FerdY, ANZZI, Empava, and WOODBRIDGE Freestanding Tubs: A Side-by-Side Spec Comparison for the $700–$1,400 Budget

You finally pulled the trigger on a freestanding tub — the kind that sits out in the open on the bathroom floor, unattached to walls, and becomes the visual centerpiece of the room. Unlike a drop-in or alcove tub (the standard three-wall surround most of us grew up with), a freestanding tub needs floor space on all sides, its own freestanding faucet or a deck-mount hole, and a drain rough-in that lines up within a few inches of the tub’s actual drain location. Get those details wrong and you’re staring down a 200-pound return shipment and a restocking fee that stings. This guide exists so you don’t have to learn that lesson firsthand. We’ve dug through published spec sheets, aggregated owner reviews, and installation documentation for four brands that dominate the $700–$1,400 price corridor — FerdY, ANZZI, Empava, and WOODBRIDGE — and turned the noise into a clear decision framework.

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What You’re Actually Comparing at This Price Point

Before the brand-by-brand breakdown, a quick materials primer, because the material determines almost everything else: weight, warmth retention, repairability, and long-term durability.

Acrylic tubs are formed from vacuum-pressed acrylic sheets reinforced with fiberglass backing. They’re lightweight (most run 60–90 lbs dry), easy to manufacture in dramatic sculptural shapes, and straightforward to repair with acrylic polish kits if they scratch. The trade-off: thinner acrylic flexes underfoot, can creak, and loses heat faster than denser materials. All four brands in this guide offer acrylic models; it’s the dominant material in this price tier.

Stone resin (sometimes marketed as “composite resin” or “solid surface”) is a blend of crushed natural minerals — often limestone powder or quartz aggregate — bound with a resin matrix. It’s heavier (often 150–300 lbs dry), more rigid, and holds heat meaningfully longer than acrylic. It also commands a price premium even within this budget tier. WOODBRIDGE and ANZZI both offer stone resin variants; FerdY and Empava are primarily acrylic-focused brands at these price points.

This distinction matters for your project in two immediate ways: first, your floor structure may need to be evaluated for a stone resin tub — a 300-lb tub filled with water and a bather approaches 700-plus lbs total, and older joists or tile-over-OSB subfloors deserve a structural second look; second, stone resin tubs are nearly always special-order and carry longer lead times, which matters if you’re working against a general contractor’s schedule.

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The Four Brands, Head to Head

FerdY: Best Price-to-Appearance Ratio

FerdY has built a strong position in the value-acrylic segment. Their flagship freestanding models — most between 55 and 67 inches in length — are manufactured from glossy white acrylic with a fiberglass-reinforced shell. Published specs across their most popular 67-inch oval model list a dry weight around 77 lbs, a water capacity of approximately 52 gallons, and an acrylic shell thickness that hovers at the thinner end of the category (around 6–8mm per spec documentation).

What owners report: Aggregated owner feedback on Houzz Q&A threads consistently flags two themes. First, FerdY’s drain placement is unusually centered for an oval tub — closer to the middle of the tub floor than the end-drain position most plumbers expect. If your drain rough-in is already stubbed at the end-wall position, you’ll need an offset drain kit or a plumber visit to re-route. Second, owners praise the gloss finish and the price-to-appearance ratio; this tub photographs well for its cost. Complaints cluster around flex in the tub floor and the hollow sound when water hits an unfilled tub — both acrylic-class behaviors, not defects.

Faucet note: FerdY tubs are typically sold without pre-drilled faucet holes, meaning you’ll need either a freestanding floor-mount tub filler (the floor-standing column style) or a wall-mount faucet with a longer spout reach. Budget an additional $150–$400 for a compatible floor-mount filler if you haven’t already.

