Memory Foam Mattresses - Head-to-Head Comparison
Comparison Of Some Of The Most Popular Memory Foam Mattresses Based On Overall Comfort Ratings, Construction and Durability, Money-Back Trial Period, And Other Important Factors When Buying.
Back in 2016 I spent a lot of time trying to find a way to distinguish our 10" Memory Foam Mattress from all the literally dozens that had sprouted up over the last few years as there was a gold rush in the bed in the box industry started by Casper, Leesa, etc.
What I found was that it came down to quality. That is, the price reflected the amounts and types of materials put into the mattress.
The new breed wanted to keep their cost down, so their mattresses typically used 70% or so less material -- which showed up in the overall weight of the mattress.
And in their price -- about 70% less, reflecting the lesser amount of basic "stuff" that went into making their mattress..
Did this make these lower weight mattresses less comfortable initially? No, but I never felt comfortable going this direction since it would mean that after a few years the mattress would start losing its support. And I only felt comfortable selling a mattress that was really durable and whose comfort would last for years.
So I put together this chart to help people see underneath the covers of these popular brands of mattresses and it was correct as of summer 2016. I include our Healthy Foundations mattress as a point of comparison, but I no longer am producing or selling it -- I am just providing the information hopefully as a helpful guide as you sort through all the options
Memory Foam Mattress Comparison Chart - As Of Summer 2016
Healthy Foundations Memory Foam Specialists Since 1998 (No Longer Available Or Being Sold) |
Tempur-Pedic
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Bed in a Box
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Casper
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Signature Sleep A Top Selling Memory Foam Bed on Amazon |
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| Customer Satisfaction Rating of 85% or Higher (as rated by SleepLikeDead, based on their analysis of thousands of reviews) |
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| Memory Foam Top Layer of at Least 3" & 4-lb. Density (to ensure all the comfort, pressure relief, and unique conforming feel of memory foam) |
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| Base Foams of at Least 6" & 2.3-lb. Density (for long-term support and durability) |
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| Foam Made in the U.S.A. | |
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| 1 Year Money-Back Trial Period (so you aren't stuck if you don't like it) |
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| Company in Business 10 or More Years (indicator of whether they will be there if you have any warranty issues, etc.) |
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| Non-Prorated Warranty of 10 or More Years | |
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| Certi-PUR US Certified (Third-Party Certified as safest and highest overall quality foams) |
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| BBB Rating of A or A+ | |
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| Other Characteristics of Note: | Highest overall customer rating with 96% saying they would recommend to a friend. | Variety of memory foams and mattress configurations. | Uses gel foam rather than pure memory foam. | Memory foam isn't on top of the bed (it is under another layer), so don't get full feel of memory foam. | Made in China, so concerns about quality and purity of foam. |
| Price (for 10" profile with 4" of memory foam, or closest equivalent) |
$1299 | $2499 | $849 | $850 | $325.99 |
My big takeaway from this comparison?
There are a broad array of choices for memory foam mattresses, and at a range of price points.
The High And Low Options Both Come With Real Downsides
On the low end, you sacrifice a lot in terms of comfort, quality, and the money back return policies.
Yes, you can get a very inexpensive memory foam bed on Amazon. But if you look at the reviews for these inexpensive, Chinese foam made products, they often start to have problems with compression and breaking down within the first year.
On the other end of the spectrum, the leading brand's foam is of high quality, and while they don't offer the extended money back trial option that we do, their customer satisfaction rating is fairly good (81% as rated by SleepLikeTheDead. Which is good -- a lot better than the general innerspring rating of 68%, but not quite the 86% rating our 10" Memory Foam Mattress gets (which is tied for highest overall)).
But you pay a real premium for a brand name -- all that marketing cost and markup does really inflate the price.
And you do tend to get what you pay for with all the new bed in a box types like Casper, Leesa, etc. Their lower prices, as I've discussed above, reflect the overall lower weight (due to lower density foams, etc) that they put into their mattresses to be able to offer these lower price points.
If you'd like a way to compare other memory foam mattresses, I'd encourage you to look at our Finding The Best Memory Foam Mattress page which gives you a checklist of factors I looked at when sourcing all the different types of foam, covers, etc that go into making a memory foam mattress.