9 Best Mattresses of 2024, Reviewed by Sleep Experts

Whether it’s the countless influencer plugs, corny subway ads, or the empty mattress box your neighbor left in the hallway of your building, it seems like everyone is upgrading their mattress these days. If you've succumbed to internet ads and are on the hunt, we’ll spare you the marketing shenanigans and get down to what really matters when you’re shopping for one of the best mattresses—how it feels when you lie down on it. Our elite testing squad tossed, turned, snored, and starfished to find the best mattresses of 2024.

“The most important factor when choosing a mattress is comfort—and that is a subjective experience,” says Wendy Troxel, Ph.D., senior behavioral scientist and author of Sharing the Covers: Every Couple’s Guide to Better Sleep. Whether you prefer a firmer mattress or softer mattress will depend on factors like your body type, sleep position, and how many people and pets are in the bed. Because everyone has different support needs, we asked our panel of mattress testers to recommend the best beds for each type of sleeper. From side sleepers and bed-in-a-box stans to folks looking to ease their back pain and those hoping to save a few bucks, here's how to find the right mattress that feels like a dream.

Our Favorite Overall Mattress

We chose the Helix Midnight as the best mattress overall due to its best-of-both-worlds build that offers high-end plush comfort and comprehensive support for a wide range of sleepers. If you sleep with another person, you’ll appreciate this bed’s motion isolation and solid edge support. Plus, Helix offers a 100-night trial period and guarantees 10 years of quality use.

Best Mattresses: At a Glance

Jump straight into your new dream bed with this cheat sheet of the best mattresses we tested in each category:

• Best Mattress Overall: Helix Midnight
• Best Value Mattress: DreamCloud Hybrid
• Best Memory Foam Mattress: Nectar Memory Foam
• Best Mattress for Back Pain: Saatva Classic
• Best Mattress in a Box: The WinkBed
• Best Hybrid Mattress: Bear Elite Hybrid
• Best Mattress for Side Sleepers: Nolah Evolution
• Best Cooling Mattress: Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe
• Most Comfortable Mattress: Leesa Legend Hybrid Mattress

Hands down, the Helix Midnight Mattress is the most comfortable mattress for most people thanks to a combo of soft memory foam layered over individually wrapped coils. While its construction offers firmness and minimal motion transfer, the Helix Midnight mattress still feels bouncy and responsive—perfection for couples and back and side sleepers. Plus, it comes in a wide range of sizes, including those you’d expect like queen size, for example, and less common sizes like Short Queen, Twin XL, and RV King.

One of the most popular models from Helix’s line, the Midnight is a hybrid mattress that balances support with comfortable pressure relief. Made with four sturdy layers that add up to a whopping 12 inches of padding, the mattress is ideal for 130- to 230-pound back and side sleepers, according to our tests. (Stomach sleepers, you’ll want to check out the DreamCloud Hybrid or Bear Elite Hybrid, which provide firmer support through the hips.)

While this mattress is rated as medium-firm on our scale, it still feels like it’s on the softer side. There’s enough firm support to help you maintain proper spinal alignment all night long, so your back should settle into a comfortable, neutral position. The motion isolation is also very solid, meaning you won’t feel your dog jumping down from bed at 3 A.M.—and it always happens at 3 A.M. (We even set a glass of red wine on the mattress and performed a series of infomercial-inspired touchdown dances on the other side of the bed to test it further. The Merlot barely moved, a key indicator that the mattress is great for multiple sleepers.)

The Breathe Knit top, with its light, airy feel, is perhaps one of the best features of this bed, especially if you’re sleeping with someone else. And, if you splurge out for the GlacioTex Pillow Top, you’ll experience even more coolness, thanks to the material’s high “thermal conductivity” which pulls heat away from the body while you snooze. Every Midnight mattress is assembled in the United States and you have three options for home delivery: The Helix team can just remove your old bed, they can just set up your new mattress, or they can set it up and take out the old one.

DreamCloud

DreamCloud Hybrid Mattress

$665

DreamCloud

Pros & Cons

AccordionItemContainerButton

Pros

• Excellent support for back sleepers
• Great pressure relief
• Gel-infused memory foam for cooling
• Lengthy 365-night trial period and lifetime warranty

Cons

• Heavier than some other hybrids
• May be too firm for side sleepers
• Edge support could be better

The DreamCloud Hybrid offers breathability, responsiveness, and pressure relief through luxe materials including a cashmere-blend topper, therapeutic gel memory foam, and individually wrapped coils. It’s ideal for hot sleepers and back sleepers—and its support will benefit anyone old enough to remember the launch of MTV.

