Aug 17, 2023 10:28 AM

The Best Mattresses You Can Buy Online (2023)

We tested dozens of bed-in-a-box hybrid, foam, innerspring, latex, and certified organic mattresses.

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Two people reading on a Birch Luxe mattress inside of a bedroom

4 / 20

Hunting for the best mattress online is a waking nightmare, and picking the wrong one can literally cause bad dreams or kill your back. It doesn't help that the online market is flooded with options or that there are more dedicated mattress review sites than stars in the sky. It's a mess.

A few years ago, we started this guide by filling a room with dozens of the top mattress-in-a-box models and spending several days examining, reclining, and even jumping on each of them. In the years since, we've refined our process, with testers spending weeks and months sleeping on each mattress in their homes (the jumping test has been mostly phased out).

Check out our other sleep guides, including Best Organic Mattresses, Best Sleep Gadgets, Best Sound Machines, and our roundup of Gifts for People Who Like to Sleep.

Updated August 2023: We've added a new high-end organic mattress from Birch, removed Tulo pending a new round of testing, and added a classic springy mattress from Serta.

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How We Test

Our team of testers selects mattresses the way anyone would, matching their sleep style to what's promised by the maker. After testing each mattress and taking notes about how they slept and how their body felt in the morning, they compare the experience to similar mattresses they've tested and issue a recommendation. Below are our favorite (and least favorite) mattresses right now. All of the prices shown are for queen-size models.

Photograph: Helix Sleep
Best Mattress Overall
Helix Sleep Midnight Luxe Hybrid Mattress (14-Inch)
Former WIRED editor Jeffrey Van Camp has tried out a lot of mattresses over the past few years, but only one put him to sleep just lying on it. Helix's Midnight Luxe has a plush cushion top and a medium-firm feel that's relaxing whether you're a side, back, or stomach sleeper. (He's most definitely a stomach sleeper.)
Helix mattresses are hybrids and have a base of individually wrapped inner springs that are firmer in areas that need more support to prevent back pain, like your lower spine. On top is a stratum of cooling gel foam and denser foams. In all, there are six layers and the mattress is more than 13 inches high. It's cozy, and Helix has a variety of other mattresses that cater to different sleeping positions and firmness preferences.
$1,899 at Helix Sleep
Photograph: Leesa
Runner-Up
Leesa Sapira Hybrid (11-Inch)
This is a true runner-up in comfort to our top pick. It's one of the best mattresses on the market, hands down. We love the silky diamond-textured cover of Leesa's Sapira Hybrid Mattress almost as much as its soft-yet-firm, pressure-relieving feel. It didn't whoosh me away to dreamland like the Helix Midnight Luxe, but it was a mattress we kept coming back to during testing—sometimes for comparison and a few times because it felt so cool and cozy.
Like a lot of our top picks, this is a hybrid mattress. It has a layer of springs sandwiched between five layers of foam in various densities, including a 1.5-inch top layer of airy, cooling Avena foam. The layers blend together well, gently hugging my body while offering proper support.
$1,699 at Leesa
$1,699 at Amazon
$1,999 at Target
Photograph: Melissa Krused/Avocado Mattress
Best Organic Mattress
Avocado Green Organic Hybrid Mattress
The Avocado Green hybrid mattress is the only mattress WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson and his wife agree on. She likes a soft mattress, and he prefers a firm one. This model somehow manages to be both without being too much of either. Despite more than a year of sleeping on it, there's zero sagging or any other issues. If you prefer a soft feel, there's a pillow-top option.
The Avocado's best trick is that it's incredibly comfortable and environmentally friendly. It's 11 inches thick and is constructed in California from organic latex, organic wool, and organic cotton. It contains no polyurethane, fire retardants, memory foam, or chemical adhesives, according to the company. It offers a one-year trial, a 25-year warranty, and free shipping.Better yet, the company is also a certified B Corporation that's purchasing enough offsets to be able to say it operates as a carbon-negative business. Read our Best Organic Mattresses guide for more sustainable options.
Recently, a class-action was filed against Avocado alleging that the company's mattresses do contain toxic chemicals. You can read the details of the suit here (Avocado's response is here), but it boils down to how latex is made, with the plaintiffs alleging that it's difficult, if not impossible, not to introduce some potential toxins in the process.
We did not send our mattresses to independent labs for testing, so we can't offer any insight into the merits of the case. But, in our research, if Avocado is indeed introducing chemicals in the process of vulcanization, then this is most likely true of any latex mattress.
$1,999 at Avocado Mattress
Photograph: Cole Slutzky/Birch
Best Organic Mattress Upgrade
Birch Luxe Natural Mattress
The standard model from Birch is our organic pick for side sleepers. Birch's new higher-end Luxe model is also a great side-sleeping mattress—though its medium-firm feel and structured support should make it a solid pick for most sleeping styles.
The Luxe mattress is similar in construction to Birch's standard offering, employing multiple layers of wool, plus a layer of individually wrapped coils that provide support and some cushioning. It has a pillowy Euro top, which is an extra layer of blended cashmere that helps with temperature regulation, and the coils provide full lumbar support while maintaining a satisfyingly stiff edge on all four sides. My sleep rings have been spinning themselves closed during my month of testing this mattress.
The Birch Luxe is also GOTS-certified organic and uses natural latex with no polyurethane-based foams.
$2,599 at Birch
$2,599 at Raymour & Flanigan

