The 7 Best Yoga Mats of 2025

Looking for the perfect yoga mat but don't know where to start? In this review, we put 19 models head-to-head to help you find the best yoga mat for your practice. We spent over 200 hours testing mats in side-by-side comparisons and in different styles at studios, at home, traveling, on hikes, and at the beach. Whether you want a lightweight travel option, a grippy mat for sweaty vinyasa, or something to save your knees, we can help you find the ideal companion for your practice.

Our tester's favorite overall mat is the Manduka PRO. It has excellent cushion, solid grip, and a stellar lifespan, making it a favorite among teachers. For tighter budgets, the Iuga Eco Friendly Non Slip is our go-to choice. The Iuga is portable and well-cushioned, with materials comparable to higher-priced options. playmat soft

You don't need a lot of gear to show up on the mat and cultivate a practice. But if you want extra support, you might be interested in yoga blocks to build strength, find healthy alignment, or deepen flexibility. Our selection of muscle massage guns can help loosen tight fascia and muscles, and if you need something comfortable to move in, we recommend checking out our sports bra and yoga pants recommendations.

At 7.5 pounds, the PRO is heavy. One tester joked, “You may need a little extra yoga to undo the backbreaking work of hauling it across town.” Some of our testers are so devoted they will fly anywhere with it. Still, our testing lineup includes other excellent lightweight options, like the 2.2 pound Hugger Mugger Earth Elements or 2.1-pound Iuga Eco Friendly Non Slip, if you regularly carry your mat long distances. Another gripe we have with the PRO is that it becomes more slippery when wet, so hot yoga enthusiasts might like to pair it with a towel (Manduka makes one sized perfectly to fit the PRO). Overall, the Manduka PRO is one of our favorite picks for stability and comfort and a time-tested favorite of many yoga teachers.

Read more: Yoloha Unity Cork review

To find the best yoga mats, we consulted yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and longtime practitioners about the qualities they want in a yoga mat to support their practice. The search for the best options available began with extensive market research. We considered over 60 models before choosing the most promising to put through our battery of tests. Our testers then assessed each mat over two months of rigorous practice. For the current lineup, we consulted with over 15 yoga teachers about their long-term experience with top contenders. Our testers then spent over 200 hours practicing on the mats in dry and wet conditions, documenting how each mat cushioned the joints and provided stability for balance and the level of non-slip grip they provided. We also documented each mat's durability and ease of care. A final consideration was the material's sustainability and manufacturing of the mats.

Collectively, our expert testers have practiced yoga on these mats for thousands of hours. Our primary yoga mat tester is Kate Pitts, a dedicated Ashtanga practitioner and yoga teacher of five years. Kate taught her first yoga programs as a ranger for backcountry hikers at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, where sleeping pads were stand-ins for yoga mats. Nowadays, her bones appreciate the luxury of a well-cushioned mat. She loves doing yoga outside and is grateful for how her practice connects her to nature and the deep ecology that supports her community. Kate teaches Ashtanga Mysore, Yoga Nidra, and Yin and is continuing her studies in yoga therapy.

In an age of information, too many options can trap you in choice overload, and today, there are more yoga mats on the market than there are traditions of yoga. The options range from inexpensive mats you can pick up at a big retailer to expensive specialty designs crafted by yoga teachers. Choosing a mat depends on your body, preferences, and the style of yoga that you practice. We've rolled out our mats and offer nuanced insights from decades of practice to help you find a supportive fit. We discuss pricing in the yoga mat market, what to look for when making a value-based purchase, and how the different models performed throughout our testing process.

Although we don't include value in the numerical ranking of our tested mats, we recognize that getting a product worth your dollars is important. A high-value yoga mat is high quality, so we look for products that balance being wallet-friendly with excellent performance. There are a lot of cheap yoga mats on the market, but that doesn't always tell the full story. That said, inexpensive mats often sacrifice cushion or grip, which detracts from a practice that should feel good on your body. Conversely, some models retail for top dollar, and we feel it is our responsibility to ask if the quality matches the price tag or if we're paying for the logo. If you're looking for something that bridges the best of both worlds — high-performing and inexpensive — you have to compare the price to performance.

