Herman Miller Aeron vs Steelcase Leap: Ultimate Showdown

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I work 10 hours each day. But I refuse to spend this time in a cheap, uncomfortable office chair. While the best office chairs may seem expensive at first glance, a $2,500 Herman Miller Aeron or a $1,700 Steelcase Leap will last 10-12 years, which means I’m paying about $200 annually for premium seating.

It’s peanuts. Most people spend 10X more on fancy coffee and avocado toast.

Now that I’ve (hopefully) convinced you that “expensive” office chairs like the Herman Miller Aeron and the Steelcase Leap are great value, let’s decide on: which should you buy?

Don’t have the time to read the whole review? See the table below for the TLDR.

Above: I bought both chairs with my own money. I used each in my home office for the past 3 months, switching multiple times per day between them.

Criteria	Winner
Seat Comfort	Steelcase Leap
Armrest Comfort	Herman Miller Aeron
Aesthetics & Design	Herman Miller Aeron
Lumbar Support	Steelcase Leap
Backrest Comfort	Steelcase Leap
Recline Comfort	Herman Miller Aeron
Build Quality	Herman Miller Aeron
Pricing	Steelcase Leap
Warranty	Tie
Assembly	Tie
OVERALL WINNER	See “My Verdict” Below

1. Seat Comfort.

Above: Steelcase Leap’s seat base looks gentle and inviting – because it is.

The biggest difference between the Aeron and the Leap V2 is the seat base.

Leap’s seat flexes. It will move with you as you shift position or move your legs, contouring to the shape of your body.

The pad is forgiving and slightly tilted up at the edges.

Aeron’s bucket seat, meanwhile, is tough. Rigid. Unyielding. Its aggresively sculpted sides keep you locked in (and prevent you from sitting cross-legged).

Both seats are very comfortable but offer very different seating experiences.

While the Leap is like a gentle parent who gently nudges you toward better posture, the Aeron is like a military drill sergeant who knows what position is best – and dictates it.

If you’re a car person, this analogy will make more sense:

One reason for this difference is the seat material. The Leap opts for a foam-stuffed fabric base, while the Aeron is made from high-end pellicle mesh.

(Related: Herman Miller Embody: Why Are People Paying $3,000 For It?)

Leap’s foam is softer overall. You always feel it cossetting your backside.

The Aeron’s mesh and rigid frame combo feel less forgiving on first contact. But within 10 seconds they disappear, leaving you with a floating sensation.

Above: The Aeron’s bucket seat frame has contoured edges that keep you locked in position.

Unsurprisingly, both chairs take a very different approach to seat depth adjustment.

Steelcase Leap gives you 96 cm of adjustment using a simple lever.

(Related: Steelcase Series 2 Office Chair: Worth $1,100?)

Herman Miller’s setting, meanwhile, is permanent.

Because peasants like us can’t be trusted with such important matters – the boffins in lab coats who designed the chair know best.

But you can choose the size of your Aeron (there are three – each with a different seat depth).

Both approaches have merit, but Leap’s is definitely more adaptable and easier to fine-tune.

Winner:

Steelcase Leap

2. Armrest Comfort.

Above: Aeron’s armrest caps are the best in business. Large, soft, uncomplicated yet perfectly functional.

The Herman Miller Aeron chair offers 3D armrests, while the Steelcase Leap does one better with 4D.

On paper, the Leap beats the Aeron in this department because of its extra adjustability.

But in practice, it’s irrelevant.

(Related: ErgoTune Supreme vs Sihoo M57 Office Chairs: Which Is Best?)

The Leap offers a dedicated width adjustment, but the Aeron achieves the same outcome via pivoting armrests – helped by much wider arm caps.

Above: Leap’s armrests are less soft. Less curvaceous.

I’ve never felt like I ran out of real estate for my elbows or forearms while sitting in it.

Besides being bigger and more useful, they look and feel more premium overall. Softly padded leatherette is a nice touchpoint that you’ll enjoy interacting with.

