Fitness
Fitness Tech

The best massage guns (and why these 6 made our list)

You've heard of Theragun, but the brand has multiple devices — and competitors.
By Leah Stodart  on 
All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Our Top 6 Picks

Renpho R3 (opens in a new tab)

Budget pick

New to percussive therapy? Renpho's popular R3 gun is a low-stakes, high-power investment that's hyped by thousands on Amazon.

The Good

  • Under two pounds
  • Affordable price covers lots of attachments and a carrying case
  • Nice speed variety

The Bad

  • Short stroke depth
  • Reports of battery quitting after a year

The Bottom Line

Occasional aches and light workouts may not need more than the massage the R3 dishes out, which is satisfactory enough for 10,000 Amazon users.
Pros & Cons

Theragun Pro (opens in a new tab)

Top pick

Pro athletes stan the Theragun for its high-velocity reps and six swappable attachments.

The Good

  • Ergonomic donut handle and four-way adjustable arm
  • Corresponding app shows how to use attachments
  • Most forceful percussions for fast muscle recoup
  • OLED screen displays current force and speed
  • Comes with a carrying case

The Bad

  • Not the quietest
  • Gets hot after being on for a while

The Bottom Line

People are down to pay for the gold standard, which delivers 60 pounds of force and has an interactive app.
Pros & Cons

Theragun Mini (opens in a new tab)

Best portable massager

The mini but mighty portable Theragun is a game changer for soreness on the road and adds less than 1.5 pounds to your bag.

The Good

  • Weighs less than 1.5 pounds
  • Stronger than competing mini massagers
  • Charges via USB-C
  • Connects to the app for routine suggestions

The Bad

  • Not on sale often
  • Peculiar shape isn't comfy for everyone
  • Costs more than many full-sized budget massagers

The Bottom Line

The handle-less Theragun dishes out more power and customization in its kneading than other portable massagers on the market.
Pros & Cons

Hyperice Hypervolt 2 (opens in a new tab)

Best mix of powerful and peaceful

These high-powered vibrations are great for general soreness without losing the peaceful massage experience.

The Good

  • 30% more powerful than the old Hypervolt
  • Super quiet
  • Feels lightweight in the hand
  • HyperSmart suggests custom sessions through the app

The Bad

  • Limited speed settings for a "Pro" model
  • Carrying case sold separately

The Bottom Line

The feather-light Hypervolt Plus is almost as powerful as the Theragun and with half the noise.
Pros & Cons

Hydragun (opens in a new tab)

Quietest

Your most tranquil massage gun experience will come from the less-powerful, whisper-quiet Hydragun.

The Good

  • Unbelievably low noise level — averages 40 decibels
  • Stellar battery life
  • Beats surprisingly fast for how quiet it is
  • Very light to hold

The Bad

  • Expensive for mediocre power

The Bottom Line

The closest thing you'll get to a silent massage gun, but power is sacrificed.
Pros & Cons

Exerscribe Vybe Pro (opens in a new tab)

Best affordable attachment selection

This manageable price point offers a customizable experience with a hefty variety of both speed settings and attachment heads.

The Good

  • 90% of Amazon ratings are 5 stars
  • Nine speed settings make experimenting easy
  • Great battery life
  • Settings are very straightforward
  • Quiet

The Bad

  • Build feels cheap
  • Accessory swapping mechanism is junky
  • Half the force in poundage as top competitors

The Bottom Line

Despite cheap build, the Vybe Pro operates at high speeds and has a robust selection of tips — making it quite effective for the price.
Pros & Cons

Finding time for a proper workout (and adequate recovery) might just be the ultimate form of self care.

But between a job, social life, and chasing eight hours of sleep, workouts get squeezed into the day's only free time slot. A proper massage is usually the thing you most want/need, but most often skip.

Percussion massage guns let you perform that cathartic kneading on yourself.

The form of portable muscle therapy that started with professional athletes(opens in a new tab) has trickled down into the lives of your average gym-goer who can't commit to a weekly massage or physical therapy appointment.

The ability to give yourself a deep-tissue massage at home is also potentially life-changing for anyone suffering from chronic shoulder, neck, or back pain.

Remember, percussive therapy isn't a fix-all. A massage gun may be able to replace pricey massage appointments or heckling your gym partner to help you stretch, but nutrients from a balanced diet, sleep, and proper hydration are still crucial to the muscle growth and recovery process.

