All the Best Firm Mattresses We’ve Ever Written About

Hybrid | Memory foam | Back and side sleepers

Saatva’s classic hybrid mattress offers plenty of support and pressure relief, making it an attractive option for those who are comfortable in multiple sleep positions — including Strategist senior editor Simone Kitchens, a back-to-side sleeper who prefers a mattress that supports her “generally sore” back. In a previous version of this story, she found that of the three different firmness levels offered by the brand, the firmest one was both the most supportive and the most comfortable: “The firmness of this mattress never created a sunken, stuck feeling, which I’ve found happening with memory foam,” she said. “Instead, the supported feeling of this bed (which still manages to be pretty plush) kept my lower back from collapsing in, making my spine feel more aligned overall.”

All foam | Memory foam | Back-to-side sleepers

Kitchens also tested Plank Firm’s flippable mattress — which the brand says is the firmest on the market — and discovered that the “ultra firm” side was, in fact, the firmest memory-foam model she’d ever laid down on, she says. But Kitchens says it’s not without give; the top layer of foam provides a squishiness that cradles you if you’re a side sleeper and lifts and evenly disperses your weight if you lie on your back. “The best way to describe it is ‘neutral spine’ — similar to lying on the floor at the end of yoga class in Savasana, when the curvatures of your spine are all in alignment,” Kitchens says. After four months of sleeping on the Plank Firm, she says the initial firmness she felt is still intact.

Hybrid | Memory foam | Stomach and side sleepers

Former Strategist senior editor Margaret Rhodes is a stomach-to-side sleeper who tends to prefer softer mattresses, but with Allswell’s Luxe Hybrid, “there was something comfortably paralyzing about letting this very firm mattress straighten out my skeleton,” she said in a previous version of this story. The mattress provided what Rhodes said is a “sumptuously Spartan” feeling from its construction, which combines individually wrapped coils with a soft layer of high-density foam and copper-gel-infused memory foam. The top layer is soft, Rhodes said, “but you’ll float firmly atop the mattress instead of nestling in.” In this suspended state, she found nighttime nirvana: But what really sets this hybrid apart from the firm Saatva mattress above is that it’s available for nearly half the price.

All foam | Memory foam and polyfoam | Back and side sleepers

The Sealy Cocoon Chill is an all-foam mattress that Kitchens, who also tested the Saatva Classic, described as “every bit as firm as the innerspring coil mattress I’ve slept on for years” in a previous version of this story. The Cocoon has just two foam layers — memory foam on top of high-density foam — but still feels substantial, and it was sturdy enough to combat some of her chronic back pain and neck soreness: “Right before trying the Cocoon Chill, I had a new, specific bit of spinal pain,” she said. “But much of that immediately subsided after that first night and hasn’t returned. Crawling into this bed at the end of the day gives me a floating yet hugged feeling that I find to be full-body relaxing.” Plus, if the memory foam shows any indentations or dips lower than one inch, a full return is covered by Sealy’s ten-year limited warranty.

All foam | Memory foam | Side sleepers

Another supportive all-foam option is the Zinus Gel Memory Foam mattress — and it’s nearly half the price of the Cocoon. Former Strategist senior writer Karen Iorio Adelson, who prefers a firm mattress, says this model’s two high-density layers are detectable under the top plush layers, making for the sensation of the softness rising up to meet her instead of her sinking into it. After testing it for a few weeks, she says the all-foam mattress didn’t feel compressed and still retained its plush yet supportive quality. “This is one of the best values for a mattress, full stop,” Adelson says.

All foam | Memory foam | Stomach sleepers

At first, Nectar’s memory-foam mattress “seemed almost too firm to the touch,” said former Strategist senior editor Casey Lewis, a stomach-to-side sleeper who shares a bed with a fidgety pitbull-boxer. But when she “plopped down on a corner, it had nearly no bounce at all,” she said in a previous version of this story. This quality lends itself to excellent motion isolation, which helped her sleep without worrying about her dog waking her up. Like the Sealy Cocoon Chill above, the Nectar contains three foam layers, but has an added “shift resistant” lower cover to provide sturdy support. The thick base foam layer provides the bulk of the support, followed by a thin middle layer of soft, transitional foam and three inches of memory-foam gel. Because of all that foam, Lewis said it’s quite firm. But despite this mattress’s overall dense structure and feel, the softer top layers of foam supply it with “just the right amount of give.”

Hybrid | Polyfoam | Combination sleepers

Helix’s Dawn mattress is the brand’s firmest, and though it was specifically designed for back and stomach sleepers, a brand representative told former Strategist associate editor Louis Cheslaw in a previous version of this story that it works for side sleepers too. The mattress is made up of one layer of wrapped coils and three layers of responsive foam for ergonomic back support, and Cheslaw said, “I drifted off as quickly as I ever have, regularly slept through the night, and never woke up feeling hot, sweaty, or achy in the morning.” Warm sleepers have the option to add a cooling cover for $199.

