Monitor Stands, and the Gap Underneath

Total Height and Clearance Are Different Numbers

The whole category is sold by the total height of the piece. What decides whether it is any use is the gap left underneath, and that figure is in no listing.

A Four Inch Stand With Two Inches of Gap

Start with the subtraction. A riser 4 inches high with a 0.8 inch top leaves 3.2 inches of gap. The same riser with a 1.9 inch top, common in solid wood, leaves 2.1. A full size mechanical keyboard is 1.5 to 2.2 inches tall at the back, more with a wrist rest. Below 2.5 inches of gap the keyboard does not go under, and then the riser gives no desk space back, which was the reason to buy it.

This table publishes the free gap under the platform in its own column, calculated as total height minus platform thickness, and a resolved column with the keyboard that fits: low profile, full size, or full size with a wrist rest.

• The height arithmetic, where most advice online is wrong in the other direction. Seated eye height is 44 to 47 inches from the floor for people 5'6" to 6'. On a 29 inch desk a 27 inch monitor on its own stand puts the center of the screen at about 40 or 41. The center should sit 3 to 4 inches below eye level, so you need 3 to 5 inches of lift, not 8. The category sells 6 and 8 inch risers in quantity, and going too high bends the neck back, which is worse than staying short.
• The failure that is not the material: a 32 inch monitor weighs 15 to 20 pounds with its base. Acrylic and tempered glass risers under $25 declare 20 to 44 pounds and hold it; the problem is the footprint. If the monitor base is wider or deeper than the platform, the whole thing tips however strong the material. The table compares platform width and depth with the typical base of 24, 27 and 32 inch monitors.
• Two monitors: two 27 inch screens need 48 inches of platform or more. Much of what sells as a dual monitor stand measures 39 to 43, so the promise fails on width before it fails on load. The table separates the stands that really take two 27 inch screens from those that only take two 24s.

Of the 323 stands in this table, 18 leave less than 2.5 inches underneath, too little for a full size keyboard. 42 declare the platform thickness; for the rest it is the typical thickness of the material. The median gap is 4.4" against a median total height of 5.0". The tightest gaps:

Clearance = total height - platform thickness.

Over 3.5"2.5 to 3.5"Under 2.5"

Will Your Keyboard Fit Underneath

Measure the keyboard at its tallest point, usually the back edge with the feet out. Low profile keyboards are under an inch; most membrane keyboards 1.2 to 1.5; full size mechanical keyboards 1.5 to 2.2; add a wrist rest and the depth matters too. The table leaves half an inch of margin: 1.2 inches of clearance for low profile, 2.5 for full size, 3.2 for full size with a rest.

If the screen you want to raise is a laptop's, the keyboard question turns around, because the keyboard goes up with it: the laptop stands sorted by where the built in keyboard ends up show how high it lands.

Full size with restFull sizeLow profile

How Much Lift You Actually Need, and Why Less Is Usually Right

Sitting upright, look straight ahead: the top of the screen should be at or slightly below that line and the center 3 to 4 inches lower. With a monitor on its own stand on a 29 inch desk that usually takes 3 to 5 inches. Under 5'6" stay near 3; over 6' near 5. A laptop is different: its screen sits almost on the desk, so a laptop riser needs 6 inches or more, and a separate keyboard.

166 of the 323 stands lift 3 to 5 inches, the range most people need under a monitor on its own stand; 58 lift more than 6 inches and are marked in the filters.

3 to 4"4 to 6"Over 6"

Platform Depth Against Your Monitor's Own Base

Measure the monitor's base, not the screen. A typical 24 inch base is about 10 by 8 inches, a 27 inch 11.5 by 9, a 32 inch 13 by 10, and V shaped or curved bases spread wider. The platform should be at least that big in both directions, or the monitor sits with a foot in the air. A deep platform also pushes the screen back; if your desk is shallow, check what the computer desks measured by usable depth leave in front of the monitor.

One 24"One 27"One 32"

Dual Monitors Need Forty Eight Inches, Not Forty

Two 27 inch monitors side by side measure about 48 inches across, bezel to bezel; two 24 inch screens about 42. A platform of 39 to 43 inches takes two 24s with the bases near the ends, and two 27s only with the screens hanging past the edges and the bases crowded in the middle.

Two 27"Two 24"40"+ true dual

Wood, Metal, Acrylic and Tempered Glass

Solid wood and bamboo are stiff but thick, which costs clearance. MDF is cheap and thin, and sags in the middle under a heavy monitor on a wide span. Steel platforms are thin and strong, and the folded edge is what you subtract. Acrylic and tempered glass are thin and hold the weight they declare, but they are often small; the footprint, not the material, is what tips them.

Solid woodBambooSteelAcrylicTempered glass

Fixed Platform, Stackable or Height Adjustable

A fixed platform is the stiffest. Stackable risers add or remove a level; height adjustable ones have legs with two to four positions, which helps when you are not sure of the lift you need, and the table always lists the highest setting. None of them moves while you work: for a desk that goes from sitting to standing height, the desk converters sorted by the height they reach are the next step up. To free the whole desk under the screen instead of lifting a platform, the monitor arms rated at both ends of their weight range clamp to the desk edge.

Fixed heightStackableHeight adjustableLaptop riser

Drawers, Shelves and the USB Hub Versions

A drawer or an under shelf turns the riser into storage, but it fills the gap the keyboard would use, so a riser with a drawer rarely takes a keyboard underneath. A built in USB hub saves reaching for the computer and adds a cable to route; check that it is a powered hub if you plan to charge from it.

DrawerUnder shelfUSB hubCable slot

What We Exclude From This Table

Every listing is checked by its ASIN data, never by its title. The clearance is always calculated, never copied, and the formula is published under the table. Left out:

• Monitor arms and stands with a clamp or grommet, which share no column with a platform and go to /monitor-arm/.
• Sit to stand converters with a lift range, which go to /standing-desk-converter/.
• Tilting stands and folding aluminum cradles for laptops, another format that goes to /laptop-stand/.
• Tabletop TV stands and pedestals, which go to /tv-stand/.
• Laptop cooling pads.
• Printer stands, under desk shelves and wall shelves.
• Under desk keyboard trays.
• Tablet, phone and speaker stands.
• Any listing without a total height, or without a declared platform thickness or a known material to take it from.
• Lots of several units.

Platform laptop risers stay in, with their own filter: they are the same piece under another label and share all ten columns. Tilting laptop stands do not.