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Start with what you want the thing to do, then with your floor and the room you can give it, then with how your knees are. Here are the situations we hear most and what fits each.
“I saw the purple board and I want the lunges and the glide”
This is the board case, and the plastic folding board is the right answer for it. The JANUA is the shell everyone else resells: 42 by 16 inches, 9.8 lb, glide pads in a track, bands on the end anchors, a one-year warranty on the listing. The CroyVine is the same shell with the EVA kneeling pad, an ab wheel and push-up handles in the box and a six-month warranty. Neither publishes its band tension.
Folding plastic board, glide pads in a track, two bands
JANUA Pilates Board, 5-in-1
JANUA JAN-PB-001
The purple board. A 42-inch polypropylene shell that folds in half, two glide pads running in a moulded track with an elastic cord that pulls them back, and resistance bands clipped to anchor points at the ends. A timer and a phone holder sit at the head end. It is the one board in the category with four figures of ratings, and the shell is sold under a dozen other names.
- Size
- 42 × 16 × 1.5 in open; folds in half (listing)
- Weight
- 9.8 lb (listing)
- Weight limit
- 400 lb (listing)
- Slide
- Two glide pads in a track with elastic rebound
- Bands
- Latex bands with handles on fixed anchors; tension not stated
- Extras
- Timer, phone holder
- Colours
- Purple, pink, black
- Warranty
- 1 year (listing)
Suits: Someone who has seen the purple board in a feed, wants to try reformer-style lunges and rows on the floor at home, and would rather spend under a hundred than find out with a reformer.
Weigh: JANUA has no website, so every figure is from the listing, and the band tension is not published. Buyers report bands that lose their stretch after a couple of months, and a glide piece that jammed out of the box. On a hard floor the board creeps; a yoga mat under it is the usual fix.
The JANUA shell with an ab wheel, push-up handles and a kneeling pad
CroyVine Pilates Board, 7-in-1
CroyVine 7-in-1 Pilates Reformer Board
The same 42 × 16 inch polypropylene shell, sold with more in the box: an ab wheel that rides the track, push-up handles, a balance-board mode, a plank support and an EVA kneeling pad, plus the timer and phone holder. CroyVine says 15 movements across its assembly modes.
- Size
- 42 × 16 × 1.5 in open; folds (listing)
- Weight
- 11.7 lb (listing)
- Weight limit
- 300 lb (listing)
- Slide
- Glide pads in a track; ab wheel rides the same track
- Bands
- Bands with handles on fixed anchors; tension not stated
- Extras
- Ab wheel, push-up handles, EVA kneeling pad, timer, phone holder
- Colours
- Purple, black
- Warranty
- 6 months (listing)
Suits: Someone who wants the kneeling pad and the ab wheel included and does not mind a shorter warranty.
Weigh: Six-month warranty against JANUA's year, and a 300 lb limit on the identical shell, which says something about how much to trust either figure. No website; every figure is from the listing.
Put a yoga mat under either on a hard floor. The board creeps during lunges without one.
“A board, but I don’t want plastic under my knees”
The X-HOBON is a maple deck on steel rails with PU wheels in the glide and EVA pads where the knees and elbows land. It is 16.5 lb, does not fold, and stores on edge. The ohkanki is plastic, but it is the one board whose bands carry a number, 20 and 25 lb, and its handlebar columns extend to suit a tall or short user.
Maple deck, steel rails, wheeled glide, two bands
X-HOBON maple reformer board with steel rails
X-HOBON PLT-01
The board for the person who dislikes plastic: a solid maple deck on steel rails with PU wheels in the glide, thick EVA knee and elbow pads, and two bands on clip anchors that can be repositioned or swapped. It does not fold; it stores on edge.
- Size
- 42.9 × 17.7 × 2.8 in; does not fold (listing)
- Weight
- 16.5 lb (listing)
- Weight limit
- 300 lb (listing)
- Slide
- PU wheels on steel rails
- Bands
- Two bands on clip anchors, repositionable (listing)
- Deck
- Maple, EVA knee and elbow pads
- Colours
- Black, pink
- Warranty
- 12 months (listing)
Suits: A hard floor, a regular habit, and a buyer who wants the glide to feel like a carriage rather than a pad in a groove.
Weigh: Sixteen and a half pounds and 43 inches that do not fold, so it needs a wall to lean on. Still bands for resistance. No website; the figures are from the listing.
Board with extendable handlebar columns and rated bands
ohkanki Pilates Board, 5-in-1
ohkanki Model 8
A board with two things the plastic boards leave out: bands with a stated tension (a 20 lb pink and a 25 lb grey) and handlebar columns that extend to suit your height. A QR code in the manual opens a 40-minute follow-along session.
