As a staff writer on Wirecutter’s sleep team, I’ve covered various health and self-care topics and written a range of reviews, including our coverage of meditation apps, face sunscreens, and silk pillowcases. For this guide, I tested nine mattresses side by side at Wirecutter’s office in Long Island City, New York, and I slept on three of our finalists at home for a week each.

Writer Justin Redman conducted research and testing for the first version of this guide. He interviewed Stephen Carr, a professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University and an expert on the polyurethane foams commonly used in inexpensive mattresses. He also interviewed Christine Hibbard, vice president of consumer insights for FXI, a company that supplies foam to many mattress companies; Jamie Diamonstein, chief product officer at Leesa, the company that makes one of the top picks in our foam and hybrid mattress guides; and Hilary Murphy, vice president of merchandising for Mattress Firm, a national chain of mattress stores.

When we began researching this guide in 2020, we focused on mattresses that cost less than $400 for a queen. We settled on that cutoff because some of the most popular mattresses on Amazon were in that price range, and our testing had demonstrated that it was hard to find a decent-feeling mattress for much less.

But since we first published this guide in late 2020, prices for mattresses (along with goods in general) have increased. The cost and availability of cheap mattresses in particular tend to fluctuate frequently, likely because these brands and manufacturers are less able to tolerate turbulence in production and cost. When we conducted a new round of research and testing in 2021 and early 2022, we raised our threshold to $500 for our main picks.

If you can afford to spend a bit more (around $600 for a queen), you’ll have more options for a better-feeling, longer-lasting bed. We’ve included two upgrade picks: Costco’s Novaform ComfortGrande and IKEA’s Hesstun, both of which feel more expensive than they actually are and have features that are usually found in pricier mattresses.

After years of testing mattresses, we’ve found that you typically get what you pay for. So what do you get with a really cheap mattress? Generally speaking, most mattresses in the under-$500 price range are all-foam or foam-forward hybrids, rather than innerspring. (As we explain in our guide to the best innerspring mattresses, a decent-quality coil mattress typically costs at least $500 for a queen.) Cheaper mattresses are likely to be made from lower-quality memory foam and polyfoam, have fewer layers, and offer few to no bells and whistles, such as contoured or zoned foams or cooling cover materials. (We’ve often argued that many “special features” probably aren’t worth paying extra for anyway.) Most of the under-$500 mattresses we’ve looked at have basic, sock-style covers made from polyester or poly-jacquard (a pattern woven into the fabric), which aren’t particularly thick or soft.

Cheap mattresses tend to be firmer than more expensive ones. Of the 16 cheap mattresses we’ve tested, none could be classified as soft or medium-soft, and nearly all were at least medium-firm. This is likely because cheap-mattress companies use firmer foam to make a mattress feel more substantial and of a higher quality than it actually is. Cheap mattresses also rarely offer multiple firmness options, as many of our over-$1,000 picks—such as the WinkBed, Saatva Classic, and Loom & Leaf—do.

Cheaper mattresses likely won’t last as long as those made from higher-quality materials. Northwestern University’s Stephen Carr told us that concerns over the durability of cheaper foams used in budget mattresses are valid. Carr described all foam as a “suspension of bubbles,” and he explained that memory foam is a closed-cell foam, which means thin membranes separate the bubbles from one another. If a closed-cell foam is of lower quality, those membranes will break more easily, affecting the integrity of the foam and causing the mattress to sag over time.

We found that, compared with companies that sell more-expensive mattresses, cheap-mattress companies are less forthcoming about how they manufacture their beds, which made it harder for us to assess the quality. Of the eight companies we contacted, only Amazon Basics, Best Price Mattress, and IKEA revealed the foam densities of their mattresses. As we explain in our mattress buying guide, knowing a mattress’s foam density can be a proxy for understanding how durable, supportive, and well made the mattress is.

Many all-foam mattresses, especially cheaper ones, contain fiberglass (a component that serves as a fire barrier) to comply with flammability standards. In reading customer reviews of mattresses in this price range, we found some owners complaining that after they opened the mattress cover, fiberglass was unleashed into their homes, causing skin and respiratory irritation. Generally this shouldn’t be an issue unless the cover wears out or you remove it, which you aren’t supposed to do (even if it does come with a zipper).

There’s also something very unpleasant that can happen to a cheap foam mattress. Carr told us that polyurethane foam in mattresses reacts with moisture (whether from the air or sweat from your body), causing hydrolysis. That chemical reaction produces urea, one of the main components of urine. There are additives that stabilize the foam to prevent hydrolysis, but they’re expensive, and manufacturers of cheaper mattresses might cut corners to keep their costs lower, Carr said. So over time your bed might start to smell … like pee. We don’t know for certain whether this would happen with the mattresses we cover in this guide, but using a waterproof mattress cover or encasement (which we recommend for all mattresses anyway) may help.

If you go with a cheap mattress, you’re also likely to sacrifice customer service and personal attention from the company. During our research and reporting, we had a very difficult time getting questions answered on the mattress companies’ customer service lines, and some companies even disconnected us multiple times while we were on hold. By contrast, customer service tends to be much faster and more helpful from companies that make higher-end mattresses (Saatva, for example, offers live chat on its website). More cheap-mattress companies do now offer free trial periods, allowing you to sleep on the mattress for 30 or 100 days and, if you don’t like it, return it for a refund.

