Used everywhere from physical therapy offices to pro sports facilities, massage guns have been linked to increases in muscle strength and flexibility, as well as decreased musculoskeletal pain. (1) Generally used to help athletes warm up or recover from intense workouts, the theory behind massage guns is that they mimic a traditional massage, promoting blood flow to specific areas of the body, helping to move nutrient-rich fluids to the point of application.
Given its prevalence in gyms and physical therapy offices, it’s no wonder there’s a wide variety of massage guns and mini massage guns on the market. But not all are created equal, and choosing the right one for your needs can be difficult. So we did the legwork (and armwork and chestwork) for you to test and find the best massage guns for various needs. Here’s what we found.
Best Massage Guns of 2026
- Best Massage Gun Overall: Theragun Prime
- Best Mini Massage Gun: RENPHO Massage Gun with Heat and Cold
- Best Budget Massage Gun: Ekrin Athletics BANTAM
- Best Massage Gun on Amazon: Bob and Brad D6 Pro Massage Gun
- Best Massage Gun for Athletes: Hyperice Hypervolt 2
- Best Deep Tissue Massage Gun: Theragun PRO
Best Massage Gun Overall: Theragun Prime
The Theragun Prime features four attachment heads that are more forgiving than hard plastic, five different percussive speeds, and a battery that lasts for two hours.
Product Specs
- Top Speed: 2,400 Percussions Per Minute (PPMs)
- Stall Force: 30 pounds
- Amplitude: 16mm
- Attachments: 4
- Price: $299
While it’s not Therabody’s top-tier model, the Theragun Prime may be the most accessible. It offers speeds from 1,750 to 2,400 percussions per minute (PPM), and a deep amplitude of 16mm, so you can get deep into sore muscle tissue. Theragun’s signature triangular handle offers three different gripping angles that make it easier to hit hard-to-reach spots like your rhomboids or lower back. Plus, this comes at a price of about half of Therabody’s flagship Theragun Pro.
“I’ve researched and tested dozens of massage guns, and while some are underwhelming and overpriced, the Theragun Prime delivers incredible value,” says BarBend’s Amanda Capritto, CPT, CSNC, CPS.
The four attachments (thumb, ball, cone, and dampener) are firm enough to pack a punch, but soft enough to not make you jump out of your chair if you run the gun over a kneecap. Also, the Therabody app is an excellent companion app, allowing you to customize the speed beyond the gun’s five presets, and providing massage instructions for specific routines. There are guns with more features, and there are some excellent budget picks, but the Theragun Prime offers the best combination of features and power for the price.
Read our full Theragun Prime review.
Best Mini Massage Gun: RENPHO Mini Massage Gun with Heat and Cold
This lightweight massage gun is extremely quiet at just 40 decibels. Plus, in addition to three massage speed settings, it also offers a heat therapy element that warms up to 115 degrees F.
Product Specs
- Top Speed: 2,600 Percussions Per Minute (PPM)
- Stall Force: Not listed
- Heat Settings: 4 (102°F-113°F)
- Cold Settings: 4 (57°F-46°F)
- Amplitude: 8mm
- Attachments: 5
- Price: $89.99
Best Budget Massage Gun: Ekrin Athletics BANTAM
The Ekrin Athletics BANTAM is a budget-friendly mini massage gun that punches far above its weight class with excellent stall force and battery life. We also love that it’s covered by a lifetime warranty—something that can’t be said for some guns that cost significantly more.
Product Specs
- Top Speed: 3,200 Percussions Per Minute (PPM)
- Stall Force: 35 lbs
- Amplitude: 10mm
- Attachments: 4
- Price: $159.99
While some massage guns cost a proverbial arm and leg, others are better suited for budget-conscious shoppers. If you’re looking for a well-priced, high-performing model that delivers a great massage and great bang for your buck, the Ekrin Athletics BANTAM is it.
At $160, it’s not the cheapest massage gun on the market, but we prefer it over some more affordable models that skimp on features. With the BANTAM, you get the power of a full-sized (and full-priced) massage gun in a more compact, cost-effective profile. Plus, it has a fantastic battery life of 6 hours.
“Between the impressive stall force and battery life, plus the four attachments, I think the BANTAM is easily worth $160,” says BarBend expert product tester Amanda Capritto.
Speaking of stall force, this small yet mighty model can deliver up to 35 pounds. That’s even more than the Theragun Prime, which costs double the price of the BANTAM. Interestingly, it features progressive stall force, meaning it increases with speed.
