Blog

Jun 25, 2025

The 6 Best Anti-Fatigue Mats of 2025, Tested & Reviewed

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. If meal prep is a pain, these supportive tools can help your aching back, legs,

We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

If meal prep is a pain, these supportive tools can help your aching back, legs, knees, and feet.

In This Article

Food & Wine

Standing over the stovetop for hours can cause soreness and pain, whether you're watching over a hearty stew in a Dutch oven or cooking breakfast in a cast iron skillet. But an often-overlooked tool to keep aches at bay is the anti-fatigue mat. A simple soft surface to stand on can make a huge difference for cooks who spend hours on their feet all day, and that's why you'll find mats like these in almost every restaurant kitchen. The best anti-fatigue mats make long meal prep tasks less painful.

We laid out 16 kitchen mats in our test kitchen to put them to the test, and then we spent six more months using the top performers in our daily cooking routines to ensure they continued to work well in the long term. Read on for the best anti-fatigue kitchen mats to add comfort, support, and a pop of color to your kitchen floor.

In our tests, the Gorilla Grip Anti-Fatigue Cushioned Comfort Mat stood out for being comfortable to stand on for hours while remaining stain- and odor-resistant. As a more affordable option, we recommend the Amazon Basics Anti-Fatigue Mat. It has excellent anti-slip traction and is easy to clean at a low price.

This durable, easy-to-clean mat is available in a variety of sizes and colors to suit any kitchen space.

The high-density foam took some time to loosen up and feel optimally comfortable at first.

Comfort and customizability made the Gorilla Grip the best kitchen mat we tested. Even after six months of using it for 20 to 30 hours a week in our test kitchen, it still looked and felt brand-new. It's made from high-density supportive foam with an outer layer of textured rubber for grip. The material is made to be cleaned off with a rinse in the sink, and neither flour nor molasses stuck in our tests.

At the beginning of testing, we noticed that the foam texture was slightly irregular — our heels sank in more than the front of our feet, which helped maintain good posture but felt strange. After a few hours of use, however, the foam was more evenly supportive — and it stayed that way over our entire long-term test, developing no indentations, impressions, or stains.

We tested the 32-by-20-inch Gorilla Grip floor mat, which is a good choice if you work mostly in one stationary spot. But the same design is also available in seven sizes to fit any kitchen layout, ranging from studio-apartment-sized 17 by 24 inches to a 70-by-24 runner for a long galley kitchen. There are a dozen colors and patterns available to coordinate your mat with your favorite cookware set. Gorilla Grip's mats are just about average in price for their size, but keep in mind that the cost can vary by a few bucks depending on the color you choose.

Dimensions: 32 x 20 x 0.75 inches | Weight: 2.85 pounds | Materials: Rubber, foam

This thick mat feels cushy and firm, and commercial-grade foam ensures durability.

It's quite expensive, and it was tough to remove sticky spills.

GelPro's NewLife kitchen mat feels more luxurious than its competitors — and it has a price to match. When we tested it in our kitchen, it felt like standing on a cloud thanks to a unique material that's soft like memory foam but doesn't compress very much. Our feet didn't even leave impressions when we stepped off. The NewLife's only stumble in testing came with cleaning: A molasses spill wouldn't just rinse off and needed some intense scrubbing to remove entirely.

This commercial-grade kitchen floor mat is designed for long-term use by chefs, cashiers, and anybody who stands all day long and needs a floor mat for back pain or other conditions, so it'll hold up to almost any home situation. If you have hip and knee pain standing on a bare floor, this is the best kitchen mat to get you back to managing a stove full of bubbling saucepans. It comes in four colorways, each in more than a dozen possible sizes.

Dimensions: 32 x 20 x 0.75 inches | Weight: 4.5 pounds | Material: Foam

This inexpensive mat is easy to clean, effectively non-skid, and provides a decent amount of cushion.

It's not as thick and plush as others and has just one size and color option.

It might be one of the thinnest we tested, but the dense material of this no-frills kitchen floor mat provided nice support for our feet and legs. You don't get the bouncy feeling of more expensive models, but the Amazon Basics kitchen mat kept fatigue at bay nearly as well as other, thicker mats.

