Desk Risers: A Market Overview for Europe

Written by us at Freedesk. We manufacture and sell desk risers ourselves, but this guide is a neutral analysis of the European market, including where other solutions are a better fit than ours.

Short answer

A desk riser (also called a desk converter) is a small height-adjustable tabletop that you place on top of a table in your home, so you can work standing up without replacing the table.

The easiest way to understand the market is to look at how the products are used, not what they cost. Two questions go a long way:

1. Will you switch between sitting and standing several times a day, or set it once?
2. If it’s portable – can it be moved, and what happens when it’s folded down?

That gives four groups:

• Static – set once, not meant to be folded up and down all the time. (e.g. Standsome)
• Stationary adjustable – large, heavy, for a fixed home office. (e.g. Flexispot M7, Ergotron WorkFit)
• Portable, but must be moved away when folded down – lightweight, but when folded down it sits so high that you either lift the desk riser away when you sit, or leave the laptop up on it and move the keyboard down to the underlying table. (e.g. Leitz, IKEA Dubbla)
• Portable, and you can keep working when folded down – is lowered so far down that you can work seated just as usual, without moving your desk riser (Freedesk) out of the way

What is a desk riser?

You place a desk riser on top of your regular desk to raise the work surface to standing height. It is not the same as a sit-stand desk, where the entire desk is an adjustable piece of furniture (such as IKEA's own standing desks, for example Relatera or Trotten). The difference is that you keep your desk. A desk riser is cheaper, easier to move, and can be put away.

Three things set the models apart: how they are raised and lowered, how large and heavy they are, and what many people miss: what happens when they are folded down.

Why folded-down mode matters so much

You do not use a desk riser standing up all day. The point is to be able to switch between sitting and standing. So for part of the day it is lowered, and then you sit and work at it.

This is where the products differ. If it still sits a bit above the table when folded down, you have to do something every time you want to sit. You can lift it off the table or use it as a laptop stand, where your laptop sits on the desk riser and an external keyboard is placed on the regular tabletop.

An IKEA customer describes it in a review: the laptop ends up about 7.5 cm above the table in the lowest position, which feels a little too high for comfortable typing.

If the surface of the Desk Riser lies almost flat against the table, it’s no problem. You work just as usual even in folded-down mode.

The four groups

1. Static

Suitable for you if you want to set a good standing height and work there, not switch back and forth during the day.

You set these once. This includes fixed platforms and stands with little or no adjustment. They are often simple, stable, and affordable, but not made to be folded up and down often.

Example: Standsome (Germany). Stylish wooden stands, made in Germany. The simple model has a fixed height and is assembled from loose parts. The adjustable one weighs around 7 kg and does not go lower than about 28.5 cm. Nice and durable, but built like a stand – not something you switch between often.

2. Stationary adjustable

Suitable for you if you have a fixed home office with dual monitors or heavy equipment, and don’t plan to move the desk riser.

These are the large, sturdy models. They usually have two levels – monitor high up, keyboard on a separate tray lower down – can handle a lot of weight, and are raised with a gas spring. Good for a heavy, fixed workstation. But they weigh quite a bit and are not meant to be carried around or put away.

Example: - Ergotron WorkFit-TX – premium. Sturdy, infinitely adjustable gas spring. Goes up to about 51 cm, supports around 18 kg, sits about 5.7 cm high when folded down. Sold in Europe through office retailers. - Flexispot M7 – widely available across Europe. Two levels, gas spring. Height about 12–50 cm, weighs around 10.8 kg, supports about 15 kg. Lowest position about 12 cm.

3. Portable, but must be moved away when folded down

Suitable for you if you want something light and movable, and don’t mind doing one extra step to be able to sit.

These are lighter and can be moved around or put away. The difference from the next group is what happens when you work in the lowered position. The desk riser still sits too high to give you a good working position when sitting down. You solve that in one of two ways: remove your desk riser when you want to sit, or leave the laptop/monitor up and move the keyboard down onto the desk.

The other approach works well for many people. It’s not worse, just different. The point is that folded-down mode here is not the same as a regular desk.

Example: - Leitz Ergo Cosy – a well-known European office brand, sold in many stores. German design, ergonomics certified. Infinitely adjustable gas spring. Lowest height 4.8 cm on the base model (up to 31 cm), 7.2 cm on the model with tray. Leitz itself shows the product folded down as a riser for a laptop or monitor, with the keyboard down on the table. Weighs 7.9 kg, supports 16 kg. - IKEA Dubbla – called a laptop stand. Gas spring, height 18–41 cm, supports 10 kg, comes fully assembled and is easy to move. The lowest position is 18 cm, so it is designed to be folded up when standing and put away or used raised, not for sitting and working at.

