Compared to desktop PCs, laptops have fewer ports, smaller screens, and compact keyboards...but it doesn't have to stay that way.

A laptop docking station takes up only one port on your laptop but converts your portable device into a fully-fledged desktop productivity machine.

Here are the best laptop docking stations available today.

Our Favorite Laptop Docking Stations in 2023

Kensington SD2500T Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station
Kensington SD2500T
Best Overall

A versatile docking station with support for Thunderbolt 3

$175 $191 Save $16

With 11 ports, the Kensington SD2500T comes out on top as a great all-rounder. You've got USB-A, USB-C, Gigabit Ethernet, and more, along with support for 60W PD.

Pros
  • Plenty of ports
  • Supports up to 8K monitors
  • Charges your laptop
  • Supports USB-C laptops
Cons
  • Lower power delivery than competitors
  • Lacks HDMI; only features DisplayPort

The Kensington SD2500T Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C Dual 4K Hybrid Nano Dock with 60W PD is a dual monitor docking station that supports two external displays up to 4K resolution at 60Hz or a single 8K display at 30Hz. It uses DisplayPort connectivity, making it a perfect choice for high-resolution screens and high-refresh-rate gaming monitors.

As the name suggests, this dock is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C laptops and delivers up to 60W of power to charge your laptop. It also offers a pair of DisplayPort ports, five USB ports (including one 10Gbps downstream USB-C port), SD and microSD card readers, Gigabit Ethernet, and an audio port at a price much lower than the competition.

Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma
Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma
Best Design

That's one good-looking docking station

$300 $330 Save $30

The Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma is stacked with USB-A and USB-C ports, with the latter supporting the latest Thunderbolt 4. It also supports passthrough charging up to 90W, providing plenty of power to powerful laptops.

Pros
  • Nine ports for peripherals
  • Three downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports
  • Charges your laptop
  • Solid all-aluminum build
  • Customizable RGB lighting
Cons
  • No DisplayPort or HDMI
  • Short warranty

The Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma is a powerful laptop docking station suited for gaming and productivity setups. It transforms a single Thunderbolt 4 port on your laptop into nine ports, including three Thunderbolt 4 downstream ports. There is a UHS-II SD Card Reader, three USB-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and an audio jack.

The dock is well-built with an all-aluminum chassis and features the signature Razer Chroma Underglow to add a sweet ambiance to your desk. You can customize and sync the RGB lighting to match your gaming accessories.

In terms of productivity, the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma supports dual 4K displays at 60Hz or a single 8K at 30Hz via Thunderbolt ports. It can charge the most power-hungry notebooks on the market, thanks to its impressive 90W Power Delivery. The dock is compatible with Mac and Windows 10 PCs with Thunderbolt 4 or 3 ports.

a twelve south staygo usb docking station featuring usb-c cables
Twelve South StayGo
Most Practical

Equally useful at home as it is on the road

$75 $100 Save $25

The Twelve South StayGo strikes a nice balance between portability and a permanent device on your desk. It's slim, durable, and offers a solid selection of connectivity options like 4K HDMI and SD/microSD ports.

Pros
  • Slim and portable
  • Good travel companion
  • Includes two USB-C to USB-C cables
  • Durable aluminum casing
Cons
  • Doesn't effectively charge iPads

Considering its dimensions, the Twelve South StayGo is comparable to a small smartphone but about as thick as your average external SSD. It's still relatively thin and compact, but more importantly, the aluminum casing gives it excellent durability.

What's truly impressive is how diverse the ports are on the Twelve South StayGo. You get not one but three USB-A ports, one of which provides 7.5W of power. It also features a single USB-C that supports up to 85W of passthrough charging, which is plenty for most Windows and Apple devices.

The Twelve South StayGo doesn't stop there, though. Its HDMI port allows you to hook up a 4K display, but keep in mind it's limited to 30Hz. On the other end is a Gigabit Ethernet port and two additional ports for both SD and microSD cards. With its range of available ports, impressive performance, and sleek design, this dock proves to be equally useful for travel or as a permanent device on your desk.

Plugable UD-3900 Dual Display Universal Docking Station
Plugable UD-3900 Dual Display Universal Docking Station
Best for Productivity

When one monitor isn't enough

$100 $130 Save $30

When you want to exceed a single monitor or even two, the Plugable UD-3900 Docking Station is the perfect solution. Thanks to HDMI and DVI, you can extend your laptop to multiple monitors for better productivity.

Pros
  • Affordable
  • Plenty of ports
  • Good display resolution
  • Solid performance
Cons
  • Does not charge your laptop
  • Doesn't support 4K

The Plugable UD-3900 Dual Display Universal Docking Station is one of the most affordable docking stations on the market, offering 11 ports of connectivity with support for dual monitors at less than half the price of some premium options. It's a great choice if you want to extend the number of USB-A ports on your laptop or connect external monitors for maximum productivity. With its vertical design, the dock takes up less space on a desk, giving you more room for other accessories.

