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Pull-up bars are a minimalist piece of exercise equipment that make it really easy to work out at home. But make no mistake: Although they’re simple, they offer killer arm-targeted and even full-body workouts, depending on how you use them.
The best pull-up bars have a lot to offer, like different grip options, easy installation and heavy-duty construction that can support your bodyweight (and possibly more) without wobbling. Our ACTIVE Reviews Team reviewers sorted through the options to find a number of highly recommended choices that fit the bill.
Best Pull-Up Bars - Our Top Picks
- Best Pull-Up Bar Overall: REP Fitness Wall Mount Pull-Up Bar
- Best Affordable Pull-Up Bar: Titan Fitness 3-Position Wall-Mounted Pull Up Bar
- Best Versatile Pull-Up Bar: Rogue Jammer Bar
- Best Portable Pull-Up Bar: ProsourceFit Multi-Use Doorway Chin-Up Bar
- Best Clamp Style For A Door Frame: Flybird Doorway Pullup Bar
- Best Wall-Mounted Pull-Up Bar: OneTwoFit Wall Mounted Pull-up Bar
- Best Ceiling Mount Pull-Up Bar: Ultimate Body Press Ceiling Mount Pull-Up Bar
Why Trust Us?
ACTIVE.com’s editorial team relies on the knowledge and experience of fitness and wellness experts including competitive athletes, coaches, physical therapists, nutritionists, and certified trainers. This helps us ensure the products we feature are of the highest standard. Collectively, the team has spent countless hours researching equipment, gear, and recovery tools in order to create the most accurate, authentic content for our readers. Customer satisfaction is also a key part of our review process, which is why we only feature products that are highly rated. More importantly, each member of our team is a fitness enthusiast. Fitness may be our job, but it is also our passion. Therefore, we strive to bring you products that we trust and would personally use.
Best Pull-Up Bar Overall - REP Fitness Wall Mount Pull-Up Bar
CHECK PRICEThe REP Fitness Wall Mount Pull-Up Bar definitely stands out above the rest. It's crafted with multiple grip options to give you versatility when wanting to target different muscle groups. The metal bars are 1.25" thick which is the standard for pull-up bars so it's not too narrow or fat, which can impact your grip strength. It's coated with nonslip powder so you won't be slipping off before your back and and biceps are ready.
When mounted properly, this pull-up bar is rated to support up to for 700 pounds. So throw on that weighted vest to knock out harder pull-ups without worry.
- Key Feature: Nonslip coating with multiple grip options
- Mount Style: Wall
- Weight Capacity: 700 pounds
BUY: REP Fitness Wall or Ceiling Mount Pull-Up Bar
Best Affordable Pull-Up Bar - Titan Fitness 3-Position Wall-Mounted Pull-Up Bar
CHECK PRICETitan Fitness is one of our favorites for making budget home gym equipment. If you’re looking for a sturdy setup without shelling out a ton of cash, the Titan Fitness 3-Position Wall-Mounted Pull-Up Bar is our pick for best budget pull-up bar. This basic wall-mounted system has three cushioned grip areas—one for classic pull-ups, one for wide grip and one on the parallel bars for neutral grip—that are gentler on the hands than knurled bars and eliminate the need for gloves.
The setup extends 20 inches from the wall, affording you the bare minimum amount of space to fit in kipping pull-ups. Although the brackets are made of steel and mount securely to the wall, the weight capacity is half of other leading bars, so it’s best for people who weigh less than 250 pounds.
- Key Feature: Three cushioned grip positions
- Mount Style: Wall-mounted
- Weight Capacity: 250 pounds
BUY: Titan Fitness 3-Position Wall-Mounted Pull-Up Bar
Most Versatile Pull-Up Bar - Rogue Jammer Bar
CHECK PRICEThe Rogue Jammer Bar is a solid choice for dedicated athletes and beginners alike. At 43-inches long, this wall-mounted pull-up bar is ideal for close-grip and wide-grip pull-ups, as well as everything in between. And if you’re a CrossFit fanatic, you should know that this bar is even solid enough to support swinging weight during kipping pull-ups. One note: It’s designed to mount directly above a door frame on a standard wood stud wall, so if you have different plans for it, Rogue does recommend getting a professional installer involved so it’s properly secured.
The bar itself has a standard 1.125-inch diameter, but you can choose from a smooth or knurled option. The knurled option offers more grip, but it’s not so abrasive that you’ll end up with ripped hands. There are also 22 color combos to choose from, so you can add a little customization that way, too.
- Key Feature: 43-inch long and solid construction that supports heavier weight
- Mount Style: Wall-mounted
- Weight Capacity: 500-plus pounds
Best Portable Pull-Up Bar - ProsourceFit Multi-Use Doorway Chin-Up Bar
CHECK PRICELooking for something basic you can move around the house? The ProsourceFit Multi-Use Doorway Chin-Up Bar is an excellent choice, especially if you want to take it with you on the go. It has an adjustable bar with cushioned hand grips that extends from 24 to 39 inches, relying on tension to fit into most standard door frames.
You’ll have to sacrifice some sturdiness and versatility for portability, though—this bar only supports up to 220 pounds—and you won’t be able to do kipping or neutral grip pull-ups, but if you’re looking for basic functions at a reasonable price, this pull-up bar fits that bill.
