The Best Squatty Potty and Other Toilet Stools Worth the Floor Space

2026.03.12

If you’ve ever wished pooping could be a faster or more pleasant experience, you may like having a toilet stool.

“Toilet angles aren’t well aligned with how the anus and rectum [are] designed to be positioned when it’s time to have a bowel movement,” said Sophie Balzora, MD, a clinical professor of medicine at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine.

The ideal pooping position is a squat — a posture that toilet stools help simulate by raising a person’s feet while they’re sitting on the toilet. This posture helps to straighten the colon and provide a smoother channel for poop to exit the body. (You can read more about how and whether it works here.) The best toilet stool for you depends on your style, space, and budget.

Our recommendations include a stylish plastic stool that’s available in two heights, a wooden one that folds for easy storage, a comparatively inexpensive (but no less effective) plastic model, and a seriously fancy, translucent plastic footrest.

The research

Who should get a toilet stool

“Anyone can use and benefit from a toilet stool, whether or not they are having acute problems in the bathroom,” said Rohan Modi, MD, who became a paid consultant for Squatty Potty after working with the company to publish research on the efficacy of defecation postural modification devices (the fancy name for toilet stools).

Because a toilet stool can speed up the pooping process, some doctors recommend that their patients try one. A toilet stool can help alleviate a variety of pooping-related problems, constipation in particular. “Patients are sometimes surprised we recommend toilet stools,” said Salina Lee, MD, an assistant professor of gastroenterology at Rush University, “but it is a safe and highly effective therapy that we in the gastro community embrace.”

“It’s a completely low — if not no — risk intervention,” said Peter Stanich, MD, an associate professor of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “If it helps, great, and if it doesn’t, we’ll move on to other interventions, like medication and physical therapy.”

However, people who are on anticoagulant medications, those who are unsteady on their feet, or those who use a walker “should talk to their physician first,” Modi said. To safely use a toilet stool, “you have to be strong enough to sit on a stool and lean forward without fear of falling.”

A toilet stool is not ideal if you don’t have the space or budget for a single-purpose item. Nearly all toilet stools, including our picks, cannot double as step stools or be used for any purpose other than propping up your feet while you poop.

Stylish and sturdy: Tushy Ottoman

If the MoMA Design Store were to sell a toilet stool, we think it would be the Tushy Ottoman. Even expensive toilet stools tend to be conspicuously mismatched bathroom add-ons. But not this subtle stool. The well-appointed Tushy Ottoman is to a white porcelain toilet what a wedding band should be to an engagement solitaire: a seamless, harmonious, and aesthetically pleasing addition that makes the whole experience better.

The Tushy Ottoman has a smooth and easy-to-clean crevice-free surface that curves gracefully around the base of any standard toilet.

Like all toilet stools (or stacks of books, or anything else you could use to raise your knees to your chest while you poop), it works. It’s sturdy and remains immobile during use. Some reviewers warn that the Tushy Ottoman is overly slick when they’re wearing socks, but we didn’t experience any foot slippage.

The Tushy Ottoman comes unassembled, but it takes only a couple of minutes to pop the legs in place. Choose between faux bamboo , white, or brushed nickel legs (available in two heights). We tested the Original Ottoman, with 9-inch legs; the Relaxed version’s 7½-inch legs are an option for taller people or beginner squatters. Tushy also sells legs of varying heights separately for people who wish to adjust their squatting position (to make it shallower or deeper) without having to purchase an entirely new stool.

Though all of the other toilet-stool picks in this guide say they are safe for people of all ages, Tushy warns that its Ottomans are not intended for use by children under age 12.

Like all of the toilet stools we recommend, the Tushy Ottoman is not to be used as anything other than a footrest.

Dimensions: 7½ or 9 inches tall by 16½ inches wide (foot to foot) by 9 inches deep (front to back)
Materials: plastic (polypropylene body; acrylonitrile butadiene styrene legs)
Options: There are two leg-height options — 9 inches (on the Original, which we tested) and 7½ inches (on the Relaxed version). What you choose depends on your toilet’s height and how new you are to squatting. Tushy also sells sets of the interchangeable legs in three color options separately ($29), for those who wish to try out different heights or colors without having to buy another stool.

Foldable and portable: Squatty Potty Folding Bamboo Stools

Squatty Potty’s Folding Bamboo Stools (Oslo, Stockholm) are the nicest-looking of the folding options we've tested. Both fold flat for storage, yet they’re sturdy when set up. (That stability comes at a price, however, because folding these stools requires considerable effort.) The Oslo and Stockholm stools have flat platforms with multiple crevices that require frequent cleaning (to avoid buildup of dust, dirt, and grime). Their toilet cutouts are shallower than those on our other picks (except for the Proppr Acer, which has no cutout). This means that when the stool isn’t folded up, the Oslo or Stockholm sticks farther out from the toilet than stools with deeper cutouts do.

Like all of the toilet stools we recommend, these folding stools from Squatty Potty are not to be used as anything other than footrests.

A barebones budget option: Squatty Potty Simple

The Squatty Potty Simple is a streamlined plastic toilet stool. The platform has several ridges, but they are easy to clean. The Simple is surprisingly stable underfoot; despite its narrow platform, this model still provides enough space for placing your entire foot atop it. (Many similar stools skimp on depth, affecting stability.)

Like all of the toilet stools we recommend, the Squatty Potty Simple is not to be used as anything other than a footrest.

Dimensions: 7½ inches tall by 18¾ inches wide (foot to foot) by 12 inches deep (front to back)
Materials: plastic
Options: At the time of publication, this stool comes in 10 colors.

A ghost chair for your feet: Proppr Acer (Clear)

If you’re looking for a toilet stool that in no way looks like a toilet stool, and you are willing to pay a hefty premium for a camouflaged device, the Proppr Acer stool is beautiful and functional. Available in colors and materials that will suit any bathroom decor, the well-designed Proppr stool turns a perfunctory accessory into a statement piece. The favorite among our testers: the Acer in Clear. It has a sloped platform and can be flipped around to be used at either height. At 9½ inches on its highest incline (and 8½ inches on its lower side), the Proppr toilet stool is the tallest of any stool we recommend, theoretically offering a deeper squat position (this height may prove daunting to newbie squatters).

Unlike our other picks, the Proppr Acer does not have a cutout to conform to the toilet bowl; you may consider this to be a nice feature or a bug, depending on your preferences. It also doesn’t have conspicuous branding, so to an unsuspecting guest using your facilities, it may look like someone left a display box or desk organizer in the middle of your bathroom floor.

If you love the look of this stool but are put off by its high price, you may find this DIY version to be a worthwhile alternative.

Like all of the toilet stools we recommend, the Proppr Acer is not to be used as anything other than a footrest.

Dimensions: 9½ inches or 8½ inches tall (depending upon which way you turn it) by 15 inches long (foot to foot) by 6½ inches deep (front to back)
Materials: acrylic or wood (pine/oak combo)
Options: This stool is available in three colors in wood (oak, blackwash, and whitewash) and three colors in acrylic (white, clear, and black), at the time of publication. The wooden versions, which we haven’t tested, have slightly different dimensions and cost more than the acrylic ones.