Fortune Recommends™ Health is editorially independent. We may earn affiliate revenue from links in this content. Learn more .
Fortune Recommends™ is editorially independent. We earn a commission for purchases made from affiliate partners via some links on our site; other links are not affiliate partner links. Click here to read the full Fortune Recommends advertiser disclosure and how we earn commissions. Click here to read about our editorial policies and our methodologies. custom built mattress
Expert Verified by Dr. Raj Dasgupta, MD, FACP, FCCP, FAASM
Fact Checked by Krista Manning
We analyzed over 60 mattresses, focusing on performance, support, and comfort, and how well the mattresses measure up to their specific claims.
This article has been reviewed by Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a quadruple-board certified in pulmonary, sleep, internal, and critical care medicine and Dr. Heidi Moawad, a neurologist and professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Krista Manning uses her experience as a medical editor to fact-check this piece.
Memory foam mattresses are famous for their contouring effects that hug your body as you sleep. The high-density foam responds to your body and molds around you to help keep your neck, back, and hips in a neutral position to maintain spinal alignment. These benefits can promote a pain-free, restful night of sleep essential for your health and well-being. ( 8 ) If this sounds ideal, we’ve got you covered.
We’ve tested dozens of the best mattresses to help narrow your search to the best 11 memory foam mattresses available. We leaned into the expertise of our sleep science coaches, medical experts, and consumer experience to provide a meticulous assessment of each mattressed based on the quality and type of foam used, its ability to relieve pressure and provide support, and how well the cooling features measure up to their claims. Check out our detailed reviews below to help you find a memory foam mattress that matches your sleep needs.
The Helix Midnight stands out for its medium-firm feel, which provides universal comfort and accommodates a wide range of sleepers. The hybrid design offers optimal pressure relief and ideal support through memory foam and innerspring coils. Continue reading to learn why this mattress earned its spot as the best memory foam mattress overall.
The Helix Midnight’s hybrid design provides a medium feel, combining memory foam’s comfort and pressure relief with the support offered by innerspring coils. This balance and versatility create a comfortable sleep environment for all sleep styles.
The Helix Midnight tops our list because of its versatile design, which creates the perfect balance of comfort and support for all sleep positions. Helix is known for its customization, which allows sleepers to find the best mattress for their body type, sleep position, and preferences.
This mattress is engineered with a hybrid design that combines the comfort of memory foam with the support of innerspring coils. The memory foam layer at the top excels at providing pressure relief. Underneath, the contouring foam nicely cradles sleepers’ shoulders and hips, making this mattress an excellent choice for side sleepers.
The Helix Midnight boasts a medium firmness feel that can accommodate a wide range of sleep styles and body types. Notably, couples who prefer different firmness levels will appreciate that this mattress falls right in the middle to create a comfortable sleep environment for everyone. However, our testers found that this mattress didn’t perform as well in motion isolation as some competitors. If your partner tosses and turns frequently, you may experience more disturbances.
At the mattress’s core, individually wrapped steel coils provide a supportive feel as they move independently for maximum contouring and back support. The coils extend to the perimeter on each side of the mattress to provide reinforced edge support so you can sleep near the edge without feeling like you’ll slip off.
Regarding cooling, the Helix Midnight has a breathable knit cover that helps increase airflow. If you sleep hot, you may choose to add the GlacioTex™ pillow top for added comfort and enhanced cooling. This upgrade will cost an additional $400.
The high-quality materials used in its construction are durable, so you will enjoy the comfort of this mattress for years to come. Thanks to its combination of comfort, support, and durability, this mattress impressed us in the memory foam category and as one of the best mattresses overall.
“I immediately felt relief in my back and hips, where I typically have a lot of stored pressure. This is a significant benefit for anyone managing chronic pain in the lower lumbar area.”
