Model-by-model scorecards are in testing. Until a shoe has been through the full protocol we do not publish a score for it — see How We Test. What we can publish now is the part that decides most purchases anyway: the clinical criteria that make a shoe work for a particular foot or a particular job, written by the foot and ankle surgeon who does the testing.
Every guide below is organised the same way: what the foot actually needs, the features that deliver it, what to stop wearing, and who each category is wrong for. Where a number comes from a manufacturer or an independent lab, it is attributed. Nothing here is scored, and nothing here carries the seal — those come only after a pair has been on the bench and on the road.
Start here
- Best shoes for plantar fasciitis — the four features that reduce plantar fascia load, why heel pain is worst in the first steps of the morning, and a 30-second test you can run at the shoe wall.
- Best shoes for standing all day — what twelve hours on a hard floor does to a foot, and the cushioning-plus-stability combination that survives it.
- Wide toe box shoes — the difference between a wide shoe and a wide toe box, why the label on the box does not tell you what you need, and how to measure your own forefoot.
By condition
- Plantar fasciitis and heel pain — heel stack, heel-counter stiffness, torsional rigidity and forefoot rocker — the four that matter, and the ones that do not.
- Bunions — toe-box width measured in millimetres rather than letters, upper materials that give, and why the shoe that hurts is often half a size too short, not too narrow.
- High arches and supination — why a rigid, supportive shoe is usually the wrong answer for a high-arched foot, and what to look for instead.
- Tarsal tunnel syndrome — controlling the hindfoot position that compresses the nerve, and the shoe features that do it without a brace.
- Turf toe — forefoot stiffness and rocker geometry — the two things that let a painful big toe joint get through a day.
- Plantar fibroma — offloading a nodule in the arch without building a shoe that pushes straight into it.
- Stress fractures — what to wear during and after a bone stress injury, and when a stiff-soled shoe beats a cushioned one.
By job and situation
- Nurses and healthcare workers — twelve-hour shifts, hard floors, fluid resistance and the trade-off between a clog and a running shoe.
- Work shoes for women — support that survives a dress code, and the compromises that are and are not worth making.
- Walking shoes — what separates a walking shoe from a running shoe, and why most people should buy the running shoe.
- Higher body weight — midsole compression, durability and the reason a shoe that felt great in month one stops working in month four.
- Soccer cleats with plantar fasciitis — the hardest footwear problem in this list, and the realistic ways to make a stud plate survivable.
- Basketball shoes with plantar fasciitis — court cushioning, ankle support and the heel geometry that keeps a season going.
Head to head
Two shoes, or two insoles, compared on the criteria that actually separate them — and a clear statement of who each one is wrong for.
- Hoka Bondi vs Arahi — maximum cushioning against built-in stability, and how to tell which one your foot is asking for.
- Saucony Triumph vs Guide — the same question inside one brand: neutral max-cushion or a support shoe.
- On Cloud 6 vs Cloudrunner — a lifestyle shoe and a running shoe that look alike and behave nothing alike.
- CURREX vs Superfeet — flexible dynamic support against a rigid stabilising shell.
- CURREX RunPro vs PowerStep — which over-the-counter insole suits which arch, and when neither is enough.
- PowerStep Pinnacle vs ProTech vs SlimTech — three insoles from one brand, and the volume differences that decide whether they fit your shoe at all.
Where the scorecards are
Individual shoe pages live in Reviews. Any page there that has not yet been through the protocol says so at the top, carries no score and no seal, and is kept separate from tested reviews. When a pair is measured and worn, its scorecard replaces the analysis on the same URL and the guide that recommends it is updated the same week.