We Spent £412 Testing The 4 Most Popular Insoles Through 12-Hour Shifts. The £24.99 Outsider Won.
The winner was the only pair that felt the same in hour twelve as it did in hour two, thanks to its four-zone support system.
Noticed your feet burning and aching by hour six of your shift, or even just moving through a normal day?
Worried that untreated foot pain slowly hardens into something permanent?
Looking for an insole that actually gives you relief — one that works past the first week, unlike the gel pair from the pharmacy — and that fits inside snug work shoes and clogs without making them tight?
If you nodded yes to any of these, you've come to the right place. We spent £412 to properly test the most popular insoles against the new insole that's going viral in the UK.
Ever since the ComfySole 2.0 launched, it's been the insole readers on their feet all day keep asking us about. And testing comfort products is my job — over 40 pairs of insoles have crossed my desk in nine years — with my wife, a ward nurse of 15 years and a drawer full of insoles that promised relief and failed her, as my co-tester. We've both learned the hard way that hype and quality are rarely the same thing.
Our testing revealed what many of us already know. The biggest names are not always the best. The newcomer won on the things that matter: real arch support, all-day softness, and durability that outlasts cheap foam, without the break-in pain of a hard orthotic.
How we tested: we wore every pair through full shifts on hard floors, 14 days straight.
Every insole was scored on the two things that decide everything:
- Comfort: how our feet felt in hour two, and in hour twelve.
- Support: whether it actually held the arch or just padded it.
Beyond the scores, we rotated every pair through work shoes, clogs, and sneakers. We checked each one for flattening and loss of shape after two weeks. We added up the true cost of each pair, including return conditions.
And we kept wearing our favorite long after the test ended.
The winner: The ComfySole 2.0. The viral insole beat every big name in this test. Here's how all four stack up, and why.
1. Norelie ComfySole 2.0
- DualFlex™ alignment geometry – corrects foot position instead of just masking pain
- Complete support system: arch support, metatarsal cushion, heel cushion & deep heel cup
- Supportive shape, yet still a soft sole ("walking on clouds")
- Targeted shock absorption for hard floors
- Ultra-flat profile – fits work shoes, sneakers & clogs without making them tight
- Premium top layer – reduces pressure points, slipping & odor-causing bacteria
- Durable grip base – textured underside prevents sliding inside the shoe
- Trim-to-fit for every size, lasts 6–12 months
- 90-day money-back guarantee, free UK shipping
- Young brand – batches sell out regularly
- Needs a one-time trim to size (guide included)
2. Stepprs Massage Insoles
- Soft base cushioning with massage nodes
- Breathable, ventilated design
- Trim-to-fit, wide size range
- 90-day guarantee
- Cushioning-first design – no alignment geometry to address the cause of the pain.
- Raised massage nodes sit under the foot the entire shift – built for stimulation, not structured support.
- No deep heel cup - every step lands unguided.
- Ships from overseas (5–8 business days), priced in dollars
3. Akusoli
- Magnetic acupressure elements provide a gentle massage sensation while walking
- Soft, silver-coated antimicrobial top material against odor
- Trim-to-fit, adapts to most shoe types
- Wellness concept, not a support system – by its own disclaimer not intended to treat foot conditions
- No structured arch support – arch keeps collapsing.
- No heel cup - every step lands unguided
- No alignment function
4. SOLWAVE Orthotic Insole
- Solid construction with rigid arch support shell
- Good for plantar fasciitis and flat feet
- OEKO-TEX certified materials
- Rigid arch height can be too aggressive — some users return to custom orthotics
- Hard shell design requires break-in before all-day comfort
- No metatarsal pad, no deep heel cup
- No soft top layer for comfort cushioning.
Why We Picked The ComfySole 2.0 As The Winner?
The ComfySole 2.0 stands out because it refuses to make the choice every other insole in this test makes. Soft insoles cushion but don't support. Orthotic insoles support but feel like standing on a shelf. The ComfySole is built around a four-zone support system, and in testing, each zone mapped to one of the complaints we hear most.
The deep ache along the inside of the foot that builds hour after hour comes from the arch slowly collapsing under body weight, and it's where most standing pain starts. The arch support does the structural work here, holding the arch in its natural position instead of letting it sink.
The burning under the ball of the foot, usually the first thing shift workers report on hard floors, comes down to concentrated pressure on one small zone. The metatarsal pad lifts and spreads that pressure across the forefoot.
Throbbing heels at the end of a long day, often with knees and lower back joining in, trace back to impact: every step sends a shock up through the heel, thousands of times per shift. The heel cushion is there to absorb it before it travels upward.
And the most common reason insoles stop working mid-shift is simpler than most people think: the foot slides, and the support ends up in the wrong place. The deep heel cup holds the heel in position, which keeps the other three zones where they're supposed to work.
Each zone addresses one pressure point. Together, the design covers the main places standing pain starts, and in our testing, that held up.
Most Insoles Wear Out In Weeks. Then The Pain Comes Back. This One Didn't.
When we unboxed the ComfySole 2.0, the first thing we noticed was how flat and light it is. It slides into a shoe and disappears, no bulk, no pushed-up heel.
But comfort means nothing if it doesn't last, so we tested the claim that matters most: durability. It's the most common complaint in thousands of insole reviews: cushioning that feels great in week one is pressed flat within weeks, and once the foam is flat, the pain comes straight back.
