A pillow top offers a layer of indulgent luxury to your sleeping situation, and is perfect for anyone who enjoys sumptuous cushioning under their pressure points. Whether you’re a fan of the firm or a sucker for softness, pillow top mattresses are available in multiple firmness levels and accommodate a versatile range of sleepers. We think The WinkBed is the best pillow top mattress overall because it comes in four firmness options, offers strong edge support, boasts a supportive hybrid construction and of course, is topped with a fluffy Euro top that makes the mattress feel like its meant for a five-star hotel.
Yunsoo Lee, MD, orthopedic spine surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital, says, “Pillow top mattresses allow consumers greater variety and the ability to choose a material they prefer to be directly lying on. For example, if one likes a plush mattress but finds that softer mattresses do not offer enough back support, a pillow top mattress with a foam top and innerspring support may be a good option.” Read on for more recommendations and our guide to pillow top mattresses.
Best Pillow Top Mattress Overall: The WinkBed (Queen)
Best Value Pillow Top Mattress: DreamCloud Premier Rest Hybrid (Queen)
Best Luxury Pillow Top Mattress:
Best Pillow Top Mattress For Side Sleepers: Helix Midnight Luxe (Queen)
Best Pillow Top Mattress For Back And Joint Pain: Saatva Classic (Queen)
Best Cooling Pillow Top Mattress: Nolah Evolution (Queen)
Best Pillow Top Mattress For Combination Sleepers: Bear Star Hybrid (Queen)
Best Pillow Top Mattress Overall
Four Firmness Levels To Support Most Sleepers
The WinkBed (Queen)
Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Softer, luxury firm, firm or plus | Delivery: Free shipping | Trial: 120 nights | Warranty: Lifetime
What you’ll love:
- Four firmness levels, including one for plus-size sleepers
- Excellent edge support
- Ease of movement for combination sleepers
Keep in mind:
- Extra fee for the WinkBed Plus
- It’s quite heavy
The WinkBed is a balanced hybrid mattress that appeals to a variety of sleeper types with three different firmness levels to choose from, in addition to a plus-size option. “The WinkBed reminds me of a luxury hotel mattress. It has a supportive, responsive feel that combination sleepers appreciate and a plush Euro pillow top that helps cushion your joints,” says Forbes Vetted mattress and sleep editor McKenzie Dillon. “The luxury firm model walks the line between soft and supportive and it accommodates almost any sleeping position.” The top layer is a cushiony Euro pillow top with a eucalyptus-based Tencel cover that is moisture-wicking to keep you cool and dry. Inside the mattress are individually wrapped pocketed coils and a layer of gel-infused home to help regulate your body’s temperature.
Around the perimeter of the bed are stronger coils to provide sturdy edge support, which also makes this a great pick for couples. And we love that that WinkBed has earned multiple environmental and safety certifications, including CertiPUR-US and Oeko-Tex Standard 100, and also is fiberglass-free. Additionally, WinkBed’s products are made in the USA. The company also offers a generous 120-night trial period.
Best Value Pillow Top Mattress
An Affordable Option With Broad Appeal
DreamCloud Premier Rest Hybrid (Queen)
Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium-firm | Delivery: Free shipping | Trial: 365 nights | Warranty: Lifetime
What you’ll love:
- Comes with generous extras
- Soft, breathable cashmere-blend cover
- It suits a variety of sleeping positions including back, side and stomach
Keep in mind:
- It may be too firm for some petite side sleepers under 150 pounds
While the DreamCloud Premier Rest is the company’s most expensive offering, it’s almost always on sale at a price that makes it an impressive value, with a cost comparable to many lesser mattresses.
Forbes Vetted’s director of partnerships, Madeline Kaufman, tested the mattress for over a month and says, “[The] pillow top cushioned my body’s curves and felt especially nice on my runner’s legs. My fiancé sleeps on his side, and I shift around at night from starting on my back to ending up on my stomach. We both felt the mattress cushioned and supported us nicely. I also have neck issues, probably because of my terrible habit of stomach sleeping, so I was happy to find that this mattress doesn’t exacerbate those issues.”
This hybrid mattress has a 14-inch depth with a plush pillow top quilted with a luxurious and airy cashmere blend. Inside is a four-inch gel memory foam comfort layer, eight-inch innerspring steel coils and support foams for stability and alignment. This construction gives the mattress a crowd-pleasing medium-firm feel. It’s also a good choice for anyone who co-sleeps or shares the bed with pets, as it has a low level of motion transfer, even though it’s a hybrid mattress. DreamCloud offers a one-year trial period, free returns and a lifetime warranty. See more on the bed in our full DreamCloud Premier Rest Mattress review.
