Row & Recover

Head to head

Concept2 RowErg vs NordicTrack RW900

One is a $990 air rower you own outright. The other is a 24-inch touchscreen whose own listing says you need a $39/month membership. Here is the arithmetic.

By Stephen V.An enthusiast who reads the manuals and does the math. Not a coach, not a lab.Last verified July 24, 2026.

We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no cost to you. It has no effect on what we recommend or the order we recommend it in — we say “skip this one” on machines that pay us the same as the ones we like. How we’re funded.

Two pieces of home cardio equipment side by side in a home gym

These two machines sell to the same shopper from opposite directions. The Concept2 RowErg is a tool: buy it, own it, row on it for a decade. The NordicTrack RW900 is a screen you row in front of, and NordicTrack states plainly on its own listing that an iFIT Pro membership at $39/month is required for the connected features that are most of the reason to buy it.

The five-year number, first

Live pricing is more than 48 hours old, so this table is not rendering. We would rather show you nothing than show you last week’s arithmetic. Why prices expire here.

The Concept2 has no subscription and never has. The RW900 adds $39 every month for as long as you want the classes, which over sixty months is more than $2,300 on top of the machine. That is the single biggest difference between them, and it does not appear on either product page next to the sticker price.

Where the RW900 genuinely wins

The screen.A 24-inch pivoting touchscreen is a real thing the Concept2 does not offer, and it pivots to face the floor for off-rower workouts. If a big screen and guided classes are what get you onto the machine, that is not a trivial advantage — it is the whole product.

Silent magnetic resistance. The RW900 uses magnetic resistance, which is near-silent. The Concept2 is an air rower, and air is the loudest resistance type there is. If you share a wall, this matters.

Where the Concept2 wins

Cost, decisively, as the table above shows. Capacity: Concept2 publishes a 500 lb user weight, tested; NordicTrack publishes no user weight limit on this listing. Warranty and parts: Concept2 backs the frame for five years and still sells parts for machines built in the 1990s, which is why a used RowErg holds its value. Numbers that transfer:a PM5 split means the same thing in every gym; the RW900’s metrics live inside iFIT.

The honest recommendation

Buy the RW900 only if you know you will not train without a class telling you to, and you want the big screen to be the thing that gets you rowing. Otherwise the Concept2 is the better machine and thousands of dollars cheaper over five years — and a tablet on a stand gives you classes without the mandatory membership. Our full NordicTrack review is here, and the subscription comparison shows what iFIT costs against every rival.

Our pick

Concept2 RowErg

Cheaper over five years by thousands, a published 500 lb capacity against none, a five-year frame warranty, and no subscription. Buy the RW900 instead only if the 24-inch screen and guided classes are the thing that will actually get you rowing.

Straight answers

Questions people actually ask

Does the NordicTrack RW900 require a subscription?

NordicTrack states on its own listing that an iFIT Pro membership ($39/month) is required to access all iFIT content and connected features - which is most of what you are buying the screen for. The rower's hardware still moves without it, but the classes, SmartAdjust and the reason to choose it over a cheaper machine are behind the membership.

Is a Concept2 RowErg better than a NordicTrack RW900?

On cost, capacity, warranty, parts availability and comparable metrics, yes - and it is thousands of dollars cheaper over five years with no subscription. The RW900's advantages are a 24-inch touchscreen and silent magnetic resistance. Which matters more depends on whether a big screen is what gets you onto the machine.

Which is quieter, the Concept2 or the NordicTrack RW900?

The RW900, clearly. It uses magnetic resistance, which is near-silent, while the Concept2 is an air rower whose fan is the loudest resistance type there is. In an apartment or a shared house, that difference can be decisive regardless of the cost gap.

Show your working

Sources

Keep going

Read next