We’ve scoured the internet on a quest to find the best ergonomic office chair under 200 dollars, and we’ve declared a winner. Actually, as we’ll explain just below, we found three, and we’ll tell you all about them.
The Takeaway:
1. Fabric: Serta Hannah II
2. Leather: AmazonBasics Big & Tall Executive Chair
3. Mesh: Hbada Mesh Reclining Office Chair
Are you on the hunt for a new office chair? Have you found the search to this point to be both frustrating and bewildering? If you answered yes to either of those questions, we think you’re going to love this review.
Let’s begin by taking a high-level look at all the chairs that made our list of finalists so that you can compare them side by side, but even before that, we need to take a moment to explain why we have three winners instead of just one.
It comes down to the first, most pivotal question you should ask yourself before you start looking for your next office chair: What material do you want it upholstered in?
Broadly speaking, you’ve got three choices:
Granted, there’s lots of variety within those three categories, but at the root, those are your main choices. Each has advantages and disadvantages, which we would outline something like this:
Notes About the Roundup
Bear in mind that in the price range we’re focused on here, almost all the leather-upholstered chairs will be bonded leather. That’s not a bad thing in that it is real leather, but bonded leather is created from leather scraps that have been fused together.
The resulting product isn’t as supple or durable as grain leather and tends to start showing its age rather quickly. You can expect it to last 2-3 years with light to moderate use or a little more than a year with heavy daily use.
Also, note that if you’re looking for ergonomic office chairs and your budget is $150 or less, you’re not going to find many models sporting fabric upholstery. If you’re willing to spend a bit more (in the range of $200, which is the focus of this article), then you’ll find that the options really start to open up.
With those things in mind, we’ve broken this article into three sections based on the three basic choices you’ve got where upholstery is concerned, and we’ve announced a winner in each category. We’ll introduce you to our winners next, along with the other top contenders in each category.
In addition to that, we’ll provide the details on the chairs that “almost” made our short list, giving you a “top ten best ergonomic office chairs” in each category so you’ll have a complete picture about the possibilities available. Let’s jump right in and get started!
Best Ergonomic Office Chair Under $200 in 2024 – Fabric
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Our Pick
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4.4
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4.4
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4.0
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$229.99
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$168.12
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N/A
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29” x 25.5” x 43”
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28.8” x 24.8” x 40.2”
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27.2” x 26.2” x 41”
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38 pounds
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34.5 pounds
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38 pounds
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250 pounds
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250 pounds
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250 pounds
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NA, but it does rock slightly
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90 to 120 degrees
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90 to 120 degrees
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21”
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21”
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21”
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18” to 20”
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17” to 21”
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17” to 21”
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19”
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20”
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20”
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An excellent value for the money. Beautiful, comfortable, and with strong ergonomic features. Highly recommended.
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An excellent value for the money. Beautiful, comfortable, and with strong ergonomic features. Highly recommended.
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A good chair that falls short of greatness. Still, it’s elegant design and excellent lumbar and back support make it an outstanding choice for the right user. Recommended.
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- Serta knows comfort and is a tremendously reliable brand. Offered in a variety of colors and has well-implemented ergonomic features.
- Somewhat narrow height adjustment range. No recline function.
- Offered by a great company with an exceptional reputation for service and support. Very comfortable, with well implemented ergonomic features and available in a variety of colors.
- None.
- Tremendous quality from a legend in the industry. Excellent lumbar and back support.
- Though the armrests are adjustable, the mechanism is flimsy and may not stand up to repeated use. Arm rests are not upholstered.
*While aesthetics are a matter of taste, aesthetic flexibility is a measure of how easily a given design would fit into a wide range of home or office décor schemes.
**Brand Reliability is a measure of the strength and longevity of the brand, which by extension, is a measure of the level of support you can expect.
One final comment to make before we start taking a closer look at the specific models. A lot of people may be on the lookout for the “best high back office chair under 200 dollars.” If that’s you, then you’re in luck because every chair listed here is a high-backed model. That’s because head/neck/shoulder support is a key component of ergonomic design.
Sure, it’s entirely possible to create a good mid-back ergonomic chair, but a comparably outfitted high-back chair is going to be the superior choice, simply because mid-back chairs, by definition, can’t provide head/neck/shoulder support.
So, let’s jump in and take a look at our winners, finalists, and some great alternate choices. We feel confident that somewhere in the charts above and the details below, you’ll find an office chair that you’ll absolutely fall in love with.
Our Pick: Serta Hannah II
Recommended For: Anyone. Serta knows a lot about comfort and this microfiber upholstered design is exceptional.
Our list of fabric chairs is dominated by just one company, with Serta taking all the top three spots.
It’s no surprise that Serta dominates this category. After all, the company knows a lot about comfort, and while its primary area of expertise is in mattresses, its designs in this category demonstrate that it can easily apply that knowledge to the task of making great office chairs.
The Hannah II has just about everything you could ask for in an ergonomic chair. It features a waterfall seat to take pressure off of your legs, excellent lumbar support, and above-average head, neck, and shoulder support, in addition to sporting ergonomic armrests.
In addition to that, it’s well-padded and comfortable, and its microfiber upholstery only adds to that, making for a luxuriant, enjoyable seating experience.
A Few Things to Consider
As much as we like the chair, there are a few minor issues to be aware of. In no particular order, these are:
Some users have complained about the choice of microfiber as the upholstery fabric, claiming that it suffers from the same problems that leather does in that it’s not breathable and makes you sweat.
It’s a fair criticism, although microfiber is still more breathable than leather, it’s true that if you’re a power user and plan to use the chair heavily and on a daily basis, you may want some other type of fabric. Fortunately, you can do that! The chair can be ordered in either bonded leather or woven fabric, at your preference, and is also available in a variety of colors, including:
We love this chair and would recommend either the bonded leather or microfiber upholstered versions for light to moderate use, with the woven fabric variant recommended for heavy daily use. The true strength of the design is that you can customize the chair to your exact tastes, preferences, and needs. A job very well done by Serta!