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ANZZI: The Finish-Variety and Material-Upgrade Option

ANZZI sits one step up in build quality perception and price. Their acrylic models are structurally similar to FerdY at the entry tier, but ANZZI’s stone resin line — particularly their Talyah and Lydia series — represents a genuine material upgrade. The Talyah’s published spec sheet lists a dry weight of approximately 171 lbs and wall thickness of 0.6 inches, which is meaningfully more rigid than fiberglass-backed acrylic.

The ANZZI value proposition is finish variety and pre-drilled faucet hole options. Several ANZZI models come with a single pre-drilled deck hole for a faucet, which gives you the option of a deck-mount tub filler — a cleaner look in smaller bathrooms where a floor-mount filler column would crowd the space. As noted in Bob Vila’s coverage of best freestanding bathtubs (Bob Vila, “Best Freestanding Bathtubs,” bobvila.com), ANZZI is among the few brands in this price range offering that configuration consistently.

Trade-off to name explicitly: ANZZI’s customer support and warranty claim process draws mixed reviews in aggregated owner feedback on Houzz. The manufacturer warranty is typically one year on components, which is short relative to brands like Kohler or American Standard in higher tiers. If your project is a rental property or high-use scenario, factor that in.

Drain position: ANZZI specifies drain location in their product PDFs — always cross-reference the published drain coordinates against your rough-in location before your plumber closes the subfloor.

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Empava: Spec-Forward Value With Bundled Accessories

Empava is best understood as a spec-forward value play. Their freestanding tubs trend toward contemporary silhouettes — flatter bottoms, straighter sides, more rectangular than oval — and they frequently bundle in extras that competitors charge separately for: pop-up drain assemblies, overflow covers, and occasionally a handheld showerhead attachment.

Published dimensions on Empava’s 67-inch acrylic models spec out at approximately 67 inches by 29 inches by 23 inches, with a dry weight around 79 lbs. Wall thickness in product documentation runs 0.28–0.35 inches (approximately 7–9mm), which is on par with mid-range acrylic construction.

What owners report: Per aggregated Houzz reviews, Empava owners are generally positive about finish consistency and packaging — tubs arrived undamaged at a higher rate than owners expected for the price. The more frequent complaint is that Empava’s installation instructions assume a level of plumbing familiarity that DIY-first-timers don’t always have. The documentation is thin, and the drain assembly can be confusing without a plumber present.

The included-accessories trade-off: The bundled drain and overflow hardware Empava includes is functional but not upgrade-path friendly. If you later want to swap in a polished nickel drain to match a Brizo or Hansgrohe faucet finish, you may find the flange sizing doesn’t match standard aftermarket drain covers cleanly. This matters more than it sounds if you’re specifying finish continuity across the entire room. Plan to source aftermarket drains separately if finish matching is a priority.

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WOODBRIDGE: Installation Predictability and the Widest Owner-Review Base

WOODBRIDGE is arguably the best-known brand in this tier, appearing across every major retailer at price points from $800 to $1,300 depending on model and configuration. Their B-0006 and B-0034 series in acrylic have the broadest install base of any brand in this comparison, which means the largest pool of real-world owner feedback to draw from.

Per This Old House’s editorial coverage of freestanding tub buying considerations (This Old House, “What to Know Before Buying a Freestanding Tub,” thisoldhouse.com) and consistent Houzz owner commentary, WOODBRIDGE’s primary strength is installation predictability. Drain location is end-mounted and specified clearly in their documentation. The tub skirt sits flush to the floor, simplifying the caulk line. Published acrylic wall thickness on their standard models is approximately 8mm, with a fiberglass reinforcement layer.

WOODBRIDGE also offers a stone resin composite line — the B-0092 and similar models — at the upper end of this budget tier. Dry weight on stone resin WOODBRIDGE models is documented at approximately 220–264 lbs depending on the specific SKU, and owner reviews consistently note the noticeably different feel underfoot versus the acrylic line: more solid, less flex, quieter when filling.

