Hoka Bondi 9 vs Hoka Clifton 10: Max Cushion or Everyday Soft?

The two Hoka cushioned road shoes on this shelf that get set next to each other are the Bondi 9 and the Clifton 10. Hoka's Australia Bondi 9, the men's Black / White, lists AU$299.99, a weight of 297.00 g, and a heel-to-toe drop of 5.00 mm, under everyday run and walking. The features on that page are a 3D molded collar, super critically foamed EVA, engineered mesh with 55% recycled polyester, reflective details, an extended heel pull, a smooth MetaRocker, a rearfoot-focused Active Foot Frame, a molded EVA sockliner, and a Durabrasion rubber outsole. Hoka's note on the Bondi 9 prints the weight as 297.67 g, the drop as 5.00 mm, and the heel stack as 43 mm. Fleet Feet's men's Bondi 9 prints neutral support, 10.5 oz for men and 9.3 oz for women, a 5 mm drop, and a stack of 43 mm / 38 mm. Hoka's note on the Clifton 10 puts that shoe at 42 mm in the heel and 34 mm in the forefoot, 9.8 oz for men and 8.0 oz for women, an 8 mm drop, in CMEVA. Hoka's Australia Clifton 10 lists the men's White / Black at 277.83 g, an 8.00 mm drop, and AU$159.99 from AU$269.99, under everyday run and walking, with a jacquard upper and a double-lace lock. Fleet Feet's Clifton 10 prints the same 42/34 mm stack, the same 8 mm drop, and the same 9.8 / 8.0 oz. The compare tool keeps this site's shelf numbers, which are a different set.

Weight first, because the Bondi labels do not match each other. This site lists the Bondi 9 at 300 g and the Clifton 10 at 275 g. Hoka's introducing note lists the men's Bondi 9 at 297.67 g. The Australia product page lists 297.00 g. Hoka Mexico lists 297 g. Fleet Feet lists 10.5 oz for men and 9.3 oz for women. 10.5 oz is the 297.67 g on the introducing note. The Australia page is 0.67 g under that note. Mexico's 297 g is the Australia figure with the decimal dropped. This site's 300 g is 2.33 g over the note and 3 g over the Australia page. On the Clifton, Hoka's update note lists 9.8 oz for men and 8.0 oz for women, and the Australia page's 277.83 g is that 9.8 oz. The site's 275 g is 2.83 g under it. The gap on the men's brand listings is 297.67 g against 277.83 g, which is 19.84 g. Fleet Feet's 10.5 oz against the Clifton's 9.8 oz is 0.7 oz, and that 0.7 oz is the same gap. The women's pair, from Fleet Feet and from Hoka's Clifton note, is 9.3 oz against 8.0 oz, which is 1.3 oz. Running Warehouse's Bondi 9 in Oatmeal / Oat Milk prints 10.8 oz and 306 g. 306 g is 8.33 g over the introducing note. The same note lists the Bondi 8 at 306.17 g, so the Warehouse figure sits 0.17 g under the previous shoe. This piece does not use 306 g as the Bondi 9 weight.

Stack is the difference that is easy to overread. Hoka's introducing note prints a 43 mm heel for the Bondi 9 and does not print a forefoot. Hoka Mexico prints 43 mm in the heel and 38 mm in the forefoot, on one line for men and women, and does not split them. Fleet Feet prints 43 mm / 38 mm and a 5 mm drop. 43 minus 38 is 5, so those two pages agree with the drop. Hoka's Clifton note and Fleet Feet both put the Clifton 10 at 42 mm / 34 mm, with an 8 mm drop. 42 minus 34 is 8. Heel against heel, the Bondi has 1 mm more. Forefoot against forefoot, the Bondi has 4 mm more. The drop goes the other way: 8 mm on the Clifton, 5 mm on the Bondi, a gap of 3 mm. Hoka's Clifton comparison is with the Clifton 9, at 32 mm and 27 mm with a 5 mm drop. The 10 adds 10 mm of foam at the heel and raises the drop by 3 mm. That comparison is about the previous Clifton. Hoka's Bondi note says the 9 adds 2 mm of stack, to 43 mm in the heel, and that the drop moves from 4.00 mm on the Bondi 8 to 5.00 mm. It does not print the 8's stack as a pair of numbers. This site's compare tool shows 43 mm and 42 mm, and no forefoot row. The 43 mm is the Bondi's heel. The 42 mm is the Clifton's heel. Running Warehouse prints a 44 mm heel, a 39 mm forefoot, and a 5 mm offset. 44 minus 39 is 5, so that page is consistent with itself. It is still a different pair of numbers from Hoka and from Fleet Feet.

The foam is where the shoes actually part. Hoka's Australia Bondi page names the midsole super critically foamed EVA. The introducing note calls it supercritical EVA, and says the Mach 6 uses it too. That is a description of the foam, and it is not a test of this pair. Hoka's Clifton note calls the midsole CMEVA, and says the extra foam versus the Clifton 9 is that CMEVA. Fleet Feet calls the same Clifton midsole compression-molded EVA. The Bondi upper, on the Australia page, is engineered mesh with a 3D molded collar and an extended heel pull. The introducing note calls it a reworked knit upper and a retooled collar. The Clifton note calls the upper a double jacquard knit, in standard, wide, and extra wide. The Australia Clifton page describes a jacquard upper with a double-lace lock. Fleet Feet stocks regular, wide, and extra-wide colorways of both shoes. Both Fleet Feet pages mark the shoe neutral. The Bondi Australia features include the MetaRocker, the Active Foot Frame, and Durabrasion rubber. The Clifton note says the rocker is still the geometry. Neither the Hoka pages nor the Fleet Feet spec rows read for this piece mention a plate.

