We wanted to approach this question a little differently by providing different categories for the different mattress types and then different budgets. From there, we will give some top picks and explain why we like them.
At the end of this article, you can see all the criteria we have for judging a mattress.
Best Mattress By Category
Memory Foam
There are a lot of really good memory foam mattresses out there, and there are a lot of really bad ones too. I could list about a lot of great options for you, but I thought I’d keep the list limited. Here’s a few that I think represent great value.
Multiple Good Options: Amerisleep
High-End: Loom & Leaf
Innovative: Layla
Budget: Addable
Amerisleep
Amerisleep has a line of memory foam mattresses that have different firmness levels and different feels (see more HERE). If you don’t believe there is one best mattress for everyone, then Amerisleep might be a good company to check out. Their memory foam is faster-responding than typical memory foam. That means you get good pressure relief without the feeling of getting stuck. They also do an excellent job of keeping their mattresses cool, maybe more so than any other memory foam mattress company. The mattresses are well constructed and are available at great prices.
Loom & Leaf
Loom & Leaf offers you the opportunity to get a luxurious memory foam mattress that would normally cost 2-3x more in a retail store for a fraction of the cost. It uses quality components that should make the mattress an awesome value. They have also directly addressed the issue of sleeping hot in their construction and their mattress is faster-responding than normal memory foam, meaning you don’t have the feeling of getting stuck. Overall, it’s a great value.
Layla
If you are worried about getting the right firmness level for you, Layla might be a good option to take a look at. The mattress is flippable and has two firmness levels in one (a softer and a firmer side). The memory foam is also infused with copper. I can’t personally vouch for the claims made, but the copper is supposed to have certain health benefits. Overall, it’s a very innovative mattress, and at $899 for a Queen, it’s very reasonably priced as well.
Addable
Addable uses very high quality, durable foams in its construction (see more HERE). Because it spends almost no money on marketing and other overhead, it is able to price its product at an incredibly low level. At $499 for a Queen, you would be hard pressed to find a better deal on the market. You can pay more to get a more luxurious mattress, but at this price it’s impossible to beat the quality of Addable.
Latex
Latex is becoming an increasingly popular category because it offers some of the benefits of a foam mattress without some of the drawbacks. There’s different subcategories within the latex category that all offer something different.
Synthetic Latex: Brooklyn Bedding
Natural Latex: Zenhaven
Latex Hybrid: Ghostbed
Brooklyn Bedding
Brooklyn Bedding has a well constructed mattress that features two inches of talalay latex over two inches of dunlop latex in the comfort layer. The support layer is high-density polyfoam. The mattress is durable and has great pressure relief while being resilient at the same time. Because the latex is synthetic, the mattress is priced at a very affordable level ($750 for a Queen). They also offer different firmness levels too. Overall, it’s a great mattress for someone wanting a quality latex mattress at an affordable price.
Read our Brooklyn Bedding review
Zenhaven
If you are looking for an all-natural latex mattress, Zenhaven is a great choice. It uses natural latex throughout the mattress. That makes it a great option for people wanting a product as close to organic as possible. It’s also flippable, meaning you get two firmness levels in one. All the materials are very durable, so it should be a long-lasting mattress. At $1,899, it’s actually a great value considering how expensive natural latex mattresses usually are.
Ghostbed
Ghostbed uses a latex over memory foam construction. That means you get pressure relief without the feeling of getting stuck or getting too hot while sleeping. They use quality materials, so the mattress should last longer than many other similar mattresses. At just under $750 for a Queen (using a coupon), it’s a great value and one of the best choices out there at that price range.
Innerspring
Innerspring is still the most popular mattress type and is the feel most people are familiar with. There are a lot of good options out there, but I thought I’d list out just a few good ones to make things simple.
Side sleepers: Winkbeds
Back/Stomach sleepers: Saatva
Budget: Aviya
Winkbeds
Winkbeds has a luxurious construction that features a coil-on-coil design that you normally only see in mattresses much more expensive. The foam on top of the coils is pretty soft, and as a result you get good pressure relief on your shoulders and hips when you sleep on your side. In my opinion, it’s a quality mattress that is well suited for side sleepers. It’s only $1,299 for a Queen.
Saatva
Saatva also has a luxurious construction, and it has a history of great reviews over a number of years now. The mattress is well constructed, and in my opinion it is a little bit firmer than average. For me, that makes it an ideal mattress for most people who sleep on their back or stomach. At $999 for a Queen, the mattress represents an opportunity to get a great value.
Aviya
Aviya is another quality spring mattress that uses great materials but doesn’t charge a ton of money for its mattress. The foams they use are high-density and they use pocketed coils. You can get a Queen for as low as $799, making it an awesome option for those who are on a budget.
Read our Aviya mattress review
Best Mattress By Budget
Under $500
To me, I haven’t seen anything better than the Addable mattress under $500 for a Queen. They use materials that you see in mattresses 2.5-3x higher in price. They don’t spend any money on marketing or overhead, and they pass all those savings onto the consumer. It’s a gel memory foam mattress, so make sure that is the type of feel that you want. If so, I haven’t found any better value than the Addable to date.
Under $750
Ghostbed: If you use a $50 coupon (which is typically available), then it’s just under $750 for a Queen. The Ghostbed uses quality, durable components that really make the mattress a great value. It’s a latex over memory foam hybrid that does a good job of staying cool. If you want a foam feel with good pressure relief and without the feeling of getting stuck, this is a good choice. It’s an awesome value given how affordable it is.
