10 Best Gaming Chairs Under $100

If you’re thinking of putting together a setup for your gaming room, chances are that a chair isn’t going to top your list of priorities. Building a computer in its own right is expensive enough, but even if you already have a console or rig, peripherals like keyboards, mice, and controllers are going to offer you a lot more bang for your buck than a chair. Even stereos are going to rank higher for most gamers.

But a good gaming desk chair is something your should seriously consider. It can be easy to overlook your health when gaming, but an ergonomic gaming chair can help you perform at the top of your game. You can find a great gaming chair for under 100 bucks. We’ve identified 10 of the best.

Budget Gaming Chairs Buying Guide

Fundamentally, goo gaming chairs aren’t that different from more traditional office chairs, but the demands of professional and endurance gaming is different from the demands of a traditional 9 to 5 work environment, so there are still some things you’ll want to consider before making your purchase. We’re here to help you understand them with our buying guide.

What Distinguishes a Gaming Chair From an Office Chair?

Gaming chairs and office chairs at their core are very similar in both purpose and design. While there are a few gaming chairs (not featured on this budget guide) that buck the norm, a vast majority of gaming chairs employ the same leather-style frame on a rolling metal base, just like office chairs. But while a simple glance through the most popular gaming and office chairs may convince you that the main difference is that gaming chairs are designed to look cool and office chairs are designed to not look ostentatious, there’s more going on here than that.

That’s because what so many people identify as “cool” design actually serves an ergonomic purpose. All of the gaming chairs on our list sport what’s known as the “racing style” design that’s so prolific in the industry. Racing style chairs makes use of a much higher back that’s more uniform in design than traditional office chairs.

The headrest isn’t independent from the body but instead is just another component of a longer body that extends from the base to above the back of the skull. The fixed headrest is one of the bigger distinguishing factors present in most if not all gaming chairs, but the other is the fact that these chairs use bucket seats like in a car.

There’s no definitive winner in terms of ergonomics between these two styles of chairs, but each has their advantage in different circumstances. The fixed headrest means that racing chairs are better for users who tend to spend a lot of time leaning back, and that’s especially true if they come with a neck pillow for cradling the neck. They provide support for the neck that would otherwise be entirely absent in a traditional office chair, but the fact that the entire high back seating is contoured means that you get a level of balance that extends from your lumbar through your spine and up to the back of your skull.

The bucket seat is less an ergonomic and more a stylistic choice. In a car, the role of the bucket seat is to keep your body secure even as the vehicles shifts left or right. That’s obviously going to be largely a non-issue when gaming. It’s a cool design and one that can feel especially immersive when playing a racing game like Forza or Gran Turismo, but it ultimately limits your range of movement within the seat far more than a traditional office chair.

Combine that with the raised seat lip that most gaming chairs use, and you’re left with a chair that leaves you feeling more nested in your seat. It can be useful for more fidgety players, but it’s not a choice that’s ergonomically as dependable as regular office chairs. Neither gaming chairs or office chairs are ergonomically better than one another. But for gaming, and particularly competitive gaming, where staying focused on the task at hand for long periods of time is important, the former do a great job of keeping you comfortable and secure.

What Materials Are the Best?

When shopping for a gaming chair, you’ll notice that all of the most prominent options either come in leather, mesh, or a combination of the two. Which one you choose can have a pretty significant impact on how comfortable and long lasting your chair is. The primary advantage of mesh surfaces for chairs is their higher level of breathability. Since mesh is porous, it doesn’t trap in heat the way denser fabrics and leather do.

That’s obviously a big deal when you’re going to be sitting for an extended period of time, and it’s especially effective in gaming chairs given that these chairs tend to be more solid masses with less holes in them than many traditional office chairs. Mesh chairs reduce the rate of overheating and provide you with significantly more ventilation.

Beyond that, mesh is relatively cheap to produce, and cleanup is often easier than with leather surfaces. You can generally just wipe up spills without having to worry about the surface staining. Mesh surfaces tend to be more prominently used in more lightweight gaming chairs.

You aren’t going to find a chair with genuine cow leather in the less than $100 range, but you don’t need to. Polyurethane, or PU, leather is the most common material for gaming chair surfaces. This synthetic leather is cheaper to produce, and the polyurethane coating makes it easier to clean than traditional leather. And while it doesn’t have the same level of durability that organic leather does, it’s still a very durable material.

The polyurethane coating means that maintenance really isn’t going to be an issue. Unfortunately, faux leather tends to be more prone to scratches and tears than mesh surfaces, and it’s also more likely to stain, but PU leather has a great aesthetic and is comfortable against the skin.

A chair that’s constructed of both PU leather and mesh offers the best of both worlds, but it also has the weaknesses of both. The mesh is traditionally place in areas of the chair that are prone to overheating like the back so that you can get the added ventilation of mesh with the style and comfort of leather. Whatever type of chair you opt for, you might want to dig more deeply into customer reviews to determine how well the materials last. Not all leather and not all mesh are created equally.