The DreamCloud hybrid mattress provides luxurious comfort at a budget-friendly price. Its blend of memory foam and innerspring coils provides balanced support and pressure relief, while the cashmere cover adds breathable comfort.
The DreamCloud’s cashmere cover and gel-infused memory foam cater to side sleepers with ultimate pressure relief in the hips and shoulders. As one of the best mattresses under $1,000 , it provides lavish comfort and support at an affordable price.
When you climb into bed, you’ll immediately find comfort in the lightweight, breathable cashmere cover. It features cooling fibers that promote airflow to help regulate body temperature and eliminate excess heat. Multiple layers of gel-infused memory foam provide cushion and comfort as they contour your body. With unmatched pressure relief at critical joints, like shoulders and hips, this mattress is ideal for individuals who benefit from higher quality sleep when sleeping on their side. ( 9 )
Sleepers who share a bed with their partner or a pet will be impressed with the motion isolation provided through a layer of pocketed coils. Thanks to the thick coils extending to the perimeter, you can expect to feel sufficiently supported no matter how close to the edge you lie on this mattress.
With a cooling cover and gel-infused foam, our testers expected to experience cooler sleeping. Unfortunately, the memory foam trapped some body heat, creating a more temperature-neutral feel.
The combination of cushioned memory foam and innerspring stability creates an ideal balance between comfort and support. However, The DreamCloud only comes in one firmness level, so you cannot customize this mattress based on your firmness preferences.
You can feel at ease knowing the CertiPUR-US certified foams meet high standards for health and safety. ( 3 ) This mattress may have a relatively low price point but customers can feel confident that it’s a top-notch product. The high-quality materials used in its construction ensure its durability.
The Nectar memory foam mattress perfects pressure relief and spinal support, comforting individuals who frequently experience back pain. Its advanced transition layer also reduces motion transfer for fewer sleep disruptions.
The Nectar’s comfortable blend of support and pressure relief garners top marks from our team for the promising relief it can provide individuals suffering from back pain. Finding a mattress that offers optimal pain relief can help individuals reduce their risk of experiencing mobility issues through middle age and beyond. ( 4 )
This 12-inch mattress has five foam layers, each with a unique role in providing comfort and support. Gel-infused memory foam offers a therapeutic feel as it contours to your body’s shape. Ideal spinal alignment is critical for reducing back pain, and the dynamic middle foam layer provides just that. The final layer of foam ensures the mattress holds its structure, allowing just enough sinkage while continuing to provide support.
We found that this mattress’s cooling cover provided breathability, while the gel-infused foam performed well at absorbing body heat. While it felt cooler than traditional memory foam, our testers noted that it may not sleep cool enough for overly hot sleepers.
With one firmness option, Nectar’s medium-firm feel is the ideal mattress support level proven to reduce back pain. ( 2 ) We found that the plush top foam layers offered exceptional pressure relief, while the denser foam base supported the lumbar area well, maintaining spinal alignment.
Overall, this mattress does well at isolating motion to reduce movement throughout the bed and disturb other sleepers. One area where this mattress falls short is in providing adequate edge support. If you sleep too close to the edge, you may feel like you’re slipping off the bed. Additionally, sinkage when sitting on the edge may not be ideal for individuals with mobility issues.
As one of the best mattresses-in-a-box , it offers incredible benefits at an affordable price of just over $1,000. Additionally, Nectar is known for running huge holiday sales events and year-round discounts that can help you save significantly more money if you’re willing to wait to make your purchase until a sale occurs.
“As someone with lower back pain, I felt very comfortable sleeping on my back on this mattress. It felt plush yet supportive, and the pressure relief tests yielded great results.”
The WinkBeds GravityLux is an all-memory foam mattress that offers the contouring feel you’ve come to expect with a supportive, durable base that reduces sinking and sagging. It also has unique cooling properties not typically found in memory foam mattresses.