Under $1,000
Helix: If you aren’t quite sure what type of mattress you want to get, then Helix might be a good option to take a look at. It allows you to get a mattress completely customized to your needs and preferences. You’ll take a quiz that asks you what your height, weight, sleeping position, preferred firmness, etc. are. Based on the answers to those questions, you’ll get a customized mattress. The company uses good materials as well, so overall it’s a pretty intriguing option. A Queen comes in at just under $1,000, so I think it’s a great option if you’re in this price range.
Read our Helix mattress review
Purple: Purple has a unique comfort layer. It has a hyper-elastic polymer gel grid instead of foam. This comfort layer is great at relieving pressure and is also much more durable than foam. It also sleeps temperature neutral, which is a big selling point for a lot of people who are sensitive to sleeping hot. There’s a lot to like about this mattress, and at the moment you can get a Queen for $999, which is a great deal.
Read our Purple mattress review
Under $1,500
We think a top candidate to be the best mattress under $1,500 is the Sapira mattress. The Sapira mattress can definitely be considered a luxury mattress. It is also a hybrid mattress that aims to combine the best aspects of foam and spring. The comfort layer has high-density performance foam which is durable and responsive. It also has a layer of high-density memory foam for great pressure relief. The support system is a heavy-duty coil system that is top of the line. It has amazing edge support and is very durable. Overall, you get great pressure relief as well as great support. A Queen is just under $1,500, so it’s definitely one of the best options around that price level.
Read our Sapira mattress review
Under $2,000
Zenhaven: It is very hard to find mattresses that use natural materials. It is even harder to find mattresses that use natural materials and are still affordable. To get a natural mattress, you need a natural latex mattress. Sourcing natural latex is very expensive, so as a result natural latex mattresses are typically very expensive. By cutting out the middleman in the process, Zenhaven is able to offer a natural latex mattress at a price much lower than you would find at a retail store.
Aside from using natural materials, the mattress is also flippable, meaning it has two firmness levels in one. This means you have a great chance of getting a firmness level that’s right for you. Overall, it’s a great mattress that will last a very long time and represents a great value.
If you Just Aren’t Sure
If you really don’t know what you want, I would take a look at Helix. Helix offers you the opportunity to get a fully customized mattress. You fill out a series of questions and they will make a mattress that is customized based on your answers to those questions. If you sleep with a partner, you can actually customize each side of the mattress. For those reasons, this could be an interesting choice if you really just don’t know what mattress you should get.
Read our Helix mattress review
Factors We Look At
There are a number of factors that we look at when doing our reviews. Some of the factors are objective and others are more subjective. Here’s a quick list of what we take a look at.
- Value– There are multiple ways to assess the value of a mattress. If the company spends a ton on overhead and marketing, then the product is probably going to be priced higher than it could be otherwise. If the materials are not durable, then the product won’t last long and it won’t be a good value. We take a look at the quality of the materials and assess the company’s business model. We then look at the price being charged and are able to make a good assessment of the overall value of the mattress.
- Feel– Feel is a subjective thing. Some people, for example, love memory foam while others can’t stand it. Rather than saying one type of feel is better than another, we assess the feel, describe it in detail, show it off, and try to point you in the right direction. Ultimately, you will have to make the assessment for the type of feel that you think is best for you.
- Firmness– Firmness is also a subjective measure. We’ll give our take on what we think the firmness is and we’ll demonstrate it via video. However, take our assessment with a grain of salt because it is such a subjective measure. One person might think a mattress is firmer than average, while someone else might think the same exact mattress is softer than average.
- Motion Isolation– If you sleep with a partner, then motion isolation should be an important factor to consider. This simply means, if your partner shifts around in bed, will you feel the motion? Some mattresses are great at isolating motion, while others are not so great.
- Company Reputation– It’s important that a company treat its customers well. We take a look at things like the company’s trial period, return policy, and overall customer service. We have seen some companies do things like not honor their return policy or make it as hard as possible to return their product. We want to help you avoid companies like that, so we do a deep dive into this area to make sure you buy a product from a company you can trust.
- Matching Marketing Claims To Reality– Mattress companies are known for making big claims about their product. In some cases the claims are true and in others they are big exaggerations. We try to do our best to assess how accurate the claims made by the companies are.
- Quality Of The Materials– There are some objective things you can assess about the quality of the materials used in each mattress. Durability, for example, is directly affected by the density of the foams used in the mattress. We do a full analysis of the quality of the individual materials used in each mattress.
- Sleeping Hot– This is a huge factor for a lot of people. Lots of people are especially sensitive to sleeping hot. We take extra time to assess this aspect of the mattress and give extra points to companies that directly address this issue.
- Transparency– In some cases, we understand why a company might not want to be fully transparent about its products, but we do greatly favor companies who are in fact 100% transparent about their products. Providing all the details of the mattress assures consumers that they can know exactly what’s in their mattress.
- Return Rate– No company ever publicly discloses their return rate. We try to prod the company, however, to privately give us this statistic so we can make sure it is at a reasonably low level. Having a low return rate is of course a great way to know that customers are loving the product.
- Overall Philosophy– Rather than simply saying “this mattress is great” or “this mattress is terrible,” we recognize that this is a fairly subjective process. As a result, we simply try to point you in the right direction by categorizing each mattress and saying what type of sleeper might like it.
Detailed Best Mattress Articles
If you know which mattress type you are looking at, what your budget is, or what your sleeping style is, then you can take a look at the more detailed articles we’ve written on those subjects.
- Best memory foam mattress
- Best latex mattress
- Best innerspring mattress
- Best mattress for side sleepers
- Best mattress for sex
- Best mattress for couples
- Best mattress under $500
- Best mattress under $1,000
- Best mattress under $2,000
- Best mattress for the money
- Best hybrid mattress
- Best mattress for heavy people
- Best cooling mattress
- Best soft mattress
- Best mattress for stomach sleepers
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