The 8 Best Mattresses for Couples, According to Sleep Experts
awarasleep.com
Best Overall
realsimple - 2775 Available at Saatva
Best Luxury
realsimple - 1949 Available at Helix
Best for Side Sleepers
realsimple - 1298 Available at Nectar
Best Memory Foam
realsimple - 1729 Available at Saatva
Best Hybrid
realsimple - 1699 Available at Layla
Best Cooling
realsimple - 1350 Available at GhostBed
Best for Back Pain
realsimple - 1295 Available at Bear
Best for Combination Sleepers
realsimple - 1898 Available at Awara
Most couples will tell you that compromise is the key to making a relationship work. But one place to never compromise? Your mattress. Finding the best mattress for couples means addressing the different needs of both you and your partner to uncover a bed that works for both.
Accommodating different preferences, sleep positions, and pain points aren't the only considerations for couples when choosing a mattress. Key factors like cooling, motion isolation, and support ensure a cooler, more comfortable night's rest for the both of you. Motion isolation, in particular, allows your partner to toss and turn without disturbing your precious beauty sleep.
To get the lowdown on the best mattress for couples, the experts at Mattress Advisor found the top picks for your next new mattress. They tested hundreds of mattresses to bring you the following list that will have you and your partner sleeping comfortably all night long.
Our recommendations:
Best Overall: Saatva Solaire
Best Luxury: Helix Midnight Luxe
Best for Side Sleepers: Nectar
Best Memory Foam: Saatva Loom & Leaf
Best Hybrid: Layla Hybrid
Best Cooling: GhostBed Classic
Best for Back Pain: Bear Pro
Best for Combination Sleepers: Awara
Shopping for the Best Mattress for Couples
For most couples, the right mattress will strike a balance between soft and firm, while comfortably accommodating different sleeping positions and potential pain points like achy backs or hips. The key to finding that perfect fit for you and your partner is identifying those must-haves—think good motion isolation or back pain relief—and matching those qualities to a bed that fits your budget and sleep style.
Mattress Types
Mattress shoppers have more choices than ever, but which is best for you and your partner? Here's a rundown of different mattress types.
Memory Foam: Made with dense foam that molds to your body, memory foam mattresses relieve pressure and pain, as well as reduce motion transfer. These qualities make this mattress type a good choice for couples, but hot sleepers may find the material too warm for comfort.
Latex: Latex sleeps cooler than memory foam and offers a supportive, more responsive feel. Natural latex mattresses can last up to 20 years, which is good for couples—when two people are resting on a mattress, it tends to wear down more quickly. But latex beds can be expensive, so if you're on a tight budget, this type may not be the best choice for you.
Hybrid: A hybrid mattress combines memory foam or latex with innerspring coils. The result is a mattress that provides support while contouring to the body for extra comfort. Because these beds blend the best of both worlds, they're more durable, making them a less expensive alternative to latex mattresses.
Innerspring: Traditional innerspring mattresses have been around for more than a century and rely on a layer of steel coils for support and structure. Topped with a foam layer for comfort, innerspring mattresses are bouncy and generally less expensive, but they're also known for being noisy and transferring movement.
Factors to Look For
When selecting a mattress, there are several factors couples should consider to find the right fit.
Support: With two bodies pressing into a mattress, support is more important than ever. A good mattress should evenly support both of you, keeping your spine in a healthy neutral alignment in multiple sleep positions. Further, a mattress with good edge support allows you both to spread out and sleep along the edges of the mattress. A sturdy foam and coil structure keeps the edge of the mattress from sagging over time and also helps prevent active sleepers from rolling off the bed.
Motion Isolation: Do you feel your partner toss and turn throughout the night? Then you need a mattress that isolates motion. This allows the mattress to absorb the impact of your partner's motion, keeping your side of the bed smooth and calm.
