14 Best Laptop Stands (2023): Adjustable, Portable, and More

No matter how many stands I try, I keep coming back to the ObVus Solutions Tower. It's sturdy, light, and sleek (as far as office supplies go). I love that it can be raised to various heights and positions, so it should work for most people's home or work setups. You can flatten it out to throw in your bag, and you may even be able to stand for a little bit with it (unless you are particularly tall).

It does take some muscle power to change the height and angle. That's probably a good thing, as it won't collapse while you're working. I've been using it consistently since 2020, and it has stayed just as sturdy, with no issues. It's also often on sale.

Despite being made of thin aluminum, this simple Rain Design stand is sturdy. Type away without worrying about it buckling, and take it from your office to your living room or a coffee shop. It's a set height, raising a laptop about 5 inches at an angle. My colleague now has two of these, so he doesn't have to worry about toting it back and forth between home and the office—but you can, because it folds up to just 9.5 x 6 inches, so it fits into any bag you'd also put a laptop in. It also weighs less than a pound.

The mBar Pro Plus holds 9.7-inch (and up!) iPads if placed horizontally. There's also the mBar ($25) stand, which raises a laptop 3 inches and doesn't fold up, and the mBar Pro ($55), which raises it the same amount but folds.

★ Another portable stand: The Nexstand K1 Carbon Fiber Laptop Stand ($80) raises your laptop with its seven height options, and it folds into a very small, compact rectangle that will fit in just about any moderately sized bag. I don't find it to be very intuitive to use at first, though—I had to read the directions to figure out I had it upside down.

I've been using this Superjare laptop stand on and off for a few years, and even after testing all the others for this guide, it's still one of my favorites. It's made of particleboard, but it's strong enough to hold my monitor and laptop. It's a nice break from industrial-looking metal stands. It's also really affordable!

There are three sections—one middle piece and two adjustable sides—and you can collapse the sides into the middle or remove them entirely. Sometimes I use just the middle for my monitor, or I use the entire thing to hold my laptop slightly angled on the left side for a better two-screen setup (with the ObVus stand too). The best part? There's space underneath for storing notebooks, a keyboard, and other stuff that tends to clutter my desk. If you occasionally want to stand up and work, this isn't a good option. Plus, it's not easy to tote from room to room. But if you're mostly going to sit at a desk, it'll do the job.

I've been working from home since 2018, and even though I love my desk (and my computer monitor), sometimes it's too hard to leave my bed in the morning or make it off the couch in the afternoon. The Nnewvante, which is also in our Home Office Gear guide, is a great stand for those lazier days. You can't adjust the stand's height, but you can raise the base to an angle suitable to whatever you're doing—sketching, watching a movie on a tablet, eating breakfast, or typing on a laptop—and the built-in stopper keeps things from sliding off into your lap.

The smaller surface on the right stays flat and is a good place for your morning coffee. There's even a cute, small drawer for storing knickknacks! And when you're done with it, you can fold up the legs for slimmer storage. Even better, it's made of bamboo and feels very nice.

★ Aluminum alternative: We also like the Uncaged Ergonomics WorkEZ Best Laptop Stand ($40). By pressing each button on the leg joints, you can adjust and tilt it to work on a flat surface or while you're lying down. It also comes with a removable mouse pad. It's not as sturdy as the Nnewvante, though, and we don't recommend using a separate keyboard on either. Feverish typing on a separate keyboard makes the stands shift around a bit, but you're probably not working that hard from bed anyway.