Row & Recover

Screens and classes

Best Connected Rowing Machines

A big screen and a class library are what get a lot of people rowing. But the membership behind them is the number that decides the real cost — so we lead with it.

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.

A connected rowing machine is a rower with a touchscreen and a library of guided classes, and for a lot of people that combination is the difference between a machine they use and one that becomes a clothes rail. The instruction is genuinely motivating, the production is often excellent, and being told what to do at 6:30 on a Tuesday works.

But every connected rower attaches a membership, and that membership is the single biggest variable in what the machine actually costs you. So this page leads with it. The screens are similar; the resistance mechanisms are similar; the price that separates them over five years is the subscription, and it ranges from $29 a month to $50.

Everything below is a real, currently sold machine with a live price. Where a machine is sold direct only — the Peloton Row is the notable one — we cover it elsewhere for the comparison but do not put a buy button on a machine we cannot send you to.

The short answer

Quick picks

Ranked on published specification, buyer fit and what each machine costs to keep over five years. Select a row to jump to the full write-up. We have not rowed on these machines — here is exactly what we do instead.

#MachineBest forPrice
1
Hydrow Wave

Hydrow Wave

The narrowest serious connected rower at 19 inches wide, and the one whose five-year cost is dominated by the membership rather than the machine.

Best overall
2
Aviron Strong Series

Aviron Strong Series

Dual air and magnetic resistance up to 100 lb, a 22-inch screen, and the cheapest membership of any connected rower here at $29/month.

Cheapest membership
3
Echelon Row-S

Echelon Row-S

A 22-inch rotating screen and handlebar resistance controls at a machine price well under Hydrow's — with $39.99/month attached that closes most of the gap over five years.

Best value screen
4
NordicTrack RW900

NordicTrack RW900

A 24-inch pivoting screen on a silent magnetic rower — and a listing that states plainly that a $39/month iFIT Pro membership is required to use it as advertised.

Biggest screen
5
Hydrow Origin

Hydrow Origin

The bigger Hydrow, with a 22-inch rotating screen and a published 375 lb capacity — and the same $50/month that decides the real cost.

Best big-screen
6
NordicTrack RW300

NordicTrack RW300

The NordicTrack that does not need a subscription to be a rowing machine — a plain 5-inch LCD, 26 manual resistance levels and a device shelf for your own tablet.

Best without the membership

In detail

Every pick, and what is wrong with it

Each machine below gets the same four things: what it does well, what it does not, the five-year cost of owning it, and the case for buying something else instead.

Hydrow Wave rowing machine

1. Best overall

Hydrow Wave

The narrowest serious connected rower at 19 inches wide, and the one whose five-year cost is dominated by the membership rather than the machine.

Floor space: about 7.7 ft by 3.6 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 27 sq ft.

What is good

  • 19 inches wide and 80 long — it genuinely fits rooms that a Concept2 does not
  • Electromagnetic resistance is near-silent compared with any air rower
  • Stores upright, which is the difference between owning one in a flat and not

What is not

  • The membership is the product. At $50/month it adds $3,000 over five years — more than most rowers on this page cost outright
  • 1-year manufacturer warranty against Concept2's five on the frame
  • Hydrow does not publish a user weight limit for the Wave on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you will not use classes. Without the membership you are left with a heavy magnetic rower and a dark screen.

Aviron Strong Series rowing machine

2. Cheapest membership

Aviron Strong Series

Dual air and magnetic resistance up to 100 lb, a 22-inch screen, and the cheapest membership of any connected rower here at $29/month.

Floor space: about 8.0 ft by 4.3 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 34 sq ft.

What is good

  • Up to 100 lb of resistance from a combined air and magnetic system — far beyond what a pure magnetic budget rower reaches
  • $29/month, or about $24 on an annual plan, is the lowest recurring cost among the screen rowers
  • One membership covers unlimited household profiles

What is not

  • 27 inches wide is the widest machine on this page
  • 114 lb and 84 inches long, so upright storage is essential rather than optional
  • 1-year standard warranty

Skip this one if: Skip it if you row in a corridor or a narrow spare room — 27 inches plus elbow room is a real constraint.

Echelon Row-S rowing machine

3. Best value screen

Echelon Row-S

A 22-inch rotating screen and handlebar resistance controls at a machine price well under Hydrow's — with $39.99/month attached that closes most of the gap over five years.

Floor space: about 8.1 ft by 3.7 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 30 sq ft.

What is good

  • Resistance controls sit on the handlebar, so you change load mid-stroke instead of reaching
  • 22-inch rotating HD screen at a hardware price roughly a third below the comparable Hydrow
  • Folds for storage at 20.5 inches wide

What is not

  • $39.99/month Premier is what makes the screen useful; five years of it is roughly $2,400
  • 120 lb machine weight
  • Echelon does not publish a user weight limit on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you want to own your workout data long-term — everything here lives behind a subscription that can change price.

NordicTrack RW900 rowing machine

4. Biggest screen

NordicTrack RW900

A 24-inch pivoting screen on a silent magnetic rower — and a listing that states plainly that a $39/month iFIT Pro membership is required to use it as advertised.

Floor space: about 7.7 ft by 3.8 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 29 sq ft.

What is good

  • 24-inch pivoting touchscreen, the largest here, and it turns to face the floor for off-rower classes
  • 26 digital resistance levels with SmartAdjust changing them mid-workout
  • Silent magnetic resistance — a genuinely different noise profile from air

What is not

  • NordicTrack states the $39/month membership is required for the connected features, which is most of what you are buying
  • 145 lb, and 52.7 inches tall with the screen up
  • NordicTrack does not publish a user weight limit on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you resent recurring fees. This machine is designed around one and says so on its own box.

