Best Mattresses For Side Sleepers Of 2022

It’s not just hyperbole: mattress quality really does impact sleep, particularly when the right mattress makes it comfortable to sleep in one’s preferred position. While many factors contribute to a good night’s rest, a mattress is quite literally the foundation. 

Side sleepers might  know this as well as anybody, as they may have more difficulty finding a mattress with the right balance of sink and support. 

To find the best mattresses for side sleepers, Dream Advisor analyzed data on more than 650 mattress options and ranked them in terms of ideal firmness, affordability, their try-and-return policies and more. See which mattresses made the list. Note: This ranking focuses exclusively on queen size mattresses. Prices are accurate as of publication date, and availability is  subject to change. 

Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers

DreamFoam Arctic Dreams Cooling Gel Hybrid Mattress

Price: $599.20 | Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium-firm

4.8

Why We Picked It

A winning combination of exceptional side-sleeping comfort, an approachable price and built-in cooling technology landed this mattress the highest overall rating on our list. This mattress sandwiches a six-inch layer of individually-encased coils between a dense foam base and a pressure-relieving gel memory foam layer for a durable construction to reduce motion transfer. A plush quilted top and an “advanced cooling panel” top the mattress.

DreamFoam offers a 120-night sleep trial (for which returns and refunds are available after 30 days) and a 10-year limited warranty. Like many mattress companies on this list, “returns” are actually most often donations. Shipping is available in all 50 U.S. states and Canada, and is free within the contiguous U.S. states.

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Linenspa 10 Inch Latex Hybrid Mattress

Price: $299.99 | Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium

4.5

Why We Picked It

Linenspa earns high ratings on our list because it rivals industry leaders in mattress performance while maintaining low prices. As the most affordable option on our list, Linenspa’s Latex Hybrid Mattress builds on the successes of the company’s Memory Foam Hybrid, offering excellent motion isolation and a particularly “buoyant” and responsive feel by replacing some of the memory foam with springier layers of latex.

Linenspa offers “no questions asked” returns with a full refund and free return shipping for the first 30 days—a shorter trial period than most of its competitors—and covers the mattress with a 10-year limited warranty. The company ships for free within the contiguous U.S. states.

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Casper Element Mattress

Price: $695 | Type: Foam | Firmness: Medium-firm

4.5

Why We Picked It

Casper paved the way for the direct-to-consumer foam mattress boom in the mid-2010s and still maintains its industry position at the front of the pack through its streamlined but diverse mattress lineup. With the Element, Casper brought its leading designs and materials to a more approachable price point, relying on a simple build of an all-foam base/body and a top layer of perforated Airscape foam.

Casper’s 100-night sleep trial and 10-year limited warranty are a new industry standard. Casper ships free to the U.S. and Canada, with fees to reach Alaska, Hawaii and Northern Canada.

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Nectar Memory Foam Mattress

Price: $899 | Type: Foam | Firmness: Medium-firm

4.5

Why We Picked It

The most basic offering in Nectar’s lineup is also their most popular. The Memory Foam Mattress tops a seven-inch layer of standard foam with two inches of dynamically adjusting foam for bounce and three inches of gel memory foam for ultimate comfort, promoting spinal alignment by relieving pressure points beneath the shoulders, hips and legs.

Nectar is one of the few mattress-in-a-box companies on our list offering an industry-leading 365-night sleep trial, with returns and refunds available after 30 days. The company also bests many competitors with its “Forever Warranty”: for the first 10 years of ownership, Nectar guarantees replacement of any defective mattress, after which the company will “recover, repair or replace.” Nectar ships free to the contiguous U.S. states and ships to Alaska and Hawaii for an extra $150 per item.

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Cocoon by Sealy Chill Memory Foam Mattress

Price: $799 | Type: Foam | Firmness: Medium

4.5

Why We Picked It

Sealy brings its long history in the mattress industry to 21st century memory foam designs with its Cocoon line of mattresses. The Chill Memory Foam Mattress utilizes three layers of premium foams of different densities to deliver a balance of contouring, sink and support perfect for side sleepers. An added perk: the mattress’s stretchy knit cover is designed to keep the user cool with infused phase change material to dissipate heat.

The company offers a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year limited warranty. Cocoon mattresses ship (for free) in the U.S. only.

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Signature Design by Ashley Chime 12-Inch Plush Hybrid Mattress

Price: $279.99 | Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium

4.3

Why We Picked It

Side sleepers, who present less surface area over which to spread body weight, may love this mattress’s extra plush topmost layers and cushy high-density foam. Even better, in a category known for pushing $1,000, this hybrid mattress is under $300.

One downside: Ashley does not offer a sleep trial with a period of no-questions-asked returns like many mattress-in-a-box competitors. The mattress does come with a 10-year limited warranty and can be shipped to anywhere in the U.S., with reach further expanded by international Ashley Furniture/Ashley HomeStore locations.