Photograph: Nectar
Best Mattress for Side Sleepers
Nectar Sleep Nectar Mattress (12-Inch)
Remember the first time you pushed your hand into a memory foam mattress and watched it make an indent, then slowly recover? The Nectar Mattress feels like you're sleeping on classic, conforming memory foam. Van Camp is a hardened stomach sleeper, but this mattress had a magic hug that made him believe he might actually be able to sleep on his side if he owned it. It conforms to your body, but you don't really sink in much. It's made of four layers of dense, high-quality foams; the top two are gel-infused for cooling. Like many foam mattresses, the edges could use more support, but overall it's well-built. Nectar is so confident in the quality of its mattress that it offers a “Forever Warranty.”
$699 at Amazon
$699 at Nectar Sleep
Photograph: WinkBeds
Best Mattress for Stomach and Back Sleepers
WinkBeds The WinkBed
The WinkBed is akin to the Casper further below—if you're not sure what to get, there's a good chance this mattress will satisfy. WIRED reviews editor Julian Chokkattu has been sleeping on it for a year and he's quite happy. His favorite perk? The edge support is fantastic so his partner never wakes when he slips into bed late at night. The plush pillow top also adds a luxe hotel-like feel to a relatively firm bed. (He tried the Luxury Firm, but there are three other choices.) However, he is a stomach and back sleeper; his partner, often a side sleeper, found it too firm.
The WinkBed is a US-made hybrid mattress with an eco-friendly Tencel cover that wicks moisture and has individually wrapped coils for excellent support. The company says it works well with most bed frames (as long as there's rigid center support). There's a 120-night trial and a full-replacement lifetime warranty.
$1,799 at WinkBeds
Photograph: Brooklyn Bedding
Best Firm Mattress
Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid Mattress (12-Inch)
The Brooklyn Signature "Firm" hybrid mattress is, indeed, firm. Unless you're fully committed to a rigid mattress, our testers recommend the medium. Our reviewer has used this bed for three-plus years and finds it to be delightful, with no sagging. Those who require a firm mattress due to certain kinds of back pain may find exactly what they want here. It's a hybrid design with a combination of cooling gel foam (with a titanium coating), high-density foams, and individually wrapped coils.
If you're someone who thinks firm mattresses are never firm enough, Brooklyn Bedding's two-sided mattress, called the Plank ($999), lives up to its name. It's the firmest surface we've laid on since our last camping trip.
$999 at Brooklyn Bedding (Medium)
$999 at Amazon (Medium)
$999 at Walmart (Medium)