As a truly firm mattress, the WinkBeds GravityLux boasts a durable design that supports additional body weight. Typically, sleepers who weigh over 230 lbs need a firmer, more supportive mattress that will reduce sinking. ( 6 ) Don’t let the firmness scare you off, though. The GravityLux still does an excellent job of providing pressure relief and body contouring.
If you’re ready for a memory foam mattress with a different feel, the three brand-specific foams in the GravityLux will deliver just that. The AirCell™ foam contains shock-absorbing air capsules that relieve pressure and eliminate motion transfer. This comfort layer is explicitly designed to reduce sinking, which gives the mattress a more responsive feel.
The following two layers are where the magic happens in terms of providing heavy-duty support. The Progression Foam offers added support in the lumbar zone while maintaining softness in the shoulders. Beneath that, the Atlas Core™ foam provides outstanding sag-proof durability. As the thickest layer of the mattress, this foam is responsible for GravityLux’s firmer, durable feel that is most likely to provide long-lasting support for sleepers with a little more bodyweight.
One of the unique features of this mattress is how cool it sleeps compared to many other memory foam mattresses. The eco-friendly cover is made from a Tencel© material weaved into gel-infused foam that offers instant coolness and initial pressure relief. Additionally, the open-cell design of the AirCell™ foam helps prevent heat retention. Remember that this is still an all-foam mattress, so overly hot sleepers may need the maximum coolness that full innerspring or hybrid mattresses offer.
While our evaluation focused on the firm option for this mattress, it’s also available in medium and soft firmness levels. The firm mattress effectively provided support and pressure relief for back and stomach sleepers. There wasn’t excessive pressure build-up under the shoulders, but it may be too firm for side sleepers coming in with shoulder pain. We’d recommend the medium or soft model instead.
The Nolah Signature uses proprietary AirFoam™ that provides the perfect amount of pressure relief to relieve pain in sleepers’ shoulders while staying firm in the lower back and hip areas to maintain proper spinal alignment. The high-density foam underneath helps the mattress maintain its structure.
The Nolah Signature delivers a genuinely soft, cradling sleep experience without sacrificing support. Its distinctive pressure relief qualities come from Nolah’s proprietary foam that unites with a high-density polyfoam below.
This mattress sits 12 inches tall with five layers of foam carefully designed to offer sleepers comfort and support. You’ll instantly feel the comfort as you sink into the contouring layer of AirFoam™. As the name suggests, this foam has tiny air bubbles that help distribute your body weight for maximum pressure relief. The zoned support is flexible and cushiony around the shoulders but firmer in the middle for lumbar and hip support. Another highlight of this foam is its responsiveness, which makes it easy to adjust positions through the night.
Nolah creates the perfect level of softness without too much sinkage by equipping the mattress with a seven-inch base layer of high-density foam. This thick layer of foam provides superb structural support.
Back and side sleepers will feel snug and comfortable as this mattress hugs their shoulders while supporting their back and hips. However, we don’t recommend this mattress for stomach sleepers and heavier body types, who would benefit from a firmer mattress that offers more support.
Hot sleepers will appreciate that this mattress sleeps cooler than many traditional memory foam mattresses. Starting with the organic cotton cover and continuing through the AirFoam™ layers, this mattress allows breathability and airflow to help prevent body heat from becoming trapped in the foam layers.
It’s worth adding that this mattress performed well in reducing motion transfer, which is typical of memory foam mattresses. Couples and pet co-sleepers can benefit from fewer disruptions while others move around in bed.
Nolah offers the option to upgrade to the Signature Hybrid model if you’re not entirely sold on an all-foam mattress. For another $300, you’ll get the same cushioned foam layers and a zoned coil system that adds support and increased airflow for an even cooler sleeping experience.
The Brooklyn Aurora Luxe features an impressive cool-to-the-touch mattress cover, gel-infused foam, and pocketed innerspring coils for a revolutionary cooling experience. The hybrid composition offers pressure relief and support for all sleep positions.