Connecting the dock provides access to a variety of ports, including HDMI, DVI, dual USB 3.0, four USB 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and audio input and output jacks. With the HDMI and DVI ports, you can connect dual monitors with resolutions of up to 1920x1200. Even better, Plugable includes display adapters, allowing you to connect modern HDMI monitors or older displays with VGA inputs. Furthermore, this dock is versatile enough to be connected to either a USB-C or USB-A host laptop.

caldigit soho dock featuring hdmi, displayport, and usb-c
CalDigit SOHO Dock
Most Affordable

Perfect option for casual users

Whether using your laptop for work or casually, you can still feel the sting of not having enough ports. The CalDigit SOHO Dock provides decent connectivity options without hurting your wallet.

Pros
  • Up to 100W PD (90W for laptops)
  • Supports dual monitors
  • Up to 10Gbps data transfer
  • Supports Mac and Thunderbolt 4 devices
Cons
  • Only provides a handful of ports

If you're always on the go, you'll need a laptop docking station that's lightweight and durable. The CalDigit SOHO Dock has that in spades, and it also comes with a good set of ports and passthrough charging.

The CalDigit SOHO Dock is compact and rugged, thanks to its small form factor and aluminum chassis. The latter also helps dissipate heat, keeping the docking station cool. Given its dimensions, you'll have no problem sticking the SOHO into a backpack, purse, or travel bag.

What you'll find equally useful are the CalDigit SOHO Dock's available ports. It features 10Gbps USB-C and USB-A ports for high-speed performance, along with SD and microSD card slots and HDMI and DisplayPort for connecting high-resolution or high-refresh-rate displays. While it's a USB-C dock, it plays nicely with Thunderbolt 3 and 4 Macs and Windows laptops.

Microsoft Surface Dock 2
Microsoft Surface Dock 2
Best for Surface Devices

The ideal companion for your Microsoft Surface devices

$194 $260 Save $66

The Microsoft Surface Dock 2 is a massive upgrade for Surface Pros and Surface laptops, in general. You get a greater number of USB ports to use, and the Dock also doubles as a 120W power supply.

Pros
  • Seamless integration and compatibility with Surface devices
  • Charges your Surface device
  • Four 10Gbps USB-C downstream ports
  • Support fast charging on all Surface devices
Cons
  • Only compatible with Surface devices
  • No HDMI or DisplayPort

The Microsoft Surface Dock 2 is the best docking station for Surface laptops and tablets, offering a total of eight additional ports to turn your ultraportable device into a desktop PC. The dock connects to the host through the Surface Connect cable, so it only works with Surface devices.

At the front, you'll find two 10Gbps USB-C ports capable of 15W charging, ideal for quick-charging phones and tablets. There are two additional USB-C ports at the back that supports external displays up to 4K at 60Hz, two USB-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and an audio combo jack. The rear USB ports also support 10Gbps data transfer speeds and up to 7.5W of charging power.

The dock provides up to 120W charging power to the connected laptop, enough for powering any Surface device while running full throttle. Microsoft Surface Enterprise Management Mode (SEMM) also opens new ways to manage your docking station. For instance, you can turn off the ports or update the dock's firmware via Windows Update on your Surface laptop.

OWC Thunderbolt Hub
OWC Thunderbolt Hub
Best for Mac

Greatly expand the number of Thunderbolt ports on your Mac

$117 $130 Save $13

If you have a Mac laptop, you already know how few Thunderbolt ports are available. The OWC Thunderbolt Hub is the perfect solution, giving you four USB-C ports to use at the cost of a single Thunderbolt port.

Pros
  • Thunderbolt 4 support
  • Features four USB-C ports
  • Very tiny docking station
  • Also works with PCs featuring Thunderbolt 4
Cons
  • Limited to 60W charging

If you're hurting for more Thunderbolt 4 ports, the OWC Thunderbolt Hub has you covered. It doesn't just feature one or two extra Thunderbolt 4 ports, but four. On top of that, it comes with a single USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port that supports transfer speeds up to 10Gbps.

With so many Thunderbolt 4 ports available, the OWC Thunderbolt Hub can simultaneously support multiple monitors. For example, you can connect two 4K displays while still maintaining 60Hz, but if you so choose, you can stick to a single 8K monitor at 30Hz. Of course, they are just as useful for charging, allowing up to 60W of power delivery to your laptop.

Best of all, the OWC Thunderbolt Hub is quite friendly to older devices. Its Type-A port is backward compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. The Thunderbolt 4 ports are also compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 2, though you'll need an adapter for the latter.

