CRZ YOGA vs Lululemon: Is the Budget Dupe Really Close to Align?

Most people should buy the CRZ YOGA Butterluxe: on day one it is very close to Lululemon Align, and the gap only shows up over a year, at the waistband and in hot rooms. If you're deciding whether the cheaper legging is close enough, the details below show where Align still earns its price.

We wore both for a year: a black CRZ Butterluxe and a black Lululemon Align 28", each twice a week, washed the same way and worn to the same classes. Below is how they compare on fabric, waistband, opacity, colours, sizing, what the year did to each, and cost per wear. For the wider field of Align alternatives, see our Lululemon dupes on Amazon roundup; this piece is CRZ against the original.

Which one to buy

Buy CRZ YOGA Butterluxe if you want the Align feel for far less and don't mind replacing it every year or so. Buy Lululemon Align if you want the lightest, coolest legging of the two, a waistband that still looks new after twelve months, and Lululemon's returns if the fabric fails. For most people, most of the time, CRZ is the right answer.

Day one, CRZ and Align feel like siblings. Month nine, Align still looks like Align and CRZ looks like a well-loved dupe.

Fabric: nearly identical in the hand, lighter on the leg in Align

Put a hand inside each and the first impression is almost the same: a soft, brushed, matte knit with a faint peach-skin finish. Butterluxe is a nylon and spandex blend made to imitate Nulu, and it does. (Check the percentages on the tag of either: the FTC's textile labeling rules require every fibre to be listed by weight, largest first.) The softness, the light compression and the way the fabric folds rather than creases are all there.

Hold them up to a window and the difference shows. Align is thinner and lighter; Butterluxe has a little more weight and body. On the leg, Align feels cooler and airier, especially behind the knee, and Butterluxe a little warmer. In a 60-minute flow neither bothered us. In a 90-minute heated class the extra weight of Butterluxe was noticeable, and Align was the more comfortable of the two.

Construction is closer than the price gap suggests. Both have a gusset and few side seams, and CRZ's stitching is flat and clean; Align's is slightly finer.

Align wins on fabric, by a margin most people won't feel until the room is hot.

Waistband: where a year separates them

Both use a wide, unlined band of the main fabric that sits high and folds flat. On day one they behave the same: no rolling, no digging, nothing to adjust in a forward fold.

By month six, CRZ's band had started to relax. It wasn't rolling or slipping, but the top edge had softened and the band sat a touch lower after a wash than before. By month twelve it had a faint wave in the mirror and needed a hitch after a deep squat. Align's band, washed the same way, was flat and even at the end of the year.

This is the most important difference between them. A legging you keep adjusting is a legging you stop reaching for, and the CRZ band is what ages first. Align wins this clearly.

Opacity: CRZ is the safer buy in pale colours

The extra weight that costs CRZ in a hot room helps it here. In a full squat in pale grey, Butterluxe stayed opaque where a pale Align showed the outline of underwear seams. In black, both were fully opaque in every position we tried, including a wide-leg forward fold under studio lights.

If you want sage, oat or dusty pink, buy it in CRZ. If you buy Align, buy it dark. Our squat-proof leggings guide explains the test we use.

Colours: CRZ has far more on Amazon

Butterluxe is available in around forty shades on Amazon at any one time, from black, navy and charcoal to the muted studio palette Alo made popular and some saturated brights. Align's range is wide in Lululemon stores, but on Amazon it narrows to a handful of core colours per inseam, and the seasonal shades sell out.

If you like tonal sets, CRZ makes it much easier to match a bra and legging in the same shade, and you can buy several colours of CRZ for the price of one Align.

Sizing: both true to size, but Align goes bigger

Both run true to size. CRZ's size chart is accurate, its XS to XL covers roughly Lululemon's 2 to 12, and the 25-inch and 28-inch inseams match Align's. Take your usual size in either.

One nuance: Butterluxe has a little more stretch recovery on the first wear, so if you are between sizes and want a snugger fit, size down in CRZ. Don't size down in Align; the fabric is too thin to take being stretched past its design. Above a Lululemon 12, only Align fits, and for some readers that settles it.

If you want the same softness with more hold for training, look at CRZ's newer Butterlift line; our Butterluxe vs Butterlift page explains the difference.

What a year of wear did to each

Twice a week, cold wash, inside out, hung to dry, for fifty-two weeks.

The Align came out with the fabric still light and soft, no fading in black and a flat waistband. It pilled at the inner thighs and in a small patch on one hip where a bag strap rubbed. No thinning, no sheerness. It looks like a well-cared-for Align.

The CRZ came out slightly less soft than new but still pleasant, with no fading, thinning or sheerness, and noticeably less pilling at the thighs than the Align. The waistband had relaxed, with a faint wave at the top edge and a tendency to need a hitch after squats. It looks like a legging that has done a year's honest work.

Neither failed, and both are still in rotation. Laid side by side, though, you would know which one cost far more. Align looks better after a year; CRZ's fabric wore better. Our how to wash workout clothes guide has the care routine that got both this far.

Cost per wear

Two wears a week is 104 wears a year.

Align's longer life narrows the gap but doesn't close it. Even if Align lasts three years and CRZ one, replacing the CRZ every year keeps the running cost competitive, and you get a fresh waistband each time. What you pay extra for with Align is the feel and the label, not better value. We run the same sums for the Wunder Train, the Energy Bra and the Metal Vent Tech in Is Lululemon Worth It?.

Looks: you won't tell them apart across a room

Both are plain, matte, high-rise leggings with no logo on show, which is the point of a dupe. Align's finer fabric drapes a little better and looks slightly more expensive in daylight. CRZ's extra body photographs better because it smooths more. Nobody at the coffee shop will know which is which.

CRZ vs Align at a Glance

If you are this, buy that

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CRZ YOGA Butterluxe the same fabric as Lululemon Align?

No, but it was designed to feel like it. Both are brushed nylon and spandex knits. Nulu is lighter and cooler; Butterluxe is slightly thicker and more opaque. In the hand they are very close.

Does CRZ YOGA run small?

No, Butterluxe runs true to size. Take your usual size, and size down only if you are between sizes and want a snugger fit.

How long do CRZ YOGA leggings last?

In our testing, about a year of twice-weekly wear before the waistband relaxed enough to need adjusting. The fabric itself was still fine. Align lasted longer at the waist but pilled sooner.

What about CRZ Naked Feeling versus Butterluxe?

Naked Feeling is CRZ's older Align dupe: lighter and smoother, closer to Nulu's weight but less soft. Butterluxe is the closer match in feel; Naked Feeling is the better choice if you run hot.

Is Lululemon Align worth paying more for than CRZ?

For most people, no. Align is worth it if you practise in heated rooms, hate adjusting a waistband, or wear above a Lululemon 12. Otherwise CRZ gets you very close for far less.

How we'd split the money

CRZ YOGA Butterluxe is the closest thing to Lululemon Align at a budget price, and for the first six months most people wouldn't notice the difference. Over a year, Align pulls ahead on the waistband and in hot rooms, and falls behind on pilling and on opacity in pale colours.

Buy CRZ in a few colours and expect to replace it. Buy Align once, in black, and expect it to last. For the full field of Lululemon alternatives, see our best workout leggings guide.