The Brooklyn Aurora Luxe Cooling mattress stands out as unparalleled in its ability to establish a cooling sleep environment, boasting advanced features designed to regulate body temperature. Combining a cooling mattress with the best temperature for sleep can help mitigate the adverse effects of overheating and sweating on sleep quality. ( 7 )
This mattress kicks off its cooling abilities with a GlacioTex™ cooling cover. This soft, breathable fabric is notably cool to the touch. Below the surface, the hybrid makeup layers comfort foams on top of breathable wrapped coils. Most memory foam mattresses are famous for retaining heat. However, the Copperflex™ gel-infused foam used in the Aurora Luxe effectively disperses body heat for additional cooling.
The foam and coils work together to offer solid support and body contouring. We found this mattress performed well at maintaining spinal alignment with excellent pressure relief in the lumbar area and minimal sinking. The Copperflex™ foam offers pressure relief that rivals that of latex mattresses but at a lower cost.
Even though this mattress offers a softer firmness level, our testers noted it may be too firm for side sleepers. These sleepers can benefit from more sinking in the shoulders and hips to help reduce joint pain.
While the mattress cover is outstanding in keeping the mattress cool, it presents a slippery feel that diminishes the edge support. If you get too close to the edge, you may feel like you’ll fall off. However, this may benefit buyers with mobility issues, who may find it eases getting in and out of bed.
It’s worth noting that the luxury feel of this mattress comes with a high price tag. Spending over $2,000 on a mattress may not be in the best interest of all buyers.
“This mattress is amazingly cool. Seeing how little the mattress’s temperature rose after laying on it is a testament to how fantastic the additional cooling features are, including the cooling cover, which gives it an impressive cool-to-the-touch feel.”
The medium-firm feel of the Bear Original mattress offers versatility for couples with different mattress needs. Its supportive foam layers keep pressure build-up at bay and maintain proper spinal alignment.
The Bear Original mattress offers the perfect balance of comfort and support that can help couples settle the debate on which mattress is best for each of their personal sleep preferences and unique body types. Even though it’s all foam, our testers noted this mattress offered support similar to hybrid mattresses.
At the heart of this mattress, three different types of memory foam work together to create a medium-firm feel suitable for a wide range of sleepers. You’ll feel well-supported on top of the mattress without sinking so much that you feel like you have to pull yourself up and out. Gel foam brings a cooling effect to the top of the mattress, while dynamic and high-density foams below offer support and structure.
Without the bounce of traditional innerspring coils, the foam in this mattress isolates movement well. Couples will appreciate that they don’t feel every little movement as their partner tosses and turns at night.
Our evaluation showed that this mattress was more responsive than typical memory foam beds. This is a notable highlight for couples with a vibrant sex life, who will admire how easy it is to move around and change positions.
The included quilted cover adds a layer of breathable material that can help soften this firmer mattress. Buyers can opt for an upgraded Celliant-infused cover, which stood out to us for its claims of promoting body restoration and muscle recovery.
Because this mattress leans toward the firmer side of the spectrum, we recommend it for back and stomach sleepers who can benefit from the lower back support. Side sleepers will likely find the firmness doesn’t provide enough pressure relief in their shoulders to sleep comfortably. Additionally, at only 10” tall, this mattress isn’t the best option for heavy sleepers.
Finally, we were surprised at how affordable this mattress is for how well it sleeps. Without the added Celliant cover, it is only $998, making it one of the best cheap mattresses .
The Saavta Loom & Leaf mattress is layered with premium, high-density foams that deliver a luxury feel rich in contouring pressure relief and cushioned support.
It can be challenging to shell out over $2,000 on a mattress, but the Saatva Loom & Leaf proves its worth with premium comfort and support. Considering you spend one-third of your life sleeping, you deserve to splurge a bit on a mattress that will create a restful sleep environment. ( 1 )
The thick, quilted mattress cover features breathable, organic cotton. It offers a plush feel different from most memory foam mattresses, which often feel spongy. As a bonus, the Guardin® botanical antimicrobial treatment can give you peace of mind that you aren’t sleeping on a bed that’s growing bacteria, mold, or mildew.