Runner-Up: Serta Hannah I
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a great blend of form and function.
Since Hannah II won top honors, it should be no surprise that the company’s earlier iteration of the model, Hannah I, came in second. It’s a fantastic chair, although not quite as flexible.
With its waterfall-style seat and padded headrest, combined with microfiber upholstery and generous padding, you won’t be wanting where comfort is concerned. In addition to that though, the Hannah I offers superb lumbar and head/neck/shoulder ergonomic support and better-than-average support for your arms.
The chair’s armrests are hoop-style and fixed in their positions, so you can’t tweak the height, which is one of the design’s few weaknesses. Also note that like the other Serta models that dominate our list, the maximum weight limit is a relatively modest 250 pounds, but not to worry – if you’re heavier than that, we’ve got other chairs in the lineup that will suit you better!
As it stands, this one is very nearly the equal of our top pick, and an exceptional, well-rounded office chair.
The Hannah I is offered in the following colors:
Value Pick: Serta Style Amy
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a tasteful, understated design that can stand up to moderate and occasional heavy use.
Yet another Serta model claims a third place on our list of finalists, the Amy is an understated beauty with well-implemented ergonomic features. Although slightly more expensive than the Hannah models, it didn’t rate quite as highly as those.
Even so, we really like this chair. It’s got an elegant style that works well with most home décor schemes and is offered in a variety of colors, including:
The upholstery is linen, which is fantastic, and the chair has good ergonomic and head/neck/shoulder support.
The armrests are height adjustable but are a bit on the short side for our liking, and the mechanism that controls the up and down motion is a bit flimsy, which is a marked departure from the quality of the rest of the chair.
Also, the armrests aren’t ergonomically designed and are not padded, making this a real weakness of the design in our book, which is why it didn’t earn a higher ranking from us. Even so, it’s well-padded, comfortable, and capable of standing up to the rigors of heavy daily usage.
While this isn’t Serta’s most robust model, it’s an undeniably great chair, and we recommend it.
Also Great: Flash Furniture Hercules 24/7
Recommended For: Anyone who spends several hours a day in their chair. This thing is virtually indestructible.
There are a couple of things to note about this chair.
Technically, it belongs in the “best office chair under 250 dollars” category because it’s slightly above the two-hundred-dollar line, although it can frequently be found on sale, which puts it right at the two-hundred-dollar line.
Second, this is the model I purchased for myself. I put it together solo, in a process that took about an hour because it’s a big, burly beast of a chair, and getting the seat back attached without four hands is a bit tricky.
I have used this chair ten to fourteen hours daily, every day for over a year. The only problem I’ve ever had with it is that about every six months, I have to tighten up the chair arms. Other than that, it’s been a wonder.
It’s heavy, it’s comfortable, and it’s virtually indestructible. The Herc 24/7 was explicitly designed for use in call centers that run nonstop so that the same chair is used by different people who come in during different shifts, which sees the chair in constant use. It can stand up to just about anything you can throw at it.
On top of that, I’ve got three reformed feral cats in the house, and the rugged fabric has stood up exceptionally well to razor-sharp claws. It’s also got excellent lumbar and head/neck/shoulder support. It also has the highest supported user weight of any chair on the list; an impressive five-hundred pounds!
The armrests are also ergonomically designed and quite comfortable although not as well-padded as I would prefer, nor are they height-adjustable, but that’s about the only weak spot the chair has. Having used this chair for more than a year, I would rate it as the best, most affordable ergonomic office chair.
Honestly, if Flash Furniture had the same level of brand recognition and reliability as Serta, this model would have taken top honors. It’s perfect for big and tall users (I’m 6’6”). Highly recommended.
Honorable Mention: Flash Furniture Microfiber
Recommended For: Anyone who is 250 pounds or less, in the market for a chair designed for heavy daily use.
Flash Furniture may not have all that much heft as a brand, but they make surprisingly good furniture, which is why our top five list in this category is dominated by two companies, with Serta taking top honors and Flash Furniture rounding out the roster.
The Flash Furniture microfiber chair is delightfully comfortable, although not as generously padded as the mighty Hercules 24/7.
Since the padding is simple block foam, if you use this chair intensively on a daily basis, the block foam is likely to break down rather quickly and it won’t be as comfortable as it was after say, six months of intense use, which may prompt you to either have it re-padded or to buy a pillow to give you a bit of extra cushioning.
The base isn’t metal, sadly, which is an admitted weak spot in the design, but it is ruggedized, and the chair is capable of supporting up to 300 pounds of user weight.
Given the limitations of the padding and the fact that the base is nylon, we’d rate this chair as good for light to moderate daily use but less than ideal for heavy daily use.
Perhaps the coolest feature about the Flash Furniture Microfiber is the fact that it’s got an insane height adjustment range and can be lowered sufficiently to make it a great chair for young people, then raised sufficiently to make it a good fit for users up to about 6’3”.
That’s impressive and makes this model surprisingly versatile. It’s one of the best inexpensive ergonomic office chairs on the market.
Other Notable Contenders
We realize that not everyone will agree with our top five picks, which is why we wanted to share the details of the other models we considered when selecting our finalists and ultimately determining a winner in each category. Here they are:
Flash Furniture Hercules Task Chair
More affordable than the Hercules 24/7, the Flash Furniture HERCULES Task Office Chair sports a mid-back design and fixed armrests. It does not recline and has a 400-pound weight capacity.