Our top budget mattress is the DreamCloud Hybrid mattress because of its thought-out features but totally reasonable price (under $700 for a queen). The brand’s most popular style has eight layers that strike a balance between support and comfort, similar to the Helix Midnight. It is on the firmer side, so it’s ideal for back and stomach sleepers—and its construction makes it feel like you’re sleeping on the mattress and not in it, according to our tests.

Our lead tester also notes that the coil layers let his hips sink in while the rest of his body stays supported, which helps with spinal alignment throughout the night. While the DreamCloud Hybrid is super supportive in the middle, the edges don’t have the most strength and tend to sag a bit when you apply pressure. Keep this in mind if you toss and turn off to the sides while you doze—or if you sleep with a bed hog (human or canine) who routinely pushes you toward the edge of the bed.

The cashmere-blend quilted top also provides nice breathability and helps with temperature regulation, while a top layer of gel foam responds to your body’s movements for adaptive, on-the-fly support. And, if you deal with snoring or sleep apnea, you’re in luck: The DreamCloud Hybrid is compatible with adjustable bases. (Tell your partner they can thank us later.)

Our testing team also loves the year-long return policy and lifetime warranty, especially for such a budget-friendly option. If anything ever gets damaged from normal wear and tear, DreamCloud will replace or repair it.

The Nectar Memory Foam mattress helps regulate body temperature with its cooling top layers. While its medium firmness nails the balance between support and softness, the memory foam material also provides sweet, sweet relief for sleepers with joint and hip pain.

While memory foam might feel like a throwback mattress material, they’ve come a long way from the infomercials of the early aughts—and that includes this model from Nectar. Its multiple layers of memory foam are surprisingly breathable and its contouring features provide the sleep of your literal dreams—without waking up soaked in sweat or plagued by sore back muscles.

While testing the Nectar Memory Foam, we noticed that it offers great value for the price (a queen will only cost you around $649), as its solid-yet-soft construction provides just the right amount of support. The cooling technology in the cover wicks away moisture, which is especially clutch due to memory foam mattresses’ bad rap for trapping heat. Meanwhile, the therapeutic gel memory foam adapts to your body for enhanced pressure relief.

Throughout testing, we discovered that this mattress absolutely crushes it when it comes to motion isolation. Nary a tremor or tremble registered on the other side of the bed, no matter how much we thrashed around. Unfortunately, the edge support isn’t top-tier, and we felt serious sinkage while sitting at the edge of the bed. Is that a dealbreaker? Ultimately, that’s up to you—we still think the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress is the best memory foam mattress for hitting every stage in your sleep cycle.

Saatva is the go-to brand for luxury mattresses right now, and the Saatva Classic hybrid innerspring mattress is the brand’s VIP thanks to its high level of support, breathability, and durability. You’ll pay for it, but you’ll notice the difference every single night.

In our opinion, a mattress that will actually relieve some of your back pain is worth the extra money, especially if you have lingering back pain from, say, a stress-fractured vertebrae that dates back to high school running. (Just me? Cool.) Our testers found the pricey Saatva Classic to be the best option for those with back pain. The headline features: the brand’s patented Lumbar Zone wire technology, which keeps your spine properly aligned regardless of your sleeping style, and your choice between three different firmness levels, which cater to all different types of sleepers.

Beyond the support, we’re also impressed with each thoughtful layer of the Classic. The breathable pillow-top surface is made with hypoallergenic organic cotton and treated with an antimicrobial solution to prevent bacteria growth (because yes, your mattress gets dirty, no matter how thoroughly you shower before bed). A high-density memory foam layer and hundreds of pocketed steel coils in the center of the mattress respond to your body’s movements, offering ample support while also letting you naturally spread out throughout the night.

Listen, there’s no getting around the price tag of a Saatva. But, we’d file this purchase under “completely worth it.” Our testing team found Saatva to be one of the most luxurious online shopping experiences around. The materials are top of the line, there’s a firmness level for every type of sleeper, and the brand will set it up and take your old mattress away free of charge—truly a godsend, especially if you live in a high-rise apartment or somewhere else where it’s inconvenient to trash big items. If you’re swayed by awards and accolades, this bed is endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association and has our reviewers’ stamp of approval to back up that hardware.