Best Luxury Pillow Top Mattress
Hotel-Style Feel With Extra Cushion
Stearns & Foster Lux Estate PT Medium (Queen)
Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Soft, medium or firm | Delivery: Free white-glove delivery (arrives flat) | Trial: 90 nights | Warranty: 10 years
What you’ll love:
- Three firmness levels
- Sometimes bundled with free bedding
- Free white-glove delivery
Keep in mind:
- Expensive
- Its 16-inch height requires deep pocket sheets
The Stearns & Foster Lux Estate is a luxury hybrid mattress with a burly 16-inch depth and a core of coils topped with a layer of Tempur-Indulge memory foam. This upgraded pick comes with 15% more comfort materials and twice as much cooling technology than the company’s standard Estate model. “The Lux Estate medium model has a balanced, cushy feel that accommodated all sleep positions during testing,” says Forbes Vetted senior mattress and sleep editor Bridget Chapman. And it’s available in soft, medium and firm options, so every sleeper should be able to find the proper level of support. “It also excelled in pressure relief, motion isolation and edge support," she says. The Lux Estate has high-density edge support, so you can sit on the mattress without it sagging and also utilize the entire area of the bed without feeling as if you’re going to roll off.
Encasing the bed and its airy pillow top is a moisture-wicking, stretch-knit cover made of Tencel that helps regulate temperature, helped out by air vents along the side of the mattress that allow heat to escape.
Everything about this mattress proves it’s a luxury pick, including the included white-glove delivery. It comes with a ten-year warranty, although bear in mind it requires you to have meet certain specifications with your bed frame in order for it to be valid.
Best Pillow Top Mattress For Side Sleepers
Enjoy Plenty Of Comfort With Hip And Spinal Alignment
Helix Midnight Luxe (Queen)
Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium | Delivery: Free shipping | Trial: 100 nights | Warranty: 15 years
What you’ll love:
- Accommodates back, side and combination sleepers
- Comes in wide range of sizes, including for RVs
- May offer back pain relief
Keep in mind:
- Not great for stomach sleeping
- You have to pay a $99 return fee if you dislike the mattress
The Helix Midnight Luxe is a mid-tier hybrid mattress with a medium feel, pressure-relieving foam and a fluffy pillow top, which allows side sleepers to feel supported in their hips and shoulders. Chapman adds, "I think back and side sleepers should really like the contouring and sinkage the Midnight Luxe offers." Underneath the cushy pillow top are two additional foam layers, including a copper-gel infused for temperature regulation, which add to the bed’s comfortable feel.
Forbes Vetted updates writer Alexandra Garrett, who used the mattress for over a year, says the Helix Midnight Luxe’s “pillowy top layers provide some nice contouring, while the bed’s zoned support structure offers lift around the hips. When I slept on my side and back, I felt lifted and hugged.” The core of the mattress contains copper infusions and up to 1,000 individually wrapped pocketed coils that keep the spine and hips aligned and also help dissipate body heat.
The balanced design is a good choice for couples as well, because its sturdy edge support and good motion isolation allows each co-sleeper to use the whole surface. Extra-hot sleepers can opt for the upgrade GlacioTex cover available to increase the mattress’ cooling ability. Another available upgrade adds a layer of ultra dense foam especially designed to contour and relieve lower back pain. Read more in our dedicated Helix Midnight Luxe Mattress Review.
Best Pillow Top Mattress For Back And Joint Pain
Lumbar Support And Airy Comfort That Provides Relief
Saatva Classic (Queen)
Type: Innerspring | Firmness: Plush soft, luxury firm or firm | Delivery: Free white-glove delivery (arrives flat) | Trial: 365 nights | Warranty: Lifetime
What you’ll love:
- Several customizable options (height and firmness)
- Zoned layers and lumbar reinforcements
- Free, flat white-glove delivery
Keep in mind:
- $99 return fee
- Doesn’t excel at motion isolation
The innerspring Saatva Classic is one of the most consistently well-regarded and well-reviewed mattresses and it’s especially supportive for those who suffer with an achey back or joint pain. In her dedicated Saatva Classic Mattress Review, which awards the Classic a 4.8 Vetted score, Dillon says, “If you’re looking for a mattress that’s reminiscent of a traditional innerspring bed with modern feature upgrades, you live with back pain and require enhanced support or you just want a high-quality design, the Saatva Classic may be an ideal choice.”