Anker PowerExpand Elite 13-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock
Anker PowerExpand Elite 13-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock
Most Space Efficient

Great deal of connectivity options in a compact form factor

$280 $300 Save $20

You can never have too many ports, right? The Anker PowerExpand Elite is a productivity masterpiece, offering 12 ports for connecting various desk accessories while keeping your devices topped off with its 85W power delivery.

Pros
  • 12 downstream ports
  • Charges your laptop
  • 10Gbps USB-C ports with charging
  • Compatible with USB-C laptops
Cons
  • Huge power brick

The Anker PowerExpand Elite 13-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock is a well-rounded Thunderbolt 3 docking station. It's compatible with both Thunderbolt and USB-C laptops, offering 12 downstream ports for your peripherals. In addition, it provides 85W of charging power, which is enough to support full-speed charging on most laptops.

There are two 10Gbps USB-C ports at the front, along with a USB-A port, an audio in/out port, and SD and microSD card slots with support for SD 4.0 and UHS-II speeds. One of the USB-C ports supports 18W PD, which is ideal for fast-charging phones. On the rear, you get two Thunderbolt 3 ports, three additional USB-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and a 4K HDMI port.

With Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI ports, you can connect dual 4K 60Hz monitors to your laptop, significantly increasing productivity. If you're using a Windows laptop, you can take it further and use a splitter to connect up to three 4K monitors.

Dell D3100 USB 3.0 Docking Station
Dell D3100 USB 3.0 Docking Station
Best for Dell Laptops

Why, yes! You can connect three monitors to this docking station.

$102 $170 Save $68

What's better than one extra monitor? Three monitors. If you need to improve productivity, the Dell D3100 Docking Station allows you to connect three monitors to your Dell laptop.

Pros
  • Plenty of ports
  • 4K display support
  • HDMI and DisplayPort ports
  • Incredible value
Cons
  • Does not charge your laptop

The Dell D3100 USB 3.0 Docking Station allows you to connect up to three monitors to your Dell laptop, including one 4K and two Full HD monitors. It's made by one of the stalwart brands in the PC Hardware space, so you can rest assured that the performance will be reliable despite the lower price. The D3100 connects via a standard USB port, making it compatible with most Dell laptops.

Onboard, you'll also find three USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports for your external peripherals such as keyboard and mouse. There are two audio output ports and a Gigabit Ethernet port that supports Wake-On-LAN, which is ideal for corporate environments.

CalDigit TS3 Plus
Most Ports

There's no such thing as too many ports

The CalDigit TS3 Plus is the answer if you're looking for the greatest number of ports in a compact docking station. It has just about every port you need to greatly enhance your laptop.

Pros
  • 14 downstream ports
  • Charges your MacBook at full speed
  • Solid and sturdy design
  • Supports dual 4K external monitors
Cons
  • No HDMI ports

The CalDigit TS3 Plus is the best docking station for the MacBook Pro. It connects via Thunderbolt 3 and adds 14 ports to your Mac, including a Thunderbolt 3 port, DisplayPort, two USB-C, five USB-A 3.1 (Gen1), SD Card Reader, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital Optical Audio (S/PDIF), and Audio In and Out ports. The dock supports dual 4K external displays through Thunderbolt 3 and DisplayPort. It delivers up to 87W of power to support full-speed charging on the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models.

The digital audio port is a great addition for audiophiles, and there is also a UHS-II SD Card Reader and 10Gbps USB-C port for quickly transferring files. CalDigit went above and beyond to ensure this dock fits perfectly in the Apple ecosystem. It's one of the few laptop docking stations that support Apple's SuperDrive CD/DVD player. It's also compatible with the iPad Pro.

Choosing the Best Docking Station for Your Laptop

Finding the ideal laptop docking station for you comes down to the available ports and whether you want passthrough charging. The latter is especially useful as it eliminates the need to use two electrical outlets as opposed to one since the docking station is powering itself and your laptop.

Considering those factors, the Kensington SD2500T makes the strongest argument. It has excellent connectivity options, like USB-C, gigabit Ethernet, USB-A, and even SD card slots. While it features only DisplayPort as a traditional video option, you can still use the USB-C ports, which support up to 4K at 30Hz.

With that said, not everyone needs a vast number of ports. For a slimmer option, one that's better suited for general use, the CalDigit SOHO Dock is rock solid. You get a handle of USB ports, SD/microSD card reader, HDMI, DisplayPort, and 100W power delivery, of which 90W is available for laptops.

Kensington SD2500T Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station
Kensington SD2500T
Best Overall

A versatile docking station with support for Thunderbolt 3

$175 $191 Save $16

With 11 ports, the Kensington SD2500T comes out on top as a great all-rounder. You've got USB-A, USB-C, Gigabit Ethernet, and more, along with support for 60W PD.

Pros
  • Plenty of ports
  • Supports up to 8K monitors
  • Charges your laptop
  • Supports USB-C laptops
Cons
  • Lower power delivery than competitors
  • Lacks HDMI; only features DisplayPort