Dec 14, 2023 9:00 AM

Here Are 5 WIRED-Tested Mattresses You Can Buy on Amazon

Amazon isn’t the best place to buy a mattress, but if you prefer shopping at the retailer, here are some affordable options.

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Featured in this article

DreamCloud Hybrd Mattress on a bed frame

Linenspa Mattress on a bed frame in a bedroom

Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress on a bed frame

4 / 6

Buying a mattress online is easy and efficient. A box comes to you with no need for a truck or professional movers. Just lug the bed-in-a-box inside, crack the cardboard, slash open the plastic wrap, and watch the mattress spring into shape. Want it extra fast, without having to make a new account? Order a mattress on Amazon! With Prime taking over the world, you can buy a relatively cheap mattress today and sleep on it tomorrow night.

The drawback to online shopping is you can't test a showroom of mattresses until you find the perfect fit. Add in the fact that Amazon reviews can be gamed by bad actors, and it's hard to know what's worth your time and what's not. WIRED has done the work for you, spending at least a week if not longer sleeping on some of the best-rated mattresses on Amazon—we're looking for a great night's sleep at a good value. It's worth noting that we don't think Amazon is the best place to buy a mattress—we go into our reasons below—but if your prime focus is cost and convenience, then you do have some good options. The prices below are based on the queen size.

Be sure to check out our other sleep guides, including the Best Mattresses, Best Organic Mattresses, Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers, and Best Sleep Gadgets.

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The Pros and Cons of Buying a Mattress on Amazon

Amazon is a solid place to buy almost anything, but it's less advantageous for mattress purchases than most other goods. That's because domestic manufacturers dominate the bed-in-a-box game, and you can often get a better deal by buying from the mattress maker directly. Some of these brands throw in two pillows with your purchase or have other discounts, though this is not always true—a few mattresses in this guide are cheaper on Amazon.

Most mattresses sold on Amazon tend to be on the cheaper side, which is the main draw. You can easily compare various versions of the same thing (i.e., memory foam or hybrid mattresses), plus you don't have to make a new account. Best of all, you can get fast and dependable shipping.

Amazon's terms for returning goods have an exception for mattresses. Once you open the box you are at the mercy of the maker instead of being covered by the more generous terms Amazon offers for most products it sells. If you're looking at mattresses below $500, you should not expect any test period or money-back guarantee, whereas that's a reasonable thing to expect of any mattress above $1,000. Things vary widely in the middle zone.

Photograph: Leesa
Best Overall
Leesa Sapira Hybrid
Leesa is the longtime runner-up in our main Best Mattresses guide, but here she’s finally queen. WIRED contributor Jeffrey Van Camp loves the silky diamond-textured cover of the Sapira almost as much as its medium-firm, pressure-relieving feel. This is a mattress he kept coming back to during our original spate of bed-in-a-box testing—sometimes for comparison and a few times because it felt so cool and cozy.
This is a hybrid mattress with a layer of a thousand-plus tiny springs sandwiched between five layers of foam in various densities, including a 1.5-inch top layer of airy, cooling Avena foam. You get a 100-day trial to return or get a refund on the Leesa from the date of purchase on Amazon. We’re planning to test the budget pick from Leesa, the 10-inch all-foam Studio, very soon.
Offers a 100-day trial.
$1,599 at Leesa
$1,699 at Amazon
Photograph: Amazon
Runner-Up
DreamCloud Premier Rest Hybrid
The DreamCloud Premier Rest Hybrid is among the crème de la crème of mattresses sold on Amazon. Standing 16 inches thick with an extravagant eight-layer design—including a smooth-as-silk cashmere blend quilted top layer—this mattress oozes luxury. The Premier Rest is a hybrid that uses foam on top of a base of coiled springs that lays the groundwork for a perfectly balanced medium-firm bed with a slight bounce. This combo adds support for various sleeping positions, catering to both side and back sleepers. There’s a 3-inch layer of gel-infused memory foam that makes this mattress plush and also helps keep hot sleepers cool.
WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning’s criticism is the slight sloping around the mattress’s perimeter, despite DreamCloud’s claim of reinforced edge support along the coiled layer of the mattress. Upon unboxing the bed and giving it the recommended air-out time, the middle of the mattress was noticeably elevated, and it never flattened out even after weeks of testing. Still, if you’re looking for a thick mattress with frills like a cashmere pillow top for well under $2,000, this bed is it. If enhanced edge support is a must-have in your mattress search, we recommend exploring other options. This mattress does come with a full-year trial, so if you don't like it you can return it or get a refund for 365 days.
Offers a 365-day trial.
$1,399 at Amazon
$1,499 at DreamCloud

