Both add height. They solve the problem differently, and one of them is clearly better depending on what you actually want. We sell lifts, so read this knowing that, and note where we say elevator shoes win.
The difference
Shoe lifts are insoles you add to shoes you already own. Elevator shoes are shoes built around a hidden internal wedge, sold as a complete shoe.
Where each one wins
- Cost. Lifts win, and it is not close. A pair of lifts costs a fraction of a pair of elevator shoes, and one pair of lifts works across several shoes.
- Flexibility. Lifts win. Move them between shoes, or drop a layer to reduce the height. Elevator shoes are fixed at one height forever.
- Maximum height. Elevator shoes win. Because the wedge is designed into the shoe, they can carry more height than any insole can hide in a normal shoe.
- Concealment at high lift. Elevator shoes win. At 3 in and above, a purpose-built shoe hides the height better than an insole dropped into a shoe not designed for it.
- Comfort at high lift. Elevator shoes usually win, because the whole sole is engineered around the angle rather than a wedge being added to a flat footbed.
- Fit. Lifts have a real drawback: they take up volume in a shoe sized without them, so shoes get tighter. Elevator shoes are built with that volume already accounted for.
- Shoe choice. Lifts win. You keep wearing shoes you chose. Elevator shoe ranges are limited and often stylistically dated.
Which should you buy?
Buy lifts if you want 1 to 2 inches, you want it across several pairs of shoes, you want to try the idea without much commitment, or you care about wearing your own shoes.
Buy elevator shoes if you want 3 inches or more as your everyday height, you want it maximally concealed, and you are willing to pay several times more and accept a narrower style range.
An honest middle path: start with lifts. They are cheap enough to find out how much height you actually want and whether you like how it feels, before committing to a shoe wardrobe built around it. Plenty of people discover that 1.2 in is enough, and plenty discover that 3 in feels like too much to walk in all day.