The Varidesk Pro Plus 36 is a standing desk riser with a motor, that raises and lowers with the push of a button. Like its larger sibling, the ProDesk Electric 60, the Pro Plus 36 is a commercial- grade product, heavy in every sense of the word, easy to maintain, and indestructible.
I’ll admit I didn’t know electric standing desk risers were a thing until I saw Varidesk’s, but it’s not the only one. There are competing options for as little as $200 on Amazon, and we regularly see non-electric alternatives for around $120 on Kinja Deals.
I’ve tested several other standing desk risers, and Varidesk’s is by far the biggest, heaviest, and deepest. I’ve been using the WorkFit-Z Mini from Ergotron for the past few months, and the Pro Plus 36 feels massive by comparison. You’ll welcome the weight and stability once you’ve strapped a dual-monitor arm to this thing, but the smoothness of the Pro Plus 36 can’t save you from the fact that monitor arm mounts are still really bad. You’ll need to get them really dialed in on the Pro Plus so they don’t flop around when you adjust the height.
The Pro Plus offers a whole extra desk worth of space on the upper level if you mount your gear, but the lower level also offers a lot more surface area for your peripherals than the competition (I can’t even fit a full-sized keyboard and mouse on the Ergotron Mini). That said, nothing I’ve tried in this space makes for a great mousing surface, and even on the Pro Plus 36, a good, normal-sized mouse pad isn’t going to fit.
Like with the ProDesk Electric 60, I wouldn’t recommend the Pro Plus for your home, especially at around 5X the price of a standard riser. For the office, the size and topography of the Pro Plus not only offer stability and optimized ergonomics, but a bit of separation and privacy from the coworkers in your row, no walls required.