About BetterShoes

Most running shoe rankings are one reviewer's opinion. Ours are what thousands of runners reported about shoes they actually ran in.

What BetterShoes is

BetterShoes collects structured reviews from runners and turns them into rankings. Every rating on this site traces back to someone filling in a review form about a shoe they ran in — how many months they used it, roughly how many miles, whether they would buy it again, and how it scored on comfort, cushioning, durability, value and appearance.

We pair that with live pricing from major retailers, so a shoe's page shows both how it is rated and what it currently costs.

What we do not do

  • We do not write our rankings by hand. A shoe's position comes from its rating data, not from an editor deciding it deserves a spot.
  • We do not accept payment for placement. No brand can buy a higher rank, a listing, or a mention.
  • We do not use ratings collected by other websites in our own scores. Retailer review counts may appear as context on a shoe page, clearly labelled as such, but they are never blended into a BetterShoes score.

How we make money

Some links to retailers earn us a commission when you buy. That revenue has no connection to the rating pipeline: ratings are computed from review data before any pricing or affiliate information is attached. Read the full affiliate disclosure.

Who runs BetterShoes

BetterShoes is an independent project, not owned by a shoe brand or retailer. If you have a correction, a question about a rating, or a shoe we are missing, email [email protected] — we read everything and we correct things that are wrong.

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