Brooks Ghost Max 4 vs Ghost 18 (2026)
Ghost Max 4 is Brooks’s official max-cushion, lower-drop road shoe. Ghost 18 is the official daily trainer with a 10 mm drop. This is not a remake of our daily-trainer best-of.
Disclosure: PickedFitness is reader-supported. Some links on this page are affiliate links, and we may earn a commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. This never affects which products we recommend or how we rank them. How we make money.
How this page was made: this is a research-based guide built from manufacturer spec pages, official prices and published findings from the outlets we name and link. We haven’t tested these products ourselves, and we don’t invent scores. Our methodology.
Quick answer
Choose Brooks Ghost Max 4 ($165) if you want official max-cushion language, a 6 mm drop and the $165 Ghost Max 4. Choose Brooks Ghost 18 ($150) if you want the official $150 Ghost 18 with a 10 mm drop as a daily trainer or you want the closer official-drop neighbor to Pegasus 42 or GTS 25.
Last updated Prices checked Nov 2026
Check Brooks Ghost Max 4 price (opens in a new tab)Check Brooks Ghost 18 price (opens in a new tab)
Key facts at a glance
| Brooks Ghost Max 4 | Brooks Ghost 18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (official, Nov 2026) | $165 clearly listed. A “null” token also appeared in the extract; we do not invent a second colorway price | $150 official |
| Drop and listed weight | 6 mm drop; 10.3 oz / 292.0 g on the official men’s page | 10 mm drop; 10.2 oz / 289.2 g on the official men’s page (official women’s Ghost 18: 9.2 oz / 260.8 g) |
| Official category language | Max cushion, with official copy that names a rocker and soft/dynamic cushioning. Official uses include daily and long runs, walking and orthotics. Official upper: 57.6% recycled materials | Official daily-trainer Ghost — the cushioned neutral shoe we already cover on the daily-trainer page, not a max-cushion model |
| How this sits next to other official shoes from the same day | A different tool from official Pegasus 42 ($145, 10 mm) and official Ride 19 ($145; official weight and drop were not in the Ride extract) | Closer in job and official drop to Pegasus 42 and to official Adrenaline GTS 25 ($124.95 sale / $155 regular, 10 mm, 10.6 oz) than Max 4 is, because those are 10 mm daily or stability trainers, not 6 mm max-cushion shoes |
We compared official men’s Ghost Max 4 and official men’s Ghost 18 pages, both fetched November 10, 2026, plus official Nike Pegasus 42, Brooks Adrenaline GTS 25 and Saucony Ride 19 pages fetched the same day. A second-brand official max-cushion page we tried (Saucony Triumph 22 at one product URL) returned 404 the same day, so this stays a same-brand max-cushion versus daily-trainer decision rather than an invented two-brand max-cushion best-of. Confirm live size, width and colorway price before you buy.
Choose official Brooks Ghost Max 4 at $165 if you want the current official max-cushion Ghost with a 6 mm drop and a listed men’s weight of 10.3 oz / 292.0 g, plus official copy that names a rocker and soft/dynamic cushioning for daily or long runs, walking and orthotics. Choose official Brooks Ghost 18 at $150 if you want the current official daily-trainer Ghost with a 10 mm drop and a listed men’s weight of 10.2 oz / 289.2 g (women’s official 9.2 oz / 260.8 g). The official Max 4 extract also contained a “null” price token; we only use the clearly listed $165 and do not invent a second colorway price. We have not wear-tested these shoes, and we don’t give scores.
Brooks Ghost Max 4 vs Brooks Ghost 18: side-by-side
| Brooks Ghost Max 4 (men’s official page) | Brooks Ghost 18 (men’s official page) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (official, Nov 2026) | $165 clearly listed. A “null” token also appeared in the extract; we do not invent a second colorway price | $150 official |
| Drop and listed weight | 6 mm drop; 10.3 oz / 292.0 g on the official men’s page | 10 mm drop; 10.2 oz / 289.2 g on the official men’s page (official women’s Ghost 18: 9.2 oz / 260.8 g) |
| Official category language | Max cushion, with official copy that names a rocker and soft/dynamic cushioning. Official uses include daily and long runs, walking and orthotics. Official upper: 57.6% recycled materials | Official daily-trainer Ghost — the cushioned neutral shoe we already cover on the daily-trainer page, not a max-cushion model |
| How this sits next to other official shoes from the same day | A different tool from official Pegasus 42 ($145, 10 mm) and official Ride 19 ($145; official weight and drop were not in the Ride extract) | Closer in job and official drop to Pegasus 42 and to official Adrenaline GTS 25 ($124.95 sale / $155 regular, 10 mm, 10.6 oz) than Max 4 is, because those are 10 mm daily or stability trainers, not 6 mm max-cushion shoes |
What are the pros and cons?