This is the third Flash Furniture model to make our top-ten list, which gives them as large a presence on the list as Serta. While the styling is somewhat different, this model is quite similar to our fourth-place entry, the Hercules 24/7, including the fact that it’s ruggedly built and capable of supporting a surprising amount of user weight (400 pounds here, vs. 500 pounds where the Herc. 24/7 is concerned).
The most notable difference between the two models is the fact that on this one, the armrests aren’t fixed in their positions and can be height adjusted, giving you one more way to tweak this chair to optimize it for your comfort.
Unfortunately, although the armrests are padded, they’re a little short for our tastes. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, but it’s something to be mindful of.
A couple of other things to note:
It’s a very good chair and could be an excellent choice for the right person, but it falls short of greatness. We provisionally recommend it.
Kadirya High Back Mixed Upholstery Chair
A great-looking chair that offers the perfect blend between cloth and leather upholstery. Recommended for anyone.
We’ve talked about the Kadirya Mixed Upholstery chair on more than one occasion. It’s an exceptional chair and would have ranked higher on our list if Kadirya had more substantial brand heft. As it stands, we don’t know if this company is going to be around in the long term, and because of that, while we love the design, we can’t give it a higher rating than we did.
It has its limitations, to be sure. It’s constructed from low-end materials, and as such, it won’t stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use. Having said that, the mix of fabric and bonded leather is fabulous because the designers put fabric everywhere your body touches the seat and the seatback.
That gives you the breathability of the fabric, combined with the luxuriant appearance of leather. Sure, it’s bonded leather, but given the modest price of the chair, that’s not a surprise.
The only real weakness with the implementation is that the armrests are leather, rather than fabric. Given that bonded leather doesn’t age well, you can bet that the armrests will be the first place you start seeing wear and tear.
Note that this chair’s seat height can be adjusted within the range of 18.7” to 22.2”, making it ideal for taller users, although the 250-pound weight limit puts obvious limitations on this.
While it’s not the most luxuriantly padded of chairs, its well-implemented ergonomic features make it more comfortable than you might think. While this model isn’t for everyone, it’s an excellent choice for the right user and well worth considering—a delightfully inexpensive ergonomic chair.
ObiWan Sales Grape Microfiber
Recommended For: Anyone who's 300 pounds and feels the overwhelming urge to own a comfy purple office chair.
This is an interesting design for a couple of reasons, even if it’s offered by a company with little brand recognition or heft.
The first thing you’ll notice about it is its color. Not everyone wants a purple chair, so that might be a deal breaker for some, but it bears a classic design, so it blends in rather easily with most home décor schemes.
It’s overstuffed and features an ergonomic waterfall-style seat which makes it a surprisingly comfortable chair, but the way the padding of the seat back is configured does give it a bit of a “lumpy” feel that takes some getting used to.
Lumbar support is adequate, the ergonomic armrests and the seat support are excellent, and the headrest is above average. The seat is height adjustable within the range of 18.25” to 22”, making it ideal for bigger, taller users, and although the base is nylon, it has been ruggedized to support users of up to 300 pounds and is well suited to the rigors of moderate and occasional bouts of heavy usage.
OFM Ergonomic Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone weighing 250 pounds or less, who’s looking for a decent, low-cost backup chair.
While the chair offered by OFM isn’t the prettiest one on our list, it’s interesting for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it’s got a superb set of ergonomic features and is incredibly adjustable. You can adjust:
It’s adequately padded, but not exceptionally so, is rated to support a maximum of 250 pounds, and is offered in a variety of colors, including:
The armrests are height adjustable, but as with the Serta Amy chair, they are one of the weak points in the design, not being as well padded or upholstered like the rest of the chair.
We’re also not huge fans of the design of the seatback and regard the OFM’s headrest to be on the weak side ergonomically. Even so, it stands as one of the most adjustable chairs out there, and if you’re struggling to find a good “fit” for you, this one makes it easy and as such, is well worth considering.
Lorell High-Back Multi-Task Office Chair
Recommended For: Users weighing up to 250 pounds.
This is an unassuming chair with average ergonomic features, but it does have a few things going for it that make it worth considering, especially if you’re struggling to find a good “fit” for you elsewhere on our list.
Notable features include:
Unfortunately, there are a couple of drawbacks. The upholstery is acrylic, which is durable but low quality. To borrow a phrase, you can get this chair in any color you want, as long as it’s burgundy. If you don’t like that color, then this is going to be a deal breaker.
Finally, understand that the seat back is all one piece, so while it’s fantastic that you can increase the seat height, doing so will change the position of the lumbar support, which may put the lumbar support out of position for you. In other words, this is a feature that looks better on paper than it does in the real world, which is somewhat disappointing.
In any case, it’s a potentially good chair…for the right user.
Best Ergonomic Office Chair Under 200 Dollars in 2024 – Leather
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Our Pick
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4.6
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4.6
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4.5
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N/A
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$312.22
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N/A
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29.5” x 27.2” x 42.5” to 47”
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30” x 27” x 38.3” to 40.8”
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30.8” x 27” x 43.5” to 47.25”
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44.1 pounds
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51.4 pounds
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23.8 pounds
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350 pounds
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250 pounds
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250 pounds
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90 to 120 degrees
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90 to 120 degrees
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90 to 120 degrees
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21”
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20”
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21”
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18.75” to 22.25”
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17.5” to 20”
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16” to 19.25”
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22”
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18”
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17.75”
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Highly recommended for big and tall folk.
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Highly recommended for average-sized and smaller people.
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With careful measurements, we recommend this chair, but caution potential buyers about its relatively small size.
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- Inexpensive. Tremendous value for the money. Well-implemented ergonomic features.
- Only offered in brown…not that that’s much of a negative. Optimized for big and tall people.
- Offered by a company with a stellar reputation. Well-implemented ergonomic support. Innovative.
