Only the height — but the height is everything. Stools are named for the surface they serve:

A counter stool has a seat around 600–680 mm (24–27 in), matched to kitchen counters and café worktops at roughly 900 mm (36 in). A bar stool seats at about 710–810 mm (28–32 in), matched to bar tops at roughly 1,050–1,100 mm (41–43 in). The rule that ties them together: comfortable perching wants 250–300 mm (10–12 in) between seat and the underside of the surface — enough for thighs, not so much that the counter reads as chin-height.

Buying the wrong class is the most common stool mistake and there is no styling around it: bar stools at a kitchen counter put knees into the worktop; counter stools at a bar leave guests reaching up like children. Measure the surface height first, subtract ~270 mm, and shop that seat height. Between the two classes sit adjustable gas-lift stools that span both — useful for mixed-height venues, with the trade-offs covered elsewhere in this FAQ.

Two boundary cases worth knowing: table-height stools (~450 mm) are simply backless chairs for standard tables, and spectator or drafting stools (850 mm+) serve extra-tall counters and standing desks. In venue fit-outs, order stools and counters together against a dimensioned drawing — the pairing, not the pieces, is what guests experience.

Work from the surface, not the stool catalogue. The arithmetic: seat height = surface height minus 250–300 mm (10–12 in) — the clearance a seated adult's thighs need under the counter's underside (measure to the underside including any apron or overhang rail, which steals clearance the tabletop figure hides).

Applied to the common surfaces:

• 900 mm (36 in) kitchen counter / café worktop → seat 600–650 mm (counter stool)
• 1,000 mm (40 in) raised counter → seat 700–750 mm (short bar stool)
• 1,050–1,100 mm (42–43 in) bar top → seat 760–810 mm (bar stool)
• 1,200 mm (47 in) poseur/spectator table → seat 900 mm+ (spectator stool)

The refinements that make the number work in practice: guests need roughly 150 mm (6 in) of side-to-side elbow room per stool beyond the seat width — plan around 600 mm of counter run per person, more with arms; a footrest (on the stool or a bar rail) belongs roughly 450 mm below the seat, and stools above 650 mm without one are fatiguing within half an hour; and overhangs of 250–300 mm let knees tuck under, without which even the correct height feels cramped.

For mixed or unknown surfaces, adjustable stools with a 150 mm gas-lift range cover the span. And when a listing gives only 'height', confirm it is seat height — overall height including backrest runs 300–500 mm taller and has misled many a buyer into stilts.

Each back height sets a different dwell time, and smart venues choose it deliberately:

Backless stools tuck fully under the counter, keep sightlines open, and make a tight room feel larger; they are also cheapest and easiest to store. Guests perch, drink, and move on — comfort horizon of thirty to forty-five minutes — which is precisely why high-turn bars, standing-adjacent counters, and food halls choose them. Their honest costs: nothing to lean on, harder for older guests, and coats end up on laps.

Low-back stools add lumbar support without visually filling the room — the hospitality sweet spot for most bar and counter dining. Guests settle for a full meal comfortably; the room keeps most of its openness; and stacking or tucking remains workable with many designs.

Full-back (and armed) stools declare that guests should stay: chest-height backs, upholstery, sometimes swivels with memory return. Comfort runs to multi-hour sessions — cocktail bars, chef's counters, hotel bars — at the price of footprint, weight, and cost. Arms add comfort and subtract density (wider pitch per guest) and must clear the counter underside when tucked.

The mixed strategy many rooms run: full- or low-back at the destination bar, backless at the service or waiting counter. Whatever the mix, in commercial use every variant needs the same non-negotiables — rated frames, footrests, and floor-protecting glides — because back height changes dwell, not duty.

Commercial stool life is decided at the joints, the seat edge, and the floor glide — materials rank by how they handle those three:

Metal frames — welded steel and aluminium — are the commercial backbone: they tolerate the twist-and-drag abuse of bar service, stack (many designs), and shrug off cleaning chemistry. Powder-coat finishes wear best; chrome shows scratches and corrodes at the first chip in wet service. Check welded (not bolted-only) joints and bolt-through footrests, which take a shift's worth of heel load.

Timber stools bring the warmth venues want and survive well when built for contract use: hardwood (beech, oak, ash) with glued-and-bolted joinery, stretchers between legs, and lacquered finishes. Domestic-grade softwood stools loosen at the joints within months of commercial twisting. Timber's weak point is the footrest rail — specify metal-clad or replaceable rails, since heels saw through bare timber in a year of service.

Upholstery on seats and backs: contract-grade vinyl and faux leather wipe down nightly and resist spills — the default for food service; fabric needs contract rub-ratings and stain treatment and still belongs away from the splash zone; leather ages beautifully in dry cocktail settings and suffers in wet ones. Foam should be high-density contract grade or seats hammock within a season.