- Size
- About 0.5 m² footprint; stores upright (listing)
- Weight
- 16.5 lb (listing)
- Weight limit
- Not stated
- Slide
- Glide pads in a track
- Bands
- 20 lb and 25 lb (listing)
- Extras
- Extendable handlebar columns, video sessions
- Colours
- Pink, black
- Warranty
- 2 years (listing)
Suits: Someone tall or short enough to have been annoyed by fixed handles, and anyone who wants to know what the bands pull.
Weigh: A smaller board (half a square metre) at the price of the wooden ones. ohkanki has no website; figures are from the listing.
“I want the leg press and the straps, the real class”
Then you want springs and a footbar, and no board has either. A folding reformer does the whole class and needs seven to eight feet of floor set up. The AeroPilates 379 is the purple one that is a real reformer: four bungee cords with 11 combinations, a cardio rebounder, 68 lb, folding on wheels, with the figures published by Stamina. The VEVOR is five steel springs on a cast-iron frame that folds to 43 inches, for the least money of anything with springs.
Four-cord folding reformer with a cardio rebounder, purple frame
AeroPilates Reformer Plus 379, purple
AeroPilates (Stamina) 55-4379
The purple one that is a real reformer: a steel frame with four bungee cords, a padded carriage with head and neck pillow and foam shoulder pads, a footbar, straps, and Stamina's cardio rebounder, the trampoline that bolts on where the footbar goes. Stamina counts 11 resistance combinations from the four cords, the pulley risers adjust the rope height, and it folds on integrated wheels with two DVDs and a wall chart in the box.
- Resistance
- 4 bungee cords, 11 combinations (Stamina)
- Length
- 86 × 21 × 26 in set up
- Folded
- Folds on integrated wheels
- Weight
- 68 lb
- Weight limit
- Not stated on the listing
- In the box
- Reformer, cardio rebounder, 2 DVDs, wall chart
- Colours
- Purple
- Warranty
- Stamina
Suits: The person who wanted the purple board and the reformer class, in one piece of furniture that folds.
Weigh: Sixty-eight pounds and 86 inches long set up. Cords, not springs, so the pull climbs through the stroke. Stamina publishes the specs on its own site, which is more than any other brand on the reformers page can say.
Cast-iron folding frame with five steel springs
VEVOR foldable reformer, five springs
VEVOR S1002
VEVOR's reformer: five steel springs, three strong and two light, on a cast-iron frame that folds to 43 by 22 by 9 inches. Sixty-five pounds, a 400 lb claim, and the lowest price of anything with real springs. Maple, aluminium and 91 inch variants are listed alongside.
- Resistance
- 5 steel springs: 3 strong, 2 light (listing)
- Length
- 77.5 × 22 × 29 in set up (listing)
- Folded
- 43 × 22 × 9 in (listing)
- Weight
- 65 lb (listing)
- Weight limit
- 400 lb claimed (listing)
- Frame
- Cast iron
- Warranty
- VEVOR
Suits: Spring resistance for the least money, from a brand that at least has a website and a returns desk.
Weigh: A 77 inch frame is short for a tall user, and VEVOR's product pages are thin on the pilates specifics. Figures from the listing.
“The bands on a board will be too light for me”
They will be for most people within a couple of months. A bar kit fixes it: the ALongSong has six latex bands in pairs of 30, 40 and 50 lb that stack to 240, a three-piece steel bar, foot straps and a door anchor. Its bands clip to the same carabiners a board uses.
Three-piece steel bar, six latex bands, door anchor
ALongSong Pilates Bar Kit, six bands
ALongSong 17GE
A three-piece stainless bar wrapped in foam, six natural latex bands in pairs of 30, 40 and 50 lb that stack to 240 lb, two-in-one handles and foot loops, and a door anchor. The bands adjust in length, which is how it fits a range of heights.
- Bands
- 6 latex bands: 2 × 30, 2 × 40, 2 × 50 lb; up to 240 lb stacked (listing)
- Bar
- Three-piece stainless steel, foam wrapped
- In the box
- Bar, 6 bands, 2 handles and pedals, door anchor, bag, manual
- Height range
- 5 ft 3 in to 6 ft 1 in (listing)
- Weight
- 4.2 lb (listing)
- Warranty
- 1 year (listing)
Suits: The heaviest resistance in a bar kit for standing squats, rows and presses; the board crowd's upper-body gap.
Weigh: ALongSong recommends 5 ft 3 in to 6 ft 1 in. Latex bands wear; check them before each session. No website; figures from the listing.