Brooks Ghost Max 4: pros
- Clear official $165 price with published 6 mm drop and 10.3 oz / 292.0 g listed weight
- Official max-cushion and rocker language, including walking and orthotics as named uses
- Official 57.6% recycled-materials figure for the upper
Brooks Ghost Max 4: cons
- Higher official price than Ghost 18 ($165 vs $150)
- A “null” token appeared in the official extract; we only trust the clearly listed $165
- A 6 mm official drop is a different ride from the 10 mm official Ghost 18 — try it on if drop matters to you
Brooks Ghost 18: pros
- Lower official price: $150, with a published 10 mm drop and 10.2 oz / 289.2 g listed men’s weight
- The current official daily-trainer Ghost, with a women’s official weight also already documented
- Official 10 mm drop lines up with official Pegasus 42 and official GTS 25 drops from the same day
Brooks Ghost 18: cons
- Not the official max-cushion Ghost — if you specifically wanted Max 4’s 6 mm / max-cushion label, this is the other shoe
- We still have not wear-tested it, and we don’t give scores
- A daily trainer is not a stability shoe; official GTS 25 remains the stability sibling if that is the job
Which should you choose: Brooks Ghost Max 4 or Brooks Ghost 18?
Choose Brooks Ghost Max 4 if…
- You want official max-cushion language, a 6 mm drop and the $165 Ghost Max 4
- You care that the official page names walking and orthotics among intended uses
Choose Brooks Ghost 18 if…
- You want the official $150 Ghost 18 with a 10 mm drop as a daily trainer
- You want the closer official-drop neighbor to Pegasus 42 or GTS 25
Who should skip this
- Shoppers who wanted a two-brand max-cushion best-of. A Saucony Triumph 22 official URL we tried returned 404 the same day, so we did not invent a second-brand max-cushion pick.
- People comparing Ghost 18 with Pegasus 42 as daily trainers. That is a separate page.
- Runners who needed an official trail shoe. See road versus trail; we did not turn this into a trail guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ghost Max 4 just a heavier Ghost 18?
Why didn’t you include a second max-cushion brand?
Sources
Pricing and plan details were checked on the official pages below as of Nov 2026. Vendors change prices, credits and plan names often, and some show regional pricing at checkout, so confirm on the vendor’s site before you buy.
- Brooks Ghost Max 4 official men’s page (fetched Nov 10, 2026) (brooksrunning.com)
- Brooks Ghost 18 official men’s page (fetched Nov 10, 2026) (brooksrunning.com)
- Nike Pegasus 42 official men’s page (fetched Nov 10, 2026) (nike.com)
- Brooks Adrenaline GTS 25 official men’s page (fetched Nov 10, 2026) (brooksrunning.com)
- Saucony Ride 19 official men’s page (fetched Nov 10, 2026) (saucony.com)
Related
The best daily-trainer running shoes (2026)
A daily trainer is the shoe you can run most of your weekly miles in. We compared three current official models we could actually open: Brooks Ghost 18, Nike Pegasus 42 and Saucony Ride 19.
comparisonNike Pegasus 42 vs Brooks Ghost 18 (2026)
These are the current everyday road trainers from Nike and Brooks: Pegasus 42 at $145 regular, Ghost 18 at $150. Both advertise a 10 mm drop. The useful difference is in the official midsole story, a colorway sale, and what a 2026 lab test measured in a men’s US 9.
best ofThe best stability running shoes (2026)
A stability shoe is a support decision, not a score. We compared two current official models we could price: Brooks’s Adrenaline GTS 25 and Saucony’s Guide 19.
comparisonCarbon-plated shoe vs daily trainer (2026)
A carbon-plated racer is a race-day or workout tool, not a quieter daily trainer. Official prices, advertised drop and a 2026 lab measurement make that split clearer than a marketing name.
guideRunning shoe rotation guide (2026)
A rotation is more than one official current pair used on different days. Official replacement-interval pages still apply to each pair. This is not a scored ranking and not a remake of our stability-versus-neutral comparison.