With two available heights and three firmness levels, there is enough variety to promote spinal alignment for most sleeping postures. It has a three-inch Euro pillow top, which, supports the hips and an extra layer of memory foam to support the lower back. But for even extra back support, the Classic has what the company calls a “Lumbar Zone Active Spinal Wire” that promotes spinal alignment. Additionally, it features two layers of coils, one zoned system in the base and another near the top, which contribute to the bed’s supportive profile and good edge support. “The Saatva Classic has some of the best edge support I’ve ever seen,” says Chapman. But keep in mind, “It’s a very high-end, supportive bed that skews a touch firmer than advertised,” she says. The mattress is delivered flat, not in a box, and comes with free white-glove setup and optional removal of the mattress you’re replacing.
Best Cooling Pillow Top Mattress
Breathable, Supportive And Versatile For Most Sleeping Positions
Nolah Evolution (Queen)
Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Plush, luxury firm, firm or comfort+ | Delivery: Free shipping | Trial: 120 nights | Warranty: Lifetime
What you’ll love:
- Choose from four firmness levels
- Effective motion isolation and edge support
- Comes with two free pillows
- Cooling cover and breathable foams help regulate hot sleepers
Keep in mind:
- Too yielding for stomach sleepers
- $125+ for in-room deliver; $99 return fee
The Nolah Evolution 15 is a deluxe hybrid featuring a cooling ArticTex cover made of organic cotton that wicks moisture and a two-inch Euro pillow top made of breathable foam. Inside it’s constructed with seven layers of cooling and supportive materials, including pressure-relieving graphite-infused foam and eight inches of zoned coils.
Chapman, who slept on the plush version for her Nolah Evolution Mattress review, calls the Nolah Evolution a “cooling, plush and sturdy hybrid.” She adds, “Although Nolah doesn’t market this mattress as a cooling bed, I found it to excel at temperature regulation. I’m a hot sleeper, so I know the dance routine of kicking off the sheets in the night quite well. I haven’t felt hot on this bed, and I think it does a great job promoting airflow.”
The mattress has a cushiony hotel-style feel that offers proper support and spinal alignment for back and side sleepers, preventing you from sinking too deep into the mattress. All together, you can choose from among four levels of firmness and support, including the comfort+ designed for plus-size sleepers. We love that the Nolah Evolution features ingredients that are CertiPUR-US- and Greenguard Gold-certifed, is fiberglass-free and is designed and assembled in the USA.
Best Pillow Top Mattress For Combination Sleepers
Versatile And Movement-Isolating
Bear Star Hybrid (Queen)
Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium-firm | Delivery: Free shipping | Trial: 120 nights | Warranty: Lifetime
What you’ll love:
- Appropriate for most sleep styles and body types
- Great motion isolation
- Allegedly aids athletes with muscle recovery
- Comes with two free pillows
Keep in mind:
- May be too soft for some stomach sleepers (like those over 250 pounds)
- Doesn’t sink like memory foam
The versatile Bear Star Hybrid simultaneously excels at ease of movement and motion isolation, so it works well for combination sleepers and co-sleepers who don’t want to be disturbed by their partner’s movements. It absorbs movement with a core of individually wrapped, pocketed coils and a layer of foam. On the surface, it has a pressure-relieving gel-foam pillow top and sturdy, reinforced edges. This formula allows sleepers to shift position easily and move around without feeling stuck in the mattress.
Dillonimmediately noticed the Bear Star Hybrid’s lusciously plush pillow top the first time she lied down on it. As she says in her Bear Star Hybrid Mattress review, “It’s balanced in a way that should appeal to a wide variety of people. I switch between my stomach and side during sleep, and I feel it properly supports my back when I’m on my stomach and cradles my joints while on my side.”
The whole package features a cover with HydroCool technology to bring relief to hot sleepers, and for an extra fee you can opt for the cover infused with moisture-wicking Celliant “Sleep Recovery Technology." The Celliant is said to transform heat emitted from your body into waves of energy reflected back into your body, aiding circulation and helping any sore muscles to recover overnight. The Bear Star Hybrid contains no fiberglass and is CertiPUR-US- and Greenguard Gold-certified.
MORE FROMFORBES VETTED
Why Trust Forbes Vetted
The Forbes Vetted sleep team has personally tested hundreds of mattresses and has published a vast library of sleep and sleep products over the years. They’ve covered it all from the best soft mattresses to gathering expert advice for how to sleep with pain.