All that said, few of the cheap mattresses we tested were truly terrible, and most of them were at least decently comfortable. In fact, the cream of the crop felt almost as good as Costco’s Novaform ComfortGrande, our upgrade pick among foam options here, which costs around $600 (when not on sale) and is also our favorite under-$1,000 foam mattress in our guide to the best memory-foam mattresses. At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself what you really need, what you can put up with, and what you can afford. You should still have good options even at this price level (though, as always, your experience of these mattresses may differ depending on your build, preferences, and needs).

Many all-foam mattresses, especially cheaper ones, contain fiberglass (a component that serves as a fire barrier) to comply with flammability standards. In reading customer reviews of mattresses in this price range, we found some owners complaining that after they opened the mattress cover, fiberglass was unleashed into their homes, causing skin and respiratory irritation. In a 2022 study, researchers sampled four mattresses, including one made by Zinus, maker of the two top picks in this guide, and found that up to 1% of the fiberglass from the inner layers had migrated to outer layers, “representing a potential risk of consumer exposure if the zipper on the outer cover is opened.” A 2022 Los Angeles Times article reported on a class-action lawsuit against Zinus, from customers alleging fiberglass fibers contained in the company’s mattresses can escape and cause health issues.

In a statement, Zinus told us “The Consumer Product Safety Commission has found that this type of material is ‘not considered hazardous,’ and various regulatory agencies and authoritative scientific bodies have concluded that exposure to this type of material does not pose a risk of chronic health effects.” Zinus also told us they plan to stop using fiberglass in their mattresses, but didn’t share further details about when the material would be phased out. We’re continuing to monitor concerns around fiberglass in foam mattresses, but generally it shouldn’t be an issue unless the cover wears out or you remove it, which you aren’t supposed to do (even if it does come with a zipper). If you want to avoid buying a mattress that contains fiberglass, consider our two upgrade picks, the Novaform ComfortGrande and the Ikea Hesstun, or the Best Price Mattress Memory Foam Mattress, another good memory-foam mattress we liked.

Price: $289 for a 10-inch queen (at the time of publication)

Who it’s for: The Zinus Green Tea Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress offers sturdy support that will appeal primarily to back- and stomach-sleepers.

How it feels: This mattress is medium-firm.

Why it’s great: Of the cheap mattresses we’ve tested, the Zinus Green Tea Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress offers the best combination of cushion and support, with a mix of springiness and cradling foam with good motion isolation. People who prefer to sleep on their back or their stomach should appreciate the spinal support. (As we discuss in our guide to the best mattresses for back-sleepers, people who sleep on their back typically prefer medium-firm beds that are supportive enough to keep the spine aligned while still cushioning the shoulders, hips, and lower back.)

As a coil-and-foam combo, the Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid has a notably spring-forward feel, offering more bounce and responsiveness than all-foam mattresses, which tend to feel sinkier and more body-conforming. The top foam layer does not cuddle or hug, which makes you feel like you’re sleeping right on top of the mattress instead of inside it. One tester noted, “It’s firm enough to keep my posture good but soft enough that it sinks for my hips and shoulders so they don’t hurt.” Another tester said that they liked that the mattress had “some give, but also an underlying firmness and support.” Many testers liked this aspect, especially coupled with the mattress’s bounce, which made it easier for them to shift and get up.

The Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid comes in 10-, 12-, and 14-inch thicknesses. We tested the 10-inch mattress, and the 12-inch and 14-inch versions are likely to feel even more supportive and substantial.

Zinus didn’t respond to our questions about the specific foam densities for any of its mattresses. However, in a 10-inch queen, the Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid weighs a decently hefty 79.8 pounds and has 690 coils, more than our cheap-innerspring upgrade pick, the IKEA Hesstun, which has 594 coils. The weight and coil count of this mattress make it feel sturdier than your average cheap hybrid, and more comfortable, too.

As its full name suggests, the Zinus Green Tea Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress has infused green tea (as well as charcoal) in the top layer of memory foam. Although the company touts these additions as “circulation enhancing” and “stress reducing,” we’re skeptical of those claims. The mattress is encased in a jacquard cover that is more detailed than those of most other cheap mattresses we’ve tested, and it even has handles on the side for easy lifting, a rarity among mattresses at this price.

After sleeping on it at home, I was surprised to find that I liked it more than I had during our initial test in the office. As a side-sleeper, I typically prefer medium-soft mattresses, and I thought the Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid would be too firm for my taste. But two nights into my testing, I noticed that it had loosened up enough to feel comfortably cradling without making me feel hot or stuck. Due to the mattress’s solid motion isolation, it felt easy to slip in and out of bed without waking my partner, and I found that my hips and shoulders never felt cramped or crushed against the mattress. It also has a nice springiness, which makes shifting positions, and even getting up, a breeze.

My partner has been sleeping on the Zinus Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid for almost a year, and it's held up well with time. There haven’t been any signs of a depression forming in the middle of the mattress (and admittedly, we’ve been too lazy to rotate it), and it’s felt the same since it loosened up a bit after the first week of sleeping on it.