Here are the best massage guns for each lifestyle and price point in 2023:

Budget pick
Credit: renpho / mashable photo composite
Specs
  • Interchangeable tips: 6
  • Force: 30 pounds
  • Amplitude: 10mm
  • Strokes per minute: 1,400 to 3,200
  • Speed settings: 5
  • Battery life: Up to 80 minutes

Renpho, a smaller brand known for its foot and eye massagers, is naturally dabbling in percussive therapy as well. The R3 has amassed nearly 10,000 five-star Amazon reviews, falling nicely into our list as the perfect fit for muscles and budgets that need something light.

Retailing for $99, you could buy six R3s for the price of one Theragun. Still, there's decent power packed into this creaky plastic body, including a motor that can reach the same speed as the Theragun. The R3's mild punches are about half the poundage of the Theragun Pro, and don't go as deep as other massagers. But for newbies who don't even want that intensity, it's acceptable.

Top pick
Credit: therabody / mashable photo composite
Specs
  • Interchangeable tips: 6
  • Amplitude: 16 mm
  • Force: 60 pounds
  • Strokes per minute: 1,750 - 2,400
  • Speed settings: 5
  • Battery life: 300 minutes (includes two 150-minute batteries)

Theragun has secured its spot as the Apple of massage guns over the past few years. Its product line has greatly expanded to meet multiple price ranges, but the Theragun Pro is still the market hardass.

The fourth gen Pro packs the same 60 pounds of force into each 16 mm punch as its predecessors, now with five speed options instead of two. The percussions are so forceful and deep that Theragun suggests sessions of just a few minutes, depending on pain levels and the attachment. Six total choices (a supersoft head, dampener, ball, wedge, thumb, and cone) delivering customizable impact for different muscle groups or parts of the body. The donut shape and adjustable angles make it easier to reach places that typically require someone else's help. 

Best portable massager
Credit: Theragun / Mashable photo composite
Specs
  • Interchangeable heads: 3
  • Force: 20 pounds
  • Amplitude: 12 mm
  • Strokes per minute: 1750 – 2400
  • Speed settings: 3
  • Battery life: 150 minutes

Frequent travelers, athletes, dedicated gym goers who won't skip a workout even on vacation, or people who are just sore after a five-hour flight could quickly tell you how clutch it'd be to have a masseuse on call on the road.

The latest version of the Theragun Mini is still referred to as just the "Mini," no "2" added. You can tell them apart by the successor's more slender build — it's 20% smaller and 30% lighter, adding just over a pound to your luggage. Despite its compact size, the Mini dishes out considerable power with decent customization options. Its 20-pound force and three interchangeable tips beat that of the Hypervolt Go 2, which is a few ounces heavier than the Mini.

Best mix of powerful and peaceful
Credit: hyperice / mashable photo composite
Specs
  • Interchangeable tips: 5
  • Force: 57 pounds
  • Amplitude: 16 mm
  • Strokes per minute: 2,000 to 3,200
  • Speed settings: 3
  • Battery life: 180 minutes

And in this corner, we have the first player to give the Theragun any real competition. Hyperice took the original Hypervolt and sprinkled in 30% more power without any real spike in noise level — as well as a drop in total weight. The Quiet Glide technology provides more of a consistent, well-rounded massage experience than the Theragun's blunt, loud approach.

The Hypervolt 2 is equipped with pressure sensor lights on the back that offer feedback about how much pressure you're putting on and how hard to push to achieve the same results next time. It's a thoughtful feature that pairs well with the Hyperice app, which syncs with the gun to guide you though custom recovery plans.

Quietest
Credit: hydragun / mashable photo composite
Specs
  • Interchangeable tips: 6
  • Force: 30 pounds
  • Amplitude: 12 mm
  • Strokes per minute: 1,200 to 3,200
  • Speed settings: 6
  • Battery life: Up to 6 hours

Wanting your massage gun experience to be peaceful — as a massage should be — can be a lot to ask for when considering devices with big, obnoxious motors. If you can give up some of that power in lieu of the state of your ear drums, the Hydragun is all but confirmed the quietest massage gun on the market right now. It can be as quiet as 30 decibels (think a rustle of leaves) and maxes out at 50 on the highest speeds.

The Hydragun can compete speed wise, but would get the ol' KO from a Theragun or Hypervolt. It administers half the force of those similarly-priced competitors, and the other 30-pounder on this list is half the price. However, it's a well-built machine that would provide a smooth, impactful massage for someone sensitive to high force.

Best affordable attachment selection
Credit: exerscribe / mashable photo composite
Specs
  • Interchangeable tips: 8
  • Force: 33 pounds
  • Amplitude: 16 mm
  • Strokes per minute: 1,800 to 3,400
  • Speed settings: 9
  • Battery life: 180 minutes

Exerscribe's Vybe Pro takes on a chrome gun shape like the Hypervolt. The Vybe Pro has six more speed settings (nine total) with the fastest crossing the finish line at 3,400 pulses per minute. Those nine percussion settings can be tailored to different parts of the body through five massage heads, including a fork shape for the spine that many massage guns don't include. Be sure to screw 'em in tight, though.

