Massage guns are often pitched at the highly active. They can help you warm up for workouts, accelerate recovery and generally keep things loose and injury-free. But you don’t have to be training for an Ironman triathlon to benefit from a percussive pummelling. A good session can also alleviate the general soreness, stiffness and pain that comes from desk-bound days and the daily grind – all without having to cough up for a spell on a masseuse’s table or be handled by a stranger.
These personal-care power tools use rapid, repetitive pressure and vibrations to penetrate tired muscles, with a selection of heads, variable speeds and even automated routines to tailor treatments towards tight trouble spots.
Dozens of massage guns are available from various brands, and you can spend anything from £50 to £500. But not all muscle massage guns are made equal.
To find out which gun massagers deliver the best bang for your buck, I spent the month of December (yes, over Christmas) giving myself DIY myofascial manipulation four times a day. The holidays are an interesting time – maybe even the best time – to undertake a massive test of massage guns. Who doesn’t need stress relief when the entire family is invading their home for a week?
Here’s my pick of the best massage guns you can buy right now.
At a glance
Why you should trust me
I’ve spent two decades testing the latest fitness gear and the best home exercise kit – including the very first massage guns on the market – while also running more than 50 marathons and ultramarathons. I train most days, sometimes twice, regularly racking up more than 50 miles a week and occasionally running solo marathons. And I do it all in the name of testing running shoes and watches.
When I’m not working out, I sit hunched over a desk for hours on end, tapping out articles like this one. At 46, that’s the perfect recipe for full body tightness. If anyone can benefit from percussive massage, it’s me.
How I tested
I put nine of the latest massage guns through an intensive two-day test. That included a brief full-body, wake-up going over in the early morning, a pre-run or pre-training activation, and a short post-workout recovery session. I ended each day with a short wind-down rubdown, about an hour before bed. I am now officially the most massaged human on the planet.
I tried all the different head attachments, speed settings, heat and cold options, and I worked on my weak spots. As a daily runner, I suffer from all sorts of tightness: tight calves, quads, glutes and adductors – not to mention fatigued feet. I had plenty to work on. Anyone who came to my house over the holidays also got massaged.
I downloaded any available apps and followed the guided plans, checked whether the battery life largely lived up to the listed times, and used a decibel sound app to compare the loudness of each gun.
After all that, I rated the gun massagers based on performance, ease of use, quietness, portability, staying power and overall value for money. Here are my top picks.
The best massage guns you can buy in 2025
Best massage gun overall:
Theragun Prime Plus
A newcomer to the Theragun lineup, the Prime Plus is a powerful top-tier gun with an excellent partner app and hot/cold heads. There’s no better option for bringing heat to your rub-downs. It’s also the best deep-tissue massage gun on test.
Why we love it
When it comes to the complete massage gun package, Theragun still sets the benchmark. The midweight Prime Plus stays true to the Theragun DNA, with a robust, durable design that’s well thought out. For a start, the tactile, triangle multi-grip handle makes it effortless to change the angle and hit the hard-to-reach spots with plenty of knot-breaking power.
You pay extra for the added features and design finesse, but if you’re looking for the best graduated, muscle-penetrating warmth, the Prime Plus is it. That’s not what I loved most about this gun, however.
It was the app-controlled treatments that really set this apart – at least from the rivals – with dozens of set routines to follow with video guidance, a real-time pressure sensor and automated speed controls. This makes it a doddle to wield the gun to the best effect. You can also connect to Apple Health or Strava and get personalised routines based on your activity.
The five-speed Prime Plus comes with four good-sized heads: a heated percussive head, a dampener, standard ball and wedge. You can buy others to add to that, including a cooling head.
Other touches I loved: a battery lock stops the gun firing in your bag – no embarrassing buzzing or accidental battery drain here. Speaking of buzzing, it’s also quieter than the original Theragun Prime, and it comes with a soft carry case the size of a packed lunch box. It’s just about portable enough for the occasional out-of-house mission.
It’s a shame that … it’s so pricey. If you don’t care about heat, the Theragun Prime is a cheaper alternative.
Weight: 886g
Amplitude: 16mm
Speed levels: five (1,750-2,400 RPM)
Quoted battery life: up to two hours 30 minutes
Attachments: four
Tested noise level: 25-73dB
App guidance: yes
Warranty: two years
£379 at Therabody
£379 at John Lewis
Best value massage gun:
Bob and Brad D6 Pro
Developed by a physiotherapist duo, the Bob and Brad D6 Pro is the kind of massage gun your chiropractor might wield. It packs the power, features and flexibility to rival the best at a price that won’t tense up your shoulders.
Why we love it
At £250, it might be a stretch to call this a budget buy, but what you get for that price makes this the best value going.