4. Portable, and you can keep working when folded down

Suitable for you if want to be able to work sitting down just as usual and then simply lift up your desk riser when you want to stand, without having to move your equipment. Good for small spaces and for those who work both from home and elsewhere.

This group is special because it handles two things at once. You get a stable, full surface to work on, like a regular desk. And the desk riser folds down so low that you can sit and work just as usual, without moving it.
It is not enough for a desk riser to be just low, or just easy to move. IKEA Dubbla, for example, is light and portable, but is the highest of all when lowered (see the table). Easy to carry and low when lowered are therefore two different things

Freedesk. A wooden stand where the legs fold into the tabletop when lowered, disappearing completely and adding no height. This makes it only 22 mm high when folded down - low enough for you to work seated as usual with it still on the table. Manually adjustable in 9 steps. Weighs from 2 kg (Light Compact) to 5.5 kg (Original Large). Supports 10 kg. Available in Compact (39 × 58 cm) and Large (54 × 80 cm).

We do not know of any other desk riser that has both a full work surface and such a low height when lowered. There are lighter laptop stands and there are desk risers with a fairly low profile, but they are either not a stable work surface or sit several centimeters higher when lowered. If you find one that does both, let us know and we will update the guide.

Comparison

Which one should you choose?

• Do you want to set a standing height and work there, without switching all the time? → Static (e.g. Standsome).
• Do you have a fixed home office with dual screens or heavy equipment? → Stationary (Flexispot, Ergotron). You trade portability for more stability and a higher load capacity.
• Do you want something light and movable, and don’t mind lifting it away or working raised when folded down? → Portable and moved away (Leitz, IKEA Dubbla).
• Do you want to work sitting as usual and easily be able to raise your workstation, without moving anything? → Portable and keeps you working wherever you are (Freedesk).

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a desk riser and a sit-stand desk? A sit-stand desk is a complete piece of furniture where the entire desktop moves up and down. You place a desk riser on top of your regular desk and it raises only part of the surface. The desk riser is often cheaper, easier to move, and requires no rearranging, but provides a smaller surface when standing.

Can you work sitting down as usual with a desk riser lowered? It depends on how low it is when folded down. If it sits close to the table (around 2 cm), you work as if it isn’t there. If it sits several centimeters higher, you either have to lift it away or work raised, i.e. with the laptop on or left up on the desk riser and an external keyboard on the table.

What does it mean that it "must be moved away when folded down"? That you have to do something to sit comfortably: lift it away or move the keyboard down. The opposite is a riser that sits so low that you don’t need to do anything – you fold it down and keep working.

Is a portable desk riser always low when lowered? No, and that’s a common misconception. Portable means light and easy to move; it says nothing about how low it is when folded down. IKEA Dubbla is a good example: it’s marketed as portable but sits highest of all in this comparison. If you want both to move it around and keep working sitting down with it in place, it’s the folded-down height you should check.

Do I need a gas spring? Not necessarily. A gas spring gives quick, smooth height adjustment, which is nice if you switch often. Manual step adjustment is simpler, has fewer parts that can break, and makes the riser lighter. If you switch a couple of times a day, manual adjustment is usually enough.

How often should you switch between sitting and standing? There’s no exact answer, but ergonomists say the important thing is to change position regularly – not to stand all day. Movement is what helps. Read more in our blog post on this.

Summary

The easiest way to understand desk risers is to look at how they are used. First: do you set it once (static) or switch often (adjustable)? The adjustable ones are then divided into large and fixed (stationary) and light and movable (portable). And the portable ones differ in one thing that matters a lot in everyday life: what happens when folded down: some you have to move away or work on while raised, others sit so low that you work sitting as usual.

Freedesk belongs to the last group. The legs fold into the top, so it is only 22 mm high when folded down. Low enough for your workspace to function as usual even when folded down, and you do not need to move your equipment out of the way. That makes it a good choice for small spaces and for those who switch often. If instead you need to support a lot of weight, have dual monitors, or want a large stationary solution, one of the other groups is a better fit, and we have tried to point those out honestly above.

Want to see how Freedesk works in practice? ["Read more about our models →]