16 Brands Like Native Shoes for Eco-Friendly Footwear
You bought the slip-ons because they weigh nothing, rinse clean under a tap and survive a beach, a school run and a supermarket floor without complaint. Then you tried to find a second pair in a different shape, and everything else in the eco-footwear aisle turned out to be a $200 leather sneaker with a recycled shoelace.
That gap is what this list fills. Native Shoes built its name on injection-moulded EVA, and the Jefferson slip-on is still the shoe most people picture. The 16 brands below sit next to it in some useful way: light, washable, vegan, plant-based or recycled. We've verified every price and every material claim on the brand's own site, and where a brand makes no environmental claim at all, we say so instead of inventing one.
Quick comparison: prices below are the current full price on each brand's own store, in the currency that store charges. Two of these labels sell in euros, so we've left the figures as they appear instead of converting them.
| Brand | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Allbirds | $100 (Tree Runner) | Wool and eucalyptus knits, closest all-day feel |
| Veja | From $140 | A sneaker that reads as fashion, not gear |
| TOMS | $60 (Alpargata) | Cheap, soft slip-ons with a giving programme attached |
| Everlane | Mid-range | Flats and boots more than sneakers |
| Rothy's | Premium | Machine-washable shoes you can wear to an office |
| VIVOBAREFOOT | Premium | Wide toe box and a sole thin enough to feel the pavement |
| Saola | $129.95 | Bright, casual sneakers with recycled and bio-based uppers |
| Nisolo | $99 to $149 | Leather shoes made to be resoled, not replaced |
| Blundstone | $209.95 (vegan Originals) | Boots that outlast the trend cycle |
| Koio | $265 | Italian-made leather sneakers, no eco claim attached |
| ETQ | €129 to €249 | Stark, logo-free Dutch minimalism |
| SAYE | €150 (M89 Icon) | Plant-leather sneakers in a retro silhouette |
| Soludos | $149 (Ibiza Classic) | Espadrilles and holiday shoes |
| Teva | Mid-range | Sandals with recycled straps and an EVA midsole |
| Nothing New | $89 to $160 | Recycled canvas sneakers with a take-back scheme |
| 8000Kicks | $129 | Waterproof hemp and algae-foam soles |
Allbirds
Allbirds is the closest match on this list for the way a Native pair feels underfoot, and the Tree Runner ($100) is where most people start. The upper is a eucalyptus-fibre knit, the Wool Runner ($110) swaps it for merino, and both are built to be worn without socks and thrown in a wash.
Where it differs from Native is the material story. Native moulds a single-piece EVA shell, so a Jefferson rinses under a tap and dries in an hour. An Allbirds knit is softer and warmer and takes a full day to dry, which makes it the better office shoe and the worse pool shoe.
Worth knowing before you shop: stock is patchy right now. Of 250 styles on the site, 91 have a size available, so the colour you want may not be there in your size. Best for: a wool or plant-fibre knit when you want something warmer than moulded foam. We've written a longer piece on shoe brands like Allbirds if this is the direction you're heading.
Veja
Veja is the French sneaker label you've seen on every commuter train, and its US store starts at $140 for the Etna in suede or leather. The silhouette is flat, low and unbranded except for the side V, which is why it reads as a wardrobe piece.
Against Native, Veja is a different proposition entirely. You're buying a leather or suede sneaker with a structured sole, not a foam clog, so it's heavier, it isn't washable, and it costs more than twice as much. What you get back is a shoe that works with tailoring.
Best for: the one pair you'd wear to something smarter than a barbecue. If you want the full picture on this brand and its competition, we cover it in brands like Veja.
TOMS
TOMS sells the cheapest comfortable slip-on here, with the classic Alpargata at $60. It's a soft canvas upper on a thin rubber sole, so it packs flat and weighs almost nothing, which is the practical overlap with a Native pair.
The giving model has changed and the old "One for One" line no longer describes what the brand does. TOMS now reports $200M+ given in grants and shoe donations since 2006, directed at children's education and health through partners including Save the Children. That's a cumulative total the brand publishes itself, not a share of each sale.
Best for: a $60 warm-weather shoe you won't mourn when it wears through. Our shoe brands like TOMS roundup goes deeper on the alternatives in this price bracket.
Everlane
Everlane still sells shoes, but the shape of that range has shifted and it's worth knowing what you'd find. The women's collection runs to roughly 250 listings split across flats, boots and sandals, while sneakers are down to a single style, The Day Sneaker, which has been sitting on markdown.
