Amazon's Best Mattresses for 2020

When Amazon is the Right Choice, What to Get, and When You can Do Better for the Best Deal

If price is a more important feature than warranty in your mattress search, Amazon has some amazing bargains. 

Skip the Pros/Cons and Get to the Bargains!

Amazon has a great selection of beds-in-a-box at pretty much every price point. At the same time, they usually don’t offer the same trial period, reliability, and warranty that you can get buying directly from the manufacturer.

Because of this, we’d recommend Amazon for people who:  

  • Are already familiar with the bed they’re buying – If your friend or family member has a mattress you like, or you’ve gotten to try it in a store, Amazon’s discounts and Prime shipping can make your purchase easier. 
  • Want a comfortable but cheap starter mattress – If you’re a college student, starting out in your first home, or need something for a guest room, a <$500 Amazon buy could be exactly what you’re looking for. This is especially true if you only need it to last a few years. 
  • Need something fast – Prime shipping plus Amazon’s prices mean you can get a nice mattress very cheap backed by a large company’s 30 day guarantee. It may not be perfect, but it will get there reliably. 

In essence, Amazon is great for young people, anyone in a transitional or temporary situation (e.g. guest beds, year-long work placement, etc), kid’s beds, and people already familiar with the mattress that they want. 

Why? Because many Amazon-only sellers just aren’t as stable over time as buying from a known brand, and many large brands cut their perks when you buy off Amazon: 

  • Shorter trial and warranty – Most less-known brands only use Amazon’s 30-day guarantee, and many of the larger companies have a shorter warranty and trial period when purchased through Amazon (with a few removing their guarantees altogether). 
  • Brand coupons and promos often don’t apply – Some big brands change their Amazon price to reflect seasonal discounts, others don’t, so it’s worth checking the manufacturer’s website to see if you can get the same thing for less by buying direct. 
  • Many Amazon vendors are resellers who may not exist in a few years – Amazon mattress with a 10-year warranty? Awesome! Except that the brand only exists on Amazon, has no independent web presence, and would be hard to track down if they every stopped selling there.  
  • The exact same mattress can be sold as several brands at several price points – A lot of manufacturers sell “white label” bulk products to resellers, meaning they can be sold under any name and at any price point.  This means the exact same mattress can be (and often is) sold for anything from $500 to $1,000+ by different people under different names. 
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This makes Amazon great for cheaper, shorter-term solutions, and a bit riskier for expensive or long-term ones. A six-month work assignment out of town? Absolutely, I’m buying a $250-$500 Amazon mattress that I can throw on Craigslist when I leave. Something to sleep on at home for 10+ years? I want to make sure it’s the most comfortable, reliable choice and I have recourse if there’s a problem. 

That said, here are some awesome Amazon options at great prices that should get you through at least a few years of comfortable sleep, along with some of the bigger brand name choices that offer the same (or similar) protections on an Amazon purchase. 

The Best Bed In A Box Mattresses on Amazon

Top Rated, Inexpensive, Less-Known Brands ($200-$500)

Top Pick! Classic Brands' 14" Cool Gel Mattress

Classic Brands offers a series of exceptionally well rated, very well priced mattresses in every style from latex to hybrids. Their 14″ Cool Gel mattress is especially popular, including a 10-year warranty and 2 free pillows. If you don’t need something that thick, their 10″ option comes in under $300 for a queen, though it’s without the warranty and extras.

Check Out Classic Brands' Current Prices

LUCID 10 Inch Gel Memory Foam Mattress - Medium Feel

If you don’t mind a softer, simpler mattress, LUCID is an absolute bargain. Coming in under $250 for 10″ queen, it covers the basic benefits of memory foam without the usual price tag. It also comes with an impressive but not well defined 10-year warranty, served under LUCID’s parent company, Linenspa (they also sell a firmer version under the Linespa brand, but it’s more expensive and thinner). 

LUCID's Mattress Options

Ashley Furniture 12" Inch Memory Foam Mattress - Firm Feel

Ashley Furniture (and its “Signature Design” series on Amazon) is actually a fairly large brand that gets surprisingly little attention on the Top Mattress lists. Their beds are very highly rated and actually really affordable – their 12″ queen size is still under $300, with the biggest complaint being that it runs firm (so if you want a softer mattress, this isn’t the best choice). It’s nothing fancy to look at and doesn’t have a bunch of layers, but definitely a great, reliable pick.

Check Out Ashley Furniture's Mattresses

Zinus Memory Foam 12" Green Tea Mattress

This extremely popular bed-in-a-box clocks in with more than 27,000 reviews, with the biggest complaint being the firmness. It’s a mid-range cheap mattress option (<$400 for a queen) that includes a thicker layer of memory foam than most budget choices, with a total 5″ of memory and comfort foam over the 7″ high density and support foam base. As many of the most affordable options are an inch or two of memory foam over a hard foam core, this is a mark in Zinus’ favor.

See Zinus' Most Popular Mattresses

Well-Know Brands With a Sleep Trial and Warranty (Mostly >$500)

Nectar Mattress

Nectar is a fast-growing, generally well regarded brand with competitive pricing, nice seasonal discounts, and an excellent warranty/trial policy. We’ve said a lot about this mattress in our full review, but its general perks include a lifetime warranty, 180-day sleep trial (365 days if you buy directly from Nectar), and high-quality cooling gel foam. If you’re fine with a 6-month instead of year long trial, ordering from Amazon can also bypass the occasional shipping delays that happen through Nectar’s website.

View Nectar's Amazon Price and Promos

Purple Mattress

Purple Mattress is famous for its memory foam alternative – a type of stretchy polymer that’s supportive without putting too much pressure on you while you sleep. It’s sold in a lot of different settings; along with Amazon, it’s sold in a lot of stores, and you can also buy direct. Be aware that if you go the Amazon route, they use the built-in 30 day trial period, instead of the full hundred days offered through their website.

See The Purple Mattress on Amazon

Casper Mattress and Casper Essential

We’d be remiss not to mention one of the best know pioneers in the bed-in-a-box industry, which offers both its standard 12″ and Casper Essential 8″ mattresses with their 100-night sleep trial through Amazon. While these beds will give you the memory foam experience, do be aware that they’re significantly pricier for the size, and buyers have had mixed results in actually returning the beds during the promised sleep trial. If you’re not already sold on the Casper brand, you may want to consider expanding your options.

Check Out the Casper Mattress on Amazon

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