The Secret to Better Sleep? These Top-Rated Bed Pillows

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We spend about a third of our lives asleep, so why not invest in making that time as comfortable as possible? The right pillow can make all the difference in the world, transforming your sleep from just okay to absolutely heavenly. Whether you're a side sleeper, back sleeper, or a toss-and-turner, there's a pillow out there with your name on it. We've scoured the market, sifted through reviews, and even tested a few ourselves to bring you a list of the absolute best pillows for every kind of sleeper. Get ready to elevate your sleep game and wake up feeling refreshed like never before!

The Best Bed Pillows for Sleeping

• Best Foam Pillow: Tuft & Needle Foam Pillow

• Best Shredded Foam Pillow: Coop Home Goods Eden Adjustable Pillow

• Best Cooling Pillow: Bedgear Storm 1.0 Memory Foam Pillow

• Best Budget Pillows: Beckham Hotel Collection Cooling Luxury Gel Bed Pillows (Set of 2)

• Best Neck Pillow: TEMPUR-Pedic TEMPUR-Breeze Neck + Advanced Cooling Pillow

What to Consider

MATERIAL MATTERS

The fill of your pillow plays a crucial role in your overall comfort. Memory foam molds to the shape of your head and neck, providing tailored support, while down pillows offer soft, plush comfort. Latex pillows are durable and supportive, and if you’re looking for something more sustainable, there are also organic options available.

FIRMNESS AND HEIGHT

Your sleep position will dictate the level of firmness and the height (also known as loft) that's best for you. Side sleepers generally need a firmer, higher pillow to keep their neck aligned, while back sleepers might prefer a medium-firm option. Stomach sleepers, on the other hand, should opt for a softer, flatter pillow.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Some pillows come with additional features like cooling technologies, hypoallergenic materials, or adjustable fill. Consider what extras might enhance your sleep experience.

SIZE AND SHAPE

Pillows come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Standard size works for most, but if you have a larger bed or prefer a bigger pillow, there are queen and king options. There are also uniquely shaped pillows designed for specific needs, such as cervical pillows for neck support.

EASE OF CARE

Let’s face it – pillows need to be cleaned from time to time. Check if the pillow is machine washable or if it requires special care. A removable, washable cover is also a plus.

How We Tested

When compiling our list of the best pillows, we left no stone unturned. We analyzed customer reviews, consulted with sleep experts, and even got our hands on a few to test them out for ourselves. We paid special attention to the quality of materials, comfort, support, and durability. Our goal was to find pillows that could cater to a variety of sleep needs while ensuring a great night’s sleep. Whether you’re in search of the plush comfort of down, the tailored support of memory foam, or something in between, we’ve got you covered. Happy snoozing!

The Tuft & Needle pillow is made of one piece of adaptive foam that is ventilated with small holes for airflow, and it has a removable, quilted cover that adds a little extra padding.

While this pillow’s buoyant, extra-supportive form doesn’t provide that sinking-into-a-cloud feeling, its round-cornered shape makes it easy to get cozy with. It’s comfortably lightweight, and the graphite-infused foam feels cool to the touch and breathable. It also won’t sag over time. The pillow’s soft, lightly padded cover is another plus, sliding easily into a pillowcase.

Overall, the single-foam construction of this pillow offers enough pushback to keep the head and neck aligned, and it's moderately firm without feeling heavy.

The Coop Home Goods pillow is a shredded memory foam pillow that can be zipped open to add or remove stuffing — it even comes with an extra bag of foam just in case you want it super jet-puffed! The foam is lightweight and slow-reacting, and it feels significantly airier than a solid piece of foam.

If you’re searching for the best pillow on Amazon, the Eden pillow typically appears as a top choice, with 74% of its current 14K reviewers giving it a 5-star rating. When we tested it ourselves, we found that the pillow’s quilted cover was one of our favorite features because not only does it make the pillow feel extra soft, but it effectively grips onto a pillowcase so that it doesn’t slide around in the night. The pillow has a ventilated gusset around the sides that effectively pushes out hot air.

We think that sleepers of all types who prefer a soft, cozy pillow would enjoy the Eden — just as long as you’re OK with removing some of the memory foam to get its loftiness just right for you.

If you love cooling fabrics in your bedding, this is the pillow you need. The Bedgear Storm 1.0 pillow is a cooling hybrid pillow that has a firm, solid, memory-foam feel on one side and a softer, shredded foam texture on the other. Its cool-to-the-touch cover is what makes it a standout: It's incredibly effective at drawing heat away from the body throughout the night (and not just in the first 10 minutes of sleep).

Bedgear’s pillow materials and construction are entirely proprietary to the brand, engineered for full-body recovery for the most restful night of sleep possible. After testing this pillow — along with several other pillows from the brand over the years — we find this premium sleep product to be worth every penny.

