How do you choose the best treadmill for your home?

There are several ways you can go about choosing the perfect treadmill for your home gym. A good starting point of course is finding the category above that appeals to you. Our experts have broken everything down into popular price ranges and categories, so it’s just a matter of figuring out what your budget is and/or how you will use the treadmill…walking, running, serious training, etc.

We’ve also given you our overall best treadmill picks, which are our top recommendations for your home gym. These machines tick all of the boxes and have everything you could need as well as great additional features, while still giving you great value. You really cant go wrong with any of these top machines, it’s just a matter of choosing the one that’s right for you.

Keep in mind that as a general rule of thumb, the more expensive treadmills will have more to offer…stronger motors, larger decks, better cushioning, more advanced displays, higher speeds, more incline, etc. So if you can stretch your budget a bit you’ll probably be happier with your purchase simply because you get more features and capabilities.

Still, you can find some great lower priced treadmills so don’t be disheartened if you can’t afford one of the higher end machines. We give you some great choices under $1000.

So think about how much you have to spend and how you will be using the treadmill.

As a frame of reference, the most popular price range for treadmills is $1000-$2000, with the sweet spot right around $1,500 or so. That’s where our top choices from NordicTrack, Sole and Horizon fall.

But keep in mind that these brands also have some great entry level choices at lower price points. There are also more advanced models in the lineup as well.

What brands should you be considering and why?

There are dozens of treadmill brands out there, and we cover just about everything here at Run Reviews, from the most popular to the new players in the industry.

Based on our years of experience we’re able to narrow down the top brands so it’s easier for you to choose the best treadmill. We base everything on the quality of the treadmills, features/capabilities,the value offered, reliability and customer satisfaction, along with several other criteria.

You can essentially break up the market into four segments. You have the very cheap treadmills (under $500), the entry level treadmills ($599-$799), the mid range treadmills ($999-$1999) and the high end/commercial treadmills ($2000+).

In the cheap range, you’ll have non motorized and motorized treadmills from brands like Sunny Health, Pro Gear, HealthRider, Weslo, Go Plus and Stamina. These are very basic machines for the most basic usage. We don’t recommend these at all unless your budget simply does not allow for a more expensive machine.

In the entry level category you’ll find treadmills from Schwinn, Nautilus, Xterra, LifeSpan as well as basic models from NordicTrack, ProForm and Horizon. Here we would recommend the latter three brands, as you get a lot more for your money than you do with the others, and they have much more advanced/updated technology for the same price.

As we mentioned, the mid-range category is the most popular, and where you start seeing more functionality and capability. The best treadmills here are built for heavier use than the cheap and entry level models, and will include more of everything. The best brands here are NordicTrack, Sole, Horizon and ProForm. All of them have a wide selection of options in the $999-$1999 price range. These brands compete head to head with each other so they are always adding new features to their treadmills…which is great for you the customer.

The last category is the high end one, which includes the commercial/club-quality treadmills built for home use. So here you’re getting a residential version of a health club machine.

The best brands here are Matrix, Life Fitness and Precor, all well-regarded names with plenty of folding and non-folding choices in the $2000+ range. Life Fitness and Precor offer commercial options for the home as well, but these treadmills are in the $5,000+ range. These are awesome treadmills, but you don’t need to be spending that much on a home machine.

So those are going to be your best bets in all of the price categories as far as brands are concerned. All of these companies make great products, have solid warranties and provide everything you need to get a great workout.

What about Bowflex, incline trainers and hybrid machines?

The above information is basically the same for the non-traditional treadmills as well, but the price ranges are a bit different. Bowflex has the very popular TreadClimbers, which are like a treadmill combined with an elliptical and a stepper. There are two models, costing $1999 and $2999 respectively. Yet they aren’t club quality treadmills like Life Fitness, Matrix and Precor provides.

These are good options for those who want quick results, and prefer to walk rather than jog or run. They also offer the Max Trainer which is more of an elliptical/stepper if that’s something that appeals to you.

The incline trainers are also more of a separate category that doesn’t fit the traditional treadmill price mold. There are three incline trainers, all from NordicTrack, priced from $2199 to $2999. These are also not technically commercial-grade, but they are very well built and give you incline up to 40% and decline down to 6%…something you just don’t find anywhere else. So you’re paying a bit of a premium for this unique functionality.

There are other hybrid machines out there as well, and more seem to be cropping up each day. So another choice to make now is whether you want a traditional treadmill or a hybrid like the TreadClimber, Max Trainer or something else.

We have reviews of all of the traditional and non traditional treadmills on this web site, so you can always read more about each one to help you find the best treadmill for your home. And you can always reach out to us…we’ll be more than happy to point you in the right direction.