Best Brooks Running Shoes Right Now

If you’re only going to do one thing, do it well. At least, that’s the model that Brooks seems to follow as it eats, sleeps, and breathes running shoes. On the bright side, that means you should be able to track down a pair of Brooks shoes no matter what you’re looking for. We’re here to help you “run happy” with our guide to the best Brooks Running Shoes you can buy.

The Seattle-based company got its start over 100 years ago making ballet flats and bathing shoes (I know, right?) in Philadelphia. It made the move towards running shoes in 1972, and today, running is all they do. The results speak for themselves. We may not all get to call ourselves Brooks Beasts (their elite running squad), but at least our picks can help you dream of greatness.

We’ve picked our top eight shoes to get you going on the road or trail, so let’s get into it.

Questions or comments? Leave them below, and we’ll do our best to get back to you.

Brooks offers several flavors of Hyperion these days. We’ll get to a few of them, but we should probably start with the most democratic (and most affordable one), the Hyperion 2. There’s no Max in its name, no Elite, no nothing, and that’s what works best in its favor. This is essentially an updated version of the nitrogen-infused trainer that first gave us some hope that Brooks might be turning a corner.

These days, the Hyperion 2 is about as close to a low-stack daily trainer as you can get, offering less than 30 mm of foam in the heel and dropping to below 20 mm under your toes — almost unheard of. The good news is the DNA Flash v2 foam that you’re running on remains plenty bouncy thanks to the nitrogen that’s pumped inside. Our boys Robbe and Kaleb were pretty much in agreement that the combination of the stack, bounce, and aggressive, serrated laces make this a quick shoe that you can slip on for workouts throughout the week.

If they had any issues with it, it was that the Hyperion 2 isn’t the most stable trainer in the Brooks lineup. Thankfully, though, there’s a GTS version that you can snag for all of your stability needs instead.

Read the Brooks Hyperion 2 Review

This time, take everything I just said about the Hyperion 2 and crank it up a few millimeters. Brooks’ max cushion super trainer packs about a centimeter of additional foam underfoot, pushing it right up against the limits of what World Athletics would call legal for elite athletes. The good news — for you and I, at least — is that we’re not elite athletes. That means we can bounce our way through the stack of DNA Flash v2 foam (the same stuff I just talked about) without fear.

Honestly, if you can’t tell the Hyperion 2 and its Max 2 sibling apart at first, I don’t blame you. The two shoes definitely share some similar qualities, with a lightweight knit upper that hugs your foot in all the right spots, as well as the same pair of sawtooth laces. That means the fit between the two is just about the same, as is the level of lacing security. Heck, they even look pretty similar, with either gray and orange or vibrant blue colorways to pick from.

So, if you’re down to these two while deciding on your next Brooks purchase, know this: The Hyperion Max 2 has a Pebax plate in its midsole, whereas the Hyperion 2 does not. That will basically make this shoe the better bet if you need energy return over the course of a long run, as the plate will continue to give back even as the DNA Flash v2 tires out.

Read the Brooks Hyperion Max 2 review

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever met the Brooks Ghost… who am I kidding? If you’ve been to a specialty running store, you’ve met the Brooks Ghost. It’s as close to bread and butter as Brooks gets, and I know plenty of runners who swear by it. Well, we’re not gonna talk about the Ghost just yet. We’re gonna talk about its max cushion sibling, the Ghost Max 2. And yes, I can tell you that I’m already getting confused by the sheer number of Max shoes in the Brooks lineup.

This time, though, the Max name is all about that thicc slab of DNA Loft v3 foam in the midsole. There’s no plate, no exaggerated rocker design, just a whole lot of plush cushioning. The difference between Brooks’ two DNA Loft foams is the addition of nitrogen for version three, making it slightly lighter, and therefore allowing Brooks to pack more of it into the midsole without adding weight.

Perhaps the main thing that I’d point out with the Ghost Max 2 is that it won’t be a speed day shoe. I mean, if you’ve run in the standard Ghost, you probably could have guessed that, but it bears repeating. It’s plush from top to bottom, with tons of padding through the upper and the tongue, and the squish underfoot means that you won’t mind the long miles from your first to last. Oh, and the all-white colorway that our gang received is easily wearable in any situation, so long as you can keep it clean.

Read the Brooks Ghost Max 2 review

Tired of Max shoes yet? Yeah, I get it. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to retype the last few names because I’m jumbling the Ghost, Hyperion, and Glycerin of it all. That said, this might be the best Max shoe that Brooks has ever cooked up — if not the company’s best shoe ever. And yes, it bears the name of one of Brooks’ classic daily trainers, but the Glycerin Max is no everyday shoe.

Everything about it simply comes together in just the right way, and we’ve really been loving this one. From the plush bed of DNA Tuned foam to the exaggerated forefoot rocker, the Glycerin Max is tailor-made to keep you moving forward. Like most of the other flavors of DNA foam, Tuned comes with a healthy infusion of nitrogen, and this time, Brooks gave it an illegal stack height of 45 mm in the heel (39 mm in the forefoot for a 6 mm drop), making it the most “Max” of the Max lineup.

As you can imagine, we made sure our cushion queen Meg got her feet in a pair of the Glycerin Max — you know, just to make sure the stack was good enough to be true. She happily confirmed that even though the shoe isn’t exactly light (I mean, there’s a lot of shoe to worry about), the GlideRoll rocker and midsole foam combine beautifully to keep you rolling along. The mostly white colorway she received earned high marks, too, because you know she likes a simple-looking shoe.

