What’s the Best Service Boot for Your Budget? (2025)
Updated 2025
For more than the last decade, the Service Boot has been one of the most popular styles of footwear available. Getting it’s name from servicemembers of the military, the Service Boot is a military-inspired piece of footwear at it’s core. That being said, over time we’ve seen changes and improvements that make these boots better for every day life.
What exactly qualifies as a service boot is fuzzy. However, in general a service boot is going to have a few key features:
Specifically, a service boot will typically have a lower shaft, open laces, a thinner toe – either plain or cap, a low block heel, and a thin outsole for a boot. Some great workwear boots – such as the Red Wing Iron Ranger and the Alden Indy – don’t make the cut here.
If service boots are not your style, check out our list of the Best Penny Loafer for Your Budget, and the Best Oxford for Your Budget.
Let’s dive in and look at our picks for the best service boot in every budget.
What’s the best Service Boot under $200?
Winner: Thursday Boot Company Captain / Vanguard – $199 [Amazon] $199 [Thursday]
Golden Fox 6” Boondocker Service Boot – $89-145
While most of the brands have needed to increase their prices over time, this category still baffles me. With raw material costs rising in the double digits over the past few years, these brands have not passed any of that to the customer.
The winner here has to be the Thursday Captain. While I’m not as crazy about them as a lot of other reviewers, there is no doubt that they offer an increasingly insane value. The Captain doesn’t have the flashiest specs, but will do everything you ask it to do for under $200. At least for casual wear.
There is a lot to complain about when it comes to the runner up Golden Fox Boondocker. The single stitching around the color seems to fail on a lot of pairs, and the plastic welt will inevitably fail if you try to resole it more than once.
However, Golden Fox actually charges about $20 less for this boot now than they did when I first wrote this piece in January of 2021. This brand deserves some recognition. If you just want to try the style, it’s hard to pick anything else.
What’s the best Service Boot under $400?
Winner: Helm Zind – $295
Truman $390-550
In what used to be the most heavily populated price point, there are only a couple choices here that are worth considering.
The Helm Zind comes in at well under $400. While not as overbuilt as some other options on this list, it has a great sleek shape that fits the design that most people are looking for in a service boot. Even better, since Helm set their price at $295, they’ve kept it steady. Even as other brands continue to raise prices. Full review here.
While I have only had less-than-stellar experiences with Truman personally, I have to admit. At this point, their price point is becoming increasingly appealing. They are the most affordable made-in-USA service boot at this point. With interesting designs, it might be worth rolling the dice on a pair.
What’s the best Service Boot under $600?
Winner: Oak Street Bootmakers Trench – $498+
Grant Stone Diesel – $435
Oak Street Bootmaker’s Trench Boot (also available in a Cap Toe for slightly more) is definitely a more rounded take on a service boot pattern, but the brand actually has more bona fides in this space than almost any other choice. Many of their patterns, leather choices, and more are pulled directly from old military catalogs. I also personally find their last to be among the most comfortable available.
Oak Street Bootmakers is also the first Made-in-America boot on this list. Further, they consistently take the extra steps to show supply chain visibility.
Another great pick is the Grant Stone Diesel. While I personally prefer the design of the OSB Trench Boot, Grant Stone offers a more refined look at a lower price.
What’s the best Service Boot under $900?
Winner: Viberg Service Boot – $880+
White’s MP – $720+
Was there really any other choice here?
If you looked up “service boot” in the dictionary, there would be a 2030 last Viberg boot in brown Horween leather. Most would say that their 2010 collaboration with Four Horseman was the genesis of the recent demand for this style of boot.
I could wax lyrical about their design, but Stitchdown already did so. Check out their nearly 30-page long essay here. If you’re interested in thoughts on specific models, we’ve taken a look at the Tochigi Cowhide version, and the Workshoe Horsebutt version too.
Sure, there are boots that are built better than these, even for less money, but nothing is as classic as this. If you’re looking to buy a service boot, and have at least $900, get this.
In the event Brett Viberg kicked your dog and you refuse to buy anything from them, the other option in this price point is the White’s MP. I personally love my pair, but if you’re specifically looking at a service boot, it’s hard to beat the king.
What’s the best Service Boot over $1,000?
While Viberg makes the quintessential service boot, they are not perfect. For some, the Viberg just won’t do – be it because they are looking for impeccable build quality, more human labor involvement, or a better fit. Since everyone’s reason will be different, it’s hard to determine a best, but here are a few great choices if price is not a major concern.
Human Involvement: Kreosote – $2,600+
While it might not matter in a durability sense, there is no doubt that owning something that took hours by finely crafted hands feels special. If this is something that appeals to you, Kreosote might be something to take a look at. Kreosote is a brand that is entirely made by one man, who spends more than 50 hours on each pair. Considering that it’s more than a full week’s worth of labor to make a pair, and the cost of the materials could easily run several hundred dollars, $1,400 starts to seem like a pretty good deal. Others seem to agree, as the waiting list for a pair is now a staggering 26 months.
Top-end Construction: Clinch (Brass Shoe Co) – $1,408+
Clinch branded boots are built with an attention to detail that most people will never even see on someone else’s feet. Stitching will be tight and even throughout, and you can expect no unwanted blemishes at all on the leather. If you’re sick of companies telling you that mistakes and ugly creasing come with the territory, these boots might be for you.