An insole is only as good as its last day of testing, not its first. So after two weeks of daily shifts, we laid every pair flat on the table and looked at what was left. The cheap foam pairs were visibly pressed flat. The ComfySole still looked and felt like day one — the soft part is what you feel, but there's a firm shape underneath that keeps it from flattening out. It's why Norelie rates the pair for up to 12 months of daily wear instead of weeks.
No other insole in our test held its shape and stayed soft: the firm ones held their shape but locked it behind a break-in period, and the soft ones felt great right up until they collapsed.
I Didn't Expect Us To Still Be Wearing Them 30 Days Later
I'll be honest. When we started this test, I assumed the ComfySole 2.0 would be the first pair back in the box. Nine years of testing have taught me that the products everyone talks about are usually more marketing than product. Soft and supportive? Every instinct said the hype would quietly disappoint.
My wife was harder to convince. Fifteen years on NHS wards builds a drawer full of insoles that promised relief and failed her. When I handed her the ComfySole, she gave it the same look she gives every new pair. "This one too, then."
But thirty days later, they're still in both our work shoes. She wore hers through back-to-back 12-hour ward shifts, night rotations, and double weekends. The old routine just stopped: no shoes kicked off at the door, no evening on the couch before she could do anything else. Her words: "My feet stopped being the first thing I think about at work."
The Friday she came home from a double and cooked dinner still in her shoes, the test was over.
The insole that helps isn't the cheapest one. It's the one you'll keep wearing every shift. My wife has spent fifteen years quietly wondering how many more years hospital floors her feet can take. This is the first insole that gave her a different answer.
Two Weeks In Closed Work Shoes. No Bad Smell. That Won Us Over.
The ComfySole 2.0 is built in three layers.
The top layer, made from bamboo fiber, surprised us the most. Anyone who wears closed work shoes for 12 hours knows what happens to most insoles: gel and cheap foam don't breathe, and within a few weeks they start to smell, no matter how clean your feet are. After two weeks of daily shift wear, the ComfySole simply didn't — the bamboo fiber breathes, and the surface wipes clean.
In the middle, the soft foam cushioning that gives it the "walking on clouds" feel. Underneath, the structured support core on a textured grip base that holds its shape and stays exactly where you placed it, shift after shift.
The Multi-Pair Bundle Is A Smart Move
Norelie offers the ComfySole 2.0 in multi-pair bundles for a simple reason: most of us don't live in one pair of shoes. Work shoes for the shift, sneakers for everything else — with a pair in each, your feet get the same support all day, every day, without moving one insole back and forth every morning.
And on top of that, every pair is trim-to-fit: work shoes, clogs, and sneakers all have slightly different footbeds, and each pair can be cut to match the exact shoe it lives in. We ran one pair in work shoes and one in daily sneakers, and it's the setup we'd recommend — the same relief on shift and off it, with every pair fitting like it was made for that shoe.
How Much Is This Actually Going To Cost You?
That depends entirely on which insole you choose — and it's worth looking past the sticker price.
| Insole | Stepprs | Akusoli | SOLWAVE | ComfySole 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per pair | ~£20 | ~£25 | ~£20 | £24.99 |
| Money-back guarantee | 90 days | See seller terms | Standard return window | 90 days |
| Ships from | Overseas | Own funnel | Amazon UK | UK, free shipping |
| Full support system* | — | — | Support only | ✓ |
*Arch support + metatarsal cushion + heel cushion + deep heel cup in one insole.
The ComfySole wasn't the cheapest insole in our test, and that's exactly the point — the cheapest ones are the reason most people are reading this article. What it was: the only one that delivered structure and softness in the same insole, backed by a 90-day money-back guarantee, so there's no risk in finding out for yourself.
CHECK DISCOUNT AVAILABILITY → Click here to lock in the launch sale price before this batch sells out →What Norelie customers are saying?
Before you take our word for it, here's one of the best ways to check whether any product is actually good: its Trustpilot page. Reviews there are hard for a company to game. Trustpilot runs automatic fraud detection, verifies reviewers, flags suspicious patterns, and openly penalises firms caught manipulating their scores. A rating built from real buyers is a signal no ad campaign can buy.
Wrong size? Solved instantly
My insoles arrived too big and Norelie sent a new pair for free — and let me keep the first ones.
Better than anything I've tried
These are fantastic. So many things done right — better than anything else on the market for the price.
No more aching feet
Does everything the expensive brands do without the price tag. Finally something that actually works.
I forget they're in there
So comfortable I forget they're in my shoes. Finally an insole I actually keep wearing.
Walking improved 70%
Very pleased with, my walking has improved 70% and better every day. My Silver Bullet. I will be back for more at a later stage..
Instant relief from plantar fasciitis
Firstly, as soon as I started to wear the insoles I had relief from my plantar fasciitis! Secondly, I was unsure if I should use them in both shoes, so I emailed them and they replied within 15 minutes! I am very impressed and grateful!
Read through enough of them and the same things keep coming up. People mention the comfort and quality relative to the price, that delivery is fast, and — again and again — that customer service actually fixes things: wrong sizes replaced free, defects swapped without questions. The other theme is simplicity: one purchase, nothing to pay after the £24.99, and a 90-day window to change your mind.
See more reviews at Trustpilot →
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