You may also want to look into the construction of the frame. Most of the frames here employ some combination of metal or plastic, but if you want the most durable frame around, you should investigate options that are constructed from real stainless steel.

How Concerned Should You Be About Size?

Gaming chairs are by and large sturdy pieces of furniture, but larger gamers will want to be a little more careful to find a chair that’s able to comfortably hold them. All of the chairs here have maximum weight capacities of either 250 or 300 pounds, and if you’re pushing 250, you’ll definitely want to look specifically for the larger chairs.

That’s because weight capacity isn’t the only issue here. Since gaming chairs are a lot more penned in than more traditional office chairs, you need something that will support not just your weight but also your frame. If you’re a taller gamer, pay special attention to the maximum height of chairs so you can find something that suits you.

Chairs with a 300 pound weight capacity are also typically built with a width accommodating to larger gamers. The last thing you want is to be trapped in a piece of furniture that feels more like a cage than a chair. Larger gamers should look for chairs that don’t have winged backs. While these gaming chairs have a great sense of style to them, the contoured design can be uncomfortable for people who have wider shoulders and backs.

Have You Considered Your Gaming Space?

Dedicated gaming chairs are typically rather large and ostentatious in design, and that means that they’re destined to be the centerpiece of whatever room you game in. You should consider the practical limitations of your space before deciding to make an investment in a particular chair model. Aesthetics are an obvious thing to focus on here.

If your gaming space doubles as an office, you may want to consider going with something less flashy and colored a simple black. But if you’re working with a gaming rig and peripherals that give you a full RGB light show, something more flamboyant can complement your existing space.

PC gamers and console gamers will generally want to look for slightly different options as well. One consideration here is the height. If you have a gaming monitor set up on a desk, chances are that you’ll want a chair that has a higher profile than if you’re gaming from a typical TV stand. And if your chair is going to be sitting out in the living room, a bright red and black racing seat could stick out like a sore thumb.

That said, gaming chairs with expansive recline and rocking features can work great for just kicking back and relaxing, so a smartly coordinated gaming chair can double effectively as all-purpose seating in your common area.

A gaming console can be tucked away in an entertainment center, and a PC is likely going to be stowed away beneath your desk, but a chair is going to sitting front and center. Take the time to figure out what works for the look and feel of your space. The last thing you want is a chair that clashes with your interior design sensibilities.

How Important Are the Adjustable Features?

One of the main features that distinguishes a good gaming chair from a conventional office equivalent is the range of adjustability available in terms of the armrests, back, and wheels. The ability to shift your chair between a number of different configurations can greatly increase its usability and make it a feasible choice for situations outside of traditional gaming.

Many office chairs don’t have the option to recline the seat at all, but the race car inspired designs of gaming chairs means that they often have a recline range far more resembling the passenger seat of a car. Many offer a full recline of 180 degrees, while many more can go back to 150. If we don’t have degrees listed under the specs, chances are that the range of movement is far more limited.

Gaming chairs are big and comfortable pieces of furniture, and in addition to being great for gaming, they can be the perfect place to take a nap. If you want to be able to lean back and doze off, definitely opt for one with a 180 degree lean. Even if you plan to spend all of your time gaming, a decent range of movement here is preferable. After all, the sort of rigid posture you might need during a heated Battlefield match isn’t going to be all that necessary for a lazy afternoon playing World of Warcraft.

Less frequent but still pretty common is the ability to adjust your armrests. This is another situation where PC and console gamers are going to have different needs. If you find yourself using a keyboard and mouse for most of your gaming, having arms that can rise up close to the level of your desk are going to be a huge advantage. If you do most of your gaming with a controller in hand, the armrests are something you don’t need to worry about quite as much.

Finally, you need to consider the quality of the wheel casters. Many manufacturers put in the extra effort to create casters that are durable, quiet, and not prone to scratching surfaces. The ability to move in 360 degrees is a huge benefit if you find yourself regularly rolling your chair between rooms or you intend to spend a lot of time gaming in VR. How stationary you intend to be will be the biggest factor on whether you should make the quality of the wheels and the range of movement a top priority.

Do Any of These Gaming Chairs Have Speakers?

The financial limitations we set on ourselves for highlighting budget level gaming chairs means that some of the higher level features that gamers crave had to be left on the cutting room floor. While there are gaming chairs that come with speakers and provide you with a more immersive gaming experience, they’re hard if not impossible to find for under $100.

Unfortunately, we had to weigh the core considerations that gamers need before looking at special features. As such, we made comfort and maneuverability our main focus here. We weren’t able to identify any chairs that offered decent speakers while also meeting the standard we set for ourselves in these qualities. If you’re looking for game chairs with speakers, be sure to check out our more general guide to the best gaming chairs.

Final Thoughts

If you aren’t comfortable, you’re not going to perform at the top of your game, and that’s not even taking into considerations the health risks from sitting in a non-ergonomic chair for extended periods of time. A quality gaming chair may require an investment, but it will pay dividends to serious gamers. We’ve offered a variety of good gaming chairs under 100 bucks. We hope you find what you’re looking for here.