Although Manduka mats have a higher price tag, they consistently last teachers over a decade with little signs of wear despite daily, vigorous practice—particularly the Manduka PRO. To us, this makes it worth paying a bit more upfront. The Iuga Eco Friendly Non Slip offers an excellent balance of cushion, dry grip, and portability at a fair price. It is a friendly mat for starting your yoga journey or for carrying to class.

Some mats are bargains, not because of exceptional performance but because they fit the lifestyles of different yogis. The Primasole Foldable costs less than most yoga classes and folds into a portable square. It is a great beater mat for times when you don't want to scuff up your expensive daily mat. This mat would not be ideal in a city studio, but in the wilderness or while traveling, it fits the bill.

Comfort and support are arguably among the most important metrics to consider in a yoga mat. The best yoga mats are not too soft or hard but hit the Goldilocks balance of “just right.” We look for protective cushioning against unforgiving surfaces that is firm enough for you to balance, stabilize, and prevent joint overextension.

It only takes a few breath cycles in cat-cow to feel your femur pushing down through your knee joint, and if your yoga mat doesn't cushion enough, pain or discomfort can radiate from this hard contact with the ground. You want a cushion with a protective barrier that softens and supports impact. If you stand on a mat and can see footprints, it is too soft for daily practice because the cushion compacts to the ground.

In our tests, we simulated how each mat performs when a person's bones compact the mat's buffer by compressing the padding onto a pen (like the head of a joint) under the weight of a 40-pound cinder block. Mats that squeeze only a little of their depth are more dense and springy, offering a protective barrier between your bones and hard floor. Mats that are not protective collapse under your weight into the floor's hardness.

The Manduka PRO has one of the most supportive cushions in our tests. We talked with a yoga therapist who uses the PRO when she works with people rehabilitating injuries or with terminal illnesses like cancer patients. The cushion is protective but firm for balancing postures, offering the proper support for therapeutic and athletic flows.

The Mat from Lululemon is another of our most comfortable mats. One surprising thing about this mat is its softness; it has a lovely smoothness when you glide into a pose. The Manduka eKO walks the line of comfort and support “just right” for many people. It offers a standard thickness of 5mm and has a little more spring in its cushion than the PRO.

Despite being one of the lightest non-travel mats we tested, the Iuga Eco Friendly features a high-performing cushion that is thick enough to protect your knees on hard floors and firm enough to support strength and balance poses. We also appreciate the thick and firm four millimeter cushion of the Prana Verde, which has a lovely rebound spring.

The Gaiam Performance Dry-Grip has an ideal cushion level. It feels good on the joints, is firm for support, and doesn't budge on the ground. Although it is not the grippiest sticky mat, it is a lovely choice for restorative practice.

The B Mat Everyday gives moderate cushion to knees and elbows while remaining firm enough to prevent overextending or tweaking your wrists during inversion training or sun salutations.

Although the Liforme Original has a slightly thinner cushion than other top-scorers, it offers an excellent balance of cushion and firmness while being an acceptable travel weight. One innovative feature of the Liforme is alignment grids, which can help you learn healthy structural form and work on left/right imbalances in the body.

If you want an extra-long and wide mat, we loved spreading out on the Alo Yoga Warrior Mat. At 73.5 x 26 inches, it is two inches wider and five inches longer than standard mats. It provides a comfortable cushion for joints but is slightly thin for dynamic rolling on the spine.

A firm mat helps with inversions by not squishing the wrist joints forward or to the side when you carry weight on your hands. The same applies to upright balancing poses. A mat that is too squishy can cause your foot to turn in or out, unevenly distributing weight and making muscles up the chain compensate for the off-kilter base. The Yoloha Unity Cork is extra firm and one of the most stable mats we tested.

