one-year warranty (though one of our picks is covered for a lifetime).

Top pick

Solid value, comfortable experience

Ekrin Athletics B37

This powerful massager has a reach-friendly angled handle. It also comes with a lifetime warranty — the best coverage we’ve encountered.

$230 from Amazon

$231 from Ekrin

For people who want a massage gun with an ergonomic bend, the Ekrin Athletics B37 also has an exceptionally long battery life (eight hours) and a notably strong warranty (lifetime).

It delivers on comfort and force. Its grippy handle — angled at about 15 degrees — makes reaching the upper back or calves a little easier. This model features five speeds, from 1,400 to 3,200 percussions per minute (ppm), and a 12 mm amplitude that provides a decent dose of power.

It has the best battery life and warranty of our picks. Ekrin claims the massager delivers eight hours of battery life, tied for the longest of our picks. We didn’t need to charge it once during our initial three-plus weeks of testing. Its lifetime warranty — the strongest by far of our picks — covers defects in materials or workmanship, including the battery, attachments, and motor. The massage gun comes with a sturdy-enough carrying case.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Despite its great handle, it has some design flaws. The power button, which also adjusts the speed, sits on top of the B37; as a result, it isn’t quite as conveniently located. The massage gun is comfortable to hold, though it felt a tad top-heavy. It is quiet at its slowest speed, but we had trouble hearing a TV show while using it on its highest setting.

The motor can warm up slightly. The B37 turns off automatically after 10 minutes of use, a measure that a customer service rep told us protects the motor from burnout in case the B37 is accidentally left running unattended. (You can start it back up immediately.) Considering the kinetic nature of massage guns, that scenario seems unlikely. But to check the integrity of the motor, we ran the device unattended for 15 minutes straight at various speeds and noticed just a bit of warmth.

Key specs

• Speeds: five
• Number of attachments: four (ball, bullet, flat, fork)
• Battery life: eight hours
• Weight: 2.1 pounds
• FSA/HSA eligible: yes
• Warranty: lifetime

Top pick

A less intense massage, but lots of attachments

Mebak 3 Massage Gun

This is one of the quietest massage guns we’ve tried, and it comes with seven attachments (the most out of our picks) and has a touchscreen display. It delivers less of a punch, though.

$100 from Amazon

If you want a quieter massage gun and are willing to trade some intensity for quality (and also want a wide range of attachments), the Mebak 3 Massage Gun might be for you.

The controls are easy to use. The Mebak 3 has a touchscreen display, which requires a lighter touch than physical buttons. It responded nicely for us. Despite its five speeds (640 to 3,200 ppm) and 12 mm amplitude, the Mebak 3 felt less powerful than comparably labeled models, but that wasn’t necessarily a drawback. It’s a solid choice for someone seeking a lower-key massage gun. A number representing a percentage on the screen shows the battery level. As a safety precaution, the Mebak 3 shuts off automatically after 10 minutes of use; you can restart it immediately. When we ran the massage gun unattended for 15 minutes straight at various speeds, it did not overheat. It has a main on-off switch at the base of its handle.

It comes with some unique add-ons. Included with the Mebak 3 are some attachments we don’t always see: a shovel (a blade-like silhouette that can work the length of a muscle) and cushion (which provides a softer, more muted massage). It’s quiet, too, as we were able to hear a TV show while we massaged, even at the tool’s highest speed.

It has a decent battery life. The Mebak 3 promises two to three hours of battery life, and in our tests it lived up to that billing.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It might leak lubricant. During our first few uses, we noticed lubricant leaking out of the attachment point (we experienced this with only one other device, the least-expensive model in our test pool). We wiped the substance away, and it wasn’t a problem again.

The touchscreen display has some drawbacks. Some testers with reduced hand strength preferred the tactile feedback of pressable buttons on other massage guns over this model’s touchscreen. You cannot cycle both up and down through the five speeds (in contrast with the Therabody Theragun Prime’s interface, which allows for that); instead, each touch of the screen’s fingerprint icon advances the speed up. A pressure sensor uses green, yellow, and red lights to indicate increasing amounts of pressure being applied during use, but they’re tough to see when you’re using the device on yourself. (The Mebak 3’s specs do not list a stall force.)

The included case didn’t impress us. The carrying case that comes with the massage gun is slightly flimsy.

