A kick scooter or push scooter is a small platform with two or more wheels that is propelled by a rider pushing off the ground. The most common  kick scooter today have two hard small wheels, are made primarily of aluminium and fold for convenience. Some kick scooters have 3 or 4 wheels, or are made of plastic, or are large, or do not fold. High performance trickster kick scooters made for adults resemble the old "penny-farthing" with much larger wheel in front.

Unlike a kick scooter , a bicycle has a seat and drive train, which bring more speed, cost, weight and bulk. At the end of a journey a folding scooter can be more easily folded and carried indoors than a folding bicycle or even a portable bicycle. Even a non folding scooter is easier to bring into crowded places, since it lacks pedals which jut out. Thus a cyclist has advantages on longer journeys and open spaces, while a kick scooter on shorter and more crowded ones. Kickers seldom have a luggage rack, so the rider usually carries any cargo by backpack or other bag.

At minimal speeds a bicycle is difficult to control while pedalling, which is why bicyclers sometimes kick their way through dense traffic or other conditions where they cannot take advantage of the speed of their machine. Thanks to the superior low-speed stability of a kicker, it is allowed on many footpaths where riding a bicycle is forbidden.

Since the feet are lower to the ground, it is easier to step on and off a scooter than even a step-through frame bicycle, hence the rider can alternate walking and pushing as energy and route dictate. Large wheel scooters such as the Kickbike afford a more effective cross training workout than standard bicycles as the whole body is engaged in the effort of kicking. Pushing or kicking a large wheel scooter places less stress on the knee joint than does pedalling a bicycle. Although the bicycle is an effective long distance machine, in 2001 Jim Delzer pushed a kick bike across the United States^.