While the best running shoes come in various shapes and sizes and from a range of brilliant vendors, Nike is such a standout in terms of style and popularity that many people only want to buy shoes from the Oregon outfit.
Nike’s history and prestige, its penchant for great designs, and its wide range of shoes often-reasonably priced shoes make for an excellent starting point for burgeoning runners, beginners, and loyal fans of the brand, which is why it’s important you know which Nike running shoes are the best.
For most people, Nike’s everyday road running range will suffice for most people. A carbon-plated, spring-loaded Alphafly 4 made exclusively from helium and string might sound like the bees’ knees, but those shoes are the reserve of the fastest and most dedicated runners.
This makes the best Nike Running shoes pretty easy to parse through: a super-shoe and a couple of daily drivers for road and trail. We’ve tested all of Nike’s current top range, ranking them and bringing you our thoughts on their value, performance, design, and more. So whether you’re doing a bit of day-to-day running, longer training runs, or heading out on the trails, here are the best Nike Running shoes you can buy in 2025.
Stephen Warwick
I’ve put every Nike Running shoe on this list (and many that aren’t) through its paces across a variety of terrains. These are my top picks.
The best Nike running shoe overall
There’s a reason the Nike Pegasus 41 shoes also hold the top spot in our overall best running shoe guide. If you only ever buy one pair of Nike Running shoes, I’d make it the Pegasus.
The Pegasus 41 has an excellent design. They’re extremely comfortable and have the most neutral fit and ride of the range here. That means they’ll suit most people in terms of comfort and performance. They won’t be perfect for everyone, but there’s a good amount of springy energy return, good stability, and interior space to make these a pick that’s hard to get wrong.
The Pegasus 41 also comes in a myriad selection of colors and sizes, and has been around long enough that you can find them at a pretty sweet discount.
Read our full Nike Pegasus 41 Review
Best Nike trail running shoe
While there is an excellent Nike Pegasus Trail 5 (replete with GORE-TEX), my top Nike trail shoe pick is the Nike Zegama 2. In terms of design and build, these are an absolute standout in Nike’s line.
They have a head-turning silhouette and an extremely loud, rugged design that puts other trail shoes to shame. During our testing, we found them to be supremely comfortable over long distances, with plenty of stability and great traction to boot.
They’re not perfect; they do run a little on the warmer side and are fairly bulky, but as an overall package, I think these are absolutely excellent.
If you’re on a budget, the aforementioned Pegasus Trail 5 is on the cheaper side, but you’re getting a very different shoe that’s much lighter and far less cushioned.
Read our full Nike Zegama 2 review
Best Nike distance shoe
New for 2025, the Nike Vomero 18 is easily the best Nike Running shoe if you want a soft, squishy shoe for easy miles and long runs.
It’s a very comfortable shoe with a robust build quality and premium feel. However, be warned; you’ll probably need to size up to get the best fit, as it’s very snug.
With the right size, the cushioning underfoot is really sumptuous, and this is a shoe that can handle miles and miles of punishment, reducing wear and fatigue on your aching joints at the same time.
With an unprecedented 46mm stack height, the Vomero 18 easily displaces the old Invincible 3 and the previous Vomero as Nike’s king of stable cushioning.
Read our full Nike Vomero 18 review
How do I choose the best Nike running shoe?
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Choosing the best Nike Running shoe all starts with what you need from a shoe. Fortunately, Nike’s line-up is pretty straightforward. If you’re a beginner or looking for a great all-rounder, the Pegasus 41 is an obvious place to start thanks to its relatively affordable price tag and excellent feature set.
If you’re looking to add a shoe to your rotation for longer, slower runs, or you’re of a heavier build and want to take some of the strain off your joints, the Vomero 18 is probably the best pick.
Naturally, you’ll want a trail shoe for trail running, and any of Nike’s trail options should serve you well. While we recommend the Zegama 2, the Pegasus Trail 5 is also a good option if you want to spend a bit less. There aren’t too many concerns about using a trail shoe for road running, but you will wear down a trail shoe much faster if you use it predominantly on the road.
Conversely, road shoes are not built for trail running and should be avoided if you’re running off the beaten path.
Who should buy Nike’s Alphafly shoes?
Notably absent in this guide is the Nike Alphafly range. Generally, the Alphafly range (and similar carbon-plated offerings) are extremely specialized shoes for very elite runners and enthusiasts looking to break records and set swift marathon times.
They don’t feature on our list because they’re extremely expensive, and designed to be worn once or twice a year for major races and events. They are absolutely not a shoe you should buy to take out a few times a week or to your local park run.
The same can be said of Nike’s Vaporfly and Streakfly ranges, which are also more specialized, lightweight shoes.
How much are Nike Running shoes?
The cost of Nike running shoes depends largely on the model you pick. The most affordable Nike running shoes are the Pegasus 41, which you can routinely find discounted to well below their asking price now they’ve been out for a while. I’ve seen them for as little as $80 / £77 / AU$120. Nike’s Vomero 18 shoes are more expensive, retailing at $140 / £135 / AU$180. They’re so popular it’s rare to find them at a discount.
The most expensive of the three here is Nike’s Zegama 2 trail shoe, which is why the Pegasus Trail 5 gets a hearty recommendation as a cheaper alternative.
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stephen.warwick@futurenet.com (Stephen Warwick)
