Best Mattress For Couples: Industry Insider’s Top Picks
After spending 25 years in the mattress industry as a mattress manufacturer and designer, I wanted to narrow down the options as I tried to review the best mattress for couples, to make it easier to find a handful of proven options for those of us who are paired up.
Statistics show that couples really have to find the ideal mattress depending upon a variety of factors, if they want to get restorative sleep.
Data shows that more than about 132 million adults in the USA are married and about 20 million are living together, likely sharing a mattress. Through the years I’ve heard from hundreds of people who share their bed with a partner struggling to sleep. The problem? Not enough research into finding the right mattress to accommodate them.
Many times one member of the couple handles the mattress shopping, and will typically choose a mattress that appeals to them for all of the wrong reasons. It might be that the choice involves whether the mattress is either soft or firm, leaving out many options in between.
Hot sleepers will often select a cooling mattress, even while one of the partners is always cold in bed. Body types, sleep position preferences, motion isolation (a big problem with couples) and even sexual activity are all factors that need to be identified when selecting a mattress.
What I’ve done on this page is to try and find a small sampling of mattress options to choose from that are optimized for couples. I’m going to focus on the bullet points, and factor in each of these metrics to my list of candidates that will most likely work for couples with typical body sizes.
Factors I Consider When Choosing The Best Mattress Options For Couples
In almost all cases, I’ve found that most couples do best on hybrid mattresses, rather than all foam mattresses. Here’s why: When two individuals are on the same mattress, especially when close together, unless the mattress is extremely firm from top to bottom, there is almost always sinking in the middle with all foam mattress options.
One of the chief complaints from couples sharing a mattress is that they find themselves sinking in the middle, making it impossible to dig their way out, or even changing positions while sleeping. Mattresses that sleep hot, slipping off of the edge of a mattress, poor support and too firm or too soft for sex was another common complaint.
Here are the most important considerations I’ve used to create the best mattresses for couples. These address most of the complaints I’ve heard from couples sharing a mattress after spending 25 years as a mattress designer and manufacturer:
- Uplifting support mattress options that don’t sink or collapse in the middle without being too firm.
- Cooling fabric and foam options to prevent heat from accumulating in mattress.
- Edge support– sitting on edge of mattress and transfer.
- Pocketed coil suspension underneath to properly support and cradle.
- Ideal comfort and minimal shifting of contents for sexual activity.
- Motion transfer reduction and motion isolation. Proper construction using optimal foams and pocketed individual coils
Narrowing down hundreds of options to just a handful of mattresses targeted specifically at couples isn’t easy. The two biggest complaints from couples seem to be sinking in the middle and motion transfer. Poor edge support is a common complaint also.
It’s best practice to avoid all foam mattresses, especially if both partners weigh more than 130-140lbs. It’s all about combined weight especially if you don’t sleep with at least 12-18″ of distance between you.
I’m generally focusing on mattresses using a gel or memory foam combination of layers right up top on a good couple’s mattress.
Typically, a separate pillow top piece built into the mattress that offers additional foam and textile quilting adds some cushion and motion transfer reduction.
In a hybrid mattress, couples will get solid underlying support that is resilient yet yielding at pressure points like shoulders and hips, but a pillow top piece takes the edge off of any stiffness or excessive firmness caused by individual pocketed coils.
It’s also important that the coil system built into the hybrid mattress option for couples be individual and not wire or “rack” type systems. This allows for minimal motion transfer and best body contouring for a wide range of body types.
Notice the difference between individually pocketed coils and wire rack assembly used in conventional innerspring mattresses. Pocket coils dampen motion and minimizes transfer to your partner, lifting and supporting, cradling your body as you move.
The classic wine glass demonstration shows that each coil isolates movement and also applies pressure where to need, like shoulders and hips.
The continuous coil system actually makes motion transfer worse by immediately spreading any movement’s sensation across all surfaces of the mattress, disrupting and disturbing sleep.