This kitchen mat is a single piece of foam with a "woven" texture on the top that prevents slipping (and feels nice on bare feet) and a different non-skid pattern on the bottom to hold it in place against the floor. Cleanup in our tests was as easy as a wipe or a rinse, and we had no problems with staining or damage over 6 months of long-term testing.

Our main issue here is the lack of options. The Amazon Basics anti-fatigue kitchen mat only comes in one size and only in black. But if a standard 36-by-20 mat is what you're looking for and you don't need a decorative color, it's a great choice.

Dimensions: 36 x 20 x 0.6 inches | Weight: 3.3 pounds | Material: Foam

This durable mat offers firm support that holds up over time, and it comes in lots of colors.

There's hardly any give at all, and the texture tends to hold onto food bits.

Comfortable but not squishy, this Kangaroo model stood out as one of the firmest and most supportive kitchen mats we tested. Our feet felt supported from heel to toe while testing. The firm foam gave even weight distribution, though not everybody will love how hard it feels — especially someone who often cooks barefoot. But if you prefer a stiffer mat, this one is easy on the hips and knees and will keep its firmness. Even after 6 months of use, we saw no signs of getting "broken in."

We also love all the Kangaroo color choices, with 11 options. If you want a sky blue or crimson kitchen mat, this is your chance. The main downside we found in testing is with the textured diamond pattern; food bits clung to it during testing, so it needed extra wiping or cleaning with a vacuum cleaner.

Dimensions: 32 x 20 x 0.75 inches | Weight: 2.82 pounds | Materials: Rubber, foam

This bouncy mat is perfect for someone who wants thicker padding under their feet, and we loved the beveled edges.

The surface texture makes it somewhat harder to clean.

This floor mat from Featol is one of the cushiest we tested. It's nearly an inch thick and made from a core of springy memory foam surrounded by soft polyurethane fabric. Its gently beveled edges help prevent tripping over the tall mat and keep it in place on the floor. It held up easily over 6 months of long-term testing, thanks to the leather-ish texture of the outer layer, which resists tears, cracks, and punctures.

Unfortunately, that texture can also hold onto sticky or floury spills. The rough fabric won't wipe clean in a single swipe of a sponge; you'll have to do some scrubbing. (It was designed as an office mat, so flour spills weren't on the brand's mind.) The Featol mat is available in seven sizes and six colors, all of them pretty reasonably priced and with the same thick, cushy padding.

Dimensions: 32 x 20 x 0.9 inches | Weight: 5.14 pounds | Materials: Polyurethane, memory foam

This huge mat provides firm support to an entire kitchen work area.

It's rather pricey, and the size makes it a pain to clean.

Most of the mats we tested are designed for one person standing in one spot. Cactus Mat's extra-wide version accommodates multiple stations or multiple cooks, whether preparing a Thanksgiving feast or assembling dozens of tamales. At 36 inches wide, it's roughly the same as the others on this list, but it's a full 60 inches long — perfect for a galley kitchen.

Cactus Mat designs products for the restaurant industry, and its mats are strong, built to withstand years of daily use. This is the single highest-priced anti-fatigue mat we tested — in part because it's also the largest, but in part because Cactus Mat's products are simply expensive. This mat should be fairly easy to clean, as spills can be rinsed away. However, since it was too large to fit in our home sink, we used a mop, which added an extra step. For serious cleanup, you could also bring it outside and spray it down with a garden hose.

Dimensions: 36 x 60 x 0.75 inches | Weight: 14 pounds | Material: Rubber

Food & Wine / Fred Hardy

We tested 16 anti-fatigue mats for this story, comparing them side-by-side in our test kitchen. We analyzed each on durability and design characteristics and put them through a series of specific tests. Most of the mats we tested are available in multiple sizes, and we chose the option closest to 32 by 20 inches, the most common home size, for the fairest comparison.

Food & Wine

After completing all of our other tests, we revealed the retail prices of each mat to consider value for money. At the time of testing, the 16 mats ranged in price from $11 to $115, with an average of $47. Though we only tested one of each mat, our rankings also consider the total range of sizes and colors available — more choices are a good thing.