“The BANTAM has 28 pounds of stall force at the lowest speed, 32 pounds at the middle speed, and 35 pounds at the highest speed,” says Amanda. “This is unusual, but the 28-pound stall force is still higher than any mini massage gun I’ve tried.”
Finally, we appreciate that the BANTAM only weighs 1.1 pounds and comes with a carrying case for keeping the gun, attachments, and charging cable secure.
“All of the attachments are made out of high-quality plastic or silicone,” one of our other testers explains. “My favorite is the flathead, but all of them are useful.”
Best Massage Gun on Amazon: Bob and Brad D6 Pro Massage Gun
With an unparalleled 85 pounds of stall force and an impressive 16mm amplitude, the Bob and Brad D6 Pro delivers an effective massage experience at a great value. Although it’s a bit bulky, you’ll appreciate that it comes with seven attachments, giving you ample flexibility to target your muscles with precision.
Product Specs
- Top Speed: 2,500 Percussions Per Minute (PPM)
- Stall Force: 85 lbs
- Amplitude: 16mm
- Attachments: 7
- Price: $249.99
If you’re an Amazon Prime member who’s ready to upgrade their recovery game, your best bet is to go with the brainchild of two of the most famous physical therapists on the planet: the Bob and Brad D6 Pro Massage Gun. Gaining notoriety for their informative YouTube channel, Bob Schrupp and Brad Heinick have made their way further into the recovery space by designing several massage guns, as well as a massage chair.
Available for roughly $250 on Amazon, the D6 Pro delivers incredible value. That price looks even more appealing when you compare it to the Theragun Prime.
“The Prime is $330 but offers one less speed, only 30 pounds of stall force, and fewer attachments, so you’re getting a lot for your money with this massage gun,” our expert product tester says.
Out of all the massage guns we’ve tested at BarBend, none measure up to the D6 Pro in terms of pure power. Offering an unparalleled 85 pounds of stall force, this gun is truly in a class of its own.
“This thing is the most powerful massage gun I’ve used by far,” our tester explains. “My husband loves this gun—it’s his favorite now because of how powerful and heavy-duty it feels.”
Similarly, another tester was particularly impressed with the D6 Pro’s amplitude, which measures how deeply the massage gun can reach into muscle tissue.
“This gun reaches the gold standard of 16mm and penetrates to a level where my soreness is,” she explains. “It feels more deep tissue than surface level.”
While there’s plenty to like about the D6 Pro, be aware that it’s quite bulky, making it a bit challenging to handle if you have smaller hands. Our tester also called out the “ultra-quiet technology” that supposedly makes this a distraction-free device.
“You can hear it from another room, and when you do your traps or upper back, it’s annoying,” she says. “But that’s one of the only downsides of this machine.”
Best Massage Gun for Athletes: Hyperice Hypervolt 2
This massage gun comes equipped with five different attachments, and three different speed settings. The battery is meant to last for three hours, and it can be paired up with the companion app via Bluetooth.
Product Specs
- Top Speed: 2,700 Percussions Per Minute (PPM)
- Stall Force: 35 lbs
- Amplitude: 12mm
- Attachments: 5
- Price: $199
A massage gun is a must-have for athletes who want to speed up their recovery between workouts, and the Hyperice Hypervolt 2 is a solid option. The 2,700 PPM top speed and 12mm amplitude are near the top of the class for full-size massage guns, allowing athletes to get deep into sore muscles to loosen them up.
Plus, the five attachments are ideal for working different parts of the leg — the flat head is good for covering larger muscles like the quads, the fork is ideal for calf and Achilles work, and the thumb is perfect for digging into smaller areas like the psoas and the tibialis anterior.
The three speed settings allow you to adjust the intensity somewhat, but more variance in the speeds would have been nice. That said, the handle has been redesigned in more of an oval shape, which, combined with the rubberized grip, provides a solid, comfortable hold during massages.
Read our full Hyperice Hypervolt 2 review.
Best Deep Tissue Massage Gun: Theragun PRO
Therabody's flagship massage gun, the Theragun Pro offers up to 2,400 PPMs with 60 pounds of stall force and a 16mm amplitude. Plus, it works with Therabody's comprehensive companion app, which offers routines for specific sports and injuries.