Many partners may not even be aware that they are sleep deprived during the night because they don’t fully wake up, and are not allowed to remain in restorative REM sleep because of motion transfer.
All foam mattresses could help with this issue, but partners complain of sinking and digging your way out when pocketed coils are not in the mattress they often select.
The return rate by couples buying all foam mattresses vs. hybrid pocketed coil options is much higher in my personal experience as a fabricator and online retailer myself.
How A Hybrid Mattress Is Made To Optimize A Couple’s Sleep
You’ll find the most of the options I’ve selected for my best mattress for couples lineup, all have similar architecture. Underneath, a pocketed coil suspension.
Above that, various layers of supportive and comfort layers that define the overall feel of the mattress, from softer to firmer, bouncier to more of a “melting in” sensation.
The Ethos Natural Hybrid Mattress is one of many options I recommend. This option focuses on greener ingredients in the design, which may or may not be important to you.
The tufted pillow top offers a nestled feel, more enveloping. An alternative to the pillowtop is what is called a “smoothtop” cover, which is stretchy, has immediate response time, and is livelier if you like a little bit of bounce. We offer that in our lineup below.
A Mattress Industry Pro’s Top Picks For Best Mattress For Couples
1. THE DREAMCLOUD PREMIER HYBRID MATTRESS:$1399 IN QUEEN
The DreamCloud Premier Hybrid Mattress is a 14” hybrid mattress with individually pocketed coils, a quilted, silky cashmere top and is a firmer option for couples.
Why I recommend it: It’s half the price of comparable big box pillow top innersprings, which often don’t include a quilted and comfortable built in top section , making them feel mushier and not as supportive. With over, 4,971 reviews, it ranks a solid 4.8 consistently, not easy to achieve- and that’s on Google.
Couples love it for its motion dampening qualities, great edge support, and its comparison to hotel and resort caliber mattress.
For the money, it’s a value-because it is embellished with a quilted cashmere top piece (which feels like silk!) and two layers of sink-right-in gel/memory foam. But no bottoming into it, even where you are cuddling in the middle.
In queen The Dreamcloud Premier Hybrid runs $1399, and includes free shipping, includes a lifetime warranty, and a 365 night trial period to test it out.
It’s slightly softer (but not too soft!) than most hybrid mattress options, but it’s what your spine needs to keep oxygen flowing to tissues, by reducing pressure points-but with a more nestled, inviting, and sumptuous feel.
Overall, I give this mattress my highest rating of 5 out of 5 stars. You just can’t beat a cashmere quilted top for a luxury feel- hell, at a third of the price of Sealy and Simmons Black models. A couples favorite here on my site for years.
Free shipping, a 365 day no questions asked trial, and a LIFETIME warranty with my exclusive link. Thousands of owners rave about this mattress, and tell their friends and family.
2. Purple Hybrid Premier 3 Mattress
Purple Mattress is pretty well known because of the curious looking purple squishy “grid” that kind of looks like an ice cube tray. It has a cult following, with couples saying it’s the best pressure relieving mattress they’ve owned.
I personally tested all of their models but The Purple Hybrid Premier 3 Mattress, which stands apart for pressure relief, and because, unlike memory foam, you don’t get that wet sand experience that makes it hard to turn on.
It’s not the least expensive model they sell, but for support and unique, responsive yet fully optimized pressure relieving design, it’s one of my top picks for best couple’s mattress.
Instead of the 2″ layer of the curious cube shaped gel material, you get a sumptuous 3″ layer which really makes a difference. They also upped the game on the outer covering, making it more stretchy and elastic, which translates to better pressure relief, too.
The Purple Hybrid Premier 3 Mattress also contains a layer of transitional foam which helps minimize motions transfer, which isn’t really an issue with Purple’s mattresses, but some folks can really benefit.
A queen runs $2699, but as with comparables to other brands, especially the dead memory foam crowd, I really feel it offers far more value. I know it’s not cheap, but in this case, you really do get what you pay for.