- Optimized for average-sized and smaller people. Not everyone will like or enjoy the innovations.
- Great company with a reputation for world-class service and support. Strong ergonomic features, including one innovation. Super easy (and fast!) assembly.
- Not everyone will be a fan of the active lumbar support. Small seat makes it a bad fit for larger, and even some average sized people.
Serta had a strong showing in the fabric category, but they utterly dominate the leather-upholstered list. They’ve made tremendous strides in the office furniture market in recent years and at least at this price point, are now firmly entrenched.
Let’s take a closer look at the models on offer here and note that you will see a few familiar models.
Our Pick: AmazonBasics Big & Tall Executive Chair
Recommended For: Anyone on a budget, looking for a low-priced leather-upholstered chair.
Although Serta utterly dominates this category, it could not dislodge Amazon from the top spot.
This chair is a close cousin of the less expensive variant that took top honors in our roundup review of the best ergonomic office chairs under $100 and $150.
Like the less expensive chair, this model is superb. After all, when about the only negative thing you can think to say about the chair is that it’s only offered in brown, you know the company selling it is doing something right.
It’s delightfully inexpensive, well padded, and has a suite of well-implemented ergonomic features including exceptional ergonomic support, ergonomically sculpted armrests, and a comfortable, well-padded headrest that provides top-notch head, neck, and shoulder support.
Note that the lumbar support is adjustable so that you can set the tension according to your preferences. The chair also features a comfortable tilt function and an infinite locking adjustment mechanism.
Even better, although the base is nylon, it has been reinforced and can support a maximum user weight of 350 pounds. Combine that with the fact that the seat height is adjustable between the range of 18.75” and 22.25” and you get a chair that’s ideally suited to bigger, taller users.
That’s about the only reason this chair wouldn’t be a perfect fit for you. If you’re on the short side, this chair is simply going to be too big for you to sit comfortably in. We highly recommend the model for anyone taller than 5’9” or 5’10”. For anyone shorter, one of our other models would be a better fit, both literally and figuratively.
Runner-Up: Serta Works Back In Motion
Recommended For: Average-sized people who are looking for a chair for light to moderate daily use.
This is an interesting, innovative design that’s optimized for average-sized and smaller people, which makes it a great compliment to our top pick. Its most interesting aspect is the “back in motion” feature.
We’ll be quick to say that you’ll either love it or hate it. The idea is that when you lean forward, the seat back leans forward with you, providing you with constant ergonomic support, no matter how you choose to sit in the chair.
It’s a cool feature, and we love it but note that although this model is offered in both leather and fabric variants, the back-in-motion feature tends to work better and more seamlessly with the leather-clad variants, which is why this chair didn’t earn a spot on our list of finalists in the fabric category.
As you might expect, it’s well-padded, comfortable, and even double-stitched for added durability. Where the padding is concerned, not everyone is a fan of the “body pillow” approach that this chair takes, so again, it’s a feature you’ll either love it or despise it.
While we like all of the above, our favorite aspect of the chair is that there are so many adjustment options. You can adjust:
In addition to that, the Serta Works can be ordered in a variety of colors, including:
As good as the Serta Works is, there are two factors to keep in the forefront of your mind if you’re considering buying this one:
This is a relatively narrow chair with a modest (250-pound) maximum supported weight. And two, we urge all potential buyers to try this model in the showroom before settling on its purchase to be sure that the “back in motion” feature is something you’ll enjoy and find value in.
With those two things in mind, we highly recommend Serta Works…for the right user.
Value Pick: Serta My Fit
Recommended For: Petite and smaller users who need a comfortable, ergonomic office chair with innovative features.
The Serta My Fit is a solid design that will serve you well…if you’re on the small side.
This is one of the smallest chairs on our list with a seat that’s not terribly deep and a height adjustment range that’s on the low side. Given those two things, it was clearly intended for use by smaller people or those with shorter legs. A tall, long-legged person is going to feel cramped in this chair.
Assuming you fit comfortably into the seat, however, you’ll find a lot to like. Serta makes good use of their mattress experience here, providing a well-cushioned chair whose backrest is exceptionally comfortable due to layers of generous padding.
The seat itself bears traces of racing-style inspiration. It’s not quite a racing-style seat, mind you, but it’s obvious that the design team took at least a few queues from popular gaming chairs.
The headrest is especially comfortable, and the shape of the upper portion of the seatback provides outstanding head, shoulder and neck support. In addition to that, this chair sports a waterfall-style seat to provide leg support, and even the armrests are ergonomically designed, although fixed in their position.
Far and away the most intriguing feature about the My Fit, however, is its “active lumbar support.” If you’re the kind of person who frequently perches on the edge of your seat, sitting forward so that your back isn’t touching the seatback, you’ll find that this chair adjusts to you. The seatback will move forward, providing lumbar and mid/upper back support, even in that position.
We should note though, that this feature isn’t for everyone. Some users have complained about it, so our recommendation is to try it for yourself in a showroom to see if it is to your liking.
Our sense of it is that most of the people who complained about it either weren’t aware of that aspect of the chair’s design or simply aren’t used to sitting in an adaptive chair. Once you get used to it, you’ll probably find it very much to your liking, and it will undoubtedly serve to make you feel less fatigued after several hours working in the chair.
It’s a cool feature, and we were impressed, but we were a bit disappointed. This kind of feature cries out for inclusion on a highly adjustable chair. If Serta had included a means to adjust the height of the headrest and armrests, their active lumbar support would be even more powerful. As it is, it almost feels like overkill on a chair at this price point – like sticking a Dodge Viper engine in a Chevette Scooter or something.
Synergy issues aside, this is another great chair by Serta, and assuming you can fit into it, we do recommend it.