Most of the time, you get what you pay for in terms of pillow quality. However, the Beckham Hotel Collection Cooling Luxury Gel Bed Pillows are a notable exception. While this pair of pillows is incredibly affordable, they are incredibly well-made and comfortable. Their 203K-plus reviews don’t lie!

In our testing, we were pleasantly surprised by the pillows’ weight and support level. Even though they look airy in pictures, they are surprisingly substantial but not heavy at all. Each pillow has a 5-inch loft that comfortably suspends the head without creating pushback — you won’t feel like you have to ball it up in order to get adequate support, either.

The pillows are filled with down-alternative gel fibers that are meant to wick away heat, and even though we didn’t feel like they had any noticeable cooling properties, the gel fibers don’t seem to retain body heat quite as noticeably as foam does. Our one complaint is that this pillow can look a bit lumpy after sleeping on it — it doesn’t puff back out after you lift your head.

While a lot of neck pillows tend to be a little too firm, hot, or awkward to get comfortable with, the TEMPUR-breeze Neck +Advanced Cooling Pillow is a standout exception.

As far as construction, this 3-pound pillow comprises a proprietary memory-foam core layered with gel sheets that are meant to provide a cooling sensation to the sleeper. Its sloped shape is encased in a stretchy, smooth, 500-thread-count performance cover that’s removable and washable. This results in a support level that’s firm without providing active, exhausting pushback and responsiveness that’s slow-reacting and adaptive to the shape of the sleeper’s body. When we tested it, we found that while it's not a light, fluffy, bouncy pillow, it does support the head gently and effectively.

For anyone living with chronic pain — specifically in the neck and shoulder areas — this sloped, cooling memory-foam pillow helps to minimize any fussing or wrestling with it. So, that supportive spinal alignment can be achieved as soon as your head hits the pillow. This pillow is best for side sleepers, though back sleepers might find its contoured shape comfortable as well. Stomach sleepers might be better off with something a little softer and squishier.

The Leesa Hybrid Pillow’s unique construction may look a little strange, but it checks a lot of boxes, comfort-wise. Each side offers a completely different textural experience — one side has cushioned microfiber quilting that nestles the head and neck, while the other is flatter and much firmer but is layered with a ventilated cooling gel directly underneath the pillow's surface. Even when covered with a thick pillowcase, the cooling sensation is effectively transferred to the skin.

Although it's on the heavier side, this pillow is much more breathable and cushy than it looks. It has a low loft and is decently spoonable, but note that its form isn’t adjustable. The ability to experience different sensations depending on which part of your body is making contact with the pillow is unique and conducive to the sleep experience.

The pillow doesn't make you feel like you're sinking or overheating or like you have to fluff it up at any point. No matter which side of it you sleep on, the Leesa Hybrid Pillow is engineered to keep the user feeling nestled and cool while maintaining correct body alignment for side sleepers.

Sink into a world of comfort with the Hotel Sobella Side Sleeper Pillow, a plush and supportive option designed with side sleepers in mind. Since it's designed for side sleepers like me, it provides just the right amount of support to keep my spine aligned without feeling too stiff. It's also filled with hypoallergenic, extra fine, and soft gel fiber and enveloped in a 300 thread count, 100% cotton cover, making it a pillow that offers a sleep experience akin to a luxury resort.

The attractive dobby box geometric pattern adds a touch of sophistication, while the durable design ensures the pillow maintains its shape night after night. The hypoallergenic gel fiber fill was both comforting and supportive, a combination that often eludes side sleepers. Its 300-thread count cotton cover felt luxurious against my skin, and its breathability was great for a cooler night's sleep.

I was particularly impressed with how the pillow maintained its shape and support throughout the night, unlike many others that tend to flatten out. With the Hotel Sobella Pillow, you can bring the indulgence of a hotel stay into your bedroom and enjoy restful support tailored to your sleeping position.

Experience the plush comfort of a luxury hotel in the comfort of your own home with the Sahara Nights Pillow. Specifically designed to cater to back and stomach sleepers, this soft-medium pillow provides the perfect balance of support and comfort.

Filled with hypoallergenic, extra fine, and soft gel fiber and encased in a quilted 233 thread count, 100% cotton cover, this pillow ensures a restful night's sleep. With its elegant herringbone design, the quilted cotton cover added a subtle touch of elegance to my bedding ensemble, while the durable and machine-washable construction made caring for it a breeze.

Sleeping on the Sahara Nights Pillow felt like I had brought a piece of luxury hotel bedding into my home. As a side and back sleeper, I appreciated this pillow's soft yet supportive nature. The hypoallergenic, extra fine gel fiber fill cradled my head without sacrificing the support my neck needs. After several nights of testing, the pillow retained its plush feel and integrity, which spoke volumes about its durability. It’s a budget-friendly luxury that doesn’t compromise on quality or comfort.

Indulge in the ultimate sleep experience with the Cloud Pillow by Buffy, designed to provide soft yet supportive comfort tailored to your needs. With its marshmallowy soft fill made from GRS-certified recycled fibers, this pillow is as kind to the planet as it is to your sleep.