That said, a cushy mat may be a good choice if you primarily use it for restorative or yin practices. The Hugger Mugger Earth Elements has a foamier cushion that offers moderate stability for balance but is deliciously comfortable for seated postures, yin classes, and sound baths.

Slipping all over your mat or having a yoga block slide out from under you is a great way to disrupt your flow state. For many people, traction doesn't depend solely on the mat since grip is also a skill that improves as you learn to control your body. Different levels of grip on a yoga mat are appropriate for different types of practice and experience.

Our tests assessed each mat's dry and wet grip in a side-by-side comparison, as yoga mats perform differently depending on conditions. We present a variety of grip options so that you can reflect on what would be most supportive for your body and the type of yoga you enjoy.

The B Mat Everyday has the most impressive grip right out of the box. It is hard to believe that a yoga mat can be this tacky without leaving residue on your hands after practice. Because the B Mat is so sticky, it can be challenging to flow through, jump through, or roll over the toes without your feet getting stuck. We also appreciate the tiger-stripe traction lines on the top of the Manduka eKO and Prana Verde, especially for a dry grip, non-heated session. We found that they gave good friction for arm balances and inversion practice.

The Mat from Lululemon offers incredible wet and dry traction for almost any style of yoga. The mat is absorbent and quickly soaks in your sweat, and it takes significant sweat input to build up any moisture on the surface. Even when this mat was soaking wet, we found an excellent suction when our hands and feet activated on the mat.

The Mat is also reversible. The polyurethane top layer absorbs moisture to help offer traction during sweaty practices like hot yoga. The natural rubber base provides a textured grip for more challenging moves. You can experiment with the grip that feels comfortable when you activate your hands and feet to ground into the surface.

The Liforme Original may look as smooth as a glass castle, but it sticks like a gecko on a window. The alignment lines are engraved on the surface and have a slight texture, so you can feel them under your hands without looking at them. This is an excellent sticky mat for beginners to study posture integrity and proprioception.

If you love the sticky mat style, the Iuga Eco Friendly is another favorite for sweaty yogis. Its uniquely soft surface is still non-slip but comfortable for sliding transitions. It is lighter, so the only downside is that it can wrinkle slightly in the middle if you are heavy on your feet.

The Manduka PRO has a textured surface that our fingers love for handstands and inversions. It offers an excellent balance of stick and glide that is a good fit for dynamic flows or Ashtanga. It does become more slippery when wet, so there may be better choices for hot yoga. The PRO is also dense, and the circle tread on the bottom of the mat suctions the floor. This mat doesn't fold when you roll over the toes or budge when you jump, rock, or roll. We tested how easily mats slid across different surfaces, and the PRO was one of the most unmovable foundations. The Alo Warrior Mat, Jade Harmony, Lululemon The Mat, and Manduka eKO also have notable grip strength on the floor.

A few yoga mats work better when wet. The Yoloha Unity optimizes traction when at least a little moisture is present. This mat is very slippery when dry, so we recommend spritzing it with water to kick off traction at the beginning of your practice. Water doesn't absorb into the mat's surface, so it is good to have a towel handy if sweat starts to pool. The bottom of the mat has a tread that grips most of the time but can slide a little on smoother surfaces like hardwood.

The Manduka eKO SuperLite and Jade Voyager are super-grippy travel mats but thinner than a cardboard box. Used by themselves, this style of paper-thin travel mat tends to wrinkle up on smoother floors and does not cushion your bones. Some people creatively use them as yoga mat toppers instead of a towel when they visit studios while traveling for a hygienic approach to grip.

We aim to find durable yoga mats. Many companies market “green credibility” by claiming they use toxic-free manufacturing/materials and zero-waste factories. While we appreciate companies that prioritize sustainability, the greenest option is often to choose “Reduce” before “Reuse” and “Recycle.” High-performing mats that can last through years of practice scored higher than recyclable materials that fall apart in six months.