The foam layers beneath the cover are high-density CertiPUR-US® certified memory foam. This mattress excels at contouring the body and relieves pressure in critical body areas. The zoned lumbar support ensures the middle of the mattress helps maintain proper spinal alignment.
In our evaluation, we discovered cooling technologies infused throughout the mattress, from the breathable cover to multiple layers of gel-infused foam. Hot sleepers can enjoy the hugging comfort of the memory foam without experiencing the traditional heat-trapping effects.
Of course, appearances have nothing to do with mattress quality, but we couldn’t help but notice that this mattress looks like one you’d find in a five-star hotel. Additionally, the mattress is made from high-quality materials that will ensure long-lasting durability.
Saatva’s luxury experience extends beyond the mattress to its free white-glove delivery service. You won’t have to worry about how you’ll get your mattress to your room or what you’ll do with the one you don’t need anymore. Saatva’s delivery team will do all the work to set up your new mattress and remove your old one.
The elevated cost of this mattress may feel like too much for some. However, when you buy a high-quality mattress that helps you sleep well, remember you’re also investing in your health and well-being. ( 8 )
Saatva is known for producing high-quality mattresses, so if this one isn’t the right fit for you, check out two more Saatva mattresses that stand out as some of the best luxury mattresses available.
Emma Original’s combination of signature Airgocell® foam and traditional memory foam creates a breathable sleep environment that shines at providing pressure relief and lumbar support.
As one of the best mattresses-in-a-box , the Emma Mattress Original provides a balanced sleep experience, offering the comfort you’d expect from memory foam while optimizing back support. This mattress excels at maintaining spinal alignment, which is ideal for preventing back pain in stomach sleepers.
This mattress is constructed with multiple layers of foam from the bottom up. A thick, highly resilient base layer provides outstanding lumbar support. Above that, a Halo Memory Foam™ complements the back support with contouring comfort, providing exceptional pressure relief. To top it off, the Airgocell™ foam technology and mattress cover offer breathability, allowing excess heat and moisture to evaporate and keeping the mattress cool and dry.
While this mattress claims a medium firmness feel, our testers noted that it tipped toward the firmer side of the scale. They could feel their body remaining lifted and supported on top of the mattress, which helped keep their spine neutral. Minimal pressure build-up in the back ensures that stomach and back sleepers rest comfortably on this mattress. However, there was very little body contouring in sensitive areas for side sleepers.
The Emma Original lives up to the high standards of memory foam mattresses in the motion isolation category. You’ll be able to move about freely without worrying about disturbing your partner’s slumber. On a similar note, our evaluation showed it’s effortless to switch positions when lying on this mattress.
Some memory foam mattresses struggle to hold their structure around the perimeter, but that’s not the case for this mattress. We found the mattress offers plenty of support up to the edge so users can rest on or near the edge without sinking.
Environmentally conscious buyers will also enjoy the Emma Original mattress, made without harmful chemicals and materials. Additionally, the company emphasizes sustainable and eco-friendly manufacturing processes.
The Dreamfoam essential offers a budget-conscious solution for buyers who want a quality product but can’t or aren’t ready to spend big on a mattress. This mattress’s gel foam top layer and high-density base offer comfort, cooling, and support.
The Dreamfoam Essential proves you don’t have to give up comfort to meet your budget needs. Brooklyn Bedding is a company known for producing high-quality mattresses, and the Dreamfoam Essential is no different. One of the things that surprised us most was how customizable this mattress is.
Right from the start, you can choose between an abundance of size options, including RV-specific sizes, allowing you to take your mattress on the road. From there, you have another five options for mattress thickness, ranging from six inches up to 14. Each thickness offers a different firmness level.
