27 Best Office Chair Alternatives in 2023

When it comes to stability balls, this one’s about as basic as they come, but it does manage a couple of fun surprises that set it apart from a generic stability ball you can order on or offline.

As you might expect, when the ball arrives at your door, it won’t be inflated, and this model doesn’t come with a pump, so you’ll need to buy one of those so you can inflate it for first use, assuming you don’t already have a pump of some kind.

Also note that while most of the products sold in the alternative seating market have a maximum weight capacity of 250 pounds, the Vivora Luno can support up to 400 pounds. That’s absolutely fantastic and makes this one a must-have if you’re interested in the simplest form of ball seat you can buy. It is highly recommended.

If you opt to get your Zenergy with legs and feet, you can adjust the height to a degree by choosing only to place the feet, or by installing both the legs and the feet. Both provide an excellent, stable platform that will keep the chair from moving away from you when you stand up after sitting on it.

You can also order yours in a variety of bold colors, and it supports 250 pounds of user weight, which isn’t a lot but is at least the average for this part of the market. Best of all, this chair comes with a manual pump so you won’t have to invest in anything extra to get it ready for first use. Understand, though, that it’s going to take a while to fully inflate the seat using a manual pump and is sure to give you a decent workout in its own right!

Its quirky aesthetic will be off-putting to some, but we absolutely love and recommend it.

Measuring 32” x 22” x 26” with a 22” inflatable ball, this seating solution gives you at least some of the benefits of both a task chair and a stability ball. Unfortunately, there’s a problem. Unlike many of the hybrid products you’ll read about later on in this roundup review, we view this as a relatively poor combination of technologies, which is to say that by mixing the two, you get a subpar stability ball and a substandard task chair.

The backrest is quite small, and while it’s certainly better than nothing, it doesn’t provide much in the way of support for your back. Further, pairing a stability ball with a chair that has rolling casters virtually eliminates any of the benefits to your core. You don’t have to work to keep yourself balanced, so basically, you’re getting a relatively poor task chair with a ball instead of a cushion. That makes it reasonably comfortable, but again, at the price of virtually eliminating the whole reason most people are interested in ball chairs in the first place.

Worse, if you decide to get the model with arms, you reduce the benefits to your core even further. While it might be of value to some, in general, we’d say, pick one. Either get a good ball type seat or get a good task or executive chair. We feel that although this type of seating solution may work for some, they will be few and far between. If you’re one of those few, outstanding, but on that basis, we can only provisionally recommend it.

There’s actually quite a lot to like about this stool, and although its design isn’t as fun as the Zenergy, it’s probably the most practical of the ball-centric seating options. The first thing to note is that it’s very lightweight, clocking in at less than fifteen pounds.

Also, unlike many of the other stools we’ll be talking about, later on, this one’s on lockable rolling casters, which is handy if you’re accustomed to zipping around while seated. We like that they lock too because once you’re stationary, the ability to lock the wheels allows you to focus more on maintaining your balance while sitting on the stool, which you’ll definitely need to do.

This model also comes in both black or slate gray, which gives you some flexibility and makes it even easier to blend the stool with the décor or color scheme that dominates your home or office. Best of all, though, you can order yours with one of two different gas lifts, which allows you to customize the seat height adjustment.

You can pick the standard size, which was designed to be used with a conventional office desk. The standard configuration has a seat height adjustment range that starts at 18” and goes to 23”. Or, you can choose the tall version that starts at 23” and goes as high as 33”, making it perfect for use in conjunction with drafting tables or standing desks.

On top of that, the seat swivels, which gives you an even broader range of motion, and this model comes with an air pump allowing you to inflate the stool seat quickly and easily. Finally, while most of the alternative office seating products only support up to 250-pounds of user weight, this handy stool will accommodate people weighing up to 300-pounds, which opens it up to a significantly broader swath of the market.

It's not a perfect stool, and it’s not going to be for everyone, but we do recommend it. It’s a wonderful alternative seating option, and if you find yourself drawn to standing stools but can’t find one that supports enough user weight to accommodate you, this is a great alternative chair for office that straddles both subsets of the market.

The Move Stool, designed by the legendary Per Oie, burst onto the scene in 1985, essentially creating the market for this type of seating. To this day, it, like the Varier Balans kneeling chair, sets the standard in the industry. It’s the stool all the others on the market aspire to be, and it’s still the best of the best. Of all the alternative seating options on the market today, this class of stool is probably the most versatile, and the Move Stool is best in class.

Plus, with a seat height adjustment range that starts at 22” and runs all the way up to 32” you’ll be able to use it in a variety of places, including some standard-sized desks, drafting tables, and standing desks. It’s pricey, but it really is an incredible piece of office furniture that will provide you with years of reliable service. We highly recommend it.