Our team of testers practiced at least a dozen times on each yoga mat, taking note of any signs of wear. We conducted extensive market research to see how mats have held up for various users. When considering our award winners, we consulted over fifteen yoga teachers on their insights into how their yoga mats have held up over the years.

The Manduka PRO is a dense and durable mat. The closed-cell construction prevents moisture, sweat, and dirt from absorbing into it. The PRO is constructed from PVC that has been certified Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex. PVC is notoriously immune to tears, so this mat endures. We talked with several teachers still practicing on a PRO they have used for 5-20 years, and all of them told us their mat still looks in mint condition.

As for the rubber mats, they break down more quickly than PVC. A classic wear pattern on rubber mats is track lines where the hands and feet rub parallel rails into the surface. The Manduka eKO doesn't come with a Lifetime guaranteed warranty that the company offers with the ultra-durable PRO. This was intentional on the company's part because they made the eKO out of biodegradable natural tree rubber. We talked with several practitioners who used this for vigorous, daily Ashtanga practices for 3-6 years before retiring the mat.

The Yoloha Unity Cork showed little signs of breaking down or wear after our testing period. A yoga teacher mentioned that if you protect the mat from exposure to heat and roll it cork side out, it could last over five years before it starts wearing thin.

The Liforme Original is resilient to travel with—we checked it through security and stored it in an overhead airplane bin, and it is hard to dent or crinkle this mat. Lululemon's The Mat has a relatively long lifespan for a rubber mat. We talked with practitioners who had sustained 5-6 years of regular practice on it with only moderate wear and grip loss in the feet and hand “hot spots.”

Also of note is the Iuga Eco Friendly, which we found easy to carry. It didn't get banged up in airport overhead bins and is in top condition after many outdoor practices. Because of the unique mesh design of the material, it is less than half the weight of any other rubber mat we tested.

For this metric, we considered how easy each mat was to clean and care for and also how portable it is. How easily does the mat attract dirt or pet hair? Stain? Does it hold odors? How often does it need to be cleaned? Does it need to be deep cleaned? How easily does the mat roll up and store? Mats that simply need to be wiped down by a cleaning solution are typically rated higher. Mats with break-in periods, detailed care instructions, or a tendency to attract dirt/hair stains are rated lower. We then considered portability first in terms of simple weight and then the experience of schlepping each mat on our shoulders across town. We considered which mats are more suitable for home use and which are friendly for carrying between classes or traveling.

Deeply absorbent mats can help with sweat management by allowing the surface to stay dry longer, especially if paired with a well-frictioned surface material. The downside is that all that sweat and moisture drains through to the base of the mat and is hard to clean. Unless you deep clean them, these mats can be unhygienic if they accumulate bacteria, germs, and stinky odors. One innovative design that bypasses this common issue with open-cell mats is the Liforme Original. An absorbent top layer soaks up sweat, and a waterproof middle layer acts as a moisture barrier that both helps wick sweat away and keeps the deeper layers of the mat from being saturated with body fluids. The Liforme has the absorbent grip of an open-cell mat but doesn't need the deep cleans. This makes it one of the easiest mats to clean and low maintenance when you travel.

When it comes to cleaning a yoga mat, there are two levels of care involved: regular surface cleaning and occasional deep cleaning. For surface cleaning, most manufacturers recommend wiping it down with only water or a cleaning spray after each class to remove residual sweat and oils. This helps prevent sweat from building up inside your mat and making it stinky. The Manduka PRO is a classic example of a closed cell mat that simply needs a gentle spray and surface wipe after yoga. If the mat gets dirtier than usual, use a little more spray to lightly cover the surface and let it sit for a few minutes before you wipe it and let it air dry completely. Another closed cell mat, Hugger Mugger Earth Elements, is also an easy wipe-down even after yoga outdoors.

