7 Best Low Drop Running Shoes in 2024

Altra's Torin 7 offers unwavering confidence and ease across all terrains and paces, making it the ultimate choice for low-drop running. Our lab backs up the sensation we felt: the midsole strikes the perfect balance between cushioning and ground feel while offering energy return that keeps us chasing more miles.

With a negative heel drop of -0.8 mm, it fosters a natural feel and exceptional control, ensuring solid ground contact with every step. The midsole offers a dynamic ride for faster paces while its soft cushioning dampens landing impact. Our durometer reveals a reading of 16.8 HA, 21.1% softer than average.

Enhancing agility, the flexible midsole surpasses the average running shoe by 30.6%, enabling seamless transitions and enhancing comfort. The shoe also weighs a mere 9.0 oz (255g), making it easier to lift our feet.

The undisrupted ventilation in the upper adds to its airiness, making it a refreshing place to be in for long hours. In our lab test, the smoke passed through effortlessly, earning a well-deserved 5/5 breathability rating.

However, the outsole lacks durability and performed worse than average in our Dremel test. Those who prefer shoes with a long lifespan should explore alternatives.

The third time’s a charm as Altra Rivera 3 emerged as our best daily trainer among lab-tested low-drop running shoes. With a seamless blend of natural feel, protective cushioning, and energy return, this all-around shoe gave us a fun and forgiving ride. With a slight 1.7 mm offset, we believe it's a great shoe to try before deep-diving into the zero-drop world.

The midsole truly enhanced smooth, free-flowing strides with its modest stack and flexible build that gives a good ground feel. Our 90-degree bend test shows Rivera 3 is 20.9% more adaptive than average, making it versatile and comfortable enough for any distance or pace.

While the 28.4/26.7 mm platform has a below-average heel, we feel we have enough cushioning to protect our feet. Our durometer confirms the plush sensation we noticed — the foam measures 34.7% softer than average. Despite its softness, it's bouncy and energetic, which makes pushing the pace in the Rivera 3 a breeze.

Unfortunately, Rivera 3’s laces are so smooth that they frequently came undone during our runs. We recommend double-tying them for safety.

Saucony’s Kinvara 15 is our best low-drop speed trainer because of its featherlight, nimble, and perfectly natural ride. Proven by countless tests in the lab, its minimal cushion, flexible midsole, and light nature kept the experience as effortless as possible. 

With a heel-to-toe drop of 4.4 mm, the platform is 48.8% less inclined than the average of lab-tested shoes. This promotes a natural and relaxed running feel since it isn’t too aggressive. Though the heel and forefoot stacks remain below average, the delightfully firm 23.8 HA cushion protects us from leg strain and unstable strides. 

Less cushioning means more flexibility, and the midsole confirms this with easy maneuverability, keeping us as the main driver of our runs. It freely adapts to our movements. Our flex test validates this shoe needed 53.3% less force than average to be bent to 90°. 

What’s incredible is how airy this shoe feels in our runs. This speed trainer is even lighter than other race shoes! Weighing only 6.8 oz (194g), it’s 26.8% lighter than the average running shoe.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the most durable shoe. With a softer and thinner outsole than average, the rubber is more vulnerable to wear and tear.

With the lab and the streets as our witnesses, ASICS Metaspeed Sky Paris is our ultimate low-drop marathon running shoe. We blazed through grueling miles without the burning feeling with its superior combination of blissful comfort and insane midsole responsiveness. This lightweight marvel delivers nothing but peak performance in our runs.

With a 33.9/32.6 mm stack, we savored the extra cushioning in our runs, notably in the forefoot. Despite its height, this supershoe is one of the lightest we’ve seen at only 6.5 oz (183g)! Its airiness comes from the all-new FF Turbo+ foam with a 21.0 HA durometer reading, offering a wildly energetic experience.