Photograph: Helix Sleep
Best Mattress Upgrade
Helix Elite
Our top pick, Helix, has a newish Elite collection that consists. of six new mattresses along a spectrum of softness. Those hybrid mattresses come in two separate boxes, each heavy enough to require help lifting. The firmness is dictated by the foam density of the upper layer, which zips into a larger support system. In theory, this makes the mattress adjustable if you end up regretting your order. The bottom section has two separate layers of tiny springs called microcoils.
Helix advertises the Elite as "the tallest mattress on the internet," and at 16 inches, it is indeed the Shaq of boxed mattresses. I spent a month sleeping on the softest model from the Elite line, dubbed the Sunset, and appreciated the deep cradling effect. Most people prefer a mattress that cools them as they sleep, with health benefits demonstrated in various studies. Like many on this list, the mattress claims to have special fabric that dissipates body heat and it indeed remains remarkably cool even when you're settled in. The Arizona-built Elite line also has a refreshing sturdiness that's far removed from many flimsy foam mats sold online.
Helix offers a 100-day trial period on all of its mattresses—if you try it for 30 days and don't like it, you can call in to return it for a full refund for 70 more days.
$2,999 at Helix
Photograph: Allswell
Best Mattress for $1,000 or Less
Allswell Supreme Hybrid Mattress (14-Inch)
Out of all the new mattresses Jeffrey Van Camp and his wife have slept on in the past couple of years, this is the one that stuck around. Like the standard Allswell, the Supreme is a hybrid mattress and, as you may gather from its name, it's the best the company has to offer. van Camp finds it about as luxe and comfy as many $2,000 mattresses. At its core is a bed of individually wrapped coils, topped with a base layer of firmer foam, a layer of copper- and graphite-infused gel foam to dissipate heat, and a plush top layer. If you're pregnant or have a pregnant partner, this mattress is great for the third trimester because of its softness and support in side-sleeping positions.
You'll notice it looks a tad cheaper than some expensive mattresses and doesn't have the best edge support. You can also feel the coils if you run your hands along the sides, which is totally fine since you sleep on the top, but not something you would notice on a high-end mattress.
$779 at Walmart
Photograph: Saatva
Best Mattress for Switch Sleepers
Zenhaven Natural Latex Mattress
It's assumed that most mattress shoppers are selecting between soft and firm, or trying to find a middle ground acceptable to partners with different preferences. But what if your tastes change with the seasons or how achy your muscles are after a long, active day? The Zenhaven lets you choose a side.
Saatva's Zenhaven is made of organic latex protected by an organic wool liner and an organic cotton cover. The two sides, labeled “Plush” and “Firm” don't vary as much as dedicated soft and firm mattresses, with the company claiming an 18% difference in the two, but it does offer a nice change of pace. Beyond that, the Zenhaven is pricey but extremely well-built. After two weeks of restful testing, I was struck by just how heavy it is—this is not a mattress-in-a-box, and even the twin size is tough for a large man to move on his own. It has great edge support, sleeps neither hot nor cool, and will last years.
$3,295 at Zenhaven

