Criss Cross Chair Review: The Best Armless Office Chair for Cross-Legged Sitting in 2025?

Quick Verdict

If you've been hunting for the best criss cross chair for daily home office use, the CHAIRMATE armless office chair deserves your attention. It's not a miracle cure for back pain, but for anyone who hates the prison of a standard 90-degree seat — fidgeters, creative thinkers, people with ADHD — this chair gives you genuine freedom of movement while still being office-appropriate. I scored it 4.3 out of 5. Here's why.

What Is the CHAIRMATE Criss Cross Chair?

The moment I unboxed this thing on a Tuesday afternoon, I knew it was different. Most office chairs arrive looking like they'd rather be in a corporate cubicle farm. The CHAIRMATE Criss Cross Chair, dressed in beige fabric with its open criss-cross steel frame, looked more like a piece of Scandinavian furniture that wandered into my home office by accident. That alone made me curious.

At its core, this is an armless office chair built around a wide seat base that sits on a criss-cross steel frame — think of it as a modern meditation chair that doubles as a desk chair. The armless design isn't just aesthetic; it means you can push the whole thing completely under a standard desk when you're not using it. For anyone with a cramped home office, that alone is worth writing home about.

Key Features

• Wide criss-cross seat base — room to cross legs, tuck feet, kneel or shift freely
• Integrated lumbar support — cradles the lower back during extended work sessions
• Heavy-duty hydraulic gas lift with reinforced steel base — rated to 300 lbs
• Armless design — chair slides fully under any standard desk, saving floor space
• 360° swivel wheels with a braking system — stays put when locked on any floor type
• Skin-friendly, spill-resistant fabric — wipes clean in seconds
• Assembles in under 15 minutes — five parts, no special tools needed

Hands-On Review

I've been working from a home office for four years, and I've tried a LOT of chairs. Gaming chairs with wings that dig into your ribs. Ergonomic task chairs that cost $800 and somehow still gave me sciatica. So when this criss cross chair arrived, I was skeptical — it looked stylish but would it actually hold up to a full workday?

Day one: I set it up in eight minutes. Okay, CHAIRMATE said 15 — I beat that. The hardest part was peeling the protective film off the gas lift. By 10 AM I was cross-legged, by 11 I had both feet tucked under me like I was on a meditation cushion, and by 2 PM I realised I hadn't done my usual thing of perching on the edge of my seat like a gargoyle trying to relieve lower-back pressure.

What surprised me was the lumbar support. It's built into the seat back rather than being a detachable cushion that slides out of position, and it genuinely works. By the end of day three, my lower back didn't have that familiar dull ache that usually sets in around the three-hour mark. Whether that was the lumbar curve, the active-sitting design, or just the novelty making me sit differently — probably a mix of all three.

The brake wheels were a feature I initially dismissed as unnecessary. Then I sat cross-legged, reached for something on my desk, and felt the chair roll. The brake lock stopped that immediately. On carpet it's stable without needing the brakes, but on hardwood the locking mechanism is genuinely useful. The armless design is exactly as practical as advertised — my IKEA desk has a standard clearance, and this chair disappears underneath completely.

Where I docked points: the seat is firm. Not uncomfortable, but definitely firm. If you want something that hugs your hips and lets you sink in, look elsewhere. And the beige fabric — which looks great in photos — does show marks. After two weeks and a few coffee drips (I am a disaster), it needed a wipe-down. Not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing.

Who Should Buy It?

Here's the honest picture:

• Fidgeters and active sitters: If you can't sit still in a normal chair without feeling caged, this was designed for you. The freedom to shift positions without standing up is genuinely liberating.
• People with ADHD: CHAIRMATE markets this specifically for ADHD, and the philosophy behind active sitting aligns with what works in practice — movement and variety without leaving your desk.
• Small-space dwellers: The armless design sliding fully under your desk means this chair takes up zero floor space when you're not in it. If your home office is also your living room, that's a real benefit.
• Creative workers and writers: I wrote half of this review sitting cross-legged with a cat on my lap. That wouldn't have happened in a standard task chair. If your best ideas come when you're comfortable rather than locked upright, this supports that.
• Skip this chair if: you need thick cushioned armrests, you share a desk and need fixed arm support for alignment, or you want something that sinks and cradles you like an expensive gaming chair. This chair is firm, upright-ish, and deliberately minimal.

Alternatives Worth Considering

If this criss cross chair isn't quite right, here are two alternatives that share similar DNA:

• HOOH Armless Office Chair: Similar armless design and criss-cross aesthetic at a comparable price point, though without the explicit ADHD marketing. A solid alternative if CHAIRMATE is out of stock.
• Varier Humanscale Bodybias Stool: A pricier, Danish-design active sitting stool that takes the active-sitting concept to a more premium level. Worth considering if you want something more portable and minimal, but it doesn't have a backrest or lumbar support.
• Homall Ergonomic Gaming Chair: If you want the chair experience to feel more familiar — with armrests and a taller backrest — Homall's budget gaming chairs are a conventional alternative. But you'll lose the freedom to sit cross-legged or tuck your feet under.

FAQ

Final Verdict

After two weeks of daily use, the CHAIRMATE Criss Cross Chair earns its place on my shortlist of genuinely interesting ergonomic seating options. It won't replace a fully ergonomic task chair for someone who needs structured lumbar support and fixed armrests, but for the audience it targets — creative workers, fidgeters, people with ADHD, anyone tired of being locked into a 90-degree posture — it delivers on its promises. The armless design is genuinely space-saving, the brake wheels actually work, and the lumbar support is integrated rather than an afterthought. Buy it if you want to sit the way your body actually wants to sit.