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Tulo Hybrid 11-Inch Mattress

Price: $439.99 | Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium

4.3

Why We Picked It

This mattress exemplifies the balance a hybrid design seeks to achieve—all the bounce and contouring of an innerspring mattress with the added comfort and luxury feel of foam. It’s not a cheap option, but this hybrid model is a step up in support and springiness from Tulo’s other offerings.

Tulo offers a 120-night sleep trial, a 10-year limited warranty and ships to all 50 U.S. states.

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Bear Pro Mattress

Price: $1,099 | Type: Foam | Firmness: Medium-firm

4.3

Why We Picked It

Bear claims its Pro design helps speed up muscle recovery and is especially tailored to athletes. However, it’s likely good for all sleepers—especially side sleepers—in search of a comfortable memory foam mattress. The Pro combines a high-density foam base with layers of responsive “transition” foam, gel memory foam and copper-infused foam to draw away body heat.

Bear claws away other competition with its 365-night trial (which offers returns after 30 days), a limited lifetime warranty and free shipping to the contiguous U.S. states.

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Novilla Bliss 10-Inch Memory Foam Mattress

Price: $330 | Type: Foam | Firmness: Medium

4.0

Why We Picked It

Novilla’s take on the multi-layer, all-foam mattress doesn’t disappoint. The Bliss’s “4-Layer All Foam System” features cooling gel-infused foam, “airflow comfort foam,” and “air circulation foam” atop a high-density base to keep users from feeling clammy and overheated. The design is also intended to help alleviate back pain, reducing pressure points for side sleepers in particular.

Novella offers a 30-night sleep trial, a 10-year limited warranty and free shipping. Novilla mattresses are currently unavailable to U.S. locations outside the contiguous U.S. states, but the company says this may change.

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DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress

Price: $999 | Type: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium-firm

4.0

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Why We Picked It

This indulgent option earns four stars for nailing a luxurious, memory foam feel with just the right amount of firmness and support for side sleeping. It features a quilted cashmere cover and four different types of foam along with its layer of individually-wrapped coils.

DreamCloud offers a 365-night sleep trial and a lifetime limited warranty, which replaces a defective mattress within its first 10 years and then offers to either repair or replace—common for lifetime mattress-in-a-box warranties. Shipping is free to the contiguous U.S. states and $150 for Alaska and Hawaii.

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Methodology 

To determine the best mattresses for side sleepers, we analyzed data on more than 650 mattress options, ranking them in terms of:

• Mattress firmness, giving preference to medium and medium-firm mattresses
• Price 
• Free shipping availability
• Free returns availability 
• Sleep trial availability and length
• Warranty length and details
• Mattress thickness
• Pillow top option availability 
• The brand’s reputation in the industry

For this specific ranking, we focused exclusively on queen size mattresses. Star ratings were determined solely by our editorial team.  

What Type of Mattress Is Best for Side Sleepers?

The mattresses analyzed for this list all share a common goal: to coax both great support and luxurious softness from the same mattress, so sleepers don’t have to choose just one. The models that achieved a spot in our rankings not only accomplished this balance for the average sleeper, but also are likely to work particularly well for side sleepers, for whom an even distribution of body weight is especially important. 

For most body types, more than anything else, this means not overloading the pelvic area with pressure. The ideal mattress for side sleepers lets the user’s pelvic area sink lower than other parts of the body but still remain supported.

What Mattress Firmness Level Is Best for Side Sleepers?

One particularly meaningful metric to measure the success of a mattress for side sleepers is how concentrated the pressure is at points of contact between the mattress and the user. Different materials of different densities can be either better or worse at achieving this. 

While there’s no single, universal answer—both because of the variety in materials and sleeping preferences—a mattress firmness of medium or medium-firm is what’s most commonly recommended for side sleepers. For these rankings, we chose mattresses with a firmness level of roughly 6 to 6.5 out of 10.

How to Choose a Mattress if You Sleep on Your Side 

Side sleepers need a mattress to suit their shape and individual needs in order to get a good night’s sleep. That’s why choosing a mattress with a trial period can be so important and why doing thorough research ahead of time can make all the difference. If you’ve never slept on memory foam before, see if you can test out a memory foam mattress before ordering a hybrid or an all-foam model. 

Side sleepers should know their general sleep preferences ahead of time so they can go into the shopping process well-prepared. Are you a heavier sleeper requiring above average support or a light sleeper who needs relative softness? Do you prefer the bounce and traditional feel of an innerspring mattress, or can you not get enough of that memory foam sink? 

Make sure you know the specs of the mattress you’ve been using so you can compare with new models. Don’t be afraid of change, but use your current situation as a reference and look for a mattress that won’t be too drastic of a transition.