HOKA Clifton 9

Name: HOKA Clifton 9
Brand: HOKA
Rating: 4.6 (51 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 8.5 oz · 5mm drop · 40/35mm stack · Medium/Wide

Variants of this shoe

Clifton 9 GTX Waterproof
Clifton One9 Edition
Clifton 9 GORE-TEX Waterproof

Some shoes have multiple versions of what is essentially the same shoe, with variations in style or materials. We try to group these together. Retailers sometimes list a version number wrong, and our system can treat those mislabeled names as variants.

How it ranks

The HOKA Clifton 9 is one of the strongest daily trainers in our data. Comfort and cushioning are its strongest sub-ratings. Most runners who came to it from another shoe preferred it. The rating rests on 130 runner reviews and 10 other rated shoes in the Clifton product line.

Exceptional

99/100

Overall

Exceptional 99

Comfort

Exceptional 99

Cushioning

Exceptional 99

Durability

Very good 92

Appearance

Very good 91

Value

Good 88

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

100/100

Very high 100

What runners say

“At $140, performs like $170–$180 models from Nike, Saucony, Asics, and On.”

4/5 Full review 90 mpw training for ultramarathons came from the Saucony Triumph 20

“The cushion is amazingly balanced and creates an exceptional, very durable ride.”

4/5 Full review training for 5K and 10K came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 38

“One of the softest Cliftons to date, yet maintains a lightweight, responsive ride.”

4/5 Full review 90 mpw training for ultramarathons came from the Saucony Triumph 20

“Early-stage rocker allows for effortless, smooth roll-off through every stride.”

5/5 Full review 30 mpw training for 5K and 10K came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 39

“Pleasantly light and well cushioned for heel, mid-foot, and forefoot striking.”

5/5 Full review 30 mpw training for 5K and 10K came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 39

“Foam is very durable, still holding up well at nearly 700 miles.”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw training for 5K and 10K came from the Brooks Glycerin 20

“Highly protective and soft; makes the miles fly by.”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a marathon came from the adidas adizero SL2

“Widens out just enough in the forefoot to eliminate arch issues.”

4/5 Full review 90 mpw training for ultramarathons came from the Saucony Triumph 20

“Extra 3mm stack height while remaining lighter than the previous model.”

5/5 Full review 30 mpw training for 5K and 10K came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 39

“Surprisingly light for soft cushioning; handles long miles comfortably.”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw training for 5K and 10K came from the Mizuno Wave Rider 27 Roxy

Prefer this shoe over another

60% 34/57

Where to buy

Dick's Sporting Goods

$150

Truffle Salt (and 1 other)

Buy at Dick's Sporting Goods

Price as of Sep 13.

Report a wrong price

Prices last updated on Sep 13, 2026 at 7:31 PM UTC (14 hours ago).

Our prices come from feeds the retailers send us. We refresh them every day, but a feed is sometimes wrong. Tell us and we will look into it.

Other retailers

Amazon

$170

Price as of Sep 14, 8:30 AM UTC.

Report a wrong price

Prices last updated on Sep 14, 2026 at 8:30 AM UTC (1 hour ago).

Our prices come from feeds the retailers send us. We refresh them every day, but a feed is sometimes wrong. Tell us and we will look into it.

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Amazon prices change often.

Buy at Dick's Sporting Goods for $150

Buy

Pros

Reviewers praise deep cushioning at a light 8.5 oz weight.
Many find the forefoot roomier and comfier than the Clifton 8.
Reviewers call it the best-riding Clifton for daily easy miles.

Cons

Several reviewers report upper tearing and fast wear before expected mileage.
Some runners find it clunky and slow at faster paces.
Several reviewers call it expensive for how quickly it wears.

Clifton 9 rates 99. 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 This shoe

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

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

130 ratings

5/5 91

4/5 35

3/5 3

2/5 1

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 8.5 oz
Release: 2023 Q1
MSRP: $145
Widths: Medium, Wide
Stack Height: 40mm heel - 35mm toe
Drop Height: 5mm

Available sizes

Men's sizes

10.5, 11, 12

Women's sizes

6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10

Runner reviews

Write a review

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Feb 10, 2024

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

Great Shoe, but somewhat expensive

4/5

Overall

Clifton 9 is a great shoe. Lasted about 500 miles for me before showing some seam-tearing on the inner edges. Even after 500 miles the cushioning doesn't feel too dead, and I could probably wear a bit longer. Very light.

Wayne · Dec 23, 2023

35 mpw training for 5K and 10K

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

Clifton 9 toebox changes killed this shoe for me.

2/5

Overall

Clifton 8 was a great successor to 7, 6, 5... which I happily wore through several successful marathon training cycles. Why did Hoka ruin a great thing?

Phil · Dec 7, 2023

40 mpw training for a marathon came from the HOKA Clifton 8

Comfort: 1/5
Cushioning: 4/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 4/5

Coolest Shoes I've ever run in, but creaky

5/5

Overall

I was so impressed with the look of the shoes and the amount of cushioning which supported my shoe as I ran but not so much so that it was difficult or impeding. The only complaint is that the HOKA symbol on the tongue creaked as I ran, which could be a bit annoying. The price at out local running store was great as well.

Anonymous runner · Dec 5, 2023

27 mpw training for 5K and 10K came from the Brooks Ghost 14

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

Excellent Daly Trainer

5/5

Overall

Highly protective and soft. Makes the miles fly by. It's good for an under pronator, as it slightly encourages you to roll inward. The half gusseted tongue just works and is fantastic. The toebox is roomy but not too roomy. The rubber on the outside is relatively durable. I'm on pace to get about 400-450 miles from them. My only complaint is it's basically impossible to get up on your toes doing strides or hill sprints in these because of how wide the landing platform is. Still, my favorite shoes in a long time.

ShoeTubersHaveNoEthics · Nov 28, 2023

50 mpw training for a marathon came from the adidas adizero SL2

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

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Analyses

HOKA Clifton 9

Exceptional