My first impressions are usually accurate when I review mattresses, and I’d easily give this mattress my best rating, a full 5 out of 5 stars.
If you want even more details, you can visit my expanded Purple Mattress page here.
3. The Avocado Eco-Organic Mattress
Looking for a chemical free mattress? Avocado’s value priced mattress is just $999 in queen. It includes a layer of natural organic latex layer above individually pocketed coils, and has a plush latex topper option available for a modest up-charge.
Up to 988 pocketed coils, no off-gassing, chemicals, VOC fumes, formaldehyde. The outer covering is organic cotton, and the top section is quilted with organic wool.
I found the Avocado Eco-Organic Mattress to be comfortable, and great for hips and shoulders when on my side.
For me, I rate it pretty high for a combination foam and coil mattress- and sleeping on a clean and green sleep surface is an added bonus. A solid 4.9 out of 5 star rating.
4. THE NOLAH EVOLUTION 15″ HYBRID
For couples that tend to sleep hot, I really like this hybrid and specialized foam option. Packed with architecture designed to remove heat, it even has a ventilation “duct” that wraps around the edge of the mattress, pumping heat to the outside.
An ultra-high-tech luxury hybrid mattress packed with advanced cooling, support, and comfort features; graphite infused AirFoamICE™, patented HDMax™ support coils, reinforced Edge-Tech™ support, and quilted comfort layer wrapped in a ArcticTex™ cover.
Read my enhance review on my expanded Nolah Mattress page.
If you are a hot sleeper, there’s enough cooling tech in this mattress to let you sleep cozy and cool all night. Superb edge support and I liked that it was supportive and easy on my back.
For sex, couples give it high marks for no slipping and sliding around. The tightly tufted but yielding pillow top provides padding and extra support, as well.
Sumptuous, nestled feeling-without feeling trapped. Nolah’s patented AirFoam and IceFoam are two innovations in the industry that deliver legit benefits to this bed. In queen it’s reasonably priced at just $1599.
Medium firm with no collapse edge support- excellent for sitting on side and for transfer, probably the best on the market.
5. SPINE ALIGN MATTRESS: DESIGNED BY A CHIROPRACTOR AND AN ELITE ATHLETE
Dr. Jason Loth and Dave Schen designed a pocketed coil hybrid mattress that outperforms foam beds like Casper or Leesa.
For couples with back issues, neck pain, even leg pain, this mattress is designed to properly suspend your weight evenly across its entire surface and resists bucketing and gulley formation where couples often end up.
It’s architecture includes a phase change outer fabric, copper infused foam, cooling gel foam, memory foam, and an 8” Quantum Edge pocketed coil system.
You can also visit my mattresses recommended by chiropractors page for other options if you or your partner have back pain that needs to be managed with a better mattress.
100 Night Trial, 10 Year Warranty, Free Shipping. The best mattress option overall, for spine health and alignment you can buy.
Designed specifically to distribute weight laterally, and not downwards into pinpoint pressure areas. Queen $1649, free shipping and a great trial period.
6. SAATVA LATEX COIL HYBRID MATTRESS
A little pricier than typical vacuum packaged and rolled bed in a box options, the Saatva Coil Hybrid Mattress is delivered old school, and installed by professional installation crews at no extra charge.
Pocketed coil and foam hybrid mattress with sumptuous “euro” top. For couples who want a little more nestling in, more sumptuousness, this is an option I’ve recommended for years now.
Medium level of support, nest like feel. 14.5” finished height, 120 night trial period, 15 year warranty, $1949 for a queen. Free shipping.
Marc’s comments: If you like firm, with zero motion transfer, consider this option. Saatva knows how to build beds (known the team for 15 years).
If you like to nestle and squirm before finding your sweet spot, get it. Saatva is a highly established player in the hybrid game, a good investment mattress at the right price. Solid industry reputation.
And, one of my favorite couple’s mattress options.