(Related: Sihoo M90 Office Chair: Best Budget Pick?)

Leap’s armpads are just that – nice, but somewhat plasticky, functional platforms to dig your elbow into or rest your forearm on.

However, they’re far less likely to move around when you don’t want them to.

I find my Aeron’s armrest caps prone to swinging out of position and requiring frequent readjustment throughout the workday.

Winner:

Herman Miller Aeron

3. Aesthetics & Design.

Above: The Leap looks best in an already attractive environment. But the Aeron has the power to elevate the environment it’s in.

Looks are very subjective, so I won’t linger on it for very long.

It’s safe and conservative, but that’s not the vibe I want in my home office.

I prefer modern, bold, and welcoming.

It’s overdue for a redesign (Steelcase, when’s Leap V3?) to catch up with Haworth Fern’s balance of conservatism and contemporary design.

In Australia, the Leap is available in 9 colours – all subdued, earthy, and decidedly safe.

In its defence, the Leap can look pretty – if your office already has an excellent aesthetic. In fact, in those environments, it looks understatedly elegant.

(Related: Herman Miller Mirra 2: Poor Man’s Aeron?)

But if your office already looks underwhelming, the Leap will make it more so.

The shouty Aeron, meanwhile, is the opposite.

It’s a statement piece that has the power to elevate a less-than-exciting office environment.

It also has an undeniable flex factor. Like a luxury watch, the Aeron isn’t just functional – it signals that you can afford nice things.

Winner:

Herman Miller Aeron

4. Lumbar Support Comfort.

Above: Aeron’s lumbar is controlled by the PostureSL pads you see in the centre. However, the sides of the backrest frame play a part, too.

The two office chairs take different approaches to lumbar support. Are you surprised?

What I am surprised about is that the Leap offers height adjustment only. Nope, no depth adjustment for you to tinker with.

The Internet is full of accounts of people complaining about both the Leap’s “excessively aggressive” lumbar.

Some of them have discovered a workaround, where they soften the Leap’s lumbar by permanently removing the horizontal slide responsible for much of the firmness.

My view of Leap’s lumbar is, of course, the opposite.

And I’ve tested 20+ office chairs over the past 4 years.

Above: Look closely, and you’ll see a small tab on either side of the backrest. You control the Leap’s lumbar height by sliding these two tabs up and down.

I like that the Leap’s lumbar is 100% integrated into the backrest. You don’t feel a separate pad poking you – just the backrest becoming more or less flexible.

The Aeron uses vertically-mounted, centered PostureSL pads for lumbar support – but they’re only part of the story.

The backrest’s bucket frame plays a major role in how the lumbar actually feels.

don’t dislike the Aeron’s lumbar, but I feel that the Leap delivers the same levels of support – in a more forgiving way.

Winner:

Steelcase Leap

5. Backrest Comfort.

Above: Leap’s backrest flexes with your back. The wheel on the right allows you to pre-select the recline limit.

I love the Leap’s backrest. Everything I said about its seat pan above applies here.

It moves and flexes with your body, allowing you to stretch, twist and lean back throughout your workday.

Aeron’s backrest, meanwhile, is rigid – and doesn’t bend at all. It cradles and keeps you in place, rather than letting you flex and move.

(Related: Ergonomic Chair vs Task Chair: What Is The Difference?)

It’s also less tall, providing less back support to tall users.

Neither office chair, by the way, offers height adjustment on its backrest.

Winner:

Steelcase Leap

6. Recline Comfort.

Above: The Aeron’s recline reminds me of an old rocking chair. It’s buttery smooth and gentle.

You can’t beat Herman Miller Aeron’s recline.

It’s smooth, deep and ideal for people who like to rock back in their office chairs.

Rather than tilting the backrest backwards, the entire chair sinks back and to the rear. The net effect is a unique rocking motion that you’ll find only on the Aeron.

On its own, the Leap’s recline feels fine.

But compared side-by-side with an Aeron, less so. Rather than a smooth rock, the backrest tilts as the seat pan moves forward, producing a hip-thrust effect.