- Christine Colby, author of this article, is a seasoned product tester and reviewer. She recently wrote about the best comforters for hot sleepers and the best silk sheets for Forbes Vetted.
- Forbes Vetted mattress and sleep editors Bridget Chapman and McKenzie Dillon have years of professional experience testing mattresses and other sleep products. Additionally, they’re both certified sleep science coaches.
- We consulted with Yunsoo Lee, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City for her expert insights on the benefits of a pillow top mattress and what to consider when shopping for one.
- We regularly revisit and updated our content to ensure its accuracy and relevance.
How We Chose The Best Pillow Top Mattresses
To come up with our list of recommendations of the best pillow top mattresses, we prioritized tried-and-true brands and targeted their relevant models, referred to our own testing experience and included expert insights.
- We relied on the firsthand testing experiences of our experienced editors when possible. Their firsthand testing insights (plus links to relevant reviews) are included throughout this article.
- We incorporated Lee’s advice on pillow top mattresses and how they relate to back health.
- We dove deep into consumer reviews to include only mattresses with positive receptions. Every mattress has an overall customer rating of at least 4 stars.
- We included a range of mattresses for varied sleepers and preferences. We made an effort to consider a range of budgets as well, but pillow top mattresses are often priced on the higher end in general.
What To Consider When Shopping For The Best Pillow Top Mattresses
No two pillow top mattresses are the same (mostly), so here are some factors to consider to choose the best pillow top mattress for you.
Materials
"When looking at pillow top mattresses, it is important to note that there is a lot of variety, as materials for the lower portion of the mattress and the top portion differ and there can be many combinations," Lee says. There are variations in their makeup, but pillow top mattresses are usually built upon a hybrid or an innerspring base topped by one to a few inches of a softer, more cushiony material.
The plusher top layer may be constructed of latex, cotton, memory foam, gel, cashmere or other fibers. The best pillow top mattress provides a combination of a supportive mattress base with a soft, cushiony topper to support proper spinal alignment while also relieving pressure point pain.
Height
Bear in mind that depending on the height of your mattress combined with the added pillow top portion, you may need to invest in deep-pocket sheets. If your new mattress is too tall to be compatible with standard sheets (higher than 14 inches) look for deep-pocket sheets that can accommodate its height. Rest assured that many popular and accessible brands offer sheets that can fit on even the tallest mattresses—usually up to 22 inches.
Edge Support
Even if a mattress offers a cloud-like, plush pillow top, it still needs to provide sturdy edge support. A mattress with good edge support does not collapse or sink when you sit or lie on its edge. Strong edge support is important particularly for anyone who needs to use their arm strength for support to get up or stand. Couples may also prioritize edge support in order to make use of the whole surface of the mattress as opposed to favoring the center.
Sleeping Position
"It does depend on the mattress itself, but pillow top mattresses can be used by all types of sleepers," Lee says. Since pillow top mattresses are available in a variety of materials and constructions, most sleeper types should be able to find one that works for them. As you shop for a pillow top mattress, keep the same guidelines in mind that you would when shopping for any mattress.
But since side sleepers in particular are often looking for more cushioning, pillow top mattresses can be especially comfortable for them. "Side sleepers sometimes prefer softer mattresses to reduce pressure points. Even firm pillow top mattresses can be used by side sleepers, as the pillow top portion can provide a cushioning layer," according to Lee. We think the Helix Midnight Luxe is the best pillow top mattress for side sleepers.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What Is The Difference Between A Pillow Top And A Euro Top?
A Euro top is a type of pillow top mattress. They both feature an extra layer of cushiony softness on top of a mattress base. On a Euro top mattress, this extra layer is located just beneath the surface cover of the mattress, while on a pillow top mattress, the extra cushion is sewn on top as a separate feature.
What Is The Best Pillow Top Mattress?
The best pillow top mattress for you is a very individual decision, but we think the best overall is the WinkBed. It’s a hybrid with a Euro top that comes in four firmness levels and offers excellent edge support and ease of movement.
Is A Pillow Top Mattress Good For Your Back?
The most important thing is to make sure that the mattress in general offers the proper support and alignment that you personally need. “From a spine perspective, having appropriate support is the most important part of a mattress,” Lee says. “Research has suggested that a medium-firm mattress is optimal for sleep quality, comfort and alignment. A pillow top mattress may offer a softer top layer on a firmer base, giving consumers a plush feeling while still being able to have a more supportive mattress.”
