Best Monitor Risers UK 2026

A monitor riser is the quickest fix for a screen that sits too low. Most monitors come on a stand that leaves the top of the panel under your eyeline, and the correction costs less than a takeaway. We compared eight risers and desk shelves sold in the UK, from a £9.66 mesh stand to a £39.99 80 cm shelf, and picked the ones that suit a normal desk. Our top pick for most people is the BONTEC Adjustable Monitor Stand at £9.66, because it gives you three usable heights without eating any desk depth.

Quick picks

• Best overall: BONTEC Adjustable Monitor Stand at £9.66. Three heights, vented mesh, 20 kg rating.
• Best value with storage: Amazon Basics Height Adjustable Monitor Riser at £12.59. A shelf underneath for a keyboard or a notebook.
• Best for a heavy screen: BONTEC Wooden Monitor Riser 42 cm at £15.96. 30 kg load on a 42 cm wooden top.
• Best for two screens: BONTEC Dual Monitor Stand Riser at £23.76. The shelf extends and the angle adjusts.

Compared side by side

Prices are what Amazon showed when we checked, and they move around.

1. BONTEC Adjustable Monitor Stand: our top pick for most desks

This is a mesh platform on four legs, and the legs give you three heights. The top is perforated, so a monitor with a bottom-facing vent still gets air, which matters on a small desk where the screen sits close to the wall. The 20 kg rating covers any normal panel, and the steel mesh takes the flex out that plastic risers show when you press the top edge of the screen. At £9.66 it is the cheapest thing here that we would still put under a £300 monitor.

Verdict: our top pick for most desks.

Price: £9.66 at the time of writing. Lift: 3 settings. Load: 20 kg.

2. Amazon Basics Height Adjustable Monitor Riser: the best value if you want a shelf as well

The Amazon Basics riser is plastic, and it is honest about it. You get a 29.5 x 27.9 cm top with three sets of clip-on legs for heights of 7.3 cm, 10.7 cm and 12.2 cm, and the space underneath works as a shelf for a keyboard, a notebook or a bag of cables. The 10 kg limit is the lowest here, so it suits a 24 inch panel rather than anything heavy. The taper means the top is narrower at the sides than the headline figure, so measure the monitor foot before you order. At £12.59 the storage is the reason to buy it.

Verdict: the best value if you want a shelf as well.

Price: £12.59 at the time of writing. Lift: 7.3 / 10.7 / 12.2 cm. Load: 10 kg.

3. GRIFEMA GB1052 Wood Monitor Stand Riser: best for keeping a phone off the desk

GRIFEMA builds a wooden two-tier riser with a slot at the front sized for a phone and a gap at the back for cables. The phone slot is the detail that sells it: most of us end up with a handset propped against the monitor, and this gives it a place that is not the desk surface. The lower tier takes a keyboard or a dock and the upper tier carries the screen. It costs £12.99, so it sits between the plastic options and the solid wood ones, and the finish is closer to flat-pack than furniture.

Verdict: best for keeping a phone off the desk.

Price: £12.99 at the time of writing. Lift: Two tiers. Load: Not stated.

4. BONTEC Wooden Monitor Riser 42 cm: the one we would pick for a heavy or wide screen

A single wooden shelf 420 mm wide, 235 mm deep and 104 mm tall, rated to 30 kg. The load rating is the headline: it means you can sit a wide 27 inch panel on it, or a monitor plus a small speaker, without the middle sagging. The 104 mm lift is the part to think about. It is enough for a screen on a short stand, and not enough if you are tall or your desk sits low. The open front leaves room for a keyboard underneath, which is where the depth comes back. At £15.96 it is the best wooden riser for the money.

Verdict: the one we would pick for a heavy or wide screen.

Price: £15.96 at the time of writing. Lift: 10.4 cm. Load: 30 kg.

5. BONTEC 2-Tier Wooden Desk Riser: the pick when your screen still sits low after a basic riser

Same 420 x 235 mm footprint as the riser above, but 142 mm tall with a second shelf in the middle. That extra 38 mm is the difference between a screen that is nearly right and one that is actually at eye level for a taller person. The middle shelf swallows a keyboard, a controller or a stack of notebooks, and the 30 kg rating is unchanged. It is the pick if you have already tried a short riser and still find yourself slouching towards the screen. At £23.99 you are paying for height, not extras.

Verdict: the pick when your screen still sits low after a basic riser.

Price: £23.99 at the time of writing. Lift: 14.2 cm. Load: 30 kg.

6. BONTEC Dual Monitor Stand Riser: the sensible choice for a two-screen desk

Two screens on one desk is where single risers fall apart, because the gap between the panels never matches a fixed shelf. This one extends and the angle of each side adjusts, so you can line the screens up edge to edge or angle them inwards. It is the only riser on this list built for that job, and the wooden top keeps it looking like furniture rather than office kit. Worth knowing: the adjustable joints are the part that wears, so set it once and leave it. At £23.76 it is cheaper than buying two separate risers.

Verdict: the sensible choice for a two-screen desk.

Price: £23.76 at the time of writing. Lift: Stepless. Load: Not stated.

7. Osco Bamboo Monitor Riser with Drawers: best if you want the storage built in

Osco makes this from MOSO bamboo and ships it fully assembled, which is rarer than it should be at this price. Two shallow drawers sit under the shelf, deep enough for pens, a card reader, stamps and the small things that otherwise spread across a desk. Bamboo is lighter than the wooden risers here, so it is easier to shift when you need to get behind the screen. The drawers are shallow, so do not plan on storing a keyboard in them. At £24.99 it is the tidiest option and the one that looks least like office equipment.