At almost 1.3kg, the Bob and Brad D6 Pro is among the biggest and heaviest massage guns I tested. The carry case alone is like a small briefcase. So if you’re looking for something to bung in a gym bag or take on your travels, this isn’t it. However, beneath the well-built bulk is a serious tool that means business. And you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck.
The D6 Pro comes with a simple, bright Oled display; the most comprehensive selection of seven soft-touch silicone heads; a six-speed range; and a 2,500 RPM top speed. It also massages deeper than any other gun on the shelves, with an amplitude of 16mm, backed by 85lb of stall force. No matter how much pressure I exerted, I always found my muscles gave up before the gun did. This beast didn’t stall.
Despite the weight, it’s relatively easy to wield, thanks to a parallelogram handle and a 90-degree adjustable rotating arm that lets you move the massage head to six different positions. That flexibility, due to the head options and the incremental speeds, lets you comfortably hit any spot with excellent control.
I’m also a fan of a USB-C wall-charging plug in the box. Oh, and it’s telly-watching quiet for a big gun, too.
It’s a shame that … the partner app doesn’t offer the real-time guided routines that you find on some connected massage guns.
Weight: 1.27kg
Amplitude: 16mm
Speed levels: six (1,500-2,500 RPM)
Quoted battery life: up to three hours
Attachments: seven
Tested noise level: 54-71db
App guidance: no
Warranty: two years
£199.99 at Amazon
£192 at eBay
Best mini massage gun:
Theragun Mini
Theragun’s most compact pummeller is small but still mighty, with the connected smarts of pricier guns. This is the one to choose if you want to unleash percussive massage powers anywhere – at your desk, on a plane or at the marathon finish line.
Why we love it
For a mini massage gun, the second-generation Theragun Mini is pricey. But while it may empty your bank account as rapidly as it relieves your muscles, there is value here. This powerful Bluetooth-connected compact gun is pleasingly simple and impressively powerful for its size.
What stands out from rival cheaper mini guns is the guidance. If you’re unsure about how best to use your knot buster, you get the same access to dozens of preset, guided routines that come with Theragun’s pricier models.
These routines cover everything from alleviating hip pain to walks and parkrun warm-ups. There are recovery drills to fend off post-workout muscle soreness after an upper/lower body session and if, like me, you suffer late-night leg cramps, there’s one for that, too.
The triangular shape bucks the standard design in a bid to improve the grip, but I had mixed success with it. It’s not the easiest to hold for some areas or for applying more pressure.
However, I was impressed by the depth and strength of the massage. The 12mm amplitude is good for a mini gun, while the three preset speeds offer a good range. I also loved being able to fine-tune the percussions a minute in the app, unlocking speeds between those fixed presets.
You get only three head attachments – a standard ball, a dampener and a thumb. Some minis offer up to five, but these covered most of what I needed – from foot-soothing plantar to the calves and tighter spots on my back. A fork attachment for working deep around the spine and neck was the only thing I missed.
Overall, you’re getting excellent portability in a travel-friendly package that’s great for sticking in a gym bag, post-marathon drop bag or your carry-on. I loved having this by my desk for some forearm and hand massage.
It’s a shame that … it’s bizarrely hard to squeeze everything into the small carry case.
Weight: 450g
Amplitude: 12mm
Speed settings: three (1,750-2,400 RPM)
Quoted battery life: up to two hours 30 minutes
Attachments: three
Tested noise level: 47-61dB
App guidance: yes
Warranty: two years
£175 at John Lewis
£175 at Therabody
Best massage gun for portability and power:
Hyperice Hypervolt 2
The Hyperice Hypervolt 2 is a sleek, mid-weight all-rounder with a big library of app-guided massage routines, competitive battery life and enough pummel power for most home users.
Why we love it
There’s a happy simplicity and a competent swagger to the Hyperice Hypervolt 2. It combines a sleek, durable build with plenty of practicality and smarts, including automated speed control, real-time guided routines, a pressure sensor and a long battery life. That all adds up to one of the best-value mid-range guns, hitting the sweet spot for most casual users.
The compact Hypervolt 2 is more portable than the pro guns, but it still gave a deep massage thanks to a brushless, high-torque 60W motor. There’s plenty of quiet power at your disposal, and I had no trouble working my bigger muscle groups.
There’s a good selection of easy-to-swap attachments, too – five in total – including fork, ball, cushion, flat and bullet. They happily come in their own carry case, although strangely there’s no case for the main gun.
If you find some girthy guns hard to grip, the thinner but wider, rubberised handle is more natural. And though the Hypervolt 2 is heavier than mini guns, it’s no harder to use.
An excellent option for mostly home use with the occasional trip in a travel bag.