Everlane prices shift depending on the country you shop from, so check the figure on your own storefront before you commit. The range sits in the mid-range bracket, below Koio and above TOMS.
The overlap with Native is the flat, unfussy silhouette. These are leather and suede shoes with no moulded-foam equivalent. Best for: a plain leather flat or a low boot to sit alongside your slip-ons.
Rothy's
Rothy's answers the one thing that keeps people loyal to Native: you can put the shoes in a washing machine. The brand describes its own range as washable shoes and bags made with recycled materials, and the knit uppers are the reason both halves of that claim hold.
The look is the difference. Rothy's makes pointed flats, Mary Janes, loafers and clogs, so this is the pair you wear to a meeting where moulded EVA would be a step too far. It sits at the premium end of this list, above Saola and below Koio.
Best for: a washable shoe with a smart shape, especially if you commute and your shoes take a beating. Sizing runs whole sizes only on several styles, so check the fit guide before you order.
VIVOBAREFOOT
VIVOBAREFOOT builds shoes around foot mechanics instead of cushioning, and the Primus Lite is the model that gets recommended most. The sole is 2mm thick and flexible, the toe box is wide enough for your toes to splay, and the brand makes the Primus Lite IV with recycled vegan materials.
That thin sole is the whole point and also the catch. Coming off a cushioned shoe, your calves will tell you about it for a fortnight, and the brand's own guidance is to build up mileage slowly instead of switching overnight.
Against Native, both brands give you a light, unstructured shoe. VIVOBAREFOOT charges premium prices for the biomechanics and the durability, so it's the choice when foot health is the reason you're shopping. Best for: anyone who wants a wide toe box and can commit to the transition period.
Saola
Saola makes recycled and bio-sourced sneakers at $129.95 for its core styles, including the Cali and the Quito, with plenty of colours dropping to the $65 to $85 range on sale. The brand describes its shoes as eco-designed and made with recycled and bio-sourced materials, and it names wildlife conservation as the cause it funds.
Of everything here, Saola is the most direct swap for a casual Native pair. The prices land in the same neighbourhood, the styling stays casual, and 130 of its 135 listings have stock, so you can find your size.
Best for: a colourful everyday sneaker with a verifiable recycled-content story at a fair price. If you like Native's brighter colourways, this is the brand that gets closest to them.
Nisolo
Nisolo sells leather shoes made to last years, from the Bria Go-To Court Sneaker ($99) up through the Emma d'Orsay Oxford ($139) and the Emilia Cap Toe Oxford ($149). Boots and sandals run higher, with the Huarache Bootie at $228.
On certification, the site displays a Leather Working Group badge, which grades the tanneries that supply the leather, not the company that stitches the shoe. That's a real thing to know about the supply chain, and it's a narrower claim than a brand-level certification.
The contrast with Native is stark, because this is stitched leather instead of moulded foam and it asks for polish instead of a rinse. Best for: a pair of leather shoes you'll resole instead of replace.
Blundstone
Blundstone has a fully vegan Chelsea boot, and it's the one most people miss. The Originals #2115 and #2116 ($209.95) are built on the same last as the leather #500, and the brand's own product copy calls them fully vegan.
Blundstone is the outlier on this list because nothing about the shape recalls Native. What carries over is the pull-on ease: no laces, no fuss, on and off at a door. Leather Originals run $209.95 to $284.95 depending on the model, so the vegan pair sits at the bottom of that range instead of commanding a premium.
Best for: winter, when a slip-on made of foam stops being a serious option. Our brands like Blundstones guide covers the boot field in more depth.
Koio
Koio is the luxury entry here, with the Monza Suede Sneaker at $265, handcrafted in Florence from Italian calf suede with leather accents and lined in calf nappa. That's the description from the product page, and it's worth reading carefully, because it describes craft, and says nothing about the environment.
Koio does list a Vegan 01 Sneaker in its catalogue, though it's out of stock at the time of writing. Beyond that, the brand doesn't put a recycled-content or plant-based claim on its core range, and we'd sooner tell you that than stretch one.
Against Native this is a different purchase, at four times the price for a shoe you'd resole. Best for: one Italian-made sneaker instead of three cheap pairs.
ETQ
ETQ is an Amsterdam label selling stripped-back leather sneakers in euros, from the TP 03 Essence (€129) through the LT 01 Court Lite in nubuck (€169) to the MC 01 in full-grain leather (€249). No logos, no contrast panels, mostly single-colour uppers.