Key specs

• Speeds: five
• Number of attachments: seven (bullet, bump, cushion, flat, fork, round, shovel)
• Battery life: two to three hours
• Weight: 1.8 pounds
• FSA/HSA eligible: no
• Warranty: one year

Top pick

A smaller portable massager

Therabody Theragun Mini 3rd Generation

Don’t let the size fool you — this massager packs a powerful punch. But it comes with fewer attachments than most models.

$220 from Amazon

$220 from Best Buy

The Therabody Theragun Mini 3rd Generation is our favorite compact massager that’s good for basic relief and ideal for travel. An update of a previous version we recommended, the new Theragun Mini has a smaller design and longer battery life (150 minutes).

This massager is easy to hold for most people. Like the Theragun Mini 2nd Generation we previously recommended, the Theragun Mini 3rd Generation glides across muscles with no extra push necessary. The triangular designed massager is contoured along its outer edge, making it easier to get a good grip. The Theragun Mini is slightly lighter weight than its previous iteration.

It’s ideal for travel. At about 5.3 by 4.5 inches, the Theragun Mini can be packed into most any luggage. It also comes with a carrying case, and the battery life is 30 minutes longer than the 2nd Generation version.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s not the best device for an intense massage. The Theragun Mini has only three speeds (1,750, 2,100, and 2,400 ppm) and three attachments (fewer than our other picks, but you can buy additional ones). Another quirk of its design is in the way you might grip the massager — be sure not to place fingers too close to the narrow end with the moving attachment, as they can get pinched. Some testers also noticed it was harder to reach areas of their back without a long handle to grip. One tester with limited dexterity in her hands suggested the Mini should come with a wrist strap for security.

Key specs

• Speeds: three
• Number of attachments: three (standard ball, dampener, thumb)
• Battery life: two and a half hours
• Weight: 0.88 pound
• FSA/HSA eligible: yes
• Warranty: one year

Top pick

Multi-grip handle, satisfying massage

Therabody Theragun Prime

This massage gun offers powerful percussion in a compact package and uses a triangular, multi-grip handle.

$310 from Amazon

If you’re willing to pay top dollar for a powerful, well-designed massage gun with an upscale feel, the Therabody Theragun Prime delivers a satisfying massage. It’s also Bluetooth-enabled, which allows you to pair it with your phone and follow guided programs via the companion app. (There’s a newer version of the Theragun Prime available now that comes with a more substantial carrying case and a micro-point attachment instead of a cone; we didn’t test it because it’s otherwise seemingly identical to the previous generation.)

Multiple grip options create different massage experiences. The compact Theragun Prime has a triangular handle, so you can switch between multiple grip options to ease ergonomic strain. We found it nice to occasionally change our grip, and doing so provided added leverage when we wanted to apply more pressure. The massage gun has five speeds (from 1,750 to 2,400 ppm) and a 16 mm amplitude — the highest of all our picks.

It’s easy to control. LED lights on the display show the speed and the battery level. The control button is conveniently located on the handle and accessible with a thumb. We like the ability to cycle up and down through all five speeds, which is a feature that none of our other picks have. (If you want an advanced version of the Theragun Prime, the more expensive Theragun Elite has an extra attachment and an OLED display.)

It has a long battery life. It promises two hours of battery life, and in our tests it went the distance.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s loud and can be hard to travel with. The Theragun Prime sounds like a small power tool when it turns on and remains relatively noisy; we had a hard time simultaneously watching TV and tending to our hamstrings. It also does not come with a carrying case but does have a dust bag.

Some customers have reported difficulty communicating with customer service. Recently, some online reviewers have reported unresponsive or unhelpful customer service after experiencing issues with their massagers. A Therabody spokesperson said the company “reviews and responds to every inquiry that comes our way whether it’s a product question, a warranty claim, or help with an order.”

Key specs

• Speeds: five
• Number of attachments: four (micro-point, dampener, standard ball, thumb)
• Battery life: two hours
• Weight: 2 pounds
• FSA/HSA eligible: yes
• Warranty: one year

If you want a massage gun with more amplitude and stall force: The Opove M3 Pro Massage Gun is a good option for people willing to sacrifice some ease of handling for additional power. The M3 Pro, which has five speeds and six attachments, is bulkier and (at 2.5 pounds) heavier than our picks, but not overly so. One tester who has small hands was able to maintain a good grip and found that it handles smoothly, even at the highest speed. It doesn’t vibrate down to the handle, although targeting hard-to-reach crevices on the body can be difficult. Compared with the digital displays on similar massage guns, the blue bars on the left and right side of the M3 Pro’s display are thin and hard to see in low light. After a full charge we estimated that it would last for about six hours — still good, but short of the advertised limit of eight hours (higher power levels drain the battery faster). The M3 Pro has a one-year warranty.

