HOKA Clifton 6

Name: HOKA Clifton 6
Brand: HOKA
Rating: 4.5 (66 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 9.1 oz · 5mm drop · 27/22mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The HOKA Clifton 7 replaced it

How it ranks

The HOKA Clifton 6 ranks among the stronger daily trainers in our data. Cushioning and comfort are its strongest sub-ratings. Looks scores well below its other sub-ratings. Most runners who came to it from another shoe preferred it. The rating rests on 68 runner reviews and 10 other rated shoes in the Clifton product line.

Good

87/100

Overall

Good 87

Cushioning

Exceptional 99

Comfort

Exceptional 98

Value

Decent 77

Durability

Decent 75

Appearance

Below average 60

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

97/100

Very high 97

What runners say

“There is no pop at all — I just sink into the foam. It's like running in mud.”

4/5 Full review 41 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Carbon X

“The shoes are narrow, even in the 2E. This is most noticeable in the toebox, around the pinky toe.”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon

“The cushioning is responsive and doesn't have that feeling of sinking into the shoe.”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon

“After around 100 miles the tread started to wear away and significantly so after about 200 miles.”

4/5 Full review 41 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Carbon X

“Have to switch shoes every 250-300 miles to avoid injury.”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a marathon came from the Newton Gravity 8

“Other cushioned shoes can feel blocky or heavy, but the Clifton really doesn't.”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for ultramarathons came from the Saucony Kinvara 10

“It provides plenty of cushioning but is by no means a slow shoe.”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for a marathon came from the Skechers GOrun Ride 7

“The shoe has a very comfortable and cushioned feel without compromising responsiveness.”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for ultramarathons came from the Saucony Kinvara 10

“I like the ride for long easy runs but for anything faster is pretty bad.”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Rincon 2

“I got black toenails and blisters on the tip of second and third toes.”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Altra Escalante 1.5

Prefer this shoe over another

49% 34/69

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Reviewers rate cushioning 4.8 out of 5 and use it for easy days and long road runs.
It weighs 9.1 oz, and reviewers call it light for the cushioning it carries.
Seven reviewers over fifty say it lets them keep running with knee, calf or joint pain.

Cons

Reviewers rate durability 4.0 out of 5, and four report the tread and foam going near 300 miles.
Five reviewers find it unresponsive and bulky at faster paces.
Three reviewers find the toe box narrow, one blistering at first and one narrow even in 2E.

Clifton 6 rates 87. This shoe has very high certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the HOKA Clifton

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

Rating

40 60 80 100

99 2014 97 2015 98 2016 64 2017 88 2018 87 2019 81 2020 95 2021 99 2023 95 2025 86 2026

Release year

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

Clifton 11

2026 · 3 reviews

86 Good

70 Confidence
Clifton 10

2025 · 11 reviews

95 Excellent

87 Confidence
Clifton 9

2023 · 130 reviews

99 Exceptional

100 Confidence
Clifton 8

2021 · 57 reviews

95 Excellent

97 Confidence
Clifton 7

2020 · 8 reviews

81 Good

83 Confidence
Clifton 6 This shoe

2019 · 68 reviews

87 Good

97 Confidence
Clifton 5

2018 · 48 reviews

88 Good

97 Confidence
Clifton 4

2017 · 51 reviews

64 Below average

98 Confidence
Clifton 3

2016 · 37 reviews

98 Exceptional

98 Confidence
Clifton 2

2015 · 5 reviews

97 Exceptional

90 Confidence
Clifton 1

2014 · 16 reviews

99 Exceptional

97 Confidence

Reader Ratings

68 ratings

5/5 40

4/5 26

3/5 1

2/5 1

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 9.1 oz
Release: 2019 Q2
MSRP: $130
Stack Height: 27mm heel - 22mm toe
Drop Height: 5mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

My go to daily trainer

5/5

Overall

I’ve been a fan of the Hoka Clifton series for years. It’s the best shoe for me to log daily miles and long runs in. I typically take each pair to 500 miles before replacing. The cushioning is just right and I’m a fan of the 5 mm drop.

Anonymous runner · Aug 4, 2023

50 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Clifton 7

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Jul 9, 2023

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Jun 14, 2023

25 mpw came from the New Balance XC 5K v6

Comfort: 4/5
Cushioning: 4/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 4/5

Why so soft

4/5

Overall

Ok so like I get what they're going for but I think this shoe just isn't very versatile. I like the ride on this shoe for long easy runs but for anything faster is pretty bad. As an experiment I did some 300m hill reps in them at repetition pace and they were just clunky. Obviously not the purpose of the shoe but it illustrates how one dimensional this shoe is. Great for slow easy runs but boy is it slow.

DoItForHim91 · Nov 24, 2020

40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Rincon 2

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 3/5

Bouncy and comfy while they last!

4/5

Overall

I really liked these shoes. I bought them to accompany my Carbon X and I ended up using them for more than just easy and long days. I've even ran the odd hill sprint and set of intervals in them. I was surprised that they could handle tempo paces, the only real issue was the weight. They aren't the fastest shoes around, but that's not why you'd buy them. The comfort on runs >10miles is great. In Nike I buy Japanese size 28.5 and did the same with the Carbon X. With the Clifton, I found 28 Wide worked well for me. After 320 miles, I class my shoes as "dead" now. For a number of reasons: After around 100 miles the tread started to wear away and significantly so after about 200 miles. Today I have 320 miles on my pair and the tread is completely gone in places and I am running on a mixture of foam and rubber... The above wear is rather heavy on the outside of the shoe, which will be affecting my gait. Likewise, the foam is showing significant compression marks. When I use these now, there is no pop at all -- I just sink into the foam. Obviously, this makes running hard! It's like running in mud. I sink straight through to the road! If you can get these cheap then do so, but at 17000 yen / $160 they are rather pricey. Currently moved on to using some Peg 36s, which aren't as nice but I have too many shoes right now. I think if I were to replace these it would be between these and the Infinity React.

SlowFox · Aug 3, 2020

41 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Carbon X