This approach is OK for reclining and staying in a certain position, but is suboptimal for constant back/forth motion.

But the Leap’s biggest downfall in this department is its lack of smoothness.

You can feel plastic parts rubbing into each other while reclining in the Leap. The experience is never rough or glitchy, but is always a touch … agricultural.

Winner:

Herman Miller Aeron

7. Build Quality.

Above: Steelcase Leap chair is very well made, but I can’t shake the plasticky vibe. It doesn’t look and feel as rock-solid as the Aeron.

Both the Aeron and Leap score highly in build quality. Both are built and assembled in the USA.

But the Aeron feels more like a high-end chair because of its rigid frame.

Because the Leap is designed to flex, it’s built from soft plastics.

This gives it a less-than-premium appearance.

Aeron’s pellicle mesh is the highest quality mesh you can buy, while Leap’s fabric is also high-end. Both will last for years without wear or fade.

Winner:

Herman Miller Aeron

8. Pricing.

Above: Two Herman Miller Aeron chairs will put a noticeable dent in your budget.

The Aeron is available in Australia for about $2,500 (depending on colour), while the Leap costs around $1,700.

This is quite a large gap.

Yes, you could make it less scary by annualising it as I did in the intro (is the difference between $170 and $250 per year that important, anyway?), but it’s also true that you could justify just about any luxury purchase by breaking it into weekly payments.

(That’s how people on $100K salaries end up with $250K Range Rover leases).

In fact, it’s big enough to argue that the Steelcase Leap and the Herman Miller Aeron aren’t direct competitors, as they’re not competing at the same price point.

You should also consider that you could buy almost two Leaps for the price of a single Aeron.

While it’s a crude way of evaluating price, it becomes more relevant if you run a small business.

Buy one for yourself and one for a business partner, and you’re looking at $3,400 for the Leaps or $5,000 for the Aerons.

The $1,600 gap is hard to ignore.

But what if you have a team of 10 people?

Your gap is now $8,000.

One purchase had you send an invoice for $17,000, while the other totalled $25,000. These differences are not trivial.

Winner:

Steelcase Leap

9. Warranty.

Above: The Leap’s optional headrest is made from leather – a nice touch that elevates the look of the chair.

Both office chairs offer an unbeatable warranty.

You get 12 years on parts and a lifetime warranty on the frame with the Leap.

Herman Miller, meanwhile, offers 12 years warranty on all parts.

Both ergonomic chairs are rated for use 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.

Winner:

Tie

10. Assembly.

Above: The Aeron arrives pre-assembled. Just open the substantial-looking box, roll it out and start using.

Both office chairs arrive at your door fully assembled.

However, the Leap offers you the option to save $50 by choosing a broken-down delivery, in which you’ll have to assemble a few parts yourself.

Above: The Leap also arrives inside a giant (although less impressive) cardboard box.

Winner:

Tie

My Verdict On Herman Miller Aeron vs Steelcase Leap.

The Herman Miller Aeron and the Steelcase Leap are outstanding office chairs.

Ironically, after switching between them for the past few months, I’ve developed a habit of using both throughout my workday.

I don’t love the Aeron’s “I’ll bash you into ergonomic submission” authoritarian personality, but I thoroughly enjoy the feeling of its recline.

However, 8+ hours in an Aeron – especially on consecutive days – can start to feel punishing. My body starts to crave something more forgiving, and a switch to the Leap delivers instant relief.

I then use the Leap for a few days – and get nostalgic about the Aeron’s recline.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

But please don’t become an office chair tragic like me and buy both of these chairs.

Ideally, you should visit a shop – perhaps multiple times – to figure out whether the Aeron or the Leap is the better chair for you.

The difficulty is that Steelcase decided to shut down all of its physical stores in Australia as of late 2025. Going forward, it’s strictly a direct-to-consumer online retailer.

So here’s a verdict that I hope helps you make the right decision.

Choose the Leap if you want:

Choose the Aeron if you want:

In short:

Steven