Brooks Launch 8

Name: Brooks Launch 8
Brand: Brooks

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Brooks Launch 9 replaced it

How it ranks

The Brooks Launch 8 ranks among the stronger daily trainers in our data. Value and comfort are its strongest sub-ratings. The rating rests on 3 runner reviews and 11 other rated shoes in the Launch product line. Another 9 reviews would set the confidence on this shoe's own reviews.

Current estimate: Good

86/100

Overall

Good 86

Value

Exceptional 99

Comfort

Very good 92

Durability

Good 89

Cushioning

Good 82

Appearance

Decent 79

Confidence

How settled the rating is against every other rated shoe. A shoe can rate high on confidence with relatively few reviews of its own when its product line has a long record and external ratings from retailer sites agree. Confidence will score low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

70/100

Moderate 70

Based on product-line history, external ratings, and 3 runner ratings.

Prefer this shoe over another

25% 1/4

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Reviewers rate value 5.0 out of 5 and durability 5.0 out of 5.
One reviewer has run about fifteen pairs at 70 miles a week and gets 700 to 800 miles from each.
It lists at $100, below the $150 median for daily trainers on sale.

Cons

One of three reviewers so far rates cushioning 3 out of 5, its lowest mark.
One of three reviewers so far says Brooks has not matched it since and hunts for leftover pairs.

Launch 8 rates 86. This shoe has moderate certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the Brooks Launch

Each dot is one version of the Launch, placed by its rating and release year. The gold dot is this shoe.

Rating

40 60 80 100

98 2009 70 2015 98 2017 86 2017 93 2017 96 2018 85 2019 86 2020 71 2022 99 2023 90 2024 85 2026

Release year

We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating. See why.

Launch 12

2026 · 1 review

85 Good

58 Confidence
Launch 11

2024 · 1 review

90 Very good

75 Confidence
Launch 10

2023 · 12 reviews

99 Exceptional

95 Confidence
Launch 9

2022 · 20 reviews

71 Decent

86 Confidence
Launch 8 This shoe

2020 · 3 reviews

86 Good

70 Confidence
Launch 7

2019 · 3 reviews

85 Good

77 Confidence
Launch 6

2018 · 29 reviews

96 Excellent

95 Confidence
Launch 5

2017 · 37 reviews

93 Excellent

96 Confidence
Launch 4

2017 · 24 reviews

86 Good

92 Confidence
Launch 3

2017 · 11 reviews

98 Exceptional

94 Confidence
Launch 2

2015 · 25 reviews

70 Decent

93 Confidence
Launch 1

2009 · 55 reviews

98 Exceptional

99 Confidence

Reader Ratings

3 ratings

5/5 2

4/5 1

3/5 0

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Release: 2020 Q4
MSRP: $100

Runner reviews

Write a review

Best Trainer Brooks Has Had and I Wish They Brought It Back

5/5

Overall

This is a great value shoe and versatile across workouts and other runs. Later iterations have been okay, but this one holds a special place in my ranking list. Not only is it great for easy runs, long runs, and any other everyday runs on the roads or trails, but holds up just fine in a large majority of track, grass, and road workouts that I've done. Also, the price was fantastic for the product and I got plenty of miles out of several pairs of these. Maybe one day Brooks will release a version that matches up to these again in the not too distant future, but until then, I will keep looking on Ebay to snag any leftover as often as I can.

Dev · Jun 9, 2026

30 mpw avg pace 8:00 400 miles in this shoe training for a marathon would buy again came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 5/5

Great all around shoe for the price

4/5

Overall

I've ran in ~15 pairs of these over the last several years and they get me through 70 mile weeks and up to ~700-800 miles per pair without injury. What more can I ask for in a shoe?

Matt · Jul 6, 2023

60 mpw training for a marathon came from the ASICS GEL-Nimbus 21