Photograph: Serta
Best Throwback Mattress
Serta Perfect Sleeper Cobalt Calm Plush Pillowtop
Not everyone likes new-fangled foam mattresses. Some people appreciate the classic bounce of an innerspring mattress. I would not have counted myself along them, but Serta's Perfect Sleeper made a convincing case in a week of testing. I tested the option with Ultimate support and the Plush pillowtop, which struck an excellent balance between softness and support.
Serta is one of the nation's largest mattress makers and has been around for nearly a century, having gotten into the business back when the competition partially consisted of a particular farmer's extra-soft straw bales.
Serta's sister brand, Simmons, literally invented the woven wire spring mattress, and the heart of this mattress is an assortment of coils, arranged in three zones of firmness that are well-engineered for both side and back sleeping. Serta has updated materials around those springs, using antimicrobial layers to prevent the mattress from getting stinky and a foam to keep it cool. It felt refreshingly sturdy, with lots of edge support.
This is not a mattress-in-a-box setup, so you need to schedule delivery by truck. Unlike truly old-school mattresses, it does not require a box spring and sits 14 inches high.
$1,299 at Serta
Photograph: Allswell
Best Cheap Mattress
Allswell Hybrid Mattress (10-Inch)
The Allswell shocked us. It feels more expensive than it is. Unlike many similarly priced ultra-cheap mattresses by companies like Amazon Basics and Zinus, the Allswell is a hybrid mattress (made by Walmart) with a full bed of individually wrapped springs inside it to prevent motion transfer, topped with a layer of gel-infused memory foam that keeps you cool and contours to your body. It has a medium-firm, supportive feel and is rimmed with tubing like a traditional mattress, giving it better edge support than many foam models. If your budget is tight, it's a good option, and it works great as a mattress for a guest room.
★ Upgrade pick: The Allswell Luxe Mattress ($547) is similar but comfier, with three added layers of foam and a plusher top cover. If you plan to sleep on this mattress daily, we recommend the Luxe or Supreme (which you can read more about below).
$349 at Walmart
Photograph: Tuft and Needle
Best Mattress for Pressure Relief
Tuft & Needle Mint Mattress (12-Inch)
The Mint Mattress was strange to lie on at first. The top three inches of "Adaptive" foam is incredibly soft, so Van Camp sank in more than on many medium-firm foam mattresses. Somehow it still felt supportive, pressure-relieving, and—just as important—cool. For a mattress you lie in more than on, it was also remarkably easy to escape from.
As on the standard Tuft & Needle Mattress, the top layer of foam is infused with "heat-wicking graphite" and naturally springs back into shape, but the real star may be the layer of green ceramic gel foam that provides support and disperses heat. The closest mattress to this one was the Purple mattress, which has a silicone-like top layer that feels like a super-soft waffle (in a pleasant way).
$1,595 at Tuft & Needle

Photograph: Bear Mattress
Medium-Firm Foam (With a Hug)
Bear Original
The original Bear mattress is a tweener, a medium-firm gel foam mattress positioned between high-end hybrids and cheaper all-foam beds. The Bear offers three layers of foam of varying densities for less than a grand, and a proprietary quilted fabric cover with a “blend of natural minerals” that aims to cool the body as you sleep. The mattress slept neither hot nor cold in reviewer Martin Cizmar's testing, which is as he likes it. The sides of the mattress hold their edge well, unlike some foam competitors.
The Bear Original is on the firm side of the spectrum, but not until your body settles into the first layer. That means there's a pleasant hug effect—as might be expected given the name. Like most mattresses, the price of Bear fluctuates but with various discounts available for shopping holidays.
$650 at Bear
Photograph: Otty
An Excellent-Value Firm Mattress for UK Readers
Otty Original Hybrid Mattress (10-Inch)
Combining the comfort of temperature-regulating memory foam with the support of 16-centimeter (6-inch) pocket springs, the Otty Original Hybrid mattress is well worth consideration for UK readers. It features up to 2,000 pocket springs, in fact, all carefully nestled beneath a layer of memory foam, a layer of high-density support foam, and topped off with a removable and washable cover. Contributor Emily Peck has been sleeping on the Otty for a couple of months and appreciates its firm, yet cushioned, structure. As a restless sleeper, she found that it provided just the right amount of pressure relief to support her in the back and lumbar areas. The corner support could be improved, as the corners collapse a little too much than she would like, but the mattress does have good edge support, which makes it easy to sit on the side and get in and out of bed.
Peck thinks that while some may find it feels a little too firm, the Otty Hybrid did a good job at helping her achieve a neutral spine, which is optimal for a good night’s sleep. She has been sleeping on the mattress alongside her partner, and they both noticed just how good the motion transfer technology is—with both being minimally disturbed on their side of the bed by the other moving in the night. The sides of the mattress have a good AirFlow system built in too, whereby tiny holes allow fresh air to circulate throughout the mattress to remove excess heat. This is designed to ensure you stay at the optimum temperature throughout the night and in the winter months, and it has been keeping them both at a comfortable temperature throughout the night.
Photograph: Emma
For a Sumptuously Comfortable Sleep
Emma Premium Mattress (10-Inch)
A popular brand in the bed-in-a-box market, Emma sells a range of excellent value memory foam and hybrid spring mattresses, including the all-foam Emma Original ($349) and the Emma CliMax Hybrid ($799), which has five layers of foam teamed with one layer of pocketed springs for cooling comfort and maximum support. Like the Emma CliMax Hybrid, the Emma Premium is a hybrid design that includes up to four foam layers and one layer of pocket springs. It features 5-inch-tall pocket springs for improved breathability, a reassuring bit of bounce, and an optimum surface for spinal alignment. Peck slept on the Emma Premium for two months and liked how comfortable and supportive the mattress felt against her body.
The medium-firm support was a little softer than what she’d been sleeping on previously, but she quickly adapted to the mattress's structure and found it kept her body cushioned and rested in all the right places. The motion isolation was impressive too, as she noticed that she couldn’t feel too much movement on her side when her partner turned in his sleep at night. A mattress with anti-allergy benefits is important to Peck as she has a young son who suffers from allergies. While this mattress isn’t hypoallergenic, it does have a washable cover, which helps keep it clean and fresh to limit dust mites. She also likes the fact that the structure of this mattress means that it wicks away moisture and keeps her at the optimum temperature at night, resulting in an improved sleep score—confirmed by her Oura Ring app.