The most common size for anti-fatigue mats is about 32 by 20 inches. This provides ample room for one person to maneuver in place but will still fit in all but the smallest of spaces. However, mats come in many sizes and shapes; your particular needs and kitchen layout might require something different. A long runner-style mat could cover the entire area of a narrow galley kitchen, or you might want separate small mats in front of a far-apart stove, sink, and prep area.

Of course, size affects price: The bigger the mat, the more it will cost. Before you buy one, it's a good idea to break out a tape measure to be sure the dimensions are exactly what you're expecting.

The anti-fatigue mats we tested range from less than half an inch to more than an inch thick. The padding needs some depth to absorb weight and take pressure off your joints, but an extra-tall mat can be a hazard. More cushiony mats tend to be thicker, so if you prefer that style, look for a sloped edge around the outside. This makes it less likely that you'll trip over it or stub your toe against it.

Food & Wine

Foam, plastic, and rubber are common materials for anti-fatigue mats, as they don't absorb liquid and can be cleaned off with a rinse in the sink. High-density foam is generally firmer than memory foam, which is soft and squishy but "remembers" its original shape and expands after you step off the mat. There are many different types of material with varying levels of softness or firmness, and it's hard to compare one brand's foam to another without actually standing on it.

Many mats have a foam core encased in another material, whose texture is also important. An anti-skid backing is key to keeping the mat from sliding around on the floor, while a pattern on top can give your feet a better grip. This is helpful for stability, but textured materials hold onto spills more readily and often require more wiping and scrubbing to clean than a smooth mat.

As a rule, you should always refer to the manufacturer's instructions for specific details on how to clean any kitchen item. But most anti-fatigue mats can be wiped down with a wet sponge or dish towel and often rinsed in the sink. You can even take your mat outside to spray down with a garden hose for heavy-duty cleanup.

Counterintuitively, an anti-fatigue mat works by keeping you from standing completely still. The soft surface tricks your body into making constant small movements with your feet and legs to maintain stability. This improves blood flow, reduces soreness, and prevents joints from "locking." A soft mat is very effective at making standing more comfortable for anyone with back, knee, or foot pain.

Anti-fatigue mats are not designed to be used forever; the padding will eventually wear out and need to be replaced. Depending on just how much time you spend standing on it every day, a home mat should last between 1 and 3 years. (Softer mats tend to wear down faster than firm ones.) If you notice your mat feeling flat or uneven, it might be time for a new one.

Most kitchen mats have an interior made of foam, which can be as cushy as a marshmallow or have just a little bit of give. The type of foam that's best for you is entirely up to personal preference — a thinner, firmer mat offers more support for the knees and back but doesn't feel as fluffy.

It's a good idea to look for a mat coated in rubber or plastic, as it will be the easiest to keep clean in the kitchen. Some anti-fatigue mats don't have a protective outer layer and can absorb liquids, which is a recipe for disaster.

The Spruce Eats / Fred Hardy

Nama Standing Mat ($79 at House of Noa)

While this striped mat is stylish and comfortable, it slid around a bit on the floor. Its light color also showed dirt and spills easily and required frequent cleaning during our tests. On top of that, it's fairly expensive.

ComfiLife Anti-Fatigue Floor Mat ($50 at Amazon)

This firm, comfortable mat was comparable in performance to the Kangaroo mat on our list of winners. It's slightly more expensive and doesn't have quite as many size options, but we still think it's a solid pick.

Vari Standing Mat ($69 at Amazon)

The Vari provides a nice amount of support, and its ridged surface lends excellent grip for your feet. But it's expensive, it slid around on the floor in testing, and the texture makes cleaning difficult. It would likely fare better in an office than in a kitchen.

We didn't exclude any mats based purely on price; the main problem we encountered was a lack of support. A few of the mats "bottomed out" and compressed so much that we could feel the floor beneath, while others were so firm that they were no more comfortable than standing on a bare floor in the first place. Others felt nice to stand on, but the light colors or ridged textures made them difficult to clean and keep up. A few mats slid around on the floor so easily that we excluded them from our top picks as a safety hazard.

Bernadette Machard de Gramont is a Los Angeles–based writer specializing in food, wine, and kitchen products. After a two-year stint at Williams Sonoma headquarters in San Francisco, she now researches and tests a variety of cookware, bakeware, and wine tools, and interviews field experts for their insight.