The WinkBed mattress proves that the best mattress-in-a-box options are just as elevated as what you’d buy IRL. Just a few of the sleep-inducing features that impressed our testers: a breathable, eucalyptus-derived Tencel cover; a gel-infused foam layer; and individually wrapped coils.

Available in multiple options for sleepers who need a soft, medium-firm, firm, or extra-firm mattress, the WinkBed cracked the top of our testers’ recs thanks to its smart design and high-quality materials.

The WinkBed scores high on the breathability meter, making it a great option for hot sleepers or anyone who lives in a particularly muggy area of the country. Last, but certainly not least, we wanted to see how the WinkBed measures up in the key areas that elevate a mattress to must-have status: responsiveness, support, and motion isolation. Spoiler Alert: The WinkBed hits a home run in each category. The mattress is highly responsive without compromising motion isolation, which means that this bed’s a great choice for couples and people sleeping with children or pets. Plus, its zoned support makes us feel like every vertebra was exactly where it was supposed to be throughout the night, and we woke up without feeling any soreness or pain the next morning. Who knows—maybe you’ll even hit that early morning workout you always say you’re going to do.

The Bear Hybrid mattress is a do-it-all powerhouse. It has cooling properties, relieves pressure points for just about every type of sleeper, and has plenty of clean-label certifications for the discerning shopper.

The Bear Elite Hybrid is made with a combination of foam and individually wrapped coils to offer the perfect amount of cushioning, temperature-regulating airflow, and elite-tier lumbar support It got consistently high marks across all of our tests, so we feel extra confident recommending it to almost anyone.

With its copper-infused memory foam that has breathable and antibacterial properties (yes, copper is great for more than just pennies), the Bear Elite Hybrid offers extra cooling features to keep you cool throughout the night. As we expected during our test, the Bear Elite Hybrid does a great job at keeping us fresh and comfortable during our sleep, which is something that we can’t say about every mattress we’ve tried.

Although the Bear Elite Hybrid is one of the most expensive on our list, you get what you pay for—and we’d rather pay upfront for a dreamy mattress than suffer the consequences of a poor night’s sleep.

Nolah

Nolah Evolution Mattress

$1,624

Nolah

Pros & Cons

AccordionItemContainerButton

Pros

• Temperature-regulating technology
• Cooling materials
• Easy ordering process
• Comes with free pillows

Cons

• Might be too firm for those under 130 pounds
• Exchanges can be difficult

The Nolah Evolution is absolutely made for side sleepers. If nothing sounds better to you than curling up in the fetal position at the end of a long day, you’ll appreciate the combination of a soft foam top and heavy-duty coils—a recipe that’s designed to keep your spine and back naturally aligned.

Designed specifically for side sleepers, the Nolah Evolution is the brand’s best-selling mattress, offering targeted pressure relief and support where side sleepers will benefit the most: the hips and shoulders. The foam layers provide a plush platform for your back, and the individually wrapped coils help keep everything stable.

At 15 inches thick, this also is one of the most durable mattresses our team has tested. “The foundation layer, or bottom layer, helps support the rest of the mattress,” one tester tells us. “Nolah uses an inch of high-density core-support foam that stabilizes the mattress, which adds to its durability.”

Almost everything about the Evolution is high-quality, adding to the luxury sleeping vibe—you won’t find the specially-designed coils and foam from anyone else, and the Euro topper offers best-in-class cooling if you count heat as one of your sleep woes. Designed and assembled here in the United States, it ships for free, and Nolah offers a lifetime warranty for added assurance.

Hot sleepers, this one's for you: The Aurora Luxe mattress has specific features such as cooling fibers and heat-dissipating top fabric to help you sleep cooler, and more soundly.

It’s a fact: You sleep better when your body is cooler. Brooklyn Bedding’s Aurora Luxe mattress is the one our testers found to be the best choice for folks who overheat in their sleep. The GlacioTex cooling cover removes excess heat from your body, which helps you stay cool throughout the night. It has hybrid materials with open-cell technology (sort of like a sponge), providing more airflow and breathability compared to other mattresses we tried.

The top comfort layer is threaded with cooling fibers that are proven to absorb excess body heat. While you can pick what firmness level you want, our testers say that the medium firmness is ideal for 130- to 230-pound side sleepers (consider the “firm” if you’re at the top end of that range).

One of the more supportive cooling mattresses we’ve tried, the Aurora Luxe provides solid edge support and motion isolation, keeping even the most aggressive tossers and turners stable. The brand also makes all of its mattresses in its Arizona facility, so you’ll notice that despite the high-quality materials, the price is easy to stomach because there’s no middleman markup.