Also Great: Serta Hannah II
Recommended For: Anyone. Serta knows a lot about comfort and this microfiber upholstered design is exceptional.
This is the same model that won top honors in the fabric section of our report. Its fourth-place position isn’t because the leather-upholstered variant is in any way inferior, it’s simply that there’s more competition in this segment of the market.
Everything we said about the Hannah II in the section above applies here, so rather than repeating the content, we’ll refer you to the Hannah II entry in the Fabric upholstery section of this report.
Note that the leather variant of this chair can be ordered in either black or gray.
Honorable Mention: Staples Burlston Luxura
Recommended For: Anyone looking to buy an affordable office chair for under $200 with all the standard features and ergonomic support.
Based on the impressive seven-year limited warranty alone, this chair deserves a closer look. Granted, it’s not the prettiest one on our list, and in fact, some people find the pillowed upholstery to be a little off-putting, but it’s well built, comfortable, and sports good implementations of all the basic ergonomic support features.
Of the lot, the ergonomic armrests are the best, followed by better-than-average lumbar support and adequate head, neck, and shoulder support.
The chair is quite comfortable and verges on being considered overstuffed, plus it has a good height adjustment range, making it a great “generalist chair” that’s well-suited to handling a variety of body shapes, sizes, and styles.
While we were a bit underwhelmed by the maximum supported weight, we have to admit, this chair impresses. In the world of modestly priced office furniture, it’s almost a unicorn with that pairing of the excellent warranty and incredibly low price. In our view, it’s one of the best cheap ergonomic office chairs on the market today and is well worth a look. Recommended.
Other Notable Contenders (Leather)
Serta Hannah I
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a great blend of form and function.
Every good thing we said about the fabric variant of the Hannah I applies to the leather-clad version as well. Rather than repeating that information here, we’ll refer you to the fabric section of this document for details on the Hannah I.
Note that the leather version of this chair can be ordered in black, biscuit, comfort black, or comfort biscuit.
Serta AIR Health and Wellness Executive Chair
Recommended For: Those on a tight budget. While the bonded leather can crack after the first year, this chair offers a lot of excellent features for a competitive price.
This is a design optimized for bigger, taller people. It’s an unassuming but not unattractive design that isn’t flashy and will have no problems blending in seamlessly with the vast majority of home décor schemes.
It’s a solid design, but in our view, not quite strong enough to make our list of finalists.
The company has worked hard to innovate and has brought many exciting new features to the world of office furniture. Most of those innovations have been successful, but in the case of Serta Air Health, we regard the implementation as less than perfect.
The model is defined by the presence of what we’ve taken to calling the chair’s “beer belly,” which is a bit of stuffing on the seat back that protrudes notably, designed to provide lumbar support.
It does that, but there’s a problem. It’s quite firm, and unless you’re sufficiently heavy, you won’t be able to collapse the padding with your body weight sufficiently to lean back in the chair.
Of all the complaints associated with the chair, that’s far and away the most common one and has prompted many of the people who have purchased it to sit forward, ignoring the backrest entirely. As you might suspect, that negates just about all of the ergonomic value of the chair.
As we said, it’s a solid design, but this is an instance where when we say it’s optimized for bigger, taller people, we really mean it. As in, to the point that average-sized people probably won’t be able to sit in it properly.
That’s unfortunate because it relegates this design to niche status. Still, if you’re on the heavier side, it’s a superb choice and will serve you well. We provisionally recommend it.
Serta Amy
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a tasteful, understated design that can stand up to moderate and occasional heavy use.
Serta offers both a fabric and leather-upholstered version of the Amy, and while it didn’t make the top five in this section, it’s a tremendously good design, and if our top picks in this category leave you wanting, this one is well worth taking a closer look at.
Rather than repeating the content here, we’ll refer you to the fabric section of this document for details.
Note that the leather version of this chair can be ordered in black, chestnut, constellation black, or old chestnut.
Flash Furniture Hercules 24/7
Recommended For: Users and support up to 500 pounds.
Flash Furniture makes a leather-clad version of their virtually indestructible Herc. 24/7. Like the variant that sports fabric upholstery, this is an absolute beast of a chair that can handle just about anything you can throw at it. If you’re looking for a chair destined for extremely high levels of daily use, this is one of the top office chairs under 200.
For full details, we’ll refer you to the fabric section of this document rather than repeating ourselves here.
Topsky “New Type” High-Backed Executive Office Chair
The “New Type” Executive Office Chair is rugged, durable, and can support a surprising amount of weight. Recommended for heavier users.
We’d be surprised if you’d even heard of Topsky. It’s a tiny, relatively obscure brand…so far. Of all the off-brands we’ve written about (and there have been several), Topsky is one of a very few we have high hopes for. Based on the strength of their designs, we expect we’ll be seeing great things from them in the years ahead.
This model’s existence is one of the reasons we like the brand so much. The “New Type” was designed to replace the Topsky “Wave” chair, which was a bold design, but ultimately an unsuccessful one in our view.
Apparently, we weren’t alone in that assessment and in response, the company went back to the drawing board and redesigned the chair. We love this model, and we’re pleased beyond words that it scored high enough to make our top ten list, even though Topsky doesn’t have a tremendous amount of brand heft and reliability at this point.
It’s a great chair, and you won’t be disappointed. Not only is it well-padded and comfortable, but it’s also highly adjustable, giving you tons of flexibility to tweak it to fit you perfectly. You can even adjust the height of the ergonomic armrests!
The waterfall-style seat is not only ergonomically designed but comes with support springs, not unlike the ones you’ve probably got in your mattress, further enhancing the chair’s comfort. On top of that, the well-padded headrest (also ergonomically designed) is height adjustable as well.