Deep cleaning involves rinsing your mat in the shower, soaking it in a bathtub like scuba gear, or hosing it off in the backyard. It is important to let mats completely air dry before storing them. There is no quick and easy way to do a deep clean. If that feels like a herculean effort, then you'll want to consider a PVC or cork mat that is low maintenance. The Yoloha Unity is antimicrobial; it simply needs to be sprayed, wiped down, and air dried.

The Yoga Design Lab Combo is a unique towel and mat combo that can go directly into the washing machine after use and then be hung to dry. There is no scrubbing or hosing involved, and it comes out smelling fresh each time. However, we thought that the dry and wet grip of the towel was slicker than we had hoped for a mat designed for hot yoga.

If you use public transportation, walk, or bike with your mat to a studio, then you may be looking for a mat that is easy to transport. Portability is also an important metric for nomadic yogis. For most situations, we recommend mats that are lightweight without sacrificing too much comfort, grip, and stability. The models we tested range in weight from under two pounds to almost eight pounds. Carting a heavy eight-pound mat from your car to the yoga room is not too big of a deal, but your shoulders may start complaining if you're carrying for long distances.

The most compact models in our suite are the Manduka eKO SuperLite and Jade Voyager, but they are thinner than a piece of cardboard and don't offer comfort and support. Some practitioners have used them as mat toppers when they travel. The Primasole Foldable weighs less than two pounds and is easy to slip in a tote for yoga at the park, throw in your suitcase, or take on a day hike.

We love that the Iuga Eco Friendly weigh just over two pounds and comes with an adjustable carry strap. It is also easy to wipe down with a cloth and mild detergent, although it has a long wet drying time.

Also of note is the Gaiam Premium 6mm, which is an affordable option for beginner yogis that is easy to wipe down when dirty and fairly portable, weighing just over three pounds.

The Hugger Mugger Earth Elements is ultralight for a yoga mat and weighs less than two and a half pounds. Our testers didn't mind taking it on long day hikes for a grounding movement practice in nature.

Selecting the right yoga mat will depend on your practice goals and desired mat thickness. Below, we have outlined some of the most important points to consider when buying a yoga mat.

One to two millimeters: Mats within this range are considered thin and are usually categorized as “travel mats” as they cut back on weight. If you plan on strapping your mat to your back as you bike to the park or packing it in your carry-on, a thinner option is for you. These won't feel as good on your joints, but you can always fold the mat over or use a folded-up blanket for extra cushion.

Three to five millimeters: Most yoga mats are within three to five millimeters thick. This range is perfect for finding balance on your mat while having enough cushion for your joints. We recommend sticking within this range unless you specifically want a travel mat or need extra cushion.

Six millimeters and up: Mats on the thicker side of six millimeters are a good option for joint support. These are also good for yoga practices with extended standing or sitting periods. If you struggle with joint pain, a thicker option might be best. Just keep in mind the thicker the mat, the more “squish” you'll have to balance on.

Both beginners and flow/vinyasa styles require a mat with good traction. However, beginners shouldn't worry too much about spending a lot on their first mat. Instead, try to select a mat that has a combination of traction, cushion, and stability. Those focusing on flow/vinyasa should prioritize a mat with traction, but not too much. As you'll be frequenting downward facing dog and quickly moving through positions, select one with good dry and wet traction that allows you to slide into positions. You'll also want excellent wet traction for hot yoga classes. We recommend choosing a “closed-cell” option, allowing sweat to be wiped off easily.

If you're planning on relaxing during a restorative flow, opt for a thicker option. These flows mostly involve sitting and lying positions, so you'll want something cushiony to rest on. However, you can always choose a sturdier option and pair it with a blanket or secondary mat. If you do a little of everything or aren't quite sure yet, prioritize a mat with great traction and stability.

How can we improve GearLab? Got feedback? Let us know!

eva foam mats Material on GearLab is copyrighted. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. All trademarks property of their respective owners Privacy | Cookies | Terms

The 7 Best Yoga Mats of 2025 | Tested & Rated