Hydrow Origin rowing machine

5. Best big-screen

Hydrow Origin

The bigger Hydrow, with a 22-inch rotating screen and a published 375 lb capacity — and the same $50/month that decides the real cost.

Floor space: about 8.2 ft by 4.1 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 33 sq ft.

What is good

  • 375 lb published user capacity, one of the higher figures among connected rowers
  • 22-inch screen rotates for off-rower work, which is most of what the library is
  • Stows upright despite being the largest machine Hydrow makes

What is not

  • 145 lb and 86 inches long — this is a permanent installation, not a machine you tidy away weekly
  • Same $50/month membership; over five years the subscription costs more than the Concept2 does new
  • 1-year warranty

Skip this one if: Skip it if the screen is the only reason you are choosing it — a tablet on a Concept2 costs $3,000 less over five years and rows the same stroke.

NordicTrack RW300 rowing machine

6. Best without the membership

NordicTrack RW300

The NordicTrack that does not need a subscription to be a rowing machine — a plain 5-inch LCD, 26 manual resistance levels and a device shelf for your own tablet.

Floor space: about 7.8 ft by 4.1 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 32 sq ft.

What is good

  • Rows perfectly well with no membership at all — the LCD and the 26 levels are self-contained
  • Device shelf means you supply the screen, so the recurring cost is whatever you already pay for
  • Silent magnetic resistance with pivoting pedals

What is not

  • A 5-inch LCD after you have seen the RW900's 24-inch panel is a plain thing
  • SmartAdjust and the AI coaching still sit behind a membership
  • No published user weight limit on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you actually want the class library — you will end up paying the membership anyway and wishing you had the screen.

How to choose

What actually decides this

Lead with the membership, not the screen

The screens across these machines are more alike than the marketing suggests: 22 to 24 inches, touch, most of them rotating for off-rower classes. What genuinely differs is the monthly fee and whether the machine is usable without it.

Aviron is the cheapest at $29 a month (about $24 annually), and one membership covers a whole household. NordicTrack’s iFIT is $39, Echelon Premier is $39.99, and Hydrow sits at the top at $50 (about $38 annually). Over five years that spread is roughly $1,740 to $3,000 — a difference larger than the price of many perfectly good rowing machines. Every subscription is compared side by side here.

The question none of them answer on the box

What happens when you stop paying? On most connected rowers, the honest answer is that you keep a heavy magnetic machine with a dark screen — the hardware still rows, but the reason you chose it over a $400 machine is gone. The one genuine exception here is NordicTrack’s RW300, which has a self-contained LCD and 26 manual resistance levels, so it works fully as a rowing machine without any membership. If you like the idea of a connected rower but resent the lock-in, that is the machine to look at first.

Screen size, resistance and footprint

If the screen is the whole point, NordicTrack’s RW900 has the biggest at 24 inches and Echelon, Aviron and the Hydrow Origin all run 22. For hard training, Aviron’s dual air-and-magnetic resistance reaches up to 100 lb — well beyond a pure magnetic machine — while Hydrow’s electromagnetic resistance is tuned for smooth, near-silent, water-like rowing. On footprint, the Hydrow Wave is unusually narrow at 19 inches, which is why it also appears in our apartment picks; the Aviron Strong Series is the widest here at 27.

The honest alternative

Before you commit to a connected rower, do the arithmetic against a subscription-free machine. A Concept2 RowErg and a tablet on a stand gives you classes without a mandatory membership, costs far less over five years, and outlasts a proprietary screen. That comparison is worth reading before you buy, and the subscription-free machines are here. Choose a connected rower because the classes are genuinely what will get you rowing — not because the screen looks impressive in the showroom.

Straight answers

Questions people actually ask

What is the best connected rowing machine?

The Hydrow Wave is our overall pick for the class library, near-silent resistance and an unusually narrow 19-inch footprint - but its $50/month membership is the priciest here. If cost matters more, the Aviron Strong Series has the cheapest membership at $29/month, and the NordicTrack RW300 is the one that works fully without any membership at all.

Do all connected rowing machines need a subscription?

Almost all of them do to be useful, because the screen is the interface and the classes are what it shows. The clear exception is NordicTrack's RW300, which has a self-contained LCD and 26 manual resistance levels, so it rows fully without a membership. On the rest, cancelling leaves you with a heavy machine and a dark screen.

How much do connected rowing machine memberships cost?

Between $29 and $50 a month among the machines here: Aviron $29 (about $24 annually), NordicTrack iFIT $39, Echelon Premier $39.99, and Hydrow $50 (about $38 annually). Over five years that is roughly $1,740 to $3,000 on top of the hardware - frequently more than a subscription-free machine costs outright.

Is a connected rower worth it over a Concept2?

Only if you will not train without guided classes. A Concept2 plus a tablet gives you classes without a mandatory membership, costs far less over five years, and outlasts a proprietary screen. A connected rower earns its keep for people whose previous equipment became a clothes rail - the instruction is what gets them rowing.

The honest part

What we did not do

We have not rowed on these machines. We do not own them, there is no test lab here, and nobody writing this holds a coaching certification. Every ranking on this page is an argument from published specification and buyer fit, not from a stopwatch.

What we did do is read each manufacturer’s own published figures, record the ones they decline to publish, compute the floor space and the five-year cost, and date all of it. The full method is here so you can check our working or disagree with it.

Show your working

Sources

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