The Zinus Green Tea Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress comes with a 100-night free trial and a 10-year warranty.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: As noted above, Zinus mattresses (like many foam mattresses) contain a layer of fiberglass as a fire barrier. Zinus says they plan to stop using fiberglass in their mattresses, but didn’t share details for when they plan to phase it out. If you don’t want a mattress that contains fiberglass, consider the Novaform ComfortGrande, the Ikea Hesstun, or the Best Price Mattress Memory Foam Mattress, another good mattress from our testing.

While the Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid’s relative firmness may appeal to people who like a less plush, more buoyant feel, it may be too rigid for those who prefer to sink into their mattress at the end of a long day (or night). Some testers did note that the mattress felt too firm to be comfortable. Some also found the mattress too bouncy: “Very springy. I hate it,” one tester wrote. If you know you prefer a more body-conforming mattress, consider an all-foam option like the Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress or the Novaform ComfortGrande.

Using FindOurView, an artificial-intelligence-driven data-analysis tool, we evaluated 1,350 owner reviews submitted from May 2019 to November 2021, and we found that 20% of them said this mattress was very firm, whereas only 1% thought it was too soft.

I’ve also noticed in my home testing that the edge support leaves something to be desired: When I sat near the side of the bed, the mattress dipped significantly. I also tried testing it with my cat whenever he lay near the edge of the bed—sitting anywhere near him would send him bolting up like he thought he was going to fall.

In 2019, a staff member bought the 10-inch queen directly from Zinus and loved it. However, last year, they bought another 12-inch queen from Amazon for their guest room and noticed some stark differences, noting that it’s “unforgivingly firm and uncomfortable in a way that just feels fundamentally different than the first one.” According to Zinus representatives, no changes were made to the mattress during this time. It could be a product manufacturing difference between Amazon and Zinus, or the difference in mattress height—frankly, we can’t be sure what changed about the second mattress to feel so unalike the first.

We’ve encountered more shipping and return hiccups with Zinus mattresses compared to those from more expensive brands. In November of 2022, I ordered two Zinus Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid mattresses through Amazon to furnish a vacation home. My first order was canceled through Amazon because my packages were apparently damaged during transit. I hurriedly ordered two more–but accidentally had them shipped to my apartment in New York. Correcting my mistake proved frustrating and complicated, with multiple calls to Amazon customer service and USPS, who initially refused to pick up the mattresses to return them. My mattresses ended up being fully refunded by Amazon, but they were never picked up—I had to arrange a donation pickup for them myself.

Key specs

Materials: gel memory foam, memory foam, coils; poly-jacquard cover
Thickness: 10, 12, and 14 inches
Free trial period: 100 nights
Warranty: 10-year limited warranty

Price: $370 for a 12-inch queen (at the time of publication)

Who it’s for: With its cushier top yet overall supportive feel, the Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress should appeal to any type of sleeper, but especially those who prefer a classic memory-foam sink. Because it isn’t particularly plush, it’s likely to appeal most to back- and stomach-sleepers, but the memory-foam top offers some pressure relief for side-sleepers who prefer a firmer feel.

How it feels: This mattress is on the firmer side of medium-firm.

Why it’s great: Of the all-memory-foam mattresses we evaluated in our group test of cheaper mattresses, the 12-inch Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress was the favorite (aside from the more expensive Novaform ComfortGrande). It felt the most cushiony in our tests, and it should offer good support for back- and stomach-sleepers in particular. It should also appeal to people who like the feel of Tempur-Pedic mattresses but not Tempur-Pedic prices.

We first tested the Green Tea Memory Foam in 2018, when we compared it against pricier beds for our guide to the best foam mattresses. We included it as a budget pick in that guide because it felt cushy but sturdy for the price, and for a long time it was the best inexpensive foam mattress we could find. More recently, the company updated the Green Tea Memory Foam to make it feel significantly firmer. The result is an all-foam mattress that feels supportive with a dense, slightly conforming memory-foam top.

The 12-inch Green Tea Memory Foam weighs 62.5 pounds and is made up of three foam layers. The top layer has 3 inches of memory foam (infused with green tea, which we think is of dubious value). Beneath that are 2 inches of comfort polyfoam and then 7 inches of the base polyfoam. Although the mattress isn’t heavy, it does feel dense, both when you pick it up and when you lie on it. As with the Green Tea Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress, Zinus wouldn’t divulge the specific densities of these foam layers.

The Green Tea Memory Foam comes in 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-inch versions. We recommend the 12-inch version (which we group-tested) or the 10-inch version (which I slept on), both of which are standard thicknesses and feel relatively sturdy and substantial.

The Green Tea Memory Foam feels less obviously squishy than many memory-foam mattresses and actually takes some time to sink into. One tester noted that fully melting into it required a bit more adjusting than with other mattresses of its type, but once that tester got settled, they found it to be cozy. Another tester liked that it didn’t feel “aggressively” memory foam–y. Because this mattress has zero bounce, it offers good motion isolation, and we also found the edge support to be impressively stable: One tester said they felt confident that they could sit on the edge of the bed and put their socks on without sliding off—which is not something that can be said for many cheap mattresses.