Available in three firmness levels—soft, medium, and firm—you can choose the perfect pillow to suit your sleeping style, whether you're a back, side, or stomach sleeper. When we tested this pillow, the first thing that struck us was its unique balance of softness and support.

As a side sleeper, I often struggle with either too firm or too soft pillows, but the Buffy Cloud Pillow was the Goldilocks I was looking for and effortlessly adjusted to my needs. Another standout feature during our test was the TENCEL lyocell cover, which felt cool against the skin, making it a great choice for those who tend to sleep hot. Its eco-friendly design, which upcycles 24-30 plastic bottles, added an extra layer of satisfaction to our sleep experience, knowing we were making a sustainable choice.

It can be tough to find a cozy pillow for back sleepers: It's best for them to sleep on a firm — but not brick-like — pillow with mid-level loftiness. Luckily, the Snuggle-Pedic Pillow is here to fill that need. This budget-friendly pillow contains shredded memory foam fill, and it's covered by a bamboo-polyester-lycra pillow cover that’s both breathable and stretchy.

Conforming to the sleeper's upper body, this foam pillow provides much-needed support to the head and neck to keep back sleepers in a happy spinal position. It's not too heavy or too light, and the shredded foam also helps its breathability.

FluffCo's Down-Alternative Pillow comprises of airy microfiber fill, covered with a cool cotton and Tencel pillow cover. It is also one of the cheapest pillows on this list — as far as high-quality pillows go, this one is a bargain.

This pillow’s “soft fluff” firmness is indeed supremely soft, and it has a lower loft and less forceful pushback than other pillows filled with foam or even down feathers. It’s ideal for stomach sleepers for this reason. Some pillow constructions designed to support the neck end up feeling like a struggle for stomach sleepers to get comfortable with because they’re just way too firm. If you’re a side sleeper, we’d recommend the “firm fluff” version for a little more oomph.

FluffCo's pillow is probably the lightest and softest on our list, and it shouldn't lead to stomach sleepers feeling kinked out of alignment at all. The microfiber fill is also very silky-feeling and non-reactive, making it one of the most malleable pillows on this guide as well.

The Layla Kapok pillow is an adjustable pillow that is filled with a combination of memory foam and plant-based kapok fibers. Its hexagonal-patterned pillow cover is made of polyester and viscose woven with CuTEC, a copper-infused yarn.

If you tend to sleep on both your back and side, this pillow can help you feel cozy and supported in both positions. Stomach sleepers would probably enjoy the Kapok pillow’s responsiveness as well, as long as they adjust the fill to their preferred height before sleeping on it. While it’s on the firmer and weightier side, this pillow’s cooling properties and plushness make it really comfortable

We originally tested the down-stuffed Parachute Side-Sleeper Pillow as part of a month-long down-pillow test, and it ended up being one of our favorite pillows that we've ever tried. (It's also available in a down-alternative version.) Its construction is unique in that it is more rectangular than a regular pillow, and it features a 3.5-inch border gusset.

This gusset is a standout feature that helps the pillow retain its structure. It helps keep the neck in alignment, and it gives this pillow a backbone that most down pillows completely lack. The down fill comprises European white down and feather fibers, and it comes from a certified Responsible Down Standard (RDS) supplier.

This pillow is generously stuffed, light as a feather, and very responsive — and it still hasn't started to sag, even after I've spent years sleeping on it. Overall, it's intelligently constructed and a pleasure to sleep on.

The next best thing to nestling into your partner or pet while you tuck in for the night is snuggling up with the Purple Harmony Pillow. This hugging pillow comprises three main elements: a porous latex core pillow, a flexible Grid Hex layer that encases it, and a mesh outer cover. Because of this, its texture is unlike anything else in this pillow guide.

In our testing, we noticed that both the core pillow and Grid Hex layer have a squishy, elastic quality — meaning, if you drop it on the ground, this pillow bounces. While this does add some weight to the overall product, it makes for a satisfying spooning experience because of its balance of give and pushback. And while it's not a cool-to-the-touch pillow, its porous materials do a fantastic job of wicking away heat.

Of course, you can absolutely sleep with this as your main bed pillow. Because it has such a high level of pushback, we most recommend the low height (or the medium height if you have broad shoulders).

The Casper Foam Pillow with Snow Technology is at once cooling, supportive, and low-loft. Its shoulder-hugging height feels like it was tailor-made for side sleepers. In my testing, I've found this pillow to be on the firmer side, providing a great bolster for both upright reading in bed and lying down afterward. While it's not a fluffy, bouncy, spoonable pillow, its flat surface and rounded edges subtly cushion the head, keeping the neck in alignment without any strain.

It features a multilayered foam interior, replete with perforations and channels for air to flow through. This design lends this otherwise solid pillow some nice flexibility, and it also enhances its proprietary cooling technology. It's covered with a smooth polyester/spandex cover that hot sleepers can remove to enjoy even more coolness against the skin.

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