- Key Feature: Tension-only mount, so it’s easily moveable
- Mount Style: Doorway
- Weight Capacity: 220 pounds
BUY: ProsourceFit Multi-Use Doorway Chin-Up Bar
Best Clamp Style For A Door Frame - Flybird Doorway Pull-Up Bar
CHECK PRICEIf you’d rather not mess around with lag bolts and stud finders, the Flybird Doorway Pull-up Bar is an easy-install home pull-up bar option that clamps right onto a standard size door frame, no screws required. It doesn’t offer as many grip options since it lies flush with the door instead of extending past it. However, the tradeoff is easily adjustable positioning—it extends from 28.3 to 36.2 inches—and a maximum weight capacity of 660 pounds, so you can add dumbbells to your pull-ups without concern.
Unlike other tension-based pull-up bars, this clamped option securely locks onto the door frame on both sides, so it won’t spin or shift as you work out.
- Key Feature: 360 degree locking clamps that prevent rotation
- Mount Style: Doorway (clamp)
- Weight Capacity: 660 pounds
BUY: Flybird Doorway Pull-Up Bar
Best Wall-Mounted Pull-Up Bar - OneTwoFit Wall Mounted Pull-up Bar
CHECK PRICEThe OneTwoFit Wall Mounted Pull-up Bar is a durable, multifunctional piece of equipment that gives you a bit more versatility for your home gym workout. The main pull-up bar allows for standard pull-ups and wide grip ones, and there are two parallel bars for a neutral grip option as well. When you want to target different muscle groups, you can flip the bar down to create a dip station with padded arm and back rests, before working your core with leg raises.
As-is, it’s mountable on cement or concrete walls, but if you want to install it on drywall or plaster, you’ll have to rig up a different setup with additional pieces or plywood, which will add to the overall cost and installation time.
- Key Feature: Converts from a pull-up bar to a dip station
- Mount Style: Wall-mounted
- Weight Capacity: 440 pounds
BUY: OneTwoFit Wall Mounted Pull-up Bar
Best Ceiling Mount Pull-Up Bar - Ultimate Body Press Ceiling Mount Pull-Up Bar
CHECK PRICEThis ceiling-mounted pull-up bar from Ultimate Body Press has everything you need at a surprisingly affordable price. It’s designed to support 300 pounds, fits 16- and 24-inch ceiling joists and has four foam grip positions that are ergonomically designed to match your natural grip when busting out standard-grip, wide-grip, neutral-grip and angled-grip sets.
Because it attaches to the ceiling, the Ultimate Body Press bar offers full range of motion, so your movement never gets obstructed by the wall—whether you’re doing a strict pull-up or a kipping one. With a 16-inch drop, it offers plenty of clearance for your head, too.
- Key Feature: Four padded, ergonomic hand grip positions
- Mount Style: Ceiling
- Weight Capacity: 300 pounds
BUY: Ultimate Body Press Ceiling Mount Pull-Up Bar
What to Look for in a Pull-up Bar
Purchasing a pull-up bar is fantastic for those wanting to increase their upper body strength. Sure, you can always use a barbell, but nothing works the biceps, back muscles, lats, and triceps quite like a pull-up. Also, these bars are incredibly diverse: Use them for hanging leg raises or (gulp) inverted sit-ups; or hang from them for stretches.
Pull-up bars are a pretty basic piece of gym equipment used mainly for bodyweight exercises, but you still need to do your due diligence to make sure you’re choosing the right one for your needs. Here are some things to look for.
Mount Style
When it comes to pull-up bars, there are four main mount styles: doorway, wall-mounted, ceiling-mounted and freestanding. Doorway pull-up bars attach to standard-length door frames without much fuss as far as installation goes. Because they work on tension or with clamps, they’re easy to uninstall and move around if needed. The downside is that these types of pull-up bars often (but not always) come with a lower weight capacity since they’re not attached to the wall.
Wall-mounted and ceiling-mounted pull-up bars are similar in style, just different in location. Wall-mounted pull-up bars attach to the wall with bolts and brackets, so a door frame isn’t necessary. Ceiling brackets are the same, but they’re suspended from the ceiling instead. Both of these types of pull-up bars can handle a heavy load, but ceiling-mounted bars offer the most freedom of movement.
It might be a bit of a misnomer to call freestanding pull-up bars a mount style since they don’t actually require any mounting, but they’re worth mentioning here nevertheless. Freestanding pull-up bars are their own isolated structures, like a power tower or squat rack. They sit independently, and often include other features like a squat rack or dip station. They do take up a lot of space compared to the other pull-up bar styles, though.
Grip Options
Grip options are another important consideration. If you’re just looking for a simple bar that will allow you to do classic pull-ups with minimal variations, any straight option will do. But if you want to work different styles into your routine, you’ll need a multi-grip pull-up bar that also has parallel bars if you want to do neutral grip pull-ups.
In addition to grip style, you’ll also want to think about texture. Some bars are smooth while others have a knurled finish. Smooth bars are easier on the hands but don’t offer as much grip. In lieu of texture, some bars have padded grips that are both comfortable and eliminate the need for gloves, but can be prone to tearing with excessive use.
Also, if you’re someone working toward your first pull-up, consider that you might need to loop resistance bands over the bar for assistance. A straight bar makes this easy, but bars with varying styles of handles might require a little more creativity or advanced planning.
Weight Capacity
Since you’re going to be trusting a pull-up bar to carry all of your weight, you need to make sure it can properly support you. Before committing to one, check the weight capacity—it generally ranges from 250 to 500+ pounds—to make sure it will work for your body type.