When I slept on the Green Tea Memory Foam at home, I noticed that I gently melted into the mattress when I lay down, in a kind of slow motion that gave me time to nestle in. Though I don’t personally prefer memory-foam mattresses, I was surprised how much the Green Tea Memory Foam reminded me of classic memory-foam Tempur-Pedic mattresses in that way, especially considering that the most basic Tempur-Pedic mattress starts at $2,000 in queen.

A Wirecutter staff writer bought the twin size, 8-inch Green Tea Memory Foam for their kids’ bunk bed in late 2020. To date, they still haven’t had any issues with it, and say their kids seem comfortable and it was a good choice for what they needed. Another Wirecutter editor has bought five twin-sized Green Tea Memory Foam mattresses over the past four and a half years. They noted that several family members have commented that the Zinus mattresses are more comfortable than other, more expensive mattresses in the house.

The Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress comes with a 100-night free trial and a 10-year warranty.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Like many other foam mattresses, the Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam mattress contain fiberglass as its protective fire-resistant barrier. If you want to avoid buying a mattress that contains fiberglass, consider the Novaform ComfortGrande, the IKEA Hesstun, and the Best Price Mattress Memory Foam.

The Green Tea Memory Foam is not exactly inviting—it doesn’t cuddle you as you sink into it but instead keeps you positioned firmly on the top of the mattress, and you melt only into the very top layer. One tester found that it didn’t offer adequate pressure relief for side-sleeping: “I usually sleep on my back, but if I flipped to my side then it wouldn’t distribute my weight evenly enough to take the pressure off my hips.” Back- or stomach-sleepers might find this mattress more suited to their sleep style than side-sleepers. With zero bounce, this mattress has great motion isolation—it would easily pass the wine glass test (video)—but jumping right out of this bed in the morning might be difficult.

It can be hard to shift positions on this mattress, too. When I slept on it at home, I often woke up in the middle of the night trying to pull myself out of my partner’s body indent—an endeavor that took more effort than I’d like to admit. (I tried asking him to scoot over instead, to which he very sleepily replied, “No, I’m stuck.”) The sticky, sinky memory foam also seemed to make me hotter than I already run at night.

Like many cheap foam mattresses, the Green Tea Memory Foam has a basic, sock-style cover that doesn’t look or feel especially luxurious.

Using the artificial-intelligence-driven data tool FindOurView, we analyzed 1,158 owner reviews posted between June and November 2021. Of those, about 16% complained that the Green Tea Memory Foam felt too firm; about 6% said it was too soft. My personal observation (and our testing experience) is more aligned with the former—but, as always, mattress feel is subjective.

Key specs

Materials: memory foam; knit polyester cover
Thickness: 6, 8, 10, and 12 inches
Free trial period: 100 nights
Warranty: 10-year limited warranty (PDF)

Price: $580 for a queen (at the time of publication)

Who it’s for: The Novaform ComfortGrande is suitable for back- and stomach-sleepers, as well as for side-sleepers who prefer firmer mattresses.

How it feels: This mattress is medium-firm.

Why it’s great: At around $580 for a queen ($500 if you buy it in a Costco store, but you’ll have to haul it home yourself), the Novaform ComfortGrande offers exceptional value. With its billowy surface and its cradling, cushy feel, the ComfortGrande feels similar to much pricier all-foam mattresses we’ve tried, yet it’s a fraction of the cost. Even better, it often goes on sale for $500 (sometimes less) online. If you’re not in a rush to get a new mattress, waiting for the price to drop may be worthwhile.

The ComfortGrande’s slightly quilted top and 14-inch thickness make it look sturdier than any of the other cheap mattresses we’ve tried (the only comparable mattress, visually speaking, is the Linenspa Memory Foam Hybrid). One tester in our brand-concealed group test noticed that it was observably thicker than the rest, and correctly guessed that it was a ringer in the mix. “This one feels unexpectedly expensive,” another said.

The top layer of the ComfortGrande cradles without swallowing you whole, giving just a little when you lie down but never causing that classic memory-foam sink. One tester described it as “stuffed, like a dense, fat cushion.” This mattress is by no means plush, but nestling into it on our backs or stomachs felt comfortable to us.

Despite its light bounciness, this mattress reduces motion transfer well. Lying down on it doesn’t leave a body imprint, which also makes shifting from one position to another an easy task.

The company wouldn’t reveal the exact foam density to us, but it did say that the memory-foam layer was in the range of 3 to 3.5 pounds per cubic foot, and that the polyfoam was in the range of 1.8 to 2 pounds per cubic foot. Those numbers make this mattress’s layers similar to or denser than foams found in mattresses costing $1,000 or more.

One Wirecutter staffer bought the Novaform ComfortGrande to furnish an Airbnb a year and a half ago, and have received nothing but compliments on it. They said they find it more comfortable to sleep on than the more-expensive Sealy mattress in their own bedroom.

The Novaform ComfortGrande comes with a 20-year warranty. And thanks to Costco’s generous return policy (the best we’ve seen), if you decide at any point that you don’t like it, you can arrange for a free pickup and a full refund.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: This mattress puffed up impressively, but it is not plush or luxurious to lie on by any means. If you’re a side-sleeper, or if you simply prefer a softer cushion for your shoulders and hips, this might not be the right choice for you. Like all the other mattresses we recommend in this guide, the ComfortGrande is not a true soft mattress. The edge support is also somewhat lacking—you won’t feel as if you’ll fall off when you roll to the edge in your sleep, but if you sit on the edge, you’ll definitely feel some sloping.