“The exercise I miss is the leg circles in the straps”
Nothing slides here. Bala’s strap band is a 63 inch sleeved band with straps for wrists, ankles and feet and a short loop that anchors through a door hinge. The medium is 5 to 15 lb a band and the resistance grows with distance from the door. It is the one budget piece that does the supine strap series at all.
Sleeved band with straps for wrists, ankles and feet, door loop
The Bala Pilates Method
Bala Bala Pilates Method, medium
Bala's answer to the reformer strap: a 63-inch band in a soft polypropylene sleeve, patented straps that fit wrists, ankles, feet, palms, elbows or knees, an auto-adjusting grip handle and a short loop that anchors through a door hinge or around a post. Medium or heavy; resistance changes with distance from the anchor.
- Band
- 63 × 1 × 1.97 in, sleeved; medium is 5 to 15 lb a band, heavy sold separately
- Anchor
- Short loop through a door hinge or round an object up to 5 in across
- In the box
- Method band, colour-matched case, how-to and workout videos
- Weight
- 0.98 lb
- Colours
- Sand, Sea, Sage, Blush, Charcoal
- Warranty
- Bala: 1 year, 30-day return
Suits: The supine leg-in-straps and arm series that a board cannot do, in a pouch that weighs a pound.
Weigh: There is no bar and nothing slides. It needs a door or a post, and the whole set weighs under a pound, so it is an accessory for a mat practice rather than a machine.
“Studio flat, hard floor, nowhere to leave anything out”
Two gliding discs and a folding mat. The Elite Sportz discs are 7 inches, dual-sided for hard floor or carpet, rated to 300 lb, and live in a drawer. The Stakt is 69 by 24 inches at 12 mm, folds to a 24 by 12 by 3 inch block, and weighs three pounds. Between them they do the sliding work and the kneeling, and they cost less than any board.
Dual-sided 7-inch gliding discs
Elite Sportz core sliders, pair
Elite Sportz Equipment 706796000000
The gliding discs with the most ratings on Amazon: two 7-inch dual-sided discs, foam side for hard floors, plastic side for carpet, rated to 300 lb, with a lifetime warranty from the seller. Every lunge, mountain climber and pike a board does is possible on these with a mat.
- Size
- 7.09 in across, 0.91 in thick (listing)
- Sides
- Foam for hard floor, plastic for carpet
- Weight limit
- 300 lb (listing)
- Weight
- 6.4 oz the pair (listing)
- Warranty
- Lifetime (listing)
Suits: The cheapest way to find out whether sliding work suits you, and the travel option after you own a board.
Weigh: No track, so your feet drift; no bands; and the plastic side scratches on some floors. Discs and a mat are the whole kit.
12 mm folding mat that stacks into a block
Stakt folding mat, original
Stakt The Mat
A 69 by 24 inch mat at 12 mm, twice a standard yoga mat, that folds into a 24 by 12 by 3 inch block to kneel on, step on or sit on. Three pounds, EVA foam, a patented fold. It is the mat people buy for the knee padding a board or discs need.
- Size
- 69 × 24 in flat, 12 mm thick; 24 × 12 × 3 in folded
- Material
- EVA foam blend, non-slip surface
- Weight
- 3 lb
- Colours
- Dune, Iron, Rosewater, Seafoam, Tide
- Warranty
- Stakt
Suits: Mat and sculpt classes, kneeling work on a hard floor, and the pad under a board.
Weigh: No slide and no bands; it does none of the board's job on its own. Stakt says wipe with warm water and a soap without oils, and keep it out of the sun.
“I’m not sure I’ll keep it up”
Buy the discs. The AZURELIFE pair comes in purple if that matters, with a 12-exercise card. A month on discs tells you whether you want a board, a reformer or neither, for the price of lunch.
Dual-sided 7-inch discs in seven colours, with a 12-exercise guide
A AZURELIFE gliding discs, pair
A AZURELIFE SR0CS
Two 7-inch dual-sided discs, foam on one face for wood and tile, smooth plastic on the other for carpet, with an illustrated 12-exercise card and a 12-month guarantee. The listing is unusually honest about where each side works and where the plastic side will scratch.
- Size
- 7 in across, 0.51 in thick (listing)
- Sides
- Foam for hard floor, plastic for carpet
- Material
- ABS and foam (listing)
- In the box
- 2 discs, 12-exercise guide
- Colours
- Seven, purple among them
- Warranty
- 12 months (listing)
Suits: The same job as the Elite Sportz pair, in purple if you want the set to match the board.
Weigh: Same limits as every disc: no track, no bands, and a mat or blanket needed on floors the plastic side can mark.
Whatever you picked
A mat under the board, something under the knees, and a hand run along each band before a session. Floors, knees and bands has the detail, and Board or reformer? is the question to settle before any of this.