The seat height moves in a range between 20.5” and 24”. That, combined with its 400 pound weight limit makes it a great choice for bigger, taller users, and its steel base makes it capable of standing up to the rigors of heavy daily use, although we will caution that it is upholstered with bonded leather, which means that the upholstery is almost certain to be the first thing that starts showing its age.
All that to say, Topsky is offering a fantastic product for a very modest price. We’d rate it as being the most comfortable office chair under 200 dollars, and that’s saying something. If none of the models in our top five are exactly what you’re looking for, this one is a great alternative. We recommend it.
Best Ergonomic Office Chairs Under 200 in 2024 – Mesh
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Our Pick
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3.9
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3.6
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3.6
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N/A
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N/A
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N/A
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24” x 24” x 45.2” to 48”
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25.6” x 25.6” x 46.6” to 49.6”
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30” x 25.7” x 44.7” to 49.2”
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41.8 pounds
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38.8 pounds
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43.9 pounds
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400 pounds
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300 pounds
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350 pounds
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90 to 155 degrees
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90 to 150 degrees
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90 to 120 degrees
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21”
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21”
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20”
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19” to 22”
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19” to 22”
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17” to 20”
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19”
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19”
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20"
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It’s a recliner! If you want one, this is a tremendous value. Highly recommended
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You’re in good hands with Hbada. Recommended
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Offers a comfortable seating experience for a great price. Recommended, especially for bigger, taller users.
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- It’s a mesh recliner! Superbly implemented ergonomic features
- Headrest is a bit on the flimsy side.
- Superbly implemented ergonomic features
- None
- Adjustable lumbar support and headrest. Modestly priced.
- Armrests are not ergonomically designed.
Our Pick: Hbada Mesh Reclining Office Chair
Recommended For: Gamers or anyone looking for a mesh office recliner, which is something of a rarity.
Hbada is a well-known and well-respected brand in Europe and other parts of the world, but they’ve got a limited footprint here. They make a variety of minimalist, mesh office chairs that have traces of European styling and are known for their high-quality, environmentally friendly products.
This model is notable because it’s one of the few reclining mesh office chairs we’ve ever seen.
Even if it wasn’t a fully functional recliner, complete with a hideaway ottoman that tucks under the seat when not in use, it’s a great office chair featuring adjustable lumbar support, an articulated headrest, adjustable arms, a well-padded waterfall-style seat, and height-adjustable ergonomic armrests.
Basically, this model has everything you could ever want in an ergonomic office chair, plus it pulls double duty as a recliner, capable of reclining back to a maximum of 155 degrees.
On top of that, it’s capable of supporting up to four hundred pounds of user weight. That, coupled with its decent seat height adjustment range makes it a great general-purpose office chair with a nice trick up its sleeve.
Granted, this isn’t a chair you’d want to spend an entire night in, but if you’ve been working hard for several hours straight and need to take a short power nap, this model has you covered.
As good as it is, there are two things we were slightly disappointed with.
First, the headrest. We love that it’s articulated, but it’s a bit flimsy, and a significant minority of users have reported problems with it, including the fact that in some cases, the headrest breaks or falls off. Given the quality of the chair as a whole, that’s unfortunate.
Second, the padding of the ottoman isn’t as thick as the padding of the seat. True, you’re not putting as much weight on it with your feet as you are on the seat of the chair when you’re sitting in it, but it does leave the Ottoman padding feeling a bit inadequate.
We readily admit that neither of these is a deal breaker, but they are items that lowered the chair’s final score slightly. Even given those two weaknesses, however, we stand by this model as our pick for the best ergonomic office chair under $200 in the mesh category.
Even if you’re not specifically looking for a mesh recliner, this one’s well worth picking up, given its surprisingly modest price. Highly recommended.
Runner-Up: Hbada Ergonomic Desk Chair
Recommended For: Anyone who wants to try out ergonomic office furniture.
A little cheaper and a little more conventional, this model, also by Hbada, is a close cousin of the mesh recliner we talked about above. Its stats are highly similar but note that It’s not quite as robust in terms of the amount of user weight it can support, and its maximum angle of recline is slightly reduced.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially given the fact that this model doesn’t have a built-in ottoman. Still, you can use it as a makeshift recliner if you’re willing to use a bit of applied creativity and engineer your own Ottoman once you get the chair put together.
Like its more expensive cousin, it’s got a good seat height range that makes it appealing to a broad swath of the market and offers the same level of adjustability (adjustable arms, headrest, and lumbar support).
One thing that Hbada does well is that they seem to have found the sweet spot, providing just enough in the way of seat padding paired with the mesh seatback to make their products ideal for heavy daily usage.
As you’ll see, one thing that some of the lesser models struggle with is that they skimp a bit on the seat padding, which makes those models less comfortable the longer you sit in them.
Neither of the Hbada models on our list of finalists suffers from that problem, and no matter how many hours you’re toiling away at your desk (or gaming), the padding is up to the task of keeping you comfortable. Like the Hbada recliner, we recommend this model without reservation.
Value Pick: CMO’s Mesh Office Chair With Headrest
Recommended For: Anyone looking for an adjustable, ergonomic, mesh office chair for under $200.
The first of two chairs by CMO to grace our list. CMO is a hidden gem of a brand. While not well-known, they do make products that are consistently above average and attractively priced, which can sometimes be a difficult proposition.
Consider this model to be the deluxe edition of the chair we’ll talk about next. Among other things, it offers:
There are several things to talk about in more detail here. Far and away the best feature of the chair is the adjustable lumbar support, which enables you to put the support exactly where you want it.
In our view, the second-best ergonomic feature is the waterfall-style seat, which, when combined with the height-adjustment range makes it a comfortable seating experience for a wide range of users. Throw in the fact that this chair can support up to 350 pounds of user weight and you’ve got a surprisingly robust chair.