If you’re convinced that the ComfortGrande is the right mattress for you, but you aren’t a Costco member, you’ll have to pay a 5% fee (about $30 extra for a queen when the mattress is not on sale).

We’ve noticed over the years that some owners complain in their reviews that this mattress takes a long time to puff up to its full height—or doesn’t reach its full 14 inches at all—but Costco’s customer service has been consistently good, and if you do have this issue, getting a replacement mattress shouldn’t be a problem.

Key specs

Materials: memory foam, polyfoam; quilted cover
Thickness: 14 inches
Free trial period: According to Costco policy, you can return the mattress for a full refund at any time.
Warranty: 20-year warranty (PDF)

Price: $650 for a queen (at the time of publication)

Who it’s for: The IKEA Hesstun in Medium Firm should appeal to stomach- and back-sleepers, as well as to side-sleepers who prefer firmer mattresses.

How it feels: This mattress is on the firmer side of medium-firm.

Why it’s great: It’s hard to find a decent cheap innerspring mattress. At $650 (in queen), the IKEA Hesstun in Medium Firm is a bit pricier than some of the other budget innersprings we’ve tested for this guide, but it has features we’ve found in more expensive innerspring models, including a plush Euro top, body-conforming mini pocket springs near the surface, and a supportive layer of pocket springs near the bottom. At nearly 13 inches, it has a more solid, substantial look and feel than most cheaper innersprings do. The Hesstun doesn’t feel like a luxurious hotel mattress, but for its price, it punches well above its weight class.

The Hesstun’s topmost layer feels less foamy and more puffy, and it takes more time to settle into after you lie down on it. This mattress is not squishy or soft, which makes it more suitable for back- or stomach-sleepers who prefer the support.

During our brand-concealed group test of innerspring mattresses in 2019, no testers chose the Hesstun as their favorite over any of the pricier models. However, when we revealed the contenders’ brands and prices to the testers, the Hesstun garnered more positive votes than any other mattress. “It’s good enough, and the price is so low,” one tester said. When it came to considering which mattress our testers would actually buy for their homes, the Hesstun won out.

Senior staff writer Joanne Chen slept on the Hesstun for about a week and found that it fell more on the firmer side of medium-firm. Because of that, she thought it was more comfortable to sleep on her stomach or back.

The Hesstun is available at IKEA stores nationwide, so it’s easy to test out in person if you live near an IKEA location. You can exchange IKEA mattresses within 90 days of purchase or return them within 180 days. And from what we could tell (at least from the most recent customer reviews), customer service seems to respond helpfully. The Hesstun comes with a 10-year warranty.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: The Hesstun’s puffy feel isn’t for everyone. Some testers noted the Hesstun felt as if it were stuffed to the brim with feathers. Its relative firmness won’t appeal to people who prefer a mattress with more give.

Since we first tested the Hesstun, IKEA increased the mattress’s price from $550 to $650 for a queen. While we still think it's a good value for the quality, the Hesstun is pricier than many cheaper innersprings. IKEA offers no free-delivery option. When you buy online, delivery pricing is based on your distance from the nearest IKEA warehouse, and it includes in-room placement at no additional charge. If you purchase it in a store, delivery is nearly $50 (though an additional cost might apply depending on how far you live). An exchange can be a pain—you have to bring your mattress to a store, though some IKEA stores may offer pickup services.

Key specs

Materials: pocketed coils, memory foam, polyfoam; polyester, cotton, and rayon cover
Thickness: 12⅝ inches
Free trial period: 90 days for exchange only, 180 days to return (fees apply)
Warranty: 10 years (PDF)

Mattresses can collect a lot of unwanted nastiness. From dust mites and dead skin to liquids (everything from water droplets to sweat and pee), your mattress is susceptible to stains and odors that may drive you to trash it before its expected shelf life is up. According to our guide on how to clean your mattress, using a mattress encasement will keep the worst of the unpleasantness out, and it will make routine cleaning as simple as throwing the encasement in the wash once or twice a year. We recommend the Protect-A-Bed AllerZip Smooth Mattress Encasement, which has super-strong seams and a zipper that won’t easily open. A mattress encasement can also make it easier to inspect your mattress for bed bugs; if that’s a problem you’re dealing with, or worried about, check out our advice on how to get rid of bed bugs.)

If you don’t have a mattress encasement, vacuum your mattress once a month using a full-size vacuum cleaner that has powerful suction, to draw out all of the trapped dust and grime from every crevice. For bigger accidents and spills on a bare mattress, spray equal parts warm water and white vinegar onto the stain and dab it until the stain disappears. Then, sprinkle baking soda onto the affected area to absorb the wetness, wait a few hours until it’s dry, and vacuum it up. Dry your mattress completely before dressing and sleeping on it again—dampness invites mildew, and no amount of vacuuming can fix that problem.