Photograph: Amazon
A Cheap Hybrid Mattress
Linenspa 10-Inch Hybrid Mattress
OK, we have to preface this with a disclaimer: You're going to spend roughly a third of your life on a mattress, and there are probably better places to save a buck. Seriously, if you can save up to buy a nicer mattress, please do. But for tight budgets (or guest rooms for people you don’t care about impressing), you can do a lot worse than the very affordable Linenspa hybrid mattress. This is one of those Amazon products with 136,000 reviews, most of them satisfied cheapskates. We ordered this mattress using Prime, and our first impressions were not great, considering the Linenspa’s outer shell is baggy and bunches up in weird places. The edge support and memory foam layer are uneven too.
But the Linenspa works better than it looks—WIRED director of commerce Martin Cizmar used it on and off for a few weeks, and his biggest complaint is that the springs are creaky, with no motion isolation. This mattress will work for side sleepers, as it's firmer than foam offerings and has decent support. There are many better mattresses for those with the means to buy them, but the Linenspa is a solid pick at this price. Once you open it though, there is no money-back guarantee.
Offers no trial period.
$300 at Amazon
$300 at Wayfair
Photograph: Amazon
A Foam Mattress for Heavier People
Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress (12-Inch)
If you've ever looked for a cheap bed frame or mattress on Amazon before, you've probably come across Zinus. Its Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress is a behemoth. There are 12 inches of layered foams, best described as dense. The first foam is the foundation of all Zinus mattresses; its high density aims to provide total-body pressure relief. The second is a thin layer of comfort foam, finished with another thin layer of green tea and purified charcoal foam, which Zinus promises will help with the overall freshness of the mattress over time, as the activated charcoal microparticles block moisture and odor. We didn't notice much of a difference in our testing period. The bio-foam is also made with natural seed oil that Zinus claims limits the use of petrol-based oils, making it a bit more eco-friendly, though not entirely organic.
WIRED contributor Molly Higgins tested this mattress. She is a smaller person, and her body didn’t sink into the mattress at all, meaning there was no cradling support for her back. We recommend this one for someone a little heavier. Zinus has a 10-year limited warranty that covers only manufacturer defects.
Offers no trial period.
$372 at Amazon
$629 at Zinus

Photograph: Amazon
A Cooling Foam Mattress
Zinus Cooling Gel Memory Foam iCoil Hybrid Mattress (12-Inch)
If you’re a medium-size person who sleeps hot (or a smaller person who wants a firmer bed), the Cooling Gel Memory Foam iCoil Hybrid Mattress from Zinus is an ideal option. The 12-inch mattress has four layers. At the base is an independent coil system of encased springs to reduce motion. Ten comes Zinus’ highly dense base foam (the foundation of all of Zinus mattresses), followed by a comfort soft foam, and the topper. The top layers are the major draw for this mattress—the cooling swirl gel-infused memory foam relieves hot sleepers by wicking away heat from your body. The mattress is cool to the touch! The AirCool cover also helps—this stretchable, soft-knit breathable fabric helps regulate temperature and keep the mattress, and sleeper, cool throughout the night.
Just as with our other Zinus pick, WIRED contributor Molly Higgins found this to be a great value under $500 for a 12-inch queen-size model, with free shipping. But you don't get an opportunity to try it and send it back if you don't like it.
Offers no trial period.
$452 at Amazon
$730 at Zinus
Photograph: Casper
Honorable Mentions
Casper Original Mattress for $1,036: The original Casper mattress popularized the idea of a bed in a box. After our most recent testing, it's still a comfortable all-foam choice at a decent price, though we prefer hybrid mattresses. There is a 100-night trial and free returns.
Awara Natural Hybrid Full Mattress for $899: This is a solid organic mattress available on Amazon, which is not that common. It’s made with organic latex and organic wool, plus it's a hybrid with individually wrapped springs. WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe found it springy and comfortable, though it’s on the floppy side and could benefit from more support. You get a full year to try it and return.
The Purple Mattress for $1,199: Another well-known bed-in-a-box brand, Purple’s square grid provided reviewer Jeffrey Van Camp with many good nights of sleep. It's like lying on a bunch of waffles made of soft, stretchy silicone. However, it just isn't quite as comfortable as hybrid (coil and foam) mattresses. There's no stated trial period on this mattress via Amazon, making it one of the most expensive mattresses with no money-back guarantee.

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

Molly Higgins is a product reviewer and contributing producer at WIRED. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA and an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

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