Who each one suits is a reading of those pages, and not a run we timed. Hoka files both shoes under everyday run and walking. This site files the Bondi 9 under max cushion and the Clifton 10 under daily trainers. The Bondi pages describe the taller forefoot, the lower drop, the heavier men's listing, and the supercritical foam. The Clifton pages describe the lighter listing, the 8 mm drop, and a rocker Hoka says is there for a more pronounced forward roll than the Clifton 9. That sentence is about the previous Clifton. If you want the 43/38 mm stack, the 5 mm drop, and the supercritical foam, the Bondi is the shoe those pages describe. If you want CMEVA, the 8 mm drop, and the lighter men's listing, the Clifton is the one. One millimeter of heel is the least interesting difference here. If the Clifton is the one and the question is which daily trainer, the Novablast 5 comparison is the other piece.

The Bondi 9 is still the Bondi on the pages that loaded. Fleet Feet's Bondi 9 page does not flag a newer model. Hoka's US sale page did not load for this check, so no Bondi 10 listing and no sale price on hoka.com are taken from it. The introducing note is the comparison with the Bondi 8: 297.67 g against 306.17 g, a drop of 5.00 mm against 4.00 mm, 2 mm more stack to a 43 mm heel, and the foam change. The Clifton 10 is the previous Clifton. Fleet Feet's page flags a new model. Fleet Feet's Clifton 11 lists $155 with no sale price, neutral support, 10 oz for men and 8.3 oz for women, an 8 mm drop, and a stack of 42 mm / 34 mm. That stack and that drop match the 10 on Fleet Feet. The weight does not: 10 oz against 9.8 oz, and 8.3 oz against 8.0 oz. Hoka's Australia Clifton 11 lists the men's White / Black at AU$279.99, 283.00 g, an 8.00 mm drop, compression-molded EVA, an engineered mesh upper, a double-lace lock, a smooth MetaRocker, a rearfoot-focused Active Foot Frame, and an open-cell sockliner. That page does not print a stack. 283.00 g is 5.17 g over the 10's 277.83 g. Fleet Feet's 10 oz is 283.50 g to the nearest hundredth, half a gram over Australia's 283.00 g. Those two Clifton 11 weights are not the same figure.

Price, checked on November 7. This site lists the Bondi 9 at $175 and the Clifton 10 at $145. The $175 is the MSRP Zappos prints, and it is the price on the Fleet Feet colorways that are not on sale. The $145 is not on a brand or retailer page opened for this piece. Fleet Feet's Bondi header reads $140 to $175. The colorway data on that page goes lower. Drizzle / Downpour is $131.25 from $175. Succulent / Fern is $139.95 from $175. Stucco / Grout is $140 from $175. Eighteen regular-width colorways are still $175, with no sale price. Zappos's men's Bondi 9 in Asteroid / Silver lists $140 from $175, marked 20% off. Running Warehouse's Oatmeal / Oat Milk is $174.95, and that page says the item is not eligible for advertised discounts. Fleet Feet lists the Clifton 10 at $116.25 to $124, from $155. Neon Hoka Citrus / Sunlight is the $124. The other colorways on that page are $116.25. Zappos's men's Clifton 10 in Black / Black lists $108.50 from $155, marked 30% off. Hoka's store listing prints a US MSRP of $170 to $175, and that page shows no sale price. Hoka's US sale page did not load, so a discount on hoka.com is not claimed here. On the US pages that did load, the lowest Bondi is $131.25 and the lowest Clifton is $108.50, a gap of $22.75. At the Zappos colors that opened, $140 against $108.50, the gap is $31.50. On the regular prices those pages print, $175 against $155, the Bondi costs $20 more. Hoka Australia's AU$299.99 and AU$159.99 from AU$269.99, and Hoka Mexico's MX$4,299, are other currencies. Black Friday 2026 is November 27, and Cyber Monday is November 30. The when to buy calendar says current-season shoes usually see 20 to 30 percent off that weekend. The categories on that line are GPS watches, recovery, race day, and daily trainers. Max cushion is not one of them. The page is plain that the windows are typical dates from past years, and that retailers confirm them closer to the day. Twenty percent off $175 is $140. Twenty-five percent off $175 is $131.25. Thirty percent off $175 is $122.50. The Bondi cuts already listed sit at 20 and 25 percent. Thirty percent off $175 was not on a page opened today. Twenty percent off $155 is $124. Twenty-five percent off $155 is $116.25. Thirty percent off $155 is $108.50. The Clifton cuts already listed are that whole range. No page read for this piece is advertising a separate November 27 price.

Our verdict: buy the Bondi 9 when you want supercritical EVA, the 43/38 mm stack and the 5 mm drop, and $131.25 to $140 is an acceptable bill, or $175 if the color you want is still full price. Buy the Clifton 10 when you want CMEVA, the 8 mm drop and the lighter men's listing, and $108.50 to $124 is the bill. Buy the Clifton 11, at Fleet Feet's $155, when you want the current Clifton and you have read that the stack and the drop on that page match the 10, and the listed weight went up. Leave both if what you wanted was a plated workout shoe. This site lists both at 7.9. Those are editor scores on this shelf. The Bondi sits with the rest of max cushion. The Clifton sits with the rest of daily trainers.