We conducted the initial research for this guide in 2020, evaluating about two dozen cheap mattresses and testing nine in the office. In our 2021 round of testing, we evaluated nearly two dozen additional mattresses and then narrowed down our in-office testing to another nine finalists, two of which we had tested before. In both trials, we used criteria similar to what we use for our main foam, hybrid, and innerspring mattress guides:

• Decent materials and construction: As we note in our mattress buying guide, foam density is a good proxy for mattress quality; as we also mention in that buying guide, a decent memory-foam mattress should have a foam density of at least 3 pounds per cubic foot, and for non-memory polyfoam, 1.8 pounds per cubic foot. Unfortunately, few mattress companies we contacted for this guide would divulge the specific densities of the foams they use in their mattresses. So we also looked at the mattresses’ dimensions (focusing on options that were at least 10 or 12 inches thick), the number of foam layers (ideally, three or more), and the mattresses’ total weights (for foam mattresses, at least 65 pounds for a 12-inch-thick queen) in order to get a read on how substantial each mattress was. For innerspring and hybrid mattresses, we considered the coil count, as well, looking for mattresses that had at least 500 coils (queen size), which we considered the bare minimum for a passably comfortable spring mattress.
• A free trial period (or the ability to return): We focused on companies that offer at least some ability to try the mattress and to get your money back if you don’t like it. You’re less likely to encounter a 90- or 100-night trial with mattresses in this price range, but it’s not impossible to find. With some companies, your trial period depends on where you buy the mattress. If you buy your mattress from Amazon, your purchase generally falls under a 30-day return policy, though the window may be longer depending on the mattress.
• Warranty: As is the case with more-expensive mattresses, a 10-year warranty isn’t difficult to find on a mattress in this price range. We didn’t test any mattresses with warranty coverage shorter than 10 years because we valued companies that at least nominally stood behind their products and would work with customers if a mattress was defective (such as a severe indent in the foam, or a mattress that failed to expand to full height).
• Customer reviews: We analyzed 6,519 reviews on Amazon across six different mattress companies with the aid of an artificial-intelligence-driven tool called FindOurView. Although that represents only a small fraction of the mattresses available for sale, FindOurView gave us detailed insights into the mattresses we thought might be pick material, primarily about what most people seemed to like and dislike about them over a longer period of time than we’re able to gauge in our at-home testing.

We also considered the quality of each mattress company’s customer service, but in the end that didn’t factor into our decision process. With the exception of a few standouts, customer service was subpar across the category compared with that of companies selling more-expensive mattresses. We got disconnected from multiple customer service calls after being on hold for several minutes, and most of the companies I contacted wouldn’t reveal information such as the foam densities of their mattresses. Several companies had average or poor ratings with the Better Business Bureau. On the whole, when you buy a cheaper mattress, you can expect to get less-personalized treatment and less access to customer service.

We originally looked for durability in cheap mattresses by examining their foam density, coil count, thickness, and weight. Considering that cheap-mattress companies are relatively tight-lipped about the specifications of their mattresses (particularly their foam densities), we have since concluded that mattresses in this price range are not built to last. Whereas you can expect a high-quality mattress, like those we recommend in our foam, innerspring, and hybrid mattress guides, to last for at least seven to 10 years, even the best cheap mattress is unlikely to serve for the long haul. Because these mattresses contain less-dense foams and fewer coils, have thinner covers, and lack other high-end components, you’re likely to face sagging and general wear and tear eventually, within a few years. The effects may be more pronounced if you weigh more than 200 pounds. Of course, if you’re furnishing a guest bedroom or a child’s room, you may get much more mileage out of your cheap mattress.

We started researching cheap mattresses in 2020, focusing on mattresses that cost less than $400 for a queen. Due to the pandemic, we had to adapt our testing: Instead of setting up the mattresses and inviting staffers to try them out in a brand-concealed group test, writer Justin Redman evaluated them on his own. He tried 10 mattresses that met our criteria and narrowed the list down to five of his top-ranked mattresses to sleep-test at home. After sleeping on each mattress for at least a week, he concluded that the Best Price Mattress Memory Foam Mattress, the Zinus Cooling Copper Adaptive Hybrid Mattress, and the Classic Brands Cool Gel Memory Foam Mattress were the best cheap mattresses available at the time.

Because our picks underwent price increases and availability issues over the course of 2021 (along with many other goods), we conducted a new round of testing in October 2021. After performing a fresh search (and raising our price threshold to under $500 for a queen), we identified eight mattresses to test: the 12-inch Linenspa Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress, the Tulo Memory Foam Bamboo with Green Tea, the Tulo Memory Foam Lavender, the Wayfair Sleep Medium Hybrid Mattress, the Wayfair Sleep Medium Memory Foam Mattress, the Zinus Blackstone Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress, the 10-inch Zinus Green Tea Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress, and the 12-inch Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress.

We tested those mattresses alongside the Novaform ComfortGrande, our pick for the best memory foam mattress under $1,000. The Novaform ComfortGrande, which typically costs around $600 for a queen, provided a good comparison point to highlight where the cheaper mattresses excelled or came up short. We set up the nine mattresses in Wirecutter’s Long Island City, New York, office for a brand-concealed group test with 16 staffers of different sizes and sleep preferences, including me. We asked each tester to rank each mattress’s firmness level, motion isolation, and edge support, as well as to choose their favorite and least favorite in the room. Over the course of a day, each tester napped, bounced, and moved around on all nine mattresses, jotting down their notes as they moved across the beds.