Product Specs
- Top Speed: 2,400 Percussions Per Minute (PPM)
- Stall Force: 60 pounds
- Amplitude: 16mm
- Attachments: 6 (plus micro-adjustments)
- Price: $529.99
If you’re willing to spend some serious money, the Theragun PRO might be your best bet. Therabody’s premier massage gun offers fully customizable speed settings ranging from 1,750 PPM to 2,400 PPM, a whopping 60 pounds of stall force (how much pressure you can apply before the gun stops), and a 16mm amplitude, the longest amplitude on the market. All of these statistics add up to a machine that can deliver intense deep-tissue massages with ease.
“This motor gets going and stays going,” says BarBend expert product tester Caine Wilkes, OLY, CNC, USAW-L1. “Unlike other massage guns I’ve used, it hits the muscles deep. For my size, I need something more high-powered like this.”
In addition to the Theragun-standard triangular handle, the Theragun PRO is the only Theragun that has a head with an adjustable arm to make it even easier to reach every part of your body. This one also comes with six different heads, including the standard ball, dampener, thumb, and wedge. The two more unique heads are the micropoint, with its soft rubber points, and the supersoft, which is a large, soft foam head that’s designed for use on particularly sensitive areas like joints or muscles close to bones.
“I find myself staying mostly with the rounded head, or the softer flat head for longer massages,” Caine says.
The Theragun PRO also has some great technological features, including one you won’t find on other guns. It pairs with the excellent Therabody app, which allows you to customize speeds and choose from a library of routines based on activity, injuries, and ailments. Other Theraguns do this as well, but the PRO also can display routines directly on the gun’s OLED screen, so you can follow a routine without looking at your phone.
Bottom line: This is a top-tier massage gun in just about every way. If you can afford to splurge, you won’t be disappointed. That being said, Caine says you don’t have to go this premium route.
“This is the best of the best, and might be worth it for some athletes, but most people will be fine going for a cheaper Theragun, like the Prime,” he explains.
How We Chose the Best Massage Guns
With so many massage guns on the market, it can be tough to separate the contenders from the pretenders. We took several factors into consideration, including factors like power, attachments, noise output, battery life, and a host of other factors when we made our list.
Motor Power
Having enough power is critical for massage guns, since it’s the primary factor in how effective a massage will be. All of our picks for this list are able to reach at least 2,000 PPMs and most operate with an amplitude of around 10mm. We gave special consideration to massage guns that use brushless motors as well, since those tend to last longer.
Battery Life
A massage gun won’t do you any good if it’s dead, so we tried to find ones that either charge quickly or last for multiple sessions before needing a recharge. Ones that have clear battery life indicators got special preference, so you won’t be surprised by a massage gun dying mid-session. All the guns on this list have at least a two-hour battery life, which should give you 10-15 uses between charges.
Attachments
Most massage guns come with different attachment heads that are either designed to hit specific areas or to provide a different massage experience. We looked for massagers that had at least four different attachment heads to provide users with some variety. If a massage gun had fewer, we made sure that it stood out in some other way.
Noise
At best a massage gun that’s too loud will draw angry stares from other people in the gym. At worst, the loud, constant noise will drive you to leaving it in the closet and never using it. Full-size massage guns can put out anywhere from 50 decibels (the sound of a quiet refrigerator) to over 100 decibels (the sound of a hair dryer).
We tried to split the difference and choose massage guns that stayed under 60 decibels, which is about the noise level of a normal conversation.
Design
Handle shape, grip materials, and weight all come into play when it comes to how easy and comfortable it is to hold and use a massage gun. We looked for picks that had features that made it easier to maintain a solid grip, minimized wrist fatigue, and made it possible to hit all areas of your body with the gun. In cases where a gun didn’t excel in this criteria, we included it because it stood out in other ways.
How to Use a Massage Gun
In the below video, BarBend expert tester Jake Herod, NASM-CNC, details how to properly use a massage gun, as well as a few areas of caution to keep in mind when using one to tend to sore muscles.
The Benefits of Massage Guns
In addition to significant anecdotal evidence, there have been studies whose results suggest that massage guns can have benefits before, during and after your workouts.
Increasing Flexibility
Studies have shown that percussive therapy can help increase blood flow to muscles and increase muscle flexibility prior to working out. (1) This can decrease the chance of injury as well as help improve performance.
Better Performance During Workouts
Using a massage gun during your rest period may actually help you bang out more reps on your next chest day. A 2021 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health showed that using a massage gun during rest periods between sets increased the number of bench press reps test subjects could perform before slowing down. (2)
Decreasing Soreness
Massage guns don’t just feel good after a workout, they also might help reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness after a rough workout. A study performed in 2014 found that athletes who used vibration therapy experienced significantly less pain in the three days after exercise compared to those who didn’t. (4)
How Much Do Massage Guns Cost?
