A common question patients have is which shoe is best for them. By design, Hoka has always been a stability shoe with a straight last, deep pocket design that pushes you into a mid foot stride. Brooks on the other hand tends to make shoes that support foot alignment and their mid forefoot roll bar feels like it almost pushes you forward as you run.

As there is no one size fits all, my recommendations are as follows;

• Make sure the shoe fits properly and consider that athletic shoes generally run a half size small. For a general understanding of how to size a shoe, watch our video on shoe sizing on our exercises section here.
• If you have flat feet, the overall design of the Hoka is made for you.
• If you have normal arches or low arches, You will feel that Books has a better design for you. While their upper-line models have more stability features, I recommend that a good middle-of-the-line shoe with a foot orthotic always works better than a stiffer shoe. The orthotics can be moved from shoe to shoe and do not feel like you are running in bricks. Brooks also runs slightly wider so if you have a wider foot, you may get a better fit as compared to brands like Nike or Addidas. Brooks does make narrow and wide sizes as well available through their website.

Runners World recently published their own advice on which is best. Check out the article below.

Hoka Versus Brooks: Which Running Shoe Brand Is Best for You?

Both offer outstanding experiences, one for its cushioning, one for its stability.BY NICK HILDEN PUBLISHED: APR 25, 2024

Hoka and Brooks are mainstays among the most popular shoe brands for dedicated runners. Both are known for making comfortable, durable shoes. Both offer models to suit a wide range of running scenarios. And both fall somewhere near the middle of the spectrum between minimalist and maximalist design.

The main difference between the two is cushioning versus stability. Hoka tends to lean into high-volume stacks of foam at its midsole for soaking up shock, and then prevents that cushioning from getting too soft underfoot by incorporating its proprietary MetaRocker, a curved plate that helps smooth transitions between strides. Brooks is better known for its GuardRail stability technology, a set of foam rails at the arch and heel that support foot alignment. Which might work better for you depends largely on whether you want greater shock absorption or greater stability.

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