To test edge support, I sat on the edge to see if it felt as if I would fall off. To assess motion isolation (how much movement you’d feel on the bed if, say, a sleep partner shifted positions), like a true Gen Z–er, I placed my phone on one side of the mattress and rolled (and bounced) toward it, noting whether the phone would slide back in my direction, jolt in place, or stay completely still. I took my time lying on my back, stomach, and sides to assess the pressure relief of each mattress.

Eventually, after taking feedback from our 16 testers as well as online-review data into account, I settled on three finalists: the Linenspa Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress, the Zinus Green Tea Cooling Swirl Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress, and the Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress. I then spent at least a week sleeping on each of those three mattresses at home. I measure 5 feet 7 inches tall and weigh 128 pounds, and I am primarily a side-sleeper who tends to run hot when I sleep. I share a bed with my partner, who measures 6 feet 4 inches and weighs about 160 pounds (also a side-sleeper, but one who gets cold in the middle of the night), and my cat, who is probably 1 foot 5 inches tall and 13 pounds (and a side-, stomach-, and back-sleeper who twitches a lot). During the time I slept on these mattresses, I took note of the edge support, the motion isolation, whether I felt notably hot or cold on the mattress, and any issues that popped up within the week.

Of course, how any of these mattresses will feel to you is subjective. If our brand-concealed group test told me anything, it’s that trying out mattresses is a deeply personal experience, and what one person may love, another might hate. What I think is too firm, too sinky, or too springy may fit your needs just right. So, as always, it’s best to consider my observations and then make up your own mind.

When Justin Redman first wrote this guide, in 2020, the Best Price Mattress Memory Foam Mattress was a pick. It stood out for its solid construction, spinal support, and good motion isolation. Justin noted that the Best Price, unlike many memory-foam mattresses, didn’t produce a deep sinking sensation; instead the mattress sank only a little, with just enough nestling to provide some pressure relief for his lower back, while remaining very supportive. The Best Price uses treated cotton instead of fiberglass as its protective fire barrier.

I’ve personally been a satisfied owner of the Best Price mattress, having purchased  the 10-inch version in queen to squeeze into my tiny New York City bedroom. Although I’m not generally fond of all-foam mattresses (as they tend to make me run hot in the middle of the night), the Best Price mattress softly cradled my body without making me feel trapped inside. Although I definitely sleep in the mattress, not on top of it, I still found it easy to shift from one position to another, and I didn’t overheat. The edge support and motion isolation could be better, though: The mattress sinks significantly when you sit on or near the corners or the sides, and getting out of bed without jostling my partner in the process proved difficult.

The Best Price mattress frequently went out of stock and experienced price fluctuations over 2021, which led us to decide not to include it in our most recent round of testing. The availability and price issues seem to have leveled out, but overall, we think the Zinus Green Tea Memory Foam is a nicer-feeling memory-foam mattress with a classic sinkiness that still lets you nestle into the top layer. But if you know you like memory foam with a little more give, or if the Best Price is on sale, it’s worth considering.

If you’ve ever searched for an inexpensive mattress on Amazon, you’ve probably encountered the Linenspa Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress. With over 100,000 buyer reviews, the Linenspa is clearly a popular choice, so we included the 10-inch version of the foam-and-coil mattress in our first round of testing in 2020. It was an immediate bust: When writer Justin Redman first sat on it, the mattress completely bottomed out and hammocked—so much so that he thought he was going to break the bed frame. When he reclined on this mattress, it felt both too firm and unsupportive, as the springs felt flimsy, but the foam top provided almost no pressure relief (and may have even made the mattress less comfortable).

We gave the Linenspa another chance in our most recent test, this time bringing in the 12-inch mattress. To our surprise, the 12-inch Linenspa had a soft top layer and a bouncy, supportive base that would work well for any sleep position. It felt slightly springy with a soft cradle of cushioning. Testers loved it: More panelists selected the Linenspa as their overall favorite cheap mattress than any other except the Novaform ComfortGrande, which cost $150 more. “Feels very different from the rest of the bunch. Not very squishy; feels bouncier, in a good way,” one tester said.

Because the 12-inch Linenspa was a clear front-runner in our group test, the next step was for me to sleep on it at home. Here’s where things got weird. Wirecutter purchased a new Linenspa mattress for me to test, and as soon as I received it, I could tell something was wrong. The mattress groaned as it sprang out of the box, and instead of the top foamy layer puffing up completely as it inflated, it remained flat and hard. When I lay down on it the first night, I felt like my back was arched while my shoulders and feet sloped off, and I could feel the coiled springs pressing into my spine. This was a completely different mattress than the one we had tested in the office.

I suspected that the mattress I had received was defective. Using data collected by FindOurView, an artificial-intelligence-driven tool, I noticed that while the majority of buyer reviews were positive, approximately one in 10 complained of issues similar to what I had encountered: a mattress that didn’t inflate properly, was hard and creaky, or felt lumpy and uneven.

I began navigating the somewhat byzantine return process. Linenspa wouldn’t help me directly and instead told me that I would have to go through Amazon customer service, since that’s where the mattress was originally purchased. After a week, I had arranged for the original mattress to be picked up and a new one sent to me. The replacement proved that the first Linenspa Memory Foam Hybrid I had received at home had indeed been a lemon.