A massage gun is a handheld device that delivers percussive massage: quick, repeated strikes to the body patterned after a Swedish massage technique called tapotement. You’ll notice three terms typically mentioned in massage gun specs:

• Amplitude: This measures how far the shaft of the device moves in and out in order to make contact with your body. The greater the amplitude — measured in millimeters — the deeper the massage, theoretically.
• Percussions per minute (ppm): This is the rate at which the device drums into your body.
• Stall force: This indicates the amount of pressure (in pounds) that you can apply to the device during use before the motor stops.

Most massage guns come with a variety of attachments that allow you to target specific muscles or deliver a particular kind of massage. For instance, smaller, narrower attachments work well on areas like feet, hands, and calves; rounder, wider shapes work well on larger muscle groups such as quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Nearly all massage guns are relatively noisy and, depending on your level of sensitivity, fairly intense.

They work by quickly and repeatedly punching the body, triggering blood vessels to dilate. This action assists in hydrating muscle tissue with blood and can help release knots, explained Ericka Clinton, dean of the massage therapy program at the Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences and a New York–licensed massage therapist.

Evidence shows that manual massage (using the hands only) helps decrease pain and improve function, at least in the short term. When it comes to the benefits of massage guns specifically, there isn’t a lot of hard data. “The benefits that come from [these tools] are going to be small at best,” said Christie Aschwanden, science journalist and author of Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery.

What we do know is that a massage gun cannot flush lactic acid from your muscles (that’s not how muscle soreness works). It can’t eradicate cellulite. It can increase circulation — but so can taking a walk, as Aschwanden pointed out. It can also help work out a tight spot in your shoulder at the end of a workday, contribute to an energizing pre-workout warm-up, or soothe your legs as part of a post-run recovery.

Using one can feel great — and that’s meaningful. “The very most basic level of recovery is just rest and rejuvenation, and anything that facilitates that is good,” said Aschwanden.

Experts agree: Don’t overdo it. The process should not be painful. Avoid using a massage gun on bony areas, directly over joints or tendons, or on an open wound or acute injury. How often you use a massage gun — a few times a day, once a day, once in a blue moon — depends on your specific goals, needs, and tolerance. Overdoing it can result in bruising.

In general, don’t force it, said Christopher Hicks, MD, a sports medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine. For example, if you want to ease shoulder tightness but have limited range of motion in that area, contorting yourself for a massage gun might not be a good idea.

Along with Therabody, Hyperice is one of the most recognizable names in massage guns. The Hyperice Hypervolt 2 costs about the same as Therabody’s Theragun Prime. It’s a good massage gun, but it falls short of the Theragun Prime in a few ways.

Compared with the Theragun Prime, the Hypervolt 2 has a lower amplitude (12 mm versus 16 mm) and fewer speeds (three versus five), though it does have a slightly higher maximum speed (2,700 ppm versus 2,400 ppm). It has a traditional shape — unlike the triangular shape of the Theragun Prime, which allows you to hold the device a few different ways — and is slimmer and more petite. It has a comfortable oval handle with a nice grippy surface and the second-narrowest diameter among our picks. People with smaller hands might appreciate the size. But overall, due to the shape and orientation of its handle, it doesn’t offer quite the flexibility that the Theragun Prime does. One tester said the handle was so wide that it hurt their hand while gripping it.

You can’t cycle up and down through the speeds as you can with the Theragun Prime, which isn’t a complete dealbreaker but is a nice feature to have at this price.

A light at the bottom of the Hypervolt 2’s handle broadcasts the battery life in green, yellow, or red, which is a nice touch (the Theragun Prime relies on LED lights). It comes with five attachments (one more than the Theragun Prime): four made of plastic (ball, bullet, flat, fork) and one made of a soft rubbery material (cushion). They are comfortable and versatile, but not as much as the closed-cell foam attachments of the Theragun Prime.

The Hypervolt 2 is Bluetooth-enabled and connects to the straightforward Hyperice app, which, like the Therabody app, allows you to follow along with guided programs tailored to a specific sport, activity, or body part. Also like the Theragun Prime, the Hypervolt 2 proved to be rather loud in our tests. A small pouch is included for storage.