Just a note, this bed comes compressed in a box, so you may notice a slight smell after unboxing (mattress pros like us call that “off-gassing”). Have no fear, this odor is totally normal, and leaving the mattress out in a ventilated area for a day will remove any lingering scents.

Leesa

Leesa Legend Hybrid Mattress

$1,949

Leesa

Pros & Cons

AccordionItemContainerButton

Pros

• Soft, plush feel
• Surprisingly bouncy
• Impressive edge support
• Zoned support is perfect for side sleepers

Cons

• Not firm enough for stomach sleepers or sleepers over 230 pounds
• You'll probably feel your partner moving around
• The sunken-in feeling isn't for everyone

The Leesa Legend Hybrid Mattress takes quiet luxury to the extreme, thanks to a plush feel and optimal pressure relief.

The softest option on our best mattresses list, the Leesa Legend Hybrid is tailor-made for nights of restful sleep and hours of lounging. Its soft, plush feel left us refreshed, and we especially appreciated the details that amped up the luxury feel of this mattress even further—including the organic cotton and merino wool cover, which is both sustainable and breathable.

While this hybrid mattress is softer than what most people prefer (generally, a medium-firm level is MVP), we were pleasantly surprised at the Leesa Legend's bounce and edge support. Extra-soft mattresses can make you feel like you're sinking in a little too much, but the Leesa Legend had just enough bounce-back to let you move comfortably, thanks to its layer of individually wrapped springs. We wouldn't recommend this for stomach sleepers or anyone dealing with chronic back pain (you'll want a firmer mattress for that), but if you love the feeling of floating on top of your bed, the Leesa Legend is for you.

So, what’s the damage? Here’s how each of the best mattresses stack up before any discounts or sales. (All prices listed are for queen mattresses, FYI.)

Each mattress undergoes a series of tests, such as this one with a thermal monitor, to measure cooling, comfort, and support.

No matter what features, benefits, and material jargon that mattress brands use in their marketing (and trust us, we’ve waded through a lot of it), the only thing that really matters is how pleasant the best mattresses are to sleep on. For different people, this means different things, so how do we know what separates the best from the rest? By actually sleeping on them. Our mattress testers put all of the top mattresses through extensive analysis and hands-on experimentation to measure everything from cooling tech and edge support to firmness, softness, and more.

We step into your shoes to figure out which mattresses deserve your hard-earned money and which ones you should pass on. We factor in things like shipping, unboxing, and more to determine the best mattresses that earn the GQ badge of approval.

For more on our rigorous testing standards, click here.

The main traits to keep in mind when shopping for a new mattress are its materials, how plush or firm it is, your unique sleeping position, your budget, and whether you need any extra cooling features.

“When it comes to a mattress, personal comfort is the most important factor, and that does not always correlate with price… It is worthwhile to invest in a high-quality mattress as it is arguably the most important and most-used piece of furniture in the household,” says Dr. Troxel.

What is the Best Type of Mattress?

There is no one-size-fits-all-mattress—the best mattress type for you all depends on your sleeping position, personal preference, and available budget. But, there are crowd-pleasing mattresses that suit most people best. Beds with a medium firmness, hybrid materials, and sub-$2,000 price tag are generally the best mattress type. Our testers’ top pick after months of testing is the Helix Midnight, which has multiple materials, cooling effects, lots of different size mattresses, and a medium feel.

The best mattress type supports proper spinal alignment and all-night comfort.

Buying a Mattress In-Store vs Online

If you were once accustomed to walking into a mattress store and choosing simply between well-known brands like Tempur-Pedic or Serta, the prospect of going for an online option (Casper! Purple! Avocado!) might sound like a bit more of a risk. Au contrair! With lengthy no-risk sleep test periods, buying an online mattress actually can take away a lot of baggage, like negotiating and transportation logistics. Buying a mattress online is the best option for most people because you can browse every brand, read real-world customer reviews, and find the best deal possible. You also (probably) won’t need to pay for shipping, and in most cases, you can easily send the mattress back within the trial period if it’s not working for you.

When buying a mattress online, consider space, budget, and mattress type.

About the Experts

Wendy Troxel, Ph.D., is a Senior Behavioral Scientist at the RAND Corporation and Adjunct Faculty at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Utah. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist, with more than fifteen years of clinical and research experience in sleep medicine.