Firmness: Determining the ideal firmness level of your mattress relies on a number of factors, mainly sleeping position. The mattress firmness scale rates beds from 1–10, with 1 being the softest and 10 the firmest; most mattresses fall within the 5–7 range. While side sleepers fare better with softer mattresses, firm mattresses work better for stomach and back sleepers. That's why medium-firm beds tend to be good picks for couples looking for that happy medium.
Best Overall: Saatva Solaire
Saatva is offering an additional $270 off during Cyber Week exclusively for Real Simple readers.
Customization is key to fitting the sleep needs of couples, and the Saatva Solaire adjustable air bed delivers, with individual controls to adjust the firmness level on either side of the bed. The Solaire offers 50 customizable firmness levels using mm/Hg, the most precise scientific standard of pressure. Its five-zoned latex support system helps relieve back pain, and its motion-isolation design keeps a restless partner from disturbing your slumber. Plus, its superior edge support (it scored an 8.5 out of 10 during expert testing) means you can spread out on the bed without worrying about rolling off. Add the Solaire's 25-year warranty and free white-glove delivery, and it's easy to see why this bed scores with mattress experts and couples alike.
Mattress Type: Adjustable airbed
Mattress Advisor Score: 8.7/10
Firmness: 50 customizable options
Trial Period for Returns: 180 nights
Save $270 with our exclusive Cyber Week offer.
Best Luxury: Helix Midnight Luxe
The Helix Midnight Luxe lives up to its name with features that will make you sleep like a royal couple. A hybrid mattress of coils and soft foam, the bed boasts extra lumbar support for back pain relief, an ultra-breathable cover for cooling, and a premium quilted pillow top for cushioning. Plus, the Luxe mattress is a full 2 inches taller than the standard model. The Helix mattress's luxury memory foam offers pressure point relief on the hips and shoulders, earning it an 8.5 out of 10 during expert testing and making it a great choice for side sleepers who need the added comfort. And the medium firmness level is designed with couples in mind, ensuring the feel is not too firm, and not too soft, for both partners.
Mattress Type: Hybrid (foam and coils)
Mattress Advisor Score: 8.9/10
Firmness: Medium (6/10)
Trial Period for Returns: 100 nights
Best for Side Sleepers: Nectar
Designed with five layers of supportive memory foam, the Nectar mattress evenly distributes body weight to effectively support pressure points like the hips and shoulders, making it ideal for side sleepers. The foam also minimizes motion transfer and scores high on responsiveness, meaning the mattress will adjust to changing sleeping positions while also ensuring your movement doesn't disturb your partner. For side sleepers who find themselves near the edge of the bed—in the event your partner's a bed hog—the Nectar's solid edge support (expert testers gave it a near-perfect score of 9.5 out of 10) means you don't have to worry about falling off the side. Even better? In addition to being budget-friendly, the Nectar also comes with a full-year trial period, giving you and your significant other plenty of time to decide if this bed is for you.
Mattress Type: Gel memory foam
Mattress Advisor Score: 8.7/10
Firmness: Medium-firm (6/10)
Trial Period for Returns: 365 nights
Best Memory Foam: Saatva Loom & Leaf
Saatva is offering an additional $270 off during Cyber Week exclusively for Real Simple readers.
If the words "memory foam" conjure images of a squishy bed in a box, the Loom & Leaf mattress will challenge everything you think you know about foam beds. Made by luxury bed maker Saatva, Loom & Leaf takes the memory foam mattress to the next level with premium 5-pound foam and high-density foam layers that contour to the body to relieve pressure and offer head-to-toe support. The breathable, gel-infused foam layer provides temperature regulation, while the relaxed firm comfort level appeals to couples with different firmness preferences and sleep styles. Combining the contouring pressure relief of memory foam with the bounciness of gel, the Loom & Leaf seamlessly responds to your body's movements throughout the night. Achieving an 8 out of 10 for responsiveness during expert testing, its ability to adapt to your movements is practically unheard of for memory foam mattresses.