The armrests are a bit of a disappointment, however. Rather than being ergonomically sculpted, they’re simple T-shaped struts. Padded, yes, but we’d have much preferred to see an additional ergonomic design element here.
The other minor disappointment is the headrest. First, kudos to CMO for including it and for making it height-adjustable, but we’ve seen less expensive chairs offer articulated headrests, so we know it’s possible. That and the armrests are the model’s two primary weaknesses in our view.
Ultimately though, it depends on how you plan to use it. Neither of the model’s weaknesses are deal breakers, and it’s a good value for the money. We recommend it.
Also Great: CMO’s Mesh High Backed Office Chair
A classically designed high back mesh office chair with good, but not exceptional ergonomic features. Recommended for anyone, but it’s slightly optimized for big and tall users.
Another model offered by CMO, this one is scaled down to keep the price low and is an excellent budget option that has all the basics covered and even manages to offer a few surprises.
While it’s not much to look at and lacks a proper headrest, it does offer a surprising amount of adjustability, allowing you to tweak the seat height, the armrest height and the position of the lumbar support so you can customize the chair to make it fit you like a glove.
Those capabilities help to enhance the comfort of what would otherwise be only a moderately comfortable chair. The seatback, being mesh, is breathable, but doesn’t offer anything in the way of padding, and the waterfall-style seat, although well-designed, is only modestly padded.
It’s a good chair for light to moderate use but lacking better padding in the seat and a headrest, this one would be ill-suited for heavy daily use. Still, depending on your needs and budget, this is an excellent option to consider.
Honorable Mention: Zenith High Back Mesh Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone who's on a tight budget. For under $100, the chair offers ergonomic features, breathable mesh, and padded armrests.
This is the only gaming-style chair to make an appearance on our list, and in our view, it’s the best computer chair under 200 dollars, mostly because it is delightfully functional and inexpensive, which means you’ll have more money left over to buy computer games and other peripherals. That’s always a good thing.
The Zenith is an interesting design. While it doesn’t have a racing-style seat, it’s clear that the seat design was inspired by gaming chairs, which gives it a handsome, unexpected appearance.
Aside from its striking good looks, its best feature is the dedicated lumbar support pillow, which provides exceptional lumbar support. The padded ergonomic armrests and headrest both offer better-than-average ergonomic support, and the fact that the seatback is mesh means that you’ll be able to spend hours in front of your computer without working up a significant sweat.
Note that while the seat is adequately padded, if you are planning to spend several hours a day at the computer, you may want to invest in a comfortable pillow to augment the padding the chair comes with.
None of the ergonomic features on this model are adjustable, and the chair doesn’t recline, but it does rock slightly, and the arms flip up for easier storage when the chair’s not in use.
If you’re looking for something a little different, this is a great choice. It’s got a height-adjustment range that will accommodate a wide range of user heights (17.7” to 21.7”), but it only supports a modest amount of weight, at 250 pounds. Even given that limitation, it’s still well worth considering.
Other Notable Contenders (Mesh)
Frasch High Back Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone who spends serious time in an office chair, provided they don’t exceed the chair’s 275-pound weight limit.
Although this model is highly rated, it is slightly more than $200, which is why it didn’t win top honors. It’s only twenty dollars over the line though, and can frequently be found on sale, so we felt as though we would have been remiss if we didn’t give it a mention because it is an exceptional chair.
It’s a hybrid chair – a mix of mesh and high density, breathable fabric. The seatback is mesh, which is where that material will do the most good in terms of breathability, and the durable fabric is stretched over a generous memory foam pad, making it delightfully comfortable.
Most mesh chairs win low marks for aesthetics, and it’s not hard to see why, but Frasch has managed to create a design that’s pretty good looking by mesh chair standards.
On top of that, it’s got a raft of well-implemented ergonomic features you’ll love, including excellent lumbar support, a sculpted seat, ergonomically designed flip-up armrests, and adequate upper back support, although the chair lacks a proper headrest, unfortunately.
The lumbar support is height adjustable, giving you a means of tweaking the chair to provide maximum comfort and support, and some model variants of the chair come with a foot ring. Depending on how you plan to sit in the chair, that could wind up being your favorite feature.
Finally, the Frasch is offered in either light gray or dark gray and comes with an impressive three-year warranty. Given all that, even though this model is a few dollars above our maximum, we highly recommend it and wanted to include it as an example of what even a modest increase in budget can mean in terms of the quality of the chair you get. Highly recommended.
Songmics UOBN86B High Backed Mesh Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone on a budget, who needs a good ergonomic chair.
Songmics is a tiny, little-known brand, but they make surprisingly robust office furniture, and the UOBN86B is a great example of their work. It’s a mixed design, with a breathable mesh back and a fabric padded seat and headrest.
While the padding can’t be described as plush, it’s certainly adequate for light to moderate daily use, and the 86B’s ergonomic features are well-implemented, much to the little brand’s credit.
The standout feature with this model is the S-shaped seatback which follows the natural curvature of your body’s spine, paired with a better than average ergonomic support belt that’s attached to the back of the seatback.
It’s got a padded headrest that is sadly not height adjustable, but the arms are flip-up and removable. Unlike many office chairs where the armrests are an integral part of the design, they’re totally optional here. If you don’t want armrests on your chair, just don’t install them.
Another surprise here is that the base isn’t nylon, which is commonly used in inexpensive models, but rather, lightweight steel. That, paired with its impressive 330-pound weight limit makes it a great choice for moderate to heavy daily use, although if you’re planning on using this chair heavily on a daily basis, you’ll probably want to buy a comfortable pillow to augment the modest padding in the seat.
The seat height is adjustable within a range of 17.7” to 21.5”, which makes it a great choice for a wide variety of potential users, and its modest price will leave you plenty of money left over to buy something else. If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to our top picks that can still hold its own against those models, this is a good option to consider.