The link to Native is visual. Both brands strip a shoe down to one clean shape, though ETQ gets there with cut leather and Native gets there with a mould.
Two practical notes. Prices are charged in euros, so a US shopper picks up the conversion and any duty. And the catalogue is deep, with 241 of 250 listings holding stock, so the size you want is likely to be there. Best for: a plain white or all-black leather sneaker with nothing written on it.
SAYE
SAYE is a Barcelona sneaker brand making vegan uppers from plant sources, and the M89 Icon (€150) is its signature. The cactus-leather version of the same shoe runs €150 too, and the higher M82 Core sits at €170. Sale colourways drop to around €105.
If you've hit a dead SAYE link, it was an old domain and not a closure. The brand trades at sayebrand.com with 174 of 184 listings in stock, and it's PETA-approved vegan across the range.
The retro tennis silhouette puts it closer to Veja than to Native, and the pricing lands between the two. Best for: a plant-leather sneaker when you want the Veja shape without the Veja price. Prices are in euros, so budget for the conversion.
Soludos
Soludos sells espadrilles and canvas sneakers, with the Ibiza Classic Sneaker listing at $149 and the Ibiza Platform at $159. Discounting is heavy and constant, and plenty of colourways sit at $29 to $59 as final sale, so the number you pay is often a third of the list price.
The overlap with Native is warm-weather ease. A jute-soled espadrille and a moulded EVA slip-on solve the same problem, which is a shoe you can put on without thinking and wear on sand.
Soludos doesn't publish a material breakdown on its current product pages, so there's no jute or organic-cotton figure to hold it to. Best for: cheap holiday shoes, bought on sale, worn for a season or two.
Teva
Teva makes the sandal version of the Native argument, and the Original Universal is the shoe to know. Teva's own product page says the straps are made from 100% REPREVE recycled plastic, on a moulded EVA midsole, with a hook-and-loop closure you can adjust at four points.
That EVA midsole is the same family of material Native moulds its shoes from, which is why a Teva pair feels familiar: light, quick-drying, unbothered by water. The strapping system is what a slip-on can't do, holding your foot through a river crossing or a long descent.
Teva doesn't show prices to a browser it can't identify, so check the figure on the product page yourself. The range sits in the mid-range bracket. Best for: summer, water and anywhere a closed shoe would be miserable.
Nothing New
Nothing New builds canvas sneakers from recycled material and runs a take-back scheme, with the Kicks at $89, the Classic Low Top at $95, the DayDrift at $120 and the leather-alternative Deluxe at $160. The brand launched in 2019 and says each pair uses 100% post-consumer recycled plastic certified to the Global Recycled Standard.
This is the second brand on the list whose old links go nowhere. The shop trades at nothingnew.com, with 222 of 231 listings in stock, so a dead bookmark says nothing about the company.
Of the sneaker brands here, this one shares the most with Native's actual argument: take waste, mould or weave it into a shoe, take it back at the end. Best for: a plain canvas low-top with a genuine recycled-content certification behind it.
8000Kicks
8000Kicks makes the most unusual shoe on this list, and the Trekker ($129) is the one to look at. The spec sheet reads waterproof hemp upper, recycled polyester lining, hemp insole and Algae Bloom EVA soles, which the brand publishes on the product page itself.
Hemp is the pitch and the performance. The upper sheds water without a plastic membrane, and the wide-toe-box version gives your toes room to spread, which puts this brand somewhere between Native's easy fit and VIVOBAREFOOT's foot-shape thinking.
The algae-foam sole is the closest anyone gets to Native's own bio-based EVA experiments. Best for: a waterproof everyday shoe that isn't made from petroleum-based plastic. Sizing runs slim on the standard model, so take the wide fit if you're between sizes.
How to Pick Your Next Pair
Start from what your Native pair does that you can't give up. If it's the rinse-and-dry, go to Rothy's or Teva, because washability is the thing they build for. If it's the weight, Allbirds and Saola get closest at a similar price. If it's the low-fuss shape and you want it in leather, ETQ and Nisolo are the two to compare.
One more thing, on the eco question. Recycled content, plant leather and vegan uppers are three separate claims, and a brand can hold one without the others. We've named which brand makes which claim on its own site, and said plainly where a brand makes none, so you can decide what you're paying for. Browse the rest of our brand guides when you're ready for the next pair.
If you purchase through our links, we may receive a commission. Our editorial team is independent and only endorses brands we believe in.
Written by
Spencer Lanoue