Mattress Type: Gel memory foam
Mattress Advisor Score: 8.2/10
Firmness: Relaxed-firm (6/10) and firm (8/10)
Trial Period for Returns: 180 nights
Save $270 with our exclusive Cyber Week offer.
Best Hybrid: Layla Hybrid
When mattress shopping, you usually have to choose between soft and firm, but the Layla Hybrid lets you have it both ways. Not only does this hybrid combine the benefits of contouring memory foam and supportive coils, it's also flippable, with a firm side for extra support and a softer side that hugs the body in plush comfort. Inside, innerspring coils leave plenty of room for air to flow, while perforated support foam helps break up any trapped heat to keep couples cool. And the 6-inch pocketed coil center absorbs motion for a smooth, quiet surface for both sleepers. Achieving top marks in motion isolation (8.5/10) and durability (8/10) during testing, the Layla Hybrid is hard to beat.
Mattress Type: Hybrid (foam and coils)
Mattress Advisor Score: 8.7/10
Firmness: Soft (4.5/10) and firm (7/10)
Trial Period for Returns: 120 nights
Best Cooling: GhostBed Classic
One of the biggest issues keeping couples up at night is far less sexy than it sounds—being too hot. That's why the GhostBed Classic is the top choice among mattress experts for staying as cool as the other side of the pillow. The bed's high-density foam core is topped with contouring gel memory foam made with a proprietary formula to transfer heat away from the body, while an aerated latex top layer maximizes airflow. Mattress Advisor experts told Real Simple that the GhostBed's cooling technology was hard to beat, awarding it an 8.5 out of 10. Plus, these cooling layers also absorb motion transfer, making it easy to chill undisturbed, no matter how much your partner moves around.
Mattress Type: Latex and gel memory foam
Mattress Advisor Score: 8.6/10
Firmness: Medium-firm (6.5/10)
Trial Period for Returns: 101 nights
Best for Back Pain: Bear Pro
Sleeping on a mattress with poor support can cause improper spinal alignment, leading to back pain and restless slumber. But the Bear Pro's five-layer foam system offers pressure-relieving comfort to alleviate backaches. Testers were especially impressed with the bed's responsive transition foam layer, which contours and cradles the body to provide balanced support, while gel memory foam ensures cooler sleep. And that's all wrapped in a breathable cover that works to keep you cool. The combination of pressure-relieving foam and sturdy lumbar support also benefits sore muscles, making the Bear Pro a great option for active couples.
Mattress Type: Foam blend
Mattress Advisor Score: 8.8/10
Firmness: Medium-firm (6.5/10)
Trial Period for Returns: 100 nights
Best for Combination Sleepers: Awara
Combination sleepers—those who switch positions throughout the night—need more flexibility and responsiveness from their mattress. Awara's latex hybrid bed delivers with its blend of natural latex foam and individually wrapped coils designed to improve breathability and reduce motion transfer. That combo, along with the Awara's five-zoned support system, strikes the right balance between softness and firmness to comfortably cradle couples, no matter how much they toss and turn. And if you tend to sprawl out on your mattress, the Awara's superior edge support—awarded a 9 out of 10 during expert testing—will keep you from rolling out of bed. The perfect choice for combination sleepers, the Awara will keep you sleeping soundly no matter how much you move around.
Mattress Type: Hybrid (latex and coils)
Mattress Advisor Score: 8.8/10
Firmness: Medium-firm (7/10)
Trial Period for Returns: 365 nights
Mattress Advisor's Review Process
Each mattress on this list was put to the test (literally) in Mattress Advisor's lab, which is located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Bedding experts spent over 1,200 hours evaluating and comparing mattresses using a 14-point testing methodology to find the best mattresses on the market for couples.
While some of the factors tested are tied directly to performance, like responsiveness, edge support, and pressure relief, others are based around brand operations, such as customer service, shipping policies, and trial period. The Mattress Advisor team combines this proprietary methodology with in-depth interviews and customer experience to arrive at a weighted score out of 10.