The replacement Linenspa felt more akin to what we tested in the office: It was cradling yet supportive, as well as bouncy but not too squishy, and it had solid motion isolation and edge support. Even as a side-sleeper who prefers medium-soft mattresses, I thought the medium-firm Linenspa still felt comfortable to sleep on. If my experience hadn’t been stained by that first, defective mattress, the Linenspa would have easily been the best mattress I’d slept on in my at-home testing. In short: It’s a great cheap mattress if you get a good one, but if you get a defective one, be prepared to go through a return process.

In 2023, we plan to test a few cheap mattresses against our current picks. These include the Lucid 10-inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress, and Sam’s Club’s exclusive Member’s Mark 12-inch Hotel Premier Collection Memory Foam Mattress, which looks similar to the Novaform ComfortGrande. We’ll update this guide with the results.

Classic Brands Cool Gel Memory Foam Mattress: A former pick in this guide, the Classic Brands Cool Gel Memory Foam was the softest mattress that Justin slept on in his original 2020 round of testing. He liked it for its cushiony feel, and he thought it provided great pressure relief for side-sleepers in particular. But when we re-tested it at home in 2022, we found that it didn’t outperform our current picks. A medium-firm memory-foam mattress, it felt sinky without being squishy or supportive, and it had poor edge support. The quicksand-like effect of the memory foam did make for good motion isolation. But  otherwise this mattress felt like a nondescript block of memory foam—neither good nor bad.

Tulo Memory Foam Lavender: This mattress looked flat next to the others we had lined up in the office. It also felt both unyieldingly firm and then sinky. Sitting down on it from a height produced the same sensation as hitting water: a sudden slap and then a deep sinking that left a sizable body impression long after we got up. Shifting from one side to another was difficult because of this effect, and though the edge support was decent while we were lying down, sitting on the edge directly flattened it significantly. We found that the Tulo Memory Foam Bamboo with Green Tea had the same issues.

Zinus Blackstone Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress: Considering that we’ve had good experiences with other Zinus mattresses, we thought the Blackstone Green Tea Memory Foam, which was pricier than most of the cheap mattresses we tested, looked promising. However, this model was the firmest memory-foam mattress we tried. Since it’s made from memory foam, it has no bounce—to be expected—but it also has very little sink. One tester described it as feeling  “jailhouse firm.” Because this mattress had so little give, its motion isolation was good, but our sitting on the edge caused it to slope. None of our testers rated this mattress highly.

Wayfair Sleep Medium Hybrid Mattress: Of all the mattresses we tested in 2021, the Wayfair Sleep Medium Hybrid was the least firm of the bunch. Despite that, even testers who preferred softer mattresses didn’t like it. This model’s thin foam layer, coupled with its very obvious springs, made this mattress “taco up” when we sat on it. Because of its spring-forward construction, its motion isolation was poor, and so was its edge support. The result was a bouncy, squishy rectangle that felt more “cheap soft” than like a real, plush mattress.

Wayfair Sleep Medium Memory Foam Mattress: This mattress hugged comfortably while still being supportive, and testers who preferred to sleep on their sides liked the way their hips and shoulders sank in without feeling engulfed by the mattress. However, many others thought the lack of bounce on this mattress made shifting positions too hard, and the edge support was noticeably bad.

Vibe Gel Memory Foam Mattress: This mattress didn’t perform well when writer Justin Redman slept on it. The edge support and motion isolation were okay, and changing positions wasn’t too difficult. This mattress just wasn’t especially comfortable. And though it weighed about 82 pounds, landing on the higher end for heaviness (which suggested that it could be more durable), none of its other specifications were particularly notable. Made by Classic Brands, the same company behind the Cool Gel Memory Foam Mattress, it came with very good customer service, but our picks are better options for most people.

Amazon Basics Cooling Gel-Infused Memory Foam Mattress: Amazon Basics was one of the few cheap-mattress companies that revealed their mattresses’ foam densities. In this mattress, the top layer of memory foam is 2.5 pounds per cubic foot, and the two lower layers of polyfoam are 1.8 pounds per cubic foot. The 12-inch Cooling Gel-Infused Memory Foam Mattress wasn’t uncomfortable for us, and it offered decent motion isolation (but poor edge support). In our tests, however, its feel wasn’t nuanced—it came across more like just a slab of foam rather than a real mattress meant to provide you with a good night’s sleep.

IKEA Haugesund: When writer Justin Redman lay down on the Haugesund, it reminded him of the twin innerspring mattress he had slept on as a kid. The Haugesund was super bouncy, the edge support was decent, and the motion isolation was better than expected on a very basic innerspring mattress. The Haugesund wasn’t uncomfortable, but with minimal foam and just under 10 inches of thickness, this mattress felt much less substantial than the all-foam and hybrid mattresses we tested. If you want a traditional coil mattress and you can afford to spend more, we recommend looking at the $550 IKEA Hesstun.

Zinus Cloud Memory Foam Mattress: The firm, lofty 12-inch Cloud Memory Foam Mattress felt pretty substantial, with good motion isolation and edge support. But it had almost no give, and the experience felt akin to sleeping on a carpet. It simply wasn’t enjoyable to lie on.

This article was edited by Courtney Schley and Kalee Thompson.