Photograph: Casper
Best Mattress if You Don't Know What to Get
Casper Original Hybrid Mattress (12-Inch)
Casper is the company that made all these bed-in-a-box mattresses popular, and its experience shows. Its hybrid mattress is as close to a “default” as beds come these days, and for more than a year, it became the mattress we always wanted to switch back to between testing other models. Sleeping on it felt like a palate cleanser—how a bed should feel. Its firmness level is a good balance between soft and supportive, and the springs make it fairly breathable and give it just enough bounce.
The Casper Hybrid is a safe, moderately-priced choice for the comfort it offers and should satisfy a fair number of stomach, side, and back sleepers. The mattress has been slightly altered since we last slept on it, but reviews indicate it offers a similar feel.
$1,270 at Amazon
$1,495 at Target
$1,495 at Casper
Photograph: DreamCloud Sleep
Honorable Mentions
More Mattresses!
There are a few mattresses we tested that don't stand out as much but are worth mentioning, in case you're thinking about them.
DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress for $1332: This is another luxury mattress with a thick pillow top that's very comfortable like the Helix Midnight Luxe and Allswell Supreme.
Awara Hybrid Mattress ($1,399): This is another solid organic pick, also made from organic latex, organic wool, and individually-wrapped springs. WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe found it springy and comfortable, especially for a single sleeper, though it's a floppier mattress that would benefit from a little more support.
Keetsa All-Foam Tea Leaf Supreme for $1,890: WIRED reviewer Matt Jancer tested the Keetsa for several months. He's a side sleeper, and though he was never blown away by the mattress's comfort, he slept fine from start to finish. He didn't think he would since the mattress is on the soft side. It has three layers of foam and a thin top layer that's made from recycled materials.
The Purple Mattress for $1,399: Van Camp had many good nights of sleep on the airy, Jell-O-ey, cool feel of Purple's square grid (it's like lying on a bunch of waffles made of soft, stretchy silicone). But it just isn't quite as comfortable as hybrid (coil-and-foam) mattresses. There is a hybrid Purple, but it's pricey. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but just know that Purple mattresses are also kind of heavy.
Casper Standard Foam Mattress for $1,295: The original Casper mattress popularized the idea of a bed in a box years ago, and it's still a comfortable all-foam choice at a good price. But the hybrid version with coils is better.
Molecule Hybrid Mattress for $1,899: WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano likes this comfy mattress and has had no problems sleeping on it for months. However, while edge support is fine on three sides, it's nearly “non-existent” at the bottom of the bed. She nearly fell off while putting on her shoes. You can also feel the coils at the edges of the mattress, though this isn't a huge issue because it's undetectable when actually sleeping.
Leesa Original Mattress for $1,299: The standard Leesa is a lot like the Casper, but it feels a dash comfier.
Photograph: Amazon
Mattresses to Avoid
Bad Beds
There are some models you should avoid. Many of these beds are extremely affordable, and if you aren't picky, they may feel fine. In other cases, the mattress is decent but the price is not.
The Sleep Number Climate360 Smart Bed (5/10, WIRED Review) can be temperature controlled, which is amazing. And the adjustable base means you can be comfortable when watching TV, reading, or sleeping. Unfortunately, the price tag has too many digits, and sleep experts recommend avoiding electronic usage before bed—advice the Sleep IQ app defies. Did we mention it costs as much as a used Buick and the weight is not far behind?
The $318 Amazon Basics mattress and $300 Zinus mattress are made of cheap foam that isn't dense enough, causing too much sinkage. (Van Camp had to return a Zinus for this reason.)
The $307 Linenspa mattress is certainly affordable, but it has an innerspring with coils that are not individually wrapped, so you will feel movement from your partner. It also felt uncomfortable, with an uneven, mushy feel to it. Our test mattress didn't fully inflate near the edges, so they drooped. Some Amazon buyers have complained about drooping as well.
The $2,399 Parachute Eco Comfort Mattress just doesn't live up to its extravagant price. The model that Van Camp tested didn't have enough proper padding above its coils.

