Nike Vaporfly 3

Name: Nike Vaporfly 3
Brand: Nike
Rating: 4.6 (30 reviews)

Racing · Neutral · Road · 7.1 oz · 8mm drop · 38/30mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Nike Vaporfly 4 replaced it

How it ranks

The Nike Vaporfly 3 is one of the strongest racing shoes in our data. Looks and cushioning are its strongest sub-ratings. Durability scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating rests on 89 runner reviews and 4 other rated shoes in the Vaporfly product line.

Exceptional

99/100

Overall

Exceptional 99

Appearance

Exceptional 99

Cushioning

Exceptional 99

Comfort

Exceptional 98

Value

Decent 70

Durability

Bottom-tier 54

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

“The etching in the sole to create that aerodynamic 3D-printed topographical look makes for just that many more edges to get rubbed off in a race.”

5/5 Full review 26 mpw training for a marathon came from the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

“Carbon fiber plate and foam are great and give back a lot of force—feels like a trampoline.”

5/5 Full review training for 5K and 10K came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 40

“The moment I did a stride in the VF 3's I knew they were categorically better than the VF 2s.”

5/5 Full review 26 mpw training for a marathon came from the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

“Have helped me hit new marathon PRs with much less leg fatigue later in the race.”

5/5 Full review 20 mpw training for a marathon came from the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

“Runs 1/2 size small.”

5/5 Full review 20 mpw training for 5K and 10K

“After 35 miles of work the bottom of these shoes are more worn than I would have expected.”

5/5 Full review 26 mpw training for a marathon came from the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

“At this stage, it's a light shoe, but it's unstable and has low energy return.”

5/5 Full review 9 mpw training for 5K and 10K

“The only issue with it is the lack of durability when comparing to the price.”

4/5 Full review training for a half marathon came from the adidas Takumi Sen 8

“The VF 3's have the stability and cushion to make for an ideal half to full marathon racing shoe.”

5/5 Full review 26 mpw training for a marathon came from the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

“The Vaporfly has a lot of energy return and is incredibly light.”

5/5 Full review 9 mpw training for 5K and 10K

Prefer this shoe over another

61% 14/23

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

At 7.1 oz in the men's build and 5.8 oz in the women's, on a 38mm heel stack.
Reviewers report race PRs, strong energy return and quicker recovery afterwards.
Four reviewers who have run earlier Vaporflys call this one an improvement.

Cons

Durability is its lowest-rated dimension at 3.5 out of 5 against a $250 list price, and reviewers report the foam and thin outsole wearing out fast, one of them by 200 miles.
Reviewers keep it for races and key workouts rather than easy or long runs.
Three reviewers report it feeling unstable, particularly at slower paces.

Vaporfly 3 rates 99. This shoe has very high certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the Nike Vaporfly

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

Rating

40 60 80 100

99 2017 100 2019 99 2021 99 2023 98 2025

Release year

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

Vaporfly 4

2025 · 3 reviews

98 Exceptional

91 Confidence
Vaporfly 3 This shoe

2023 · 89 reviews

99 Exceptional

100 Confidence
ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 2

2021 · 49 reviews

99 Exceptional

99 Confidence
ZoomX Vaporfly Next%

2019 · 27 reviews

100 Exceptional

100 Confidence
Zoom Vaporfly 4%

2017 · 73 reviews

99 Exceptional

100 Confidence

Reader Ratings

89 ratings

5/5 71

4/5 14

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: 7.1 oz
Release: 2023 Q2
MSRP: $250
Stack Height: 38mm heel - 30mm toe
Drop Height: 8mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

Fool's Gold

2/5

Overall

For one they cannot handle fast paces. The lockdown/upper is not ergonomic at all. Pros: They are very cushioned so it distracts you from the fact that you're running hard. This also aids itself to less tax on the legs from pounding. Cons: Just not aggressive. Low arch.

If you want a more aggressive, responsive, longer lasting shoe to train and race hard in, look elsewhere.

Anonymous runner · Oct 29, 2024

10 mpw training for 5K and 10K came from the Saucony Endorphin Speed 2

Comfort: 1/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 1/5

LIVES UP TO THE HYPE

5/5

Overall

I purchased this shoe before summer training for my freshman year of college cross-country. I knew about the Vaporfly models already, but I wasn't sure what to expect. However, this shoe more than delivered. The first miles I had on this shoe were 5 miles in a local race I had been training for. I could tell with every stride that the power was evident. I ended up running a 2 minute PR with these shoes! Highly recommend for both racing and speed days!

Anonymous runner · Jun 25, 2024

40 mpw training for 5K and 10K came from the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4

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

Game changing shoe

5/5

Overall

The only super shoe I’ve ever tried, but they are significantly an improvement over the Adios Boost I’ve been running in for years.

Jogger262 · Jun 23, 2024

40 mpw training for a marathon came from the adidas adizero Adios 7

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

Speed at a price

5/5

Overall

I've been a competitive runner for a few years now and have found the Nike Vaporfly line to be by far my favorite racing shoe. The 3 has a more durable feel to the shoe compared to the 2 in my opinion which I appreciate. I'm on my third pair of the Vaporfly 3s and really love them for speed workouts and races. It's hard to justify a 250$ price tag, but the shoe seems to be that much of a bonus when it comes to performance enhancement.

Anonymous runner · Jun 22, 2024

30 mpw training for 5K and 10K

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

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Jun 17, 2024

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

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Nike Vaporfly 3

Exceptional