Be sure to check out our other sleep guides, including the Best Mattresses, Best Organic Mattresses, Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers, and Best Sleep Gadgets.
Updated February 2025: We’ve added the Awara Natural Luxury Hybrid and Wolf 12-Inch Memory Foam Hybrid Medium Firm Mattress, and updated links and prices.
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The Pros and Cons of Buying a Mattress Online
Online-only retailers like Amazon are a solid place to buy almost anything, but it’s less advantageous for mattress purchases than most other goods. That’s because domestic manufacturers dominate the bed-in-a-box game, and you can often get a better deal by buying from the mattress maker directly. Some of these brands throw in two pillows with your purchase or have other discounts, though this is not always true—a few mattresses in this guide are actually cheaper on Amazon.
Most from-a-box mattresses sold online tend to be cheaper than those sold in stores, which is the main draw. You can easily compare various versions of the same thing (i.e., memory foam or hybrid mattresses) and get fast, dependable shipping straight to your house.
Many online retailers’ terms for returning goods have an exception for mattresses. Once you open the box, you are at the mercy of the maker instead of being covered by the more generous terms these online retailers like Amazon offer for most products they sell. If you’re looking at mattresses below $500, you should not expect any test period or money-back guarantee (whereas that’s a reasonable thing to expect of any mattress above $1,000). Things vary widely in the middle zone.
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