All the Best Firm Mattresses We’ve Ever Written About

Construction: Hybrid | Materials: Memory foam