The WOODBRIDGE trade-off: The brand’s ubiquity means finish and style options are limited to what’s in mass retail inventory. If you’re specifying matte white, brushed gold fittings, or a non-standard silhouette, you may find WOODBRIDGE’s catalog constraining relative to ANZZI’s wider style range.

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By the Numbers

Brand	Material	Dry Weight (typical)	Wall Thickness	Drain Position	Faucet Hole Pre-drilled?	Tier
FerdY	Acrylic	~77 lbs	~6–8mm	Center (verify per model)	No	ANZZI — $719.99
ANZZI (acrylic)	Acrylic	~82 lbs	~7–8mm	End	Some models yes	FerdY — $989.99
ANZZI (stone resin)	Stone resin	~171 lbs	~15mm / 0.6 in	End	Yes (select models)	FerdY — $989.99
Empava	Acrylic	~79 lbs	~7–9mm	End	Some models yes	FerdY — $989.99
WOODBRIDGE (acrylic)	Acrylic	~79–85 lbs	~8mm	End	No	FerdY — $989.99
WOODBRIDGE (stone resin)	Stone resin composite	~220–264 lbs	~18–20mm	End	Select models	65” — $1,538.00

All weights and dimensions sourced from manufacturer-published spec sheets current as of Q1 2026. Verify dimensions against your specific model SKU before ordering.

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The Installation Details That Make or Break a Budget-Tier Tub

The National Kitchen and Bath Association’s Bathroom Planning Guidelines with Access Standards (2021 edition) recommend a minimum of 6 inches of clearance on each side of a freestanding tub and at least 18 inches at the foot of the tub for adequate access. In a 5-by-8-foot bathroom, a 67-inch tub leaves very little margin — measure the available floor area before you order.

Drain rough-in offset is the most common installation surprise in this category. Your plumber’s drain stub-out is in a fixed location. The tub’s drain hole is where it is. If those two don’t align within 6–8 inches, you need either a flexible P-trap extension or the plumber returns to re-rough. FerdY’s centered drain position is the most frequent mismatch — confirm your stub-out location before selecting that brand.

The ADA Standards for Accessible Design, Section 607 Bathtubs, published by the U.S. Department of Justice at ADA.gov, clarify that if this tub is going into a space with any accessibility requirement — a primary bath for an aging-in-place situation, or a rental property subject to fair housing guidelines — a freestanding soaking tub is generally not a compliant bathing fixture configuration. A built-in tub with a seat, grab bar blocking, and a low threshold is the code path. This isn’t a knock on freestanding tubs; it’s a constraint worth naming explicitly so it doesn’t surface during a home sale or a fair housing inspection.

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The Decision Rule

If you’re still choosing between these four brands, here’s the framework distilled from everything above:

If floor load is a concern — older construction, tile over OSB, or a second-story bathroom without engineered joists — stay with acrylic. WOODBRIDGE acrylic is the lowest-risk choice for installation predictability, given the volume of real-world install feedback available.

If heat retention and the tactile feel of a denser material matter to you, and your floor structure can handle 700-plus lbs of loaded tub, ANZZI stone resin or WOODBRIDGE stone resin are the two credible options in this budget. ANZZI gives you more silhouette variety and finish options; WOODBRIDGE gives you more owner-review data to lean on before committing.

If you’re specifying finish continuity across a full fixture package and the drain hardware finish needs to match a specific faucet line, look hard at Empava’s drain hardware compatibility before committing, or plan to source aftermarket drains separately from the start.

If budget is the primary constraint and visual impact is the goal, FerdY delivers the best price-to-appearance ratio in this group — provided your drain rough-in position is compatible with their centered drain spec and you’ve already budgeted for a floor-mount tub filler.

No brand in this tier is a perfect product. They’re all manufactured to a price point, and that shows in varying ways — in wall thickness, in documentation quality, in warranty terms. The readers who walk away satisfied are the ones who matched the right tub to the actual constraints of their project before the freight truck showed up.