Topsky Mesh Ergonomic Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone seeking an ergonomic mesh chair for under $200.
Although this is by no means the best cheap ergonomic chair on the market today, we have to admit that it’s our emotive favorite because we have a soft spot for the Topsky brand.
Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it. We’d be surprised if you had. They’re tiny and easy to miss, but we have high hopes for the brand in the long term and expect to see great things from them in the future.
The reason?
Their designs are surprisingly innovative, and some of them even border on being bold, which is a genuine surprise. Most companies selling in the value segment of the market stick to the basics and tend to offer low-cost, cookie-cutter products.
Topsky is a refreshing departure from that. This model offers features you sometimes don’t find on chairs costing three or four times as much, which is fantastic. Of course, it’s offset by the fact that to keep costs low, the company uses low-end materials in construction, so this chair isn’t as robust or as durable as many of the other models we’ve talked about thus far.
Even so, it’s a great chair and well worth taking a second look at. In no particular order, here are the main things you’ll like about it:
On top of that, it can recline to a maximum of 145 degrees, has an aluminum base, and is well-suited to the rigors of heavy daily use. It even comes with a built-in coat hanger, so you’ve got a handy place to hang your coat while you’re working.
Honestly, if not for the fact that Topsky is a very young brand without much heft or brand reliability at this point, this one would have ranked higher than it did, and may well have found a place on our list of finalists. We highly recommend it.
Vanbow High Back Ergonomic Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone on a budget, whose primary interest is ergonomic supports.
This is a good, cheap ergonomic office chair. In fact, it’s one of the least expensive chairs featured in this roundup review.
Vanbow is a small, little-known brand, but they’ve carved out a niche for themselves by making cheap office furniture of surprising quality. While it won’t win any marks for beauty, it’s got a superbly implemented set of basic ergonomic features including exceptional lumbar support, a height-adjustable headrest, and a sculpted seat.
Of these, far and away the best feature is the lumbar support, which is implemented in a deceptively simple, devastatingly effective way.
It’s handled via a “support band” placed behind the seat back that can be tension-adjusted to provide you with exactly the level of lumbar support you desire. Honestly, we feel that this should be a standard feature on every ergonomic chair.
The seat is covered in breathable fabric, and while it’s not the most lavishly padded, it’s comfortable enough that you won’t mind sitting in it for a few, or even several hours a day (light to moderate daily use).
The seat is height adjustable within a range of 18.1” to 21.2”, and the armrests are height adjustable as well, making this model a good choice for a wide range of body shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, its maximum supported user weight comes up a bit short, at a relatively modest 250 pounds.
Long story short, it’s a good, cheap ergonomic desk chair but it falls short of true greatness. Even so, given the strength of its lumbar support and its incredibly modest price tag, it’s well worth considering.
Lorell Ergomesh
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a chair that has more adjustable ergonomic features.
Lorell is a relatively unknown brand outside the world of office furniture, and even within that ecosystem, it’s not one of the better-known brands. They nonetheless make good quality products and offer a whole range of office products under their umbrella. The Lorell Ergomesh is an excellent example of the kinds of chairs they produce.
It’s a good design, and you won’t be disappointed. With a breathable mesh seatback and a well-padded waterfall-style seat, it’s more comfortable than you might think, given that mesh chairs seldom win high marks for comfort.
Its lumbar support is exceptional, as is the seat support, but it does come up slightly short where the ergonomic armrests are concerned, which are unpadded and a bit on the short side. Head, neck and shoulder support are adequate but not world-class.
With a weight limit of 250 pounds and a seat height adjustment range of 17” to 21” it is well-suited to accommodating a range of body types, shapes, and styles, and although the base is nylon, it’s sufficiently reinforced to withstand the rigors of moderate and even occasional bouts of heavy use.
Best of all, it’s offered in three different color combinations: Black mesh with a black seat, grey mesh with a grey seat, or grey mesh with a blue seat, which allows it to blend in with a surprising variety of home or office décor schemes.
While not top-tier, it’s a good alternative, especially for aesthetically-minded folk looking for something a little different.
Some Assembly Required
It probably goes without saying, but at the price point that this piece is focused on, there’s no such thing as White Glove service, and all of these chairs will arrive at your doorstep in a box and unassembled.
The assembly time varies from one model to the next, but in general, expect to spend 30-45 minutes putting your new chair together if you’re doing it by yourself. At some point during the assembly process, you’re all but guaranteed to reach a point where you wish you had an extra pair of hands, and if you enlist an assistant to help out, you can expect to shave at least ten minutes off of the process.
Best Office Chairs Under 200 Dollars in 2024
So where does that leave us and what is the best desk chair under 200 dollars in 2024?
Obviously, that answer is going to differ from one person to the next because it depends on exactly what you’re looking for in your next office chair.
The bottom line is that any of the models we’ve talked about here will serve you well (provided your measurements and the chair’s are in alignment), but we stand by our top picks in each category, regarding the Serta Hannah II as the best fabric offering, the Amazon Basics Big & Tall as the best leather option and best overall, and the Hbada Mesh Recliner as being the best mesh office chair under 200.
At the end of the day then, the real question is, what’s the best inexpensive office chair for you? We hope our roundup review has helped narrow your search!
Recommended Reading
Ergonomic Office Chair Under 150 Dollars & 100 Dollars
We took a deep dive on the best ergonomic office chair under $150 and $100 in this roundup review.
Ergonomic Office Chair Under 300 Dollars
See the best ergonomic office chairs under $300 in this comprehensive review.
References & Resources:
- Serta Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- OFM Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Lorell Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Topsky Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Staples Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Zenith Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Frasch Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Songmics Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- AmazonBasics Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Flash Furniture Office Chair, Official Brand Website.