If you are on your feet all day and looking for a comfortable pair of shoes for your painful feet, then Dansko and Birkenstock are the two best brands. You must answer many questions before you pick up a perfect pair of shoes.
Here we will compare Dansko VS Birkenstock shoes so you can decide which pair will offer the most comfort and support for your aching feet.
Birkenstock Shoes & Sandal
Birkenstock is a respectful reputable shoe company that has produced quality shoes and clogs in Germany since 1777. They invented the footbed, which is unique and contoured, and they offer health benefits, particularly for foot problems.
Dansko Shoes
Dansko, founded in 1990, is also a famous and reputable brand for clogs, shoes, and sandals for providing comfort all day.
Dansko VS Birkenstock Shoes
The Dansko and Birkenstocks both are very comfortable shoes for standing all day. They both are durable and last forever and are worth the money. Buying a pair of quality shoes depends on personal preferences and the type of working environment. People with foot problems may need to try Birkenstock shoes because they mold to the shape of feet and provide customized personal fit it act like custom orthotics, and you do not have to pay for costly orthotics, but they look ugly like crocs. Dansko, on the other hand, is stylish and offers more protection and support if you work in a hospital. APMA approves many Dansko styles, and some techniques offer removable footbeds for custom-made orthotic inserts in case of problems with your feet.
Dansko & Birkenstock Shoes Short Comparisons
Birkenstock
- Orthopedic Shoes for Foot problems
- Unique Contoured footbed that molds to the foot shape for a custom fit. You can use their alternative to custom orthotics.
- Soft leather Upper
- They are Ugly Shoes like Crocs. They do not offer many styles.
- They also have washable rubber shoes. Leather Shoes are not washable.
- Heel is Low
- Birkenstocks are available in many lovely colors.
- Not Approved by APMA
- They are cheaper than Dansko
- More Flexible than Danskos
- They are available in Narrow for narrow to medium sizes and Regular for Medium to Wide size Feet.
- They do have raised toe bar to separate the toes.
Dansko
- Perfect Shoes for providing comfort all day in working environments
- Footbed offers excellent arch support but does not provide a customized fit.
- Upper Leather is Hard
- They are Stylish with Many styles of Dress shoes, clogs, and sandals.
- Dansko does not offer Rubber Shoes. They have clogs that are easy to clean, and some are water resistant and waterproof.
- 1-2 Inches Heel. They can make you a little taller
- Danskos also offer many colors and prints in their clogs.
- Approved by APMA
- They are expensive.
- They are stiff.
- They are available in Narrow, Medium, and wide sizes.
- They do not have raised toe bar to separate the toes.
Birkenstocks are functional orthopedic shoes. They are most popular with chefs and other restaurant workers. They have Birki Clogs, which are washable and breathable and provide stability and support for standing all day. They have only two styles: slip resistant to oil and other wet areas, and Birki Professional and Alpro.
Danskos, on the other hand, are more prevalent in the Hospital environment. As more people become aware of all-day comfort, many chefs, teachers, and flight attendants are using them. Many of the Dansko styles are APMa-approved and certified slip-resistant.
Final Verdict
Whatever brand you choose, make sure they fit you well. All comfortable shoe brands may not guarantee to be suitable for everyone because no two feet are equal in shape. Therefore buying a correctly done shoe is a must if you need a comfortable shoe.
I’ve worn classic Danskos for years as an alternative to many styles of dress shoes when I had to wear business casual, but walk quite a bit. They can look okay (if a little “Portlandish”) with a longer skirt or dress pants and prevent all-day foot pain caused by most dress shoes, which have heels, no toe room, and/or zero foot support. But for the on-your-feet-all-day nurse or waitress-type shifts? No way.
I bought my first pair to wear in nursing mostly because they were popular among medical staff, prestigious due to cost/brand name, and reasonably flattering. They added flattering inches to your height, back when platforms were otherwise seen only on ultra-casual shoes. They also lasted a thousand years if well cared for, and the classic style hasn’t changed much in decades. No shoelaces, etc.–just step in and go. I’d heard they were supposedly great for long shifts on your feet, too, and who would lie about that, right? (It turns out that medical staff “long days on your feet” can be very long to go without sleep, but have a lot less actual foot time than bedside nurses’ do. It was medical residents who first made Dansko clogs popular.)
What classic Dankos are NOT is exceptionally comfortable! In fact, because the inside is slick, the leather doesn’t give at all, and the shoe is essentially a wedge, your toes may slide forward and be painfully crammed together with every step. You’ll need non-slip insoles. Although some stores have wide sizes, their width changes from heel to toe tips, while most naturally-wide feet are (unlike people who have plump feet) shaped like a duck’s. That is, being normal width at the heel and wide across only the ball of the foot and the toes. Uniformly wide shoes can leave the heel loose enough to rub blisters in many “wide” shoes. (Thankfully, most people with slightly wide feet will fit into regular-width Danskos, and there is a roomy “toe box”.)