Therabody Theragun massage guns

The Therabody Theragun Elite is a souped-up, more expensive version of the Therabody Theragun Prime. Compared with the Prime, it has five attachments instead of four, a higher stall force (40 pounds versus 30 pounds), and an OLED display (instead of LED lights). Those upgrades might be valuable to some people, but we found the overall experience of the Elite and the Prime to be similar, and we concluded that most people would be satisfied with the Prime.

The Theragun Prime Plus is another upgraded version of the Theragun Prime, highlighted by its attachments for heated massage (you can also buy an additional attachment for cold therapy). The Prime Plus has a more compact grip than the Theragun Prime. But although we found the Prime Plus to be a little quieter than the Prime, unless you really desire a heated massage, the Theragun Prime does the job just as well for about $100 less.

The Theragun Pro Plus incorporates infrared LED light therapy, and special attachments for vibration therapy and heat therapy (the company claims heating can reach 131 degrees Fahrenheit). These features are controlled on an LED screen on the handle of the device, and you can use five other attachments (dampener, standard ball, thumb, micro-point, and wedge). Though the wave of heat felt nice during a massage (you can adjust the temperature or turn this feature off by cycling through the LED screen), we don’t think heat and infrared therapy justify spending almost twice as much as the Theragun Prime we recommend. We’ve also seen customer reviews claiming their Pro Plus batteries didn’t hold a charge.

The Theragun Relief is the least-expensive massager in Therabody’s line, and it’s lighter than other models at just over 1.3 pounds. It has three speeds, which are adjustable by an easy-to-maneuver button on the back of the device, and three attachments: dampener, standard ball, and thumb. We found that its battery drained quickly. Listed as lasting two hours on a full charge, the massager regularly came in well under that time.

If you seek a massage gun experience built around relaxation just as much as pummeling away at your muscles, the Theragun Sense may be for you. The Sense has visually guided routines and breathing exercises that are supposed to add a layer of calm to a massage (instructions appear on a small monitor on the back of the gun, with additional feedback available when connected to the Therabody app). A finger sensor located on the inside handle also provides a fairly accurate heart rate reading; it stayed within 5 bpm of readings from a heart rate monitor during our testing. Our testers enjoyed the guided routines, as the clear directions made recovery sessions feel more thorough. But for a massage gun so targeted at being a calming device, we found the sound a big detractor. When oiled, the Sense is fairly quiet — you can still hear a TV at standard volume while using it. But we found it gets louder and rattles quickly; we had to oil it more frequently than the company suggests. We also found the battery life to be shorter than the listed two hours; we rarely reached an hour when using the device for guided sessions. The Sense has four attachments (dampener, standard ball, thumb, micro-point) and five speeds.

The rest

The Aduro Percussion Massage Gun is the cheapest of the massage guns we tried, and in our tests it showed. The body felt plasticky. The four, hard-plastic attachments felt cheap — the flat version had a small but sharp irregularity — and its overall iffy quality knocked it out of contention.

The Compex Fixx 2.0 Massager has a multi-grip handle reminiscent of the the handle on the Therabody Theragun Prime. Weighing about 3 pounds (the heaviest of the models we’ve tested), it can be difficult to hold. Instead of buttons, it has an adjustment dial, which we had a hard time controlling. It has a decent two-year warranty, and the neck can move into three different positions. But overall it felt plasticky, and our struggles with the adjustment dial threw us off.

The Renpho R4 Pro Massage Gun has a curved neck that can adjust into five positions, but it was hard to move — we had to either use two hands or brace the device against the body and adjust from there. A couple of times, its large foam ball attachment began to pop out at the machine’s highest speed.

The TimTam All New Power Massager (currently out of stock) was so loud and so intense, it felt like something out of a horror movie. The massage gun comes with just one attachment (a hard ball), and it has the lowest continuous battery life (40 minutes) among our test group. It no doubt has its fans, but one of our notes sums it up: “This thing is nuts.”

The Vybe Premium Muscle Massage Gun is nearly identical to the Ekrin Athletics B37, save for a few key features: It has a lower stall force (30 pounds versus 56 pounds), a shorter amplitude (10 mm versus 12 mm), and a less generous warranty (90 days versus lifetime). Still, it is comfortable to use.

This article was edited by Ellen Lee, Tracy Vence, and Kalee Thompson.