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Doctor-Vetted

Mattress Quiz

With just 5 simple, easy questions, you can receive a mattress recommendation based on your sleep style, body type, and preferences. We relied on medical experts to help design our quiz, to ensure our perfect mattress recommendations are backed by science.

  • Dr. Miho Tanaka
    Orthopedic Surgeon

Frequently asked questions

It’s difficult to definitively determine one type of mattress as the best overall since each bed type has its pros and cons. Memory foam is a popular mattress choice, as it is affordable, responsive, and relatively durable. However, there are some concerns about how much heat it can absorb and how slow the material is to release it, though many manufacturers have devised ways to create a more breathable and comfortable memory foam mattress.

Latex mattresses are a popular natural alternative to memory foam mattresses. The material is typically considered more bouncy and cool, though the drawback is that latex has a much higher production cost.

If there is a type of mattress that sleepers want to stay away from, it might be traditional innerspring mattresses. The minimal design of a classic innerspring mattress, which consists of open coils sandwiched between thin layers of cushion, does not provide the contouring that many sleepers need for pressure relief.

Hybrid mattresses are a good compromise, providing much of what sleepers enjoyed about innerspring mattresses while minimizing their drawbacks. By pairing pocketed coils with a thick foam top, a hybrid mattress can meet a sleeper’s curves while still keeping them feeling comfortably on top of the mattress.

When it comes to choosing the best mattress for your sleep position, firmness is generally consideration the most important consideration. Side sleepers need soft to medium feel mattresses to fully embrace their shoulders and hips. Without that needed cushion, a side sleeper may wake up stiff and in pain.

Conversely, back and stomach sleepers do well on firmer mattresses. A back sleeper can enjoy a medium-firm to firm mattress, and some supportive medium mattresses are even suitable for back sleepers who want a touch more softness. However, firmer is generally better when it comes to stomach sleeping, as a too-soft mattress can leave stomach sleepers waking up with back pain.

Combination sleepers move between two or three positions, so they need a mattress that can keep up and adapt to their movements. We suggest medium-soft to medium-firm mattresses, and some combination sleepers may want to look at hybrid and spring mattresses for a touch of extra responsiveness.

Every mattress type can suit hot sleepers, though some are more inherently suited to staying cool than others. Memory foam has a reputation for retaining a sleeper’s body heat, but many manufacturers infuse cooling gels to keep hot sleepers cool.

Latex foam is more naturally cooling than memory foam, but the expected price tag of a latex mattress can turn off budget shoppers. Hybrid and innerspring mattresses can also stay quite cool, as their coil support leaves plenty of space for air to circulate.

Since every type of mattress can serve as a cooling option for hot sleepers, we suggest keeping in mind which type is most likely to provide you with the comfort you seek.

There’s no such thing as a ‘bad’ firmness level, only a firmness that’s unsuited for your particular sleep style. A firmer mattress can provide the support that back, stomach, and heavyset sleepers need to wake up refreshed and pain-free. Side and lightweight sleepers are more prone to pressure build-up in their bodies, so they need softer mattresses to ease tension points in their bodies.

The right mattress size for you will depend on your budget, room dimensions, and whether or not you plan on sharing your bed with a partner. Naturally, a larger mattress will cost more than a smaller mattress. Budget shoppers looking to save may want to consider a twin, twin XL, or full mattress. Overall, we would recommend the twin XL as a budget option for single sleepers as it can better accommodate taller sleepers over 6 feet.

Room size is another significant factor, as a too-big mattress can leave a bedroom feeling cramped with no space for other furniture. Ideally, you want about 3 square feet of clearance around the mattress so you can walk around the bedroom. Most mattresses can comfortably squeeze into the bedrooms that are 10 feet by 10 feet, though we can’t recommend king size mattresses for anything smaller than 12 feet by 12 feet.

Anyone who’s looking for a mattress to share should not consider a mattress smaller than a queen bed. Beds smaller than a queen mattress will leave two sleepers pressed uncomfortably close together. A king mattress is the way to go for couples who enjoy their personal space when sleeping.