Its late-stage toe rocker design promotes forward momentum for mid-to-forefoot strikers, while its flat carbon plate powerfully launches us to keep us lighting fast. The ASICSGRIP sticky outsole also kept us confident with any direction or weather changes.

Our feet were embraced by the MOTIONWRAP 2.0, a fine mesh structure that proved to be exceptionally breathable and comfortable in our runs. Dotted with ventilation holes even in the heel, it received the highest ventilation score, coupled with a 4/5 durability score. Excelling in both tests is extremely rare in our lab.

However, this shoe only performs best for mid-to-forefoot strikers. Sky Paris’ midsole configuration and narrow 77.8 mm heel make it less stable for rear strikers.

In our runs and lab analysis with low-drop running shoes, Altra VIA Olypmus 2 championed the cushioning game. It's designed based on our natural foot shape and has a midsole that ticks all the boxes for stack, softness, and energy return. Its charm is further enhanced with a robust outsole that withstands long distances.

Our runs felt dynamic with the EGO MAX foam. The heel area is a well-cushioned 34.8 mm yet the forefoot surprised us with the highest we’ve seen in the lab: 35.0 mm. This difference results in a -0.2 mm drop, which aligns with Altra’s zero-drop core. Our durometer confirms the soothing cushion is 31.1% softer than average, dampening the impact of every stride.

The FootShape design gives unrestricted comfort and free movement as it mimics our natural anatomy. Our precise measurements reveal the widest part of the toebox is 104.4 mm. What's impressive is its minimal tapering to the 91.1 mm big toe area, 12.8 mm wider than average, ensuring maximum comfort even for swollen feet.

The FootPod technology allows the outsole to flex naturally with us. It proves its strength by showing 33.3% less damage than average in our abrasion test.

However, this shoe will only feel comfortable on cooler days due to its lack of ventilation. Those who run in humid weather should check for more breathable options.

Navigating challenging trails was a breeze in Saucony's Peregrine 14. It’s a light, nimble shoe that maintains our form and control with its leveled platform, flexible midsole, and grippy outsole—the perfect formula suited for trails among low-drop shoes we lab-tested.

For starters, its tough PWRTRAC outsole can withstand any trail condition but its deep 4.7 mm lugs are the true standout feature. Deeper than average by 1.2 mm, it bites through mud, dirt, and snow, with a pattern that secures the ride without bringing the trails home thanks to its shedding capabilities.

Peregrine 14 never burdened our strides because its light 9.4 oz (266g) barely made us feel the effects of gravity, especially compared to the 10.4 oz (294g) average trail shoe. It consists of a heel-to-toe drop of 2.2 mm, 5.7 mm lower than average. With its leveled platform, we have a good sense of the ground to navigate through unexpected bumps.

The uncomplicated midsole flows naturally with our movements. As confirmed with our flex test, its 28.5N force is only slightly below average. Because of its versatile nature, Peregrine 14 is not the most explosive racer on the trail. We recommend exploring other options to satisfy one’s need for speed.

After a series of tests in our lab, we found that Saucony Kinvara 13 is our best budget low-drop shoe. It’s a more than capable daily trainer for its $120 price. With its focus on comfort, versatility, and ease of movement, it can match or even exceed the performance of its steeper-priced counterparts ($159 average).

Easy on the wallet and the feet, the Kinvara 13 feels airy and our scales confirm this with a 7.2 oz (204g) figure. That’s 23.3% lighter than the average running shoe! We attribute its weightlessness to its minimalist stack, with caliper measurements of 26.9/22.4 mm vs. the 33.9/25.3 mm average.

It features a low 4.5 mm drop, which promotes a relaxed running feel without being too aggressive. We felt agile in this shoe because it follows our movements freely. In our bend test, it emerged 51.2% more flexible than the average. Even torsionally, the shoe surrenders, so we found it versatile for other activities as well.

However, we cannot recommend this shoe for long-distance runners since the minimal cushion may feel harsh for hours of repetitive impact.