Manduka eKO vs YogaAccessories Extra Thick Deluxe: Which One Should You Buy?

GearLab ran both of these through the same 2026 protocol. The eKO finished second of 19 at 87 out of 100. The YogaAccessories Extra Thick Deluxe finished 14th at 56. Having both numbers from one test is more useful than any amount of marketing copy.

The prices are $114 and about $21.99. The YogaAccessories is a wholesale studio mat, sold in 36 colorways with custom printing available, which tells you who it was designed for.

That dry grip gap is the largest single difference between these two mats. The eKO’s textured natural rubber took the top dry score of the whole field; the YogaAccessories’ sticky PVC finish managed 5.5. Wet, it is 7 against 4.

You feel that in the first sweaty class. YogaAccessories describes its surface as super sticky, which holds in a cool room with dry hands and stops holding the moment your palms are damp. The eKO keeps working until you are genuinely dripping, at which point closed-cell rubber reaches its own limit.

At 6.2 mm against the eKO’s 5 mm, the YogaAccessories has more foam under you and it is much softer. Kneeling on tile is more comfortable, and for restorative practice that counts.

Standing is the reverse. Soft PVC compresses unevenly under one foot, which is why GearLab scored it 6.5 for comfort and support against the eKO’s 9. That category carries 35% of the total score, so it drives a lot of the gap.

The eKO is natural rubber made in Taiwan with over 30% recycled content in the current version. It is dense, well finished, and it holds up. GearLab’s 8 out of 10 puts it near the top of the field on construction.

Soft PVC foam flattens where hands and feet land and loses its texture, which is what a 5 out of 10 for materials describes. It is the expected outcome for a mat built to a $22 wholesale price, and it is why studios replace them on a schedule.

The eKO’s natural rubber odor is strong out of the wrapper and takes about two weeks of unrolled airing to settle. It is the mat’s most common complaint and the main reason its Amazon rating sits around 4.1 stars across roughly 700 ratings despite scoring 87 in an independent test.

The YogaAccessories has a milder PVC smell that fades faster, and GearLab gave it 6.5 for care and cleaning against the eKO’s 8. Plain PVC is genuinely easy to look after.

The YogaAccessories is 72″ long against the eKO’s 71″, so the cheap mat is the longer one. The eKO takes back the width at 26″ against 24″, and width is what you notice in wide-legged stances.

If you need more length from Manduka, the eKO Long is 79″ × 26″ for about $10 more. YogaAccessories sells this mat in one size only.

Manduka’s lifetime guarantee covers the PRO and PROlite lines, not the eKO, which gets a 30 day return window and nothing else. That catches people out who assume all Manduka mats are covered the same way.

YogaAccessories takes returns for 30 days on its own site. Its Amazon listing mentions a limited lifetime warranty that the company does not publish anywhere on yogaaccessories.com, so we would plan around the 30 days.

The eKO is natural rubber and is not suitable for anyone with a latex allergy. No amount of test score changes that, and it is the one scenario where the cheap mat is straightforwardly the right answer.

The YogaAccessories is PVC and is listed as free of latex, phthalates and heavy metals. If you need to avoid rubber, our eKO vs Gaiam Premium comparison covers another PVC option with an independent score behind it.

The YogaAccessories is built for buyers who need quantity. Studio loaner mats get used by strangers, cleaned constantly and swapped out on a schedule, so cheap and replaceable is the right call, and the custom printing option exists because studios want their name on them. As a spare, a guest mat or a first month of classes, it works fine too.

The eKO is for someone who already practices and has a specific complaint about traction. If you have never slid in down dog, much of what you would be paying for goes unused.

List prices are $114 and $21.99. Check the current price on the eKO and the YogaAccessories at Amazon, where the cheap mat holds about 4.5 stars across roughly 2,700 ratings.

Five YogaAccessories mats cost about one eKO. If you need five mats for a studio, that is the correct purchase. If you need one mat for yourself and you sweat, it is not.

Buy the YogaAccessories Extra Thick Deluxe if you need mats in quantity, want the extra length and padding, or are buying a first mat to see whether yoga sticks. Fifty-six out of 100 is a fair grade at this price.

Buy the Manduka eKO if grip is what you want. It scored 87 out of 100 and took the best dry grip in GearLab’s field, and the costs are weight, a rubber smell for a fortnight, and no warranty to speak of.