Photograph: Flashpop/Getty Images
What To Look For
You'll spend a third of your life on a mattress, so a lot of factors go into picking the right one, starting with your preferred sleeping position and how much support you're looking for.
Firm or soft? Generally, heavier people and back or stomach sleepers will do better with firmer mattresses, while lighter people and side sleepers can enjoy a softer mattress. Temperature preference is also at play: Softer mattresses tend to be warmer since your body is sinking into a layer of fabric and foam. Keep in mind that all mattresses have a break-in period, and the way the mattress feels on your first night won't be how it feels after a month.
Hybrid or foam? The next big question is whether you want a foam mattress or a hybrid model that layers foam with built-in springs. We tend to recommend more expensive hybrids because they are more stable and supportive, and they usually stay cooler.
Size? Nearly every mattress price we've featured is for the queen size, but they all come in alternate sizes. They're also all delivered in a box, vacuum-sealed and rolled up. Some are pretty heavy, so be sure to invite someone over to help on the day of the delivery.
Space? After you unroll your bed-in-a-box mattress and cut the vacuum bag open, it'll immediately begin to inflate, so unbox it on your bed frame or near it. Our testers have gotten sweaty trying to move an unwieldy new mattress across a room. The mattresses are usually ready to go in a few hours, but most manufacturers recommend giving them two days to fully inflate.
Sale? Mattresses go on sale very often. If you see one at full price, there's a strong chance you can save hundreds of dollars by waiting for the next big sale event (every few months).
Sure about it? Most of these mattresses have at least a 100-night testing period and a 10-year warranty.

Martin Cizmar is the tech category director for the WIRED Reviews team. He specializes in testing mattresses, grills, terrestrial TV antennas, and other large, cumbersome items. Previously he was the editor in chief of Kansas City magazine, a senior editor at Raw Story, an editor at alternative weeklies in Portland... Read more

Commerce Category Director, Tech

Jeffrey Van Camp is a director and editor for WIRED, specializing in personal technology reviews and coverage. Previously he was the deputy editor of Digital Trends, helping to oversee the site’s editorial operations, and before that, its mobile editor. He’s covered tech, video games, and entertainment for more than a... Read more

Reviews Director

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