I didn’t feel any special arch support, either, and no bounce or cushioning in the sole. (The original clog had a wooden sole, a long time ago, and that is why the soles in classic styles are thick and stiff, with a faux-woodgrain.) There’s more cushioning and traction now in some newer styles, but no major comfort features.
However, there has become a sort of cult about these shoes among medical personnel ever since surgical and medical residents began to wear them on those long 36-hour hospital shifts. A major factor is that they were unisex clogs so that women could wear them, too, without looking too clunky or girlish. Most of all, women residents wanted to make sure they were NEVER mistaken for nurses’shoes—especially when nurses outside the operating room started wearing scrubs, too, and it became hard to tell at first glance who was a doctor and who was not.
Original Dansko clogs have no cushioning, as the hard synthetic outsole is rigid and nearly inflexible. I find them to be dangerously prone to causing rolled-ankle fall. The rigid outsole, plus the fact that the sole is narrower at the ground than where it meets the foot, means stepping on a pebble or uneven surface can tilt the shoe drastically. It amazes me, as a nurse who knows quite a bit about foot anatomy and function that any wedge-heeled shoe with a rigid sole could possibly be approved by a podiatrist. My best guess is that the podiatrists have just succumbed to the hype.
Birkenstocks in the classic styles also last for.ev.er. The ones with real leather or igh-end Birko-flor, especially the thick-strapped classics like Arizona, will go for decades with even a little care. Even after, they can be re-soled and go another decade. They do offer reasonable arch support, do mold to your feet, do give when your toes slide forward—which they will seldom do if you’re wearing any of the traditional styles. (These do not have trendy alterations like wedge heels, gladiator ankle straps, all-EVA design, etc.)
But all of the level-soled styles are very comfortable to walk in, especially the soft-footbed varieties, which have more padding. The professional closed-toe styles, while admittedly clunkier-looking than even classic Danskos, will feel much better than Danskos as the day wears on. Closed-toe professional or traditional clog/mule “Birks” will never be red-hot or develop a widespread cult following–especially among women–because they are homely. Not as clunky as Crocs, but getting there.
Other styles like Allergia, Naot, Klogs, Sanita, Ecco and others are somewhere in the middle, with open-backed wide, softly-padded Klog mules being perfect for chubby AND duck-shaped feet. Some other “comfort” or “healthy” shoes don’t seem to be healthy OR comfortable–such as most of Dr. Scholl’s shoes. Some of the newer “nurses’ professional clogs are even worse knock-offs of the old Dansko.
Some of the most comfortable work shoes you can buy are black leather non-slip shoes meant for kitchen workers–some every bit as sturdy and well-made as classic Danskos. I bought a leather pair of Mary Janes (bck when MJ’s were hot) at discount online (like, $34.00) that are better than my $254.00 MBT rocker-bottomed athletic walking shoes, and they’re waterproof and non-slip, too! Lace-up SAS shoes for nurses (sold in grey and black as retired-person walking shoes) are way up there, too.
I would bet the farm this will not post, because it seems this site’s review seems slanted toward Dansko, and i followed by Dansko sales links…Prove me wrong!
Thank you for your thorough thoughts on this matter! Very helpful to me.
It would have been better if you had focused on a review of Dansko vs Birkinstroke as compared to the thought process and popularities from other people. Anyway, I couldn’t understand if Dansko is better or Birkinstroke is better.
I am a surgeon and would be standing in the theatre for long hours especially wearing those heavy lead gowns to prevent radiation exposure in specialised surgeries which makes it all the way important for a better shoe.
I have a Dansko Men’s Wil Clog.
I bought it because I started having planter fasciitis and sole pain with original crocs clogs.
On the initial days, I agree it felt like the foot is slipping and crooked, slowly it got better and my plantar fasciitis also got better, the pain was not there anymore.
The problem is long hours like 36 hours and when you stand for more than 12-18 hours in a standing position at a single place, the heel part hurts.
This is after 4-5 years of wearing single Dansko in surgeries.
It is good, waterproof so I don’t have to worry about contamination of my foot with blood etc, It’s non-slip so don’t have to worry about wet floors, and better than crocs or standard rubber clogs.
I tried again standard clogs and started having pain so switched back.
I have started using Scholl soles inside it and it is better but not normal, I am thinking of Trying Birkinstroke.
Will see how it goes.
For the reference, this is the shoe that I wear https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dansko-Wil-Clog/dp/B0035LCDLU
I know that Dansko’s have several styles but they have a nickname of being Orthopedist friends, not because they are good, but because of the frequency of broken ankles due to twisted ankles. Also, the hard bed of the foot is like wearing a cast and doesn’t allow your foot to move in a natural healthy way.