It’s a shame that … the app isn’t as intuitive as Theragun’s, and there’s no carry case for the gun or USB-C charging.
Weight: 820g
Amplitude: not listed
Speed levels: three (RPM not listed)
Quoted battery life: up to three hours
Attachments: five
Tested noise level: 25-82dB
App guidance: yes
Warranty: one year
£219 at Hyperice
£219 at Amazon
The best of the rest
Renpho Reach
Best for: bad backs
The clue is in the name, but the Renpho Reach’s clever killer USP is a detachable handle extender that makes it much easier to reach tougher spots like shoulders and back. I wish all the other guns offered the same.
In terms of power, the Reach feels more like a mid-weight gun. It lacks the depth and penetration of the biggest hitters. Though automatic speed adjustments – that react to the pressure you apply – help to hit the sweet spot.
The four massage attachments (ball head, U-shaped head for spine, neck and achilles, flat head and bullet head for joints trigger points) are all quite hard and plastic. I prefer the softer coated heads on other guns. I also wanted a better grip-enhancing coating on handles. It’s all a bit shiny and slippery.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s great for hitting hard-to-reach areas and tries to offer a lot for the price, but the gun lacks power and finesse.
Weight: 750g; amplitude: 12mm; speed levels: five (1,600-2,800 RPM); quoted battery life: up to three hours; attachments: four; tested noise level: 41-71dB; app guidance: not specifically for this gun; warranty: 18 months for official website purchase
£49.99 at Amazon
Hyperice Hypervolt Go 2
Best for: a mid-weight massager
Punchy and portable, the Hypervolt Go 2 is a gym-bag-friendly smooth operator with an angled handle for better control. Despite its size, I was impressed by the strength and staying power of this three-speed gun. It’s a step up from the mini guns, giving plenty of soothing pressure. You can really work the toughest, most resistant areas without stalling.
It only ships with two interchangeable heads – a larger flat and a bullet head. There’s no pressure sensor and it lacks connected app smarts, although you can still follow guided massage routines in the app. The routine library isn’t as well organised or as comprehensive as Theragun’s, though, with some odd esoteric names such as “Cooldown glide flush”.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it comes with only two heads, there’s no carry case and it lacks connected smarts.
Weight: 680g; amplitude: not listed; speed levels: three (RPM not listed); quoted battery life: up to three hours; attachments: two; tested noise level: 23-86db; app guidance: yes, but not connected; warranty: one year
£129 at Hypervolt
£129 at Amazon
Renpho R3
Best for: a small-ish gun that can target big muscle groups
More mid-weight than mini, the R3 may be compact compared with bigger massage guns, but it’s still pretty heavy if you’re looking for a truly mini option. On the flip side, that makes it sturdy enough to pack 50lb of stall force, so it takes a lot of pummel pressure without giving in.
The lower amplitude doesn’t dig quite as deep as some guns, but the speed range and top speed are excellent. You get a good selection of five larger-sized heads, too, which I found better at hitting bigger muscle groups than smaller attachments on other mini guns. I appreciated other neat touches like a clear LED speed indicator and at-a-glance LED battery light on the slim, silicone-coated handle – that’s also really easy to grip.
It didn’t make the final cut because … it’s not as gym- or travel-bag friendly as mini gun rivals.
Weight: 680g; amplitude: 10mm; speed levels: five (1,800-3,200 RPM); quoted battery life: up to two hours 30 minutes; attachments: five; tested noise level: 49-74dB; app guidance: no; warranty: 18 months for official website purchase
£79.99 at Renpho
£69.99 at Amazon
Bob and Brad Q2 Pro
Best for: a mini massage gun that offers both hot and cold
The five-speed Bob and Brad Q2 Pro doesn’t just pack heat. The detachable, temperature-shifting head flips to cold, too.
The cooling/heated head runs for an hour on a single charge, with two temperature settings each for hot and cold. The shift from one to the other is snappy, although I only really felt the benefits from the top heat setting on more sensitive areas (such as my feet and back). Even at top whack, it struggled to penetrate my unsensitive quads.
Beyond the thermo trickery, there’s a good variety of smaller attachments – five in total that allow you to get into most knots and hit most muscle groups. It’s easy to handle and there’s a toughened carry case, which is smaller than the Renpho Mini’s case but still takes up a lot of space in your gym bag. It can take plenty of pressure for a mini massage gun, offsetting the fact that the lower 7mm amplitude doesn’t hit as deep.
It didn’t make the final cut because … the variable hot/cold head is a neat trick, but I wanted more depth for the non-thermo rub downs.
