Rowing machine vs elliptical: the harder machine and the one you will use more

Buy a rowing machine if you want the hardest whole-body workout a machine can give and you’re willing to learn a stroke. Buy an elliptical if you’d rather step on and go, with nothing to learn and no lower back to protect. Most people will still be using the elliptical a year from now, and that’s why it’s our default pick for a home.

We don’t track rowing machines in our database yet, so the rower side here is general and has no model numbers. The elliptical side uses the Sole E25, the elliptical we recommend to most people. We haven’t bench-tested the E25 yet, so this comparison runs on the published specs; we’ll add measured noise and assembly time after our bench test.

Joints and technique

Neither machine has an impact, which is why both end up in homes where a treadmill didn’t last. What differs is what each one asks of you. A rower is seated, so your knees don’t carry your body weight, but every stroke runs through your lower back. Done well, legs first, then the lean, then the arms, it’s one of the safest things you can do for a back. Done badly, pulling with the back from the start, it’s one of the quickest ways to make a sore back worse. The stroke takes a few sessions to learn and a few more to stop forgetting.

An elliptical asks for nothing. You step on, your feet stay on the pedals, and the motion is the same whether you think about it or not. Your back stays upright and lightly loaded, and the E25’s 20-inch stride fits users from about 5 ft 2 in to 6 ft 2 in. If a joint or your back is the reason you’re shopping, ask a physical therapist. They’ll often suggest a rower for a knee and warn you off one for a back.

Calories and effort

At the same heart rate for the same minutes, a rower and an elliptical come out close enough that we wouldn’t choose on calories. The rower has its reputation because each stroke uses more muscle, so a hard session feels hard and it’s tough to coast. A rower’s monitor also measures the flywheel directly, which makes its numbers more trustworthy than any elliptical console’s.

The elliptical makes a long, easy session easier to stick with, and it has levers a rower doesn’t. The E25 has 20 resistance levels and a 20% power incline, which is as hard as most people want. The Sole E35 adds a 25 lb flywheel for a smoother feel under load. Either way, ignore the calorie readout on the console.

Space

This one’s closer than people expect. A full-size rower is long in use, around 8 feet with the rail out plus a little behind the seat. In storage, most stand on end against a wall or split into two pieces, and good ones weigh less than an elliptical. Ceiling height doesn’t matter because you sit.

The E25 is 70 by 24 by 64 inches, weighs 189 lb, doesn’t fold, and lifts you well off the floor at the top of the stroke, so a tall user can need more than 8 feet of ceiling. It takes less floor than a rower in use and more than a rower in storage. If the machine has to vanish between sessions, get the rower. If it gets a corner of its own, the elliptical’s narrow base is easier to place, and our compact ellipticals page lists the smallest we track.

Noise

It depends on the rower. Air rowers make a fan whoosh that gets loud on hard strokes and carries through walls. Water rowers slosh, which some people love. Magnetic rowers are close to silent. Every rower also has a seat rolling on a rail, and on a hard floor that’s what a downstairs neighbor hears.

An elliptical hums, with a little bearing noise from the pedal arms; how we test explains how we’ll measure the E25. For a shared wall at 6 a.m., a magnetic rower or an elliptical is fine. An air rower at full effort isn’t.

Cost of ownership

Rowers run from cheap magnetic units that resell poorly to well-known air and water rowers that hold their value on the used market. We won’t put numbers on machines we don’t track, but a good rower tends to cost about what a good elliptical does and resells for more of it. At time of writing the E25 typically sells for $999 to $1,299; check the retailer. It has a lifetime frame warranty, 3 years on parts and electronics and 1 year of labor.

Upkeep is light on both. A rower needs its chain oiled or its belt checked and its seat rollers cleaned, and a water rower wants a purification tablet in the tank now and then. An elliptical needs its pedal-arm bolts checked and a drop of lubricant on the rollers. Both tend to outlast treadmills, since there’s no motor dragging a belt under your weight. Assembly favors the rower: the E25 is a 189 lb machine that arrives in a lot of pieces, and most rowers go together much faster.

Which one we’d buy

For a fit person with a small space and the patience to learn, a rower, and we’d buy one of the well-known names used before we’d buy a cheap one new. For most homes, and for anyone whose back or knees are part of the decision, the E25, because the machine that asks nothing of you is the one that gets used. It’s also the machine we point older buyers to first, which is why it anchors our ellipticals for seniors page. If sitting appeals more than standing, read elliptical vs bike. If you’re weighing a treadmill against either, treadmill vs elliptical covers the impact question, and our full ellipticals list is the place to start once you’ve decided.