The six—and eight-inch mattresses offer a firm to medium-firm feel and are ideal for back or stomach sleepers. The 10-inch mattress hits the sweet spot right in the middle, ideal for any sleep position, while sleepers looking for a more cloud-like feel will want to opt for the 12- or 14-inch options.
The variances in mattress height depend on the type and amount of foam used within each mattress layer. All mattresses feature a top layer of gel swirl memory foam that offers responsiveness, contouring, and pressure relief. The high-density foam at the base of the mattress also remains the same across each mattress height but varies in thickness. The factor distinguishing the two thickest mattresses from the rest is the added layer of transition foam in the middle, which provides additional contouring and comfort for a softer feel.
While this mattress doesn’t have as many cooling technologies as others we evaluated, it has some noteworthy features. The cooling gel in the top layer helps regulate body temperature, and the open-cell construction of the foam below is breathable, allowing excess heat to escape.
Our evaluation revealed that some buyers have reported sagging or deteriorating materials. The durability may depend on the mattress’s thickness and overall use, but it’s worth considering if you want to make a long-term investment.
The high-density foams in the Plank mattress give it an extra-firm feel on one side and a firm feel on the other. As a Brooklyn Bedding product, it boasts high-quality, durable materials that offer robust support and minimal sinking.
While “plank” isn’t the most common word to describe an ideal bed, the Plank Mattress is engineered to appeal to sleepers who love a firm bed. It uses high-density foam to reach the top of the firmness scale. This is another mattress made by Brooklyn Bedding, and we’ve found it holds up to their high-quality standards.
Five layers of high-density foam do the heavy lifting in this mattress to provide ultimate structure and support that creates the firm feel it boasts. This level of support can do wonders for people who suffer from back problems by keeping their back lifted and spine neutral.
Since you aren’t sinking into the foams, this mattress responds well to movement, making it easy to change positions. Additionally, the foams are thick, but their open-cell technology means they’re still breathable, so you can expect to stay cooler while sleeping.
We were excited to discover that this mattress is flippable, a feature we didn’t find in any of the other mattresses we evaluated. If the extra-firm side is too firm, you can simply flip it over to achieve a more standard firm feel. The differences on each side lie in the thickness of the quilted mattress topper and which layer of foam is on top.
As we’ve seen with other Brooklyn Bedding mattress models, you can add a GlacioTex™ cooling cover. This cover provides superior cooling and moisture-wicking technologies. It’s sewn onto both sides of the mattress to create a cool-to-the-touch feel no matter which side you use. It’s worth remembering that the slippery feel of the cover could diminish how supported you feel on the edge.
If your sleeping partner doesn’t love the idea of the ultra-firm all-foam mattress, you can switch to the Plank Luxe for a hybrid sleep design that swaps the foam core for individually wrapped coils. This mattress will continue to give you a firm, supportive feel with additional targeted pressure relief and more airflow through the coils.
Our team of sleep science coaches, medical experts, and consumers puts each mattress we review to the sleep test. Our detailed evaluations rely on first-hand testing and scientifically backed research. Each mattress is held to the same standards and put through an identical testing process to ensure we provide reliable and objective feedback. Check out our full mattress testing methodology for more information.
The quality of a mattress depends heavily on how well it helps you sleep from the moment you lay in bed until you get up. A high-quality mattress should deliver a sleep experience that leaves you feeling rested and restored. Our sleep science experts evaluate a handful of factors that affect how well the mattress functions and the sleep experience it delivers. Here’s what we’re looking for:
soft touch mattress Building upon the sleep experience, we evaluate how comfortable and supportive mattresses are to help promote healthy and restful sleep. Users should wake up feeling refreshed and invigorated after a peaceful night of sleep. We evaluate the quality of a mattress based on how well it performs at relieving aches and pains that users may experience during sleep. Here’s what we’re looking for: