Shower chairs & benches

Reviewed by Erin Rose — healthcare price-transparency analyst. Last checked July 27, 2026. Linked from the knee-replacement checklist and the bathroom equipment spoke.

Get the shower chair with a back unless you only have a bathtub — then get the tub transfer bench instead. The chair works for a walk-in or step-in shower; the bench lets you sit down outside a tub and slide across instead of stepping over the wall. Over 350 lb.? Skip both for the bariatric bench below.

4 picks we checked

Our pick Basic shower chair with back

Medline Shower Chair with Backrest and Padded Armrests

$39.98 checked 2026-07-27

• Weight capacity: 350 lb.
• Seat width: 16" × 13.5" deep
• Seat height range: 16-21"
• HCPCS category: E0240 (shower/bath chair, with or without wheels)

Best for: a walk-in or step-in shower — the default pick, with a backrest and arms to push off from.

Backrest plus padded arms is the right default for a walk-in or step-in shower -- something to sit on and push off from, not just balance on. Height-adjustable in 1" steps to fit the stall.

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Backless stool

Medline Backless Shower Chair with Arms

$30.79 checked 2026-07-27

• Weight capacity: 350 lb.
• Seat width: 16" × 13.5" deep
• Seat height range: 16-21"
• HCPCS category: E0245 (tub stool or bench)

Best for: a tight stall where a full chair back won’t clear the door.

Same footprint and weight rating as the backed version, no backrest -- the pick for a tight stall where a full chair back won't clear the door, or for someone who just needs a place to sit without leaning back.

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Tub transfer bench

Drive Medical Tub Transfer Bench for Bathtub, Height Adjustable

$51.61 checked 2026-07-27

• Weight capacity: 350 lb.
• Height adjustment: dual-column legs, 0.5" increments
• HCPCS category: E0247 (transfer bench, tub or toilet, with or without commode opening)

Best for: a bathtub with a wall you’d otherwise have to step over.

The decision driver, not an accessory: if the only bathing option is a tub with a wall to step over, this bench sits half in / half out of the tub, so the person sits down outside, then slides across the wall instead of lifting a healing knee or hip over the edge. Drainage holes plus suction-cup feet.

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Heavy-duty / bariatric

Drive Medical Bariatric Heavy-Duty Bathroom Bench with Back

$54.89 checked 2026-07-27

• Weight capacity: 500 lb.
• Seat width: 20"
• HCPCS category: E0248 (transfer bench, heavy duty)

Best for: anyone over the 350 lb. cap most standard shower chairs and benches carry.

Same Drive Medical line as the tub bench above, built to a 500 lb. capacity with a wider 20" seat and crossbar-reinforced legs -- the pick once someone is over the 350 lb. cap most standard shower chairs and benches carry. Padded arms, push-pin height adjustment.

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Shower chair, backless stool, or tub transfer bench — the fitment decision

This is a bathroom question before it's a shopping question. There are two bathroom layouts, and they point at different products:

• Walk-in or step-in shower, no wall to cross: a shower chair (with back) or backless stool that sits entirely inside the stall. Both are rated to 350 lb. on the basic models above, seat height adjustable roughly 16"–21" in 1" steps, seat around 16" wide × 13.5" deep. Backless saves space in a tight stall; a backrest gives more to lean on.
• Bathtub with a wall you'd have to step over: this is what a tub transfer bench solves, and it's the real decision driver in this category -- not an accessory choice. The bench's legs sit half inside the tub, half on the floor outside it, so you sit down on the dry outside half and slide sideways across the tub wall, instead of lifting a leg up and over the edge. Adjustable in 0.5" increments on the pick above, rated to 350 lb., with drainage holes and suction-cup feet on the tub-side legs.
• Over 350 lb.: step up to a heavy-duty / bariatric-rated bench -- 500 lb. capacity, a wider 20" seat, and a reinforced frame on the pick above. Don't rely on a standard-rated chair "probably being fine" past its listed cap; the weight rating is a structural spec, not a suggestion.

Weight caps and seat dimensions above are pulled directly from each product's own listing -- Medicare's fee-schedule and utilization data don't include product specs, only the coverage facts below.

What Medicare actually pays

Recall history

None of the four picks above match any recall in this dataset by brand or model. Before you buy secondhand or accept a hand-me-down (see "when to borrow" below), check the CPSC and FDA databases yourself for the specific brand and model in front of you -- recall lists change, and this page's numbers are current only as of the date above.

When it's fine to borrow instead

Shower chairs and benches show up used more than most recovery equipment -- a neighbor's, a relative's, one left over from a prior surgery in the house. That's usually fine, with two checks first:

• Check the weight cap against the actual person, not against "it held Grandpa fine." Aluminum frames don't announce metal fatigue before they fail -- a chair that's been at or near its rated capacity for years is a worse bet than the sticker capacity alone suggests.
• Check for cracks, especially at weld points and where the legs meet the seat frame, and flex the frame by hand before trusting it with someone's full weight in a wet, hard-surfaced room. A hairline crack in a shower chair leg is a fall risk in exactly the setting where a fall is most dangerous.

If either check comes back uncertain, the picks above start under $35 -- cheap enough that "just buy a new one" is a reasonable call, not an extravagance, for the item someone sits on, wet, every single day of recovery.