Massage guns vary quite a bit in both price and quality. You can find massage guns that cost less than $50, while the higher-end guns can creep into the $600 range.
The big price differences tend to be due to both build quality and extra features like connectivity. You’ll often find user reviews that lament a cheaper massage gun not lasting very long or that the sound it puts out increases significantly over time (our testers corroborated this). And while the ability to connect to an app isn’t required to use a massage gun, many include sport-specific and relaxation routines to help users out.
What to Consider Before Buying A Massage Gun
Massage guns usually have the same basic form, but the details can vary a lot between models. If you’re in the market for a massage gun, there are quite a few things to consider before dropping your hard-earned cash, including what attachments it has, how long the battery lasts, and how deep a massage it’ll provide.
Attachments
The most basic attachment you’ll find on a massage gun is the standard ball attachment, but most fully-featured ones also come with a flat attachment for working larger muscles like the quads, as well as a smaller thumb- or bullet-shaped attachment that can zero in on sore spots.
Other attachments, like forked attachments, are great for hitting areas like the sides of the spine. You also may want some softer attachments, like a damper or foam attachment, for those extra sore spots or areas near joints or bones. The Theragun Pro has an excellent foam attachment designed for those areas.
Battery Life
You’ll want a massage gun that has a minimum battery life of two hours. That should get you 10-15 massages per charge. This is fairly standard in both full-size and mini massage guns, so this shouldn’t be too hard to find.
Also, keep in mind that a massage gun’s battery life will vary based on the level of intensity you use. So if you go full-bore every time, you may have to charge it more often.
Pulsations Per Minute (PPM)
One of the standard measurements of a massage gun’s power is pulsations per minute (PPM). This refers to how many times the massager’s head will strike a muscle as it pulses in and out of the gun. The PPM range for most guns tends to be anywhere between 1,700 to 3,200 PPM, with the higher PPM providing a more intense massage.
Amplitude
Amplitude, or stroke length, refers to how far the massage head extends from the gun. In other words, if you hold the gun steady against your arm, how far will it push into your muscle? For most guns, this range is around 10mm, give or take. If you want the option to have a deep-tissue massage, look for a massage gun with a higher amplitude, like 12-16mm.
Stall Force
Basically, stall force is the measure of how hard you can push a massage gun into your body before the gun’s head stops moving. This number can vary greatly between massage guns, but if you really want to dig in to your muscles, look for a gun that has a stall force of 30 pounds or higher.
Final Word
As massage guns’ popularity keeps growing in the athletic world, the available options on the market keep increasing. And while there are enough options out there for every athlete to find the right massage gun, the sheer volume of options can make it hard to narrow down the right choice.
If you’re in the market for a massage gun, consider how you plan to use it. Are you looking to ramp up your workouts, speed up your recovery, or just relax after a long day? Do you need something to take to the gym, or do you plan to use it at home? Also, think about how intense you like your massages and how much you’re willing or able to spend. When you have your needs dialed in, you can use this list to direct you to the perfect one for you.
Massage Guns FAQs
What’s the best massage gun?
The best massage gun will vary from person to person, depending on their needs, but right now, we love the Theragun Prime. While its power and battery life are similar to other models, the durability, innovative triangular handle, and excellent companion app make it stand out from the crowd.
How much do massage guns cost?
You can find quality entry-level massage guns for as little as $50. If you’re in the market for something with more features or power, you can spend anywhere from $200-$600 for a higher-end model.
How long should you use a massage gun?
General recommendations are anywhere from 30 seconds for muscle activation to two minutes for recovery and usually no more than ten minutes per session. Many massage guns have an automatic shutoff that kicks in after 10-15 minutes to prevent overuse as well as minimizing the risk of the gun overheating.
Resources
- Sams, L., Langdown, B. L., Simons, J., & Vseteckova, J. (2023). The Effect Of Percussive Therapy On Musculoskeletal Performance And Experiences Of Pain: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 18(2), 309-327. https://doi.org/10.26603/001c.73795
- Garcia-Silero, M., Jurado-Castro, J. M., et al. (2021). Acute Effects of a Percussive Massage Treatment on Movement Velocity during Resistance Training. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 18 (15):7726.
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/ice-packs-vs-warm-compresses-for-pain
- Imtiyaz, S., Vegar, Z., & Shareef, M. Y. (2014). To Compare the Effect of Vibration Therapy and Massage in the Prevention of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). J Clin Diagn Res. 8(1): 133–136.