Hybrid | Memory foam | Combination sleepers

WinkBeds’s mattress is made with a combination of memory foam (for comfiness), air springs (to keep you cool), tempered steel coils (to maintain the mattress’s shape), and an ergonomic pad (for lumbar support) — all of which “saved” New York features editor Katy Schneider’s boyfriend, who claimed in a previous version of this story that “he hasn’t woken up with pain since we started sleeping on it.” Schneider, who’s always changing her sleeping position and has spent her life sleeping on soft beds, was a tougher sell. But in the end, they both liked WinkBeds’ “luxury firm” model. “Because the memory-foam layer is thin, it still felt soft without enveloping my body,” she said. And thanks to the motion isolation provided by the springs, she no longer notices when her boyfriend comes to bed late. “Though I bristled at the word firm, I quickly converted from ‘Will only sleep on pillows’ to ‘I think I’m a firm-mattress person,’” she said.

Innerspring | No foam | Stomach and side sleepers

Parachute makes some of our favorite linens and home staples, but in addition to hotel-quality robes and towels, it offers its own luxury mattress. Dubbed simply “the Mattress,” Parachute’s take on an eco-friendly bed features an 6,000-coil spring interior and zero foam, which the brand says tends to deteriorate and change its feel. In a previous version of this story, Rhodes was pleasantly surprised that, unlike other mattresses she has tried, Parachute’s didn’t emit a plasticky aroma when she opened the box. She was also pleased with the bed’s luxurious, handsome tufted cover and appreciated the lack of heat-retaining foam, but pointed out that the springs-only design may be a little too firm for some. “My initial impression was one of sleeping on a very sturdy topper floating on top of nothing,” Rhodes said. If you need something softer, Parachute recommends adding one of its Strategist-approved mattress toppers for extra comfort, which Rhodes ultimately found worked well for her: “It’s positioned as a luxury, hotel-style mattress, and it really feels like one.”

Hybrid | Memory foam | Back-to-side sleepers

Strategist writer Dominique Pariso says she runs extremely hot while sleeping, but she “didn’t wake up in sweaty sheets once, even during the hottest nights of the year” when using the Casper Wave Hybrid Snow mattress. She’s a back-to-side sleeper who prefers a plush model, but says the additional support on this medium-firm version actually helped her sleep better. According to Casper, this is the brand’s most supportive option, as it features multiple layers of cooling gel, foam, and latex over pocketed coils to support the lower back and encourage proper spine alignment.

All foam | Polyfoam | Side sleepers

Unlike the other mattresses here, Purple’s tops off coils and a thin layer of memory foam with several inches of a gridlike proprietary polymer you’ll find in Dr. Scholl’s soles and bouncy toy balls. The grid structure provides support and makes the mattress feel firm, while the polymer material provides a slight sink. The mattress construction proved ideal for former Strategist deputy editor Jason Chen, a side-sleeper who likes a mattress that’s more firm than soft. It also helps body heat dissipate so you don’t find yourself waking up in the middle of the night on a furnace of your own creation. “When I lay on my side, it was like being cradled, rather than smothered, the way I felt on my old foam mattress,” Chen said in a previous version of this story. “My pressure points in my shoulders and hips never ached — I used to have to move around to avoid spots that had dipped and retained heat, but the gel layer never held divots. After a week, I was fully converted and found myself wanting to spend time in bed during the day: reading magazines, using my laptop, playing with the dog.”

All foam | Memory foam | Front and back sleepers

As a five-time marathon runner who prefers a firm mattress, Adelson tested Bear’s original, all-foam model that’s designed for athletes and said her legs felt “fresher and less fatigued than they normally would on days after doing sprints and thigh-punishing barre workouts.” According to the brand, the mattress’s four layers of foam provide enough sinkage and contour to ergonomically support bodies in recovery, while its proprietary Celliant cover directs body heat back to the muscles as restorative infrared heat. Adelson says although her muscles felt better after sleeping on the Bear, she did feel pressure along her hips and shoulders as a side sleeper. Her husband, however, didn’t experience any pain as a stomach sleeper, so she says the mattress may be more compatible with those who sleep on their front or back.

All foam | Memory foam | Combination sleepers

Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio has two daughters, each of whom sleeps on a Helix mattress in the bunk bed they share, she says. The flippable model has a firm side with an inch of high-density foam and a soft side with a gel memory layer so Trolio’s daughters can choose what feels best to them. (Her 5-year-old sleeps on the firmer side, while her 8-year-old sleeps on the softer side.) Trolio says the Helix feels like one of the best values on the kids’ mattress market, as it’ll likely last an entire childhood, but it’s also tolerable enough for an adult to sleep on (she says other mattresses she tried were far too soft). “It’s comfortable and supportive and an excellent choice for growing kids whose preferences can be fickle,” she says.