In the massage gun market, a lower price typically means less force. The Vybe Pro's 33 pounds of force isn't too wimpy for its price and build, and could be more than enough for someone who's not a heavy lifter.

How we tested

Frequent workout schedules and high pain levels might make a $600 massage gun worth it — but in other cases, a less-intense device may be more beneficial. Here's our criteria for how we evaluated these devices:

  • Shape: Popular massage guns come in two main shapes: a donut design and an L-shaped design that looks like a radar speed gun. Which one to choose mostly depends on what feels more ergonomic to you, but the donut shape could reach tricky areas better if its head can be pushed to different angles.

  • Stall force: Measured in pounds, this measures this how much pressure it takes to stop the motor of a massage gun. In less technical terms, this tells you how strong of a punch the massage gun can throw. High-end massagers typically reach between 50 and 60 pounds while budget-friendly models and portable models max out between 20 and 30 pounds. The more intense range can hammer below the top tissue layers and tend to damaged muscle fibers, which is ideal for athletes and hardcore exercisers. The milder range provides similar vibrating pulses with less "oomph" for a more relaxing experience.

  • Amplitude: Higher speed doesn't always mean vigor. The amplitude (how deep the massage head will push into your body) relies on the amount of force (usually measured in pounds) behind each pulse. Heavier force on a slow speed setting will feel more intense than a faster speed setting with weaker force.

  • Stroke speed and attachments: You wouldn't massage a bony spine like you would a shoulder with a tough knot — you don't need a professional to tell you that. If you have multiple muscle categories that need to be worked on and varying levels of strain, look for a device that offers lots of different speed settings (noted as revolutions per minute, or RPM, in our specs) and attachment heads to target each specific muscle group. The most common interchangeable attachment tips include a standard ball, a flat head, a cone, and a dampener.

  • Noise: No one wants to be *that* person at the gym who's distracting everyone — or *that* parent who just woke up a sleeping baby — by using a device that sounds like a construction site. It might be impossible for these drill-like massage guns to be completely silent, but the reviews will let you know if the noise is tolerable or obnoxious. The quietest ones will be somewhere between 30 and 60 decibels, mimicking a whisper to normal conversation level. For reference, a vacuum's hum is around 75 decibels.

  • Battery life: Charging a massage gun after every use would be a huge inconvenience. People have lives! The best massage guns have batteries that last between 150 and 180 minutes (or more, if they come with two batteries). Most guns are so strong that the recommended self-massage time is just a few minutes. A 150 to 180 minute battery life has you set for days, even with daily use.

Frequently Asked Questions


Massage guns make percussive therapy possible at home, which is essentially a more professional term for "your muscles like it rough."

Athletes turn to professional deep-tissue massage, which involves forceful, rapid thumps to a specific area of the body to stimulate a specific set of muscles, for quick pain relief and faster recovery times. A massage gun lets individuals perform a similar type of penetrative tissue attention on themselves without extra help (and in minutes instead of an hour).

Treating something that hurts like a punching bag may seem like the last thing it needs. But beating that damaged deep tissue into submission has a desensitizing effect, and if you've ever begged someone to rub your neck for a few minutes, you know it takes some elbow grease to feel anything. These vigorous pulses soften knots, enhance blood flow, and accelerate the repair of muscle fibers, all of which can lead to better-prepared warmups and overall decreased soreness. Your mood might see a spike, too.


Both tools focus on myofascial release. The foam roller pushes lactic acid out of your muscles in a gentler and slower manner than a massage gun. The rolling can help with flexibility and even be incorporated into yoga-esque stretching sessions — an approach that some may find more relaxing than a massage gun.

But foam rollers simply aren't using the equivalent of 30 to 60 pounds of force, so they're not about to compete with a legit massage session. For hardcore athletes and gym goers (or people with severe chronic pain), the sheer intensity of a massage gun's vibrations will be more effective on deep-sitting tissue. The swappable attachments that most massage guns come with are able to pinpoint super specific muscle groups in ways that a foam roller may not be able to.

Leah is a shopping reporter at Mashable, where she covers shopping trends, gift ideas, and products that make life easier. She graduated from Penn State University in 2012 and is watching horror movies or "The Office" when she’s not shopping online herself. You can follow her on Twitter at @notleah(opens in a new tab).


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