Weight: 430g; amplitude: 7mm; speed settings: five (1,800-3,000 RPM); quoted battery life: up to three hours; attachments: five; tested noise level: 25-77dB; app guidance: no; warranty: two years
£89.99 at Amazon
£84.99 at eBay
Renpho Mini Thermal Massage Gun
Best for: lightweight relief
For well under £100, Renpho’s mini thermal massage gun shoots for portability and top value. Generally, it does a solid job. You’ll struggle to find a cheaper heated-head gun, even if that warmth is quite mild – think a cup of tea that’s cooling rather than a fresh mug.
It offers five speeds with a decent top speed and 50lb of stall force, but won’t take heavy pressure. The four smaller heads are great for more sensitive areas, but not as powerful or penetrating on your big muscle groups as the Theragun Mini.
It’s the lightest of the mini guns and a bit slimmer and easier to hold than the Bob and Brad Q2 and the Theragun Mini. I loved how easy it was to wield, with a soft silicone casing that’s grippy but smooth. You can also swap between two different colour sleeves to personalise your gun, which is handy for cleaning and durability.
It didn’t make the final cut because … although the gun itself is travel-friendly, the bulky protective carry case was too much for my gym bag.
Weight: 356g; amplitude: 10mm; speed levels: five (1,800-3,000 RPM); quoted battery life: up to three hours; attachments: four; tested noise level: 33.2-77.3dB; app guidance: yes; warranty: 18 months for official website purchase
What you need to know
What makes a good massage gun?
You can spend anywhere between £50 and £500 on a massage gun, but you might not need to shell out top whack to get a percussive device that best suits your needs. Here’s how to suss out your priorities.
When you’re choosing the best massage gun, one of the most important things to consider is the combination of amplitude and speed.
Amplitudes – essentially how deeply the head penetrates the muscle – can range from 7mm to 26mm, with speeds anywhere from 1,250-3,000 RPM. Top-end (and bigger) massage guns commonly deliver higher amplitudes, faster top speeds and more speed settings so you can fine-tune your therapy. In other words, they’ll give you a harder-hitting massage but also more flexibility.
It’s worth noting the stall force, too. Guns with a higher stall force can withstand more pressure before cutting out, sometimes offsetting a lower amplitude.
Another big consideration is portability. The most powerful guns tend to be bulkier and tip the scales to over 1kg. Mini massage guns, meanwhile, trade massage power for their gym-bag-stashing ability. The smaller guns can also be easier to handle.
When it comes to battery life, most guns now charge via USB-C and offer between two-and-a-half and four hours on a single charge. A decent massage gun should last for a few days to a week, based on 15 to 30 minutes of use a day.
Finally, the more advanced massage guns now offer clever extras such as heated heads and app-connected routines with automatic speed controls, pressure sensors and video guidance to take the guesswork out of your treatments.
Do massage guns work and are they good for you?
Massage guns are still a relatively new phenomenon, but they’ve become increasingly popular. So do they actually work? That depends on what you’re hoping for.
The research is still limited, but there’s a growing body of evidence to support the claimed benefits of a good pummelling, particularly for flexibility, recovery and general relaxation.
One 2023 systematic review found massage guns were effective at boosting blood flow, reducing muscle tension and soreness, enhancing recovery and promoting relaxation. Those who used percussive therapy also appeared to have an improved range of motion.
However, the same review concluded that when it comes to strength, balance, acceleration, agility and explosive activities, they “either did not have improvements or they even showed a decrease in performance”. So, while being more flexible and recovering faster may help boost your performance in the broad sense, there’s little evidence to suggest massage guns can make you sprint faster or jump higher.
How to use a massage gun
The best massage guns come with partner apps to walk you through the tekkers, with advice on which heads to use to target different areas of the body, best speeds, technique and duration for each routine. My pro tip: even if your cheaper gun doesn’t, the apps tend to be free, so you can still download, follow and quickly learn how to optimise your time under the gun.
As a rule of thumb, less is more. To activate muscles pre-workout, a quick 30-second pulse at a faster speed works well. Rotating through muscle groups for two to three minutes is sufficient to unlock the recovery benefits post-exercise. In fact, many guns come with 10-minute automated cutoffs to prevent overuse. It also pays to start with gentle pressure and slower speeds and move up, tuning into what your body tells you.
Some words of caution: if you’re injured, experiencing muscle pain beyond the normal post-workout grumbles or nerve discomfort, seek professional help before ploughing into those painful areas.
Expectant mothers also need to approach with care. While regular massage has been shown to relieve some pregnancy-related discomfort, there’s no specific research on the positive or negative effects of percussive massage. So it’s highly recommended that you consult your doctor before using a massage gun.
Kieran Alger is a freelance running, fitness and health journalist who splits his time between testing, training and tapping out reviews