Read the Brooks Glycerin Max review

And now, let us shed the Max branding forever — or at least for the rest of this list. Even though we find ourselves preferring Brooks’ more cushioned options, there’s a reason that I started the Ghost Max section by talking about the original Ghost: Everyone loves the classics. What they might not pack in thrills, they make up for by being ready, steady, and reliable. If anything, that’s the only way to describe the Ghost 16.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the Ghost 16 (or the only surprise) is just how consistent it’s been. It has reached its 16th iteration, yet it still rides as smoothly as it ever has. Brooks is onto the same DNA Loft v3 cushioning that I’ve mentioned several times, and it offers just enough stability to counteract the softness of the foam. Both Renaldo and Chad put their miles in pairs this year, and they praised the fact that you could simply lace it up and get to running.

Of course, that simplicity is a bit of a double-edged sword if you ask us. It’s great that you don’t have to think about the shoe, but you probably won’t find yourself longing for another run in it if you’re not currently wearing it. The Ghost 16 is a safe, comfortable shoe, and that’s why it kicks ass and takes names from the shelves of most specialty run shops.

Read the Brooks Ghost 16 review

These days, it’s tough to find a budget-friendly running shoe. Models that used to cost $120 have swelled to $140, and everything with a plate tends to start closer to $160. However, there are still a few holdouts that can be had for only a little bit more than a Benjamin. The Brooks Launch 10 is one of those.

Like many of the Brooks daily trainers, the Launch 10 keeps things as simple as can be, perhaps even simpler than the Ghost 16. It’s one of the last daily trainers to use the BioMoGo DNA foam, which we wouldn’t exactly call soft, but it might be right up your alley if you loved the Saucony Kinvara back in the day. Above that thin layer of midsole foam sits a Warp Knit upper that’s, well, just about as simple. It’s not loud or fussy, it just laces up and lets you get on your way — something I’ve probably said before.

In fact, I know I’ve said it before, but the Launch 10 has many of the same traits that we took from the Ghost 16, just with less cushioning all around. That lack of cushion takes a way a little bit of the shoe’s identity, which led one of our reviewers to describe it as an NPC of a shoe — it has a small role to play, but you can usually blaze through the side quest and never think about it again.

Read the Brooks Launch 10 review

Fear not, trail heads. Brooks hasn’t forgotten about you. If anything, it’s taken our favorite trail shoe (the Caldera) and made it better. It lowered the stack (shockingly) and reworked the upper to make it easier to achieve a snug fit. As Robbe put it, Brooks removed most of the “blocky” feeling that plagued the Caldera 6 and replaced it with a shoe that rolls over anything and everything just a bit more easily.

All four of our reviewers took their time in the Caldera 7 seriously, with each one putting it through a different kind of 50k along the way, covering both technical and crushable trails. Robbe took it right out of the box and into the Patapsco Party and didn’t even need lube or blister cream to cross the finish line — yet another surprise for our oft-injured raccoon. He also praised the stability of the shoe, which is impressive for how much foam is underfoot. The reason it’s able to remain so stable, of course, is because the Caldera 7 is shaped like a bathtub, sitting your foot deep within the DNA Loft v3 midsole.

Of course, part of the rework of the Caldera 7 means that it’s lost just a little bit of the bounce we enjoyed on its predecessor. It might be slightly less exciting, but it’s also infinitely more runnable, so you’ll just have to decide how you like your miles, I guess. It’s also one of the heavier offerings on our list.

Read the Brooks Caldera 7 review

I think we can stick with Brooks’ trail offerings for a little longer, especially because it means a chance to talk about the Catamount Agil. If you remember the original Catamount, you’ll remember that it was basically a Hyperion for the dirt, even if it had an all-white upper. Well, the Catamount Agil is an evolution of that shoe, picking up a more aggressive sock-like upper and adding a specially tuned SpeedVault Trail plate underfoot.

This time, we let our resident trail expert, Taylor, take the lead, and he jumped right on the precision of the Catamount Agil. It’s a lightweight, nimble crusher of a shoe that likes to go fast, and he said as much. We’ve had experiences with tight, sock-like uppers in past trail shoes like the Naked T/r, but we can happily say that this one is so much better. It’s tight, sure, but not impossible to get on and off, and there’s actually some forgiveness in the forefoot for once.

Where the Catamount Agil really makes its money, however, is with the DNA Flash v2 midsole. It’s closer to what Brooks uses on its Hyperion lineup, which means it has plenty of bounce underfoot, and it translates beautifully to life on the trails. It’s not the thickest midsole, so you may find yourself limited at longer distances, but if you can keep the shoe feeling fresh, the TrailTack Green outsole will rip and rock through any technical terrain you want to seek out.

Read the Brooks Catamount Agil review

If you’re worried about how aggressive the Catamount Agil might be or simply want a Cat’ with a little more cushion, the Catamount 3 is calling your name. Our same dirt-caked crew of trail runners took this one out for a spin, and they liked it just as much as the Agil — if not a little more. The main difference between Brooks’ two flavors of Catamount is the fact that this one has a bit more protection sprinkled through the upper, which is a massive change when it means you can go longer with extra comfort.

Actually, the Catamount 3 set up most of the features that the Agil later adopted, riding on a bed of DNA Flash foam (the original this time) and introducing a new formula of TrailTack Green to keep you grippin’ and rippin’. Our resident raccoon, Robbe, took his pair on both trails and city streets, thanks to a nasty mix of ice and slush that we had last winter, and felt perfectly happy and protected.

Basically, if you want your Cat’ with crazy claws, go for the Agil, but if you want one that will purr across anything and everything, get this one.

Read the Brooks Catamount 3 review