Plastics and polymers (polypropylene shells, resin weaves for outdoor) are wipeable, light, stackable, and UV-stable in the right grades — the terrace and casual-counter answer.

Whatever the family: confirm a stated commercial weight rating (typically 120–160 kg), replaceable glides matched to the floor, and spare-parts availability — a stool line you can re-glide, re-bolt, and re-seat lives three times as long as a sealed design.

Both mechanisms are genuinely useful and both are the first things to fail on cheap stools — so the answer is: yes, in contract grade; no, in domestic grade dressed up.

Gas-lift adjustables solve mixed-height rooms (one stool spanning counter and bar), let guests self-fit, and suit venues that reconfigure. Their commercial reality: the gas cylinder, the plate weld, and the base ring all work hard under a hundred adjustments a week, and domestic-grade lifts sink, wobble, and spin loose within months of that. Contract-rated lifts (look for stated commercial certification and weight ratings) survive; even then, wet-area duty corrodes polished columns, and cleaning staff lifting stools by the seat accelerates wear. Where the venue's heights are actually uniform, fixed-height stools remain the more durable, cheaper, better-looking answer — buy adjustability for a reason, not as a default.

Swivels earn their place at bars and counters where guests slide in and out of tight pitches — the swivel is what makes a 550 mm pitch workable and saves floors from the drag-and-twist that kills glides. Memory-return swivels (spring back to face the bar) keep a room tidy without staff straightening stools all night. The trade-offs: a mechanism to maintain (bearings loosen and creak), more weight, and on lightweight frames a wobble point. Fixed seats win for terraces (wind plus swivel equals movement) and for minimalist designs where the mechanism housing spoils the line.

The specification shortcut for both: buy from contract ranges with named mechanism warranties (five years on lifts and swivels is available), and put a quarterly minute per stool into the maintenance list — tighten the seat bolts, check the base ring, spin the mechanism. Mechanisms maintained quarterly outlive the upholstery around them.

Divide the usable counter run by the pitch per guest — and be honest about both numbers:

Pitch: allow 600 mm (24 in) per backless or armless stool as the workable standard, 650–700 mm for armed or wide-seat stools, and no less than 550 mm even for slim swivelling perches (below that, guests touch elbows and one no-show gap becomes unusable). Swivel seats tolerate the tight end of the range because guests enter sideways; fixed wide seats do not.

Usable run: the counter length minus the service zones — till points, service hatches, beer-tap reach envelopes, wheelchair positions, and the corner dead zones where two runs meet (a guest cannot sit astride a 90° corner; allow one lost pitch per corner, or specify a curved section that seats it properly). Subtract door swings and walkway crossings; a stool backed into a traffic lane empties itself.

Worked example: a 4.2 m straight bar with one till zone (600 mm) and one corner nets roughly 3.0 m of seating run → five stools at 600 mm, four if armed. Resist the temptation to squeeze six: overcrowded stools suppress dwell time and drink orders — the opposite of the revenue the extra seat promised.

Two adjacent clearances complete the layout: behind the stool, keep 900 mm+ to the nearest table or wall so guests can dismount and staff can pass (1,200 mm on accessible routes); and at the ends, half a pitch of breathing room stops the end guest anchoring the service hatch. Fit-outs that draw stools on the plan at true pitch — rather than dropping them in later — get both the count and the comfort right first time.

Stools take more abuse per euro than any other seat in the venue — dragged, twisted, stood on, and splashed — so their upkeep is a short nightly habit plus a quarterly service:

Nightly: wipe seats and backs with the appropriate cleaner — mild detergent or venue sanitiser for vinyl and polymer; wrung-damp cloth only for fabric; never soaking timber joints. Lift, don't drag, when mopping beneath (dragging is what shears glides and loosens joints — a rule worth actually briefing, since it doubles stool life by itself). Check under seats for the night's gum and stickers while stools are inverted on the bar.

Weekly: clear the footrest rail of heel scuffs (magic eraser on powder-coat, metal polish on stainless rails); vacuum fabric seams; check glides for embedded grit that scratches floors — flip a suspect stool and run a thumb over each glide.

Quarterly (a minute per stool): re-tighten every visible fixing — seat plates, footrest bolts, stretchers; timber and bolted frames work loose as a class, and a quarter-turn now prevents the wobble that becomes a cracked joint. Spin swivels and test gas-lifts through their range; a creak gets bearing-safe lubricant, a sink gets a cylinder replacement order. Rotate stools between high- and low-traffic positions so wear spreads evenly, exactly like linen.

Retire or refurbish on standard: wobble that tightening no longer cures, torn upholstery (re-seat services cost a fraction of replacement on quality frames), failed lifts, and frame cracks. A contract stool line maintained this way runs five to ten years; the same line neglected delivers wobbly, creaking seats in two — and guests remember a wobbly stool longer than they remember the cocktail.