Verdict: best if you want the storage built in.

Price: £24.99 at the time of writing. Lift: Fixed. Load: Not stated.

8. Fenge 80 cm Monitor Stand: the one for a laptop and a monitor side by side

At 80 cm wide this is not really a monitor riser, it is a desk shelf that happens to hold a monitor. Two tiers, an extra support leg in the middle, and enough width for a laptop on one side and a screen on the other. That is the setup most home workers end up with, and it means the laptop screen can sit at a usable height instead of flat on the desk. It costs £39.99 and it needs a desk at least 80 cm wide to look right, so measure first.

Verdict: the one for a laptop and a monitor side by side.

Price: £39.99 at the time of writing. Lift: Two tiers. Load: Extra support leg.

How high should a monitor riser lift your screen?

The Health and Safety Executive guidance on good posture at a display screen puts the top of the screen level with your eyes, roughly an arm's length away. That is the target, and it is measured from where you actually sit, not from a standard desk height.

Here is the measurement that saves a return. Sit down, sit up straight, and have someone mark your eye height against the wall. Then measure from the desk surface to that mark. Take away the height your monitor already stands at, and you have the lift you need. Most people land between 8 cm and 14 cm, which is exactly the range these risers cover.

If you are tall, or your desk is low, a 10 cm riser will not be enough and the 14.2 cm BONTEC two-tier is the better buy. If you are short, a tall riser pushes the screen above your eyeline and you end up tilting your head back, which is no better than looking down.

Measure the depth as well as the width

Every riser here has a footprint, and a keyboard has to live somewhere in front of it. A 420 x 235 mm shelf plus a full keyboard needs close to 50 cm of desk depth before the screen starts to feel crowded. On a shallow desk, a mesh stand with legs is the smarter shape, because you can slide a keyboard partly underneath it when you stop typing.

Width matters for a different reason. A 42 cm shelf under a wide 27 inch panel looks top-heavy, and the monitor foot may overhang the shelf. Check the width of the monitor base, not the width of the screen.

Weight limits, and why the number matters less than you think

A 24 inch panel usually weighs between 3 kg and 5 kg with its stand, and a 27 inch panel is rarely over 7 kg. The 10 kg Amazon Basics riser is fine for both, and the 30 kg wooden BONTEC shelves are rated for far more than any desk monitor will ever weigh. The number matters when you put something else on the shelf, like a small printer, a speaker or a stack of books.

Storage, drawers and cables

Under-shelf space is the quiet benefit of a riser. It takes a keyboard out of the way, hides a dock, or gives a laptop somewhere to live when it is closed. Drawers go one step further but stay shallow, so treat them as a place for pens and cards rather than a filing system.

Cables are the other thing to plan. A riser with an open back lets you drop cables straight down behind the desk. A closed wooden box traps them, and you end up with a bundle pressed against the wall. If your desk sits against a wall, look for a gap at the back, and a cable tidy to go with it. Our guides index covers the small accessories that pair with a riser.

When a riser is the wrong fix

A riser raises the screen, and that is all it does. If your problem is that the keyboard is too high, the fix is a keyboard tray rather than a riser. If you want to stand up during the day, you need a desk converter, not a shelf. And if you need the screen to float over the desk with nothing underneath, a monitor arm does that job and no riser will.

The honest test is simple. Sit at the desk and look straight ahead. If the top of the screen is in front of your eyes, a riser is a waste of money. If you are looking down at it, a riser is the cheapest correction available.

Frequently asked questions

How high should a monitor riser be?

Enough to put the top of the screen level with your eyes when you sit up straight. Measure your eye height, subtract the height of the desk and of the monitor stand, and that is the lift you need. Most people need between 8 cm and 14 cm.

Will a riser hold a 27 inch monitor?

Yes, as long as you check two things. The shelf needs to be wider than the monitor foot, and the load rating needs to clear the panel weight. A 27 inch screen is usually under 7 kg, which is inside the 10 kg and 30 kg ratings here.

Is a monitor riser better than a monitor arm?

They solve different problems. A riser is cheaper, needs no clamping and gives you storage underneath. An arm frees the whole desk surface and lets you move the screen, but it costs more and needs a desk edge or a grommet to attach to.

Do risers make a monitor wobble?

A metal or solid wood riser on four feet is steady. The wobble comes from thin plastic tops and from risers set partly on a desk mat, so keep all four feet on the same hard surface.

Can I use a monitor riser with a laptop?

Yes, and it is one of the better uses for one. A laptop on a riser brings the screen up to eye level, and you then use a separate keyboard and mouse at desk height, which is what the HSE guidance recommends for longer sessions.

Does raising a monitor help neck ache?

It removes one common cause, which is looking down at a screen all day. The HSE posture guidance puts the top of the screen at eye level for that reason. If discomfort continues, that is a question for a health professional rather than a desk accessory.

The verdict

If you want one answer: the BONTEC Adjustable Monitor Stand at £9.66. It lifts a screen to three sensible heights, the mesh keeps the vents clear, and it costs about the same as a sandwich. For a taller desk or a heavy panel, step up to the BONTEC Wooden Monitor Riser 42 cm at £15.96 for the 30 kg rating and the extra height. For two screens, the BONTEC Dual Monitor Stand Riser at £23.76 is the only one here designed for the job.

Measure your eye height before you order and check the width of the monitor foot. Two minutes with a tape measure is the difference between a screen at eye level and a parcel going back.

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