Best Value Foil
$2200
Slingshot Dwarfcraft 100cm board
AXIS 1150 + Short fuse + 460 Stab + 75cm Mast
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I've tried hundreds of foils in this category and reviewed many on YouTube. If you want to dock start, pump and surf small wakes, this is the best value. It's one of the most popular setups and it's less than half the price of the high performance products. Choose a longer board (100-120cm) for easier tow up or a shorter board (80-100cm) for easier dock starts. I like 100cm. Choose the 910 front wing if you want to surf more than pump. Choose the 1150 if you want to dock start, pump, and surf small wakes, like 10+ wakes back or even a jet ski wake. The aluminum mast is plenty stiff and will save you some money. At these "slower" speeds the extra drag doesn't bother me. Enjoy the best wake thief experience for the lowest possible price.
Best Freefoil
$5900
​The Beta Freefoil packs best in class endurance, longer flight times, easier starting and a compact split front wing that allows for easy transport in the included travel bag. It's exceptionally lightweight, made possible by precision engineering and the highest quality materials, hand made in Canada. I achieved many firsts with this product. My personal best flight time is 28min of continuous non-stop flight. My longest flight day is 18km, with stops along the way. I believe it's the most efficient foil there is and it's the easiest foil to learn to dock start with. This product allowed me to explore nature by water, stopping and relaunching from rocks and beaches along the way. It gave me the freedom to go places I couldn't have imagined, even a year ago. Enjoy this high tech masterpiece that is unlocking the sport of freefoiling.
Best Performance Hybrid Foil
$14500
​Lift is the OG electric foil company, and has revolutionized our sport with the introduction of the LIFTX, a lightweight efoil assist that combines the fluidity, speed and control of classic foiling with the ease and comfort of electric foiling. Use the battery and motor to cruise out to the waves with ease. Use the motor to pop up onto the wave, and ride the wave with the motor and propeller out of the water. This gives the same great feeling of classic foiling, with only a bit more weight. If you're in your forties, fifties, sixties, and maybe even your seventies, and dreamed of surfing an ocean wave, this might just be the missing link.
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I like the 4'8" board. Short enough to be nimble and long enough to still be easy to get up. The high mount is recommended for advanced riders and the low mount is recommended for beginners.
Join us on a surf camp in Puerto Rico (see Camp section of website) and save $1000 on LIFTX with "prsurftrip" discount code.
Best Budget Electric Foil
$6500
Waydoo EVO Performance Plus 90L / G1100 wing / 45Ah battery / 27” Mast
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I've reviewed efoils from all of the major brands. Efoils are expensive. This one launched in 2024, at a much lower price point. It packs luxury performance at a budget price. It also has new tech. Its self-leveling feature removes one more variable you have to master when learning and it's fun for advanced riders too. The G1100 wing is the ideal size, and the bigger battery will provide longer flight times. The 27" mast isn't so long that the foil is far away and hard to control, yet it's not so short that I keep touching the board down to the water. Enjoy an amazingly high performance product at a budget price. This is what my kids and I like to ride.
Best Performance Electric Foil $15000
Flite Black Pro carbon board, Jet C80, Cruiser Jet 1500C Wing, Explore Battery
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Flite combines luxury design with high performance. Flite is one of the most popular efoil brands, with a long and rich history as a pioneer in this sport. The Pro is my favorite board. A longer board is easier to learn on, but we expect most will wish they went shorter. Any shorter than this and it's quite hard to get flying and the lower swing weight (inertia) just isn't worth it, as the weight is battery dominated (not board dominated). The Jet 1500C wing has a nice mix of speed and fluidity, yet still has easy and stable takeoff. The jet feels safer to me, eliminating a moving prop. The Explore battery provides some of the longest flight times in the industry. Enjoy this work of art.
Best Budget Hybrid Foil
$5500
Foil Drive came into existence a few years back. It allowed foilers to turn their classic foil setups into efoil assists that help you get up onto the wave and fly with the prop out of the water. This gives the feeling of classic foiling in its purest form. Since then, they've launched Gen 2. No more battery on the top of the board. And no visible power cord running from the prop to the battery. It's slick. If you're looking to learn this sport or, if you're like me and looking to enjoy riding an ocean wave with a bit of help, this product is for you. When I go to the ocean, it allows me, with zero surfing experience, to ride waves I never thought possible. Enjoy this transformational piece of technology that lets beginner riders feel like an advanced rider.
Best High Performance Foil $4400
Armstrong WKT109 board + APF1880 wing + 725 mast + 202 tail + TC60 fuse
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In 2024, I crowned this foil my favorite, among the ~20 we reviewed in the 12 months leading up to testing. Its precision design and use of high quality materials makes it very lightweight for its size. I was surprised and impressed at how well it handled. If you're looking for the best foil to dock start, pump and ride small wakes behind a jet ski (or distant wakes behind a boat), look no further. We believe this is the best wake thief foil, if you don't have a budget. It's the best money can buy.
Financial Disclosures
We want to be transparent, so we disclose all of our financial interests. We've tried 400+ foils and shared our experiences in 100+ videos. Our recommendations are based on our desire to help viewers navigate the buying process, by recommending the best products in each category. ​
Wake Thief has affiliate arrangements with many major brands (AXIS Foils, Takuma, Fliteboard, Lift Foils, Indiana Foils, Bbtalkin, and Vibram) and three major retailers (MACKiteboarding, REAL Watersports, and Green Hat Kiteboarding). I am also a minority owner of Beta Foils, a foil brand focused on the freefoiling category.
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When viewers use the links and coupon codes we share in the videos and on this website, we earn a commission from one of these above partners. We believe that our broad and diverse list of affiliate partners helps to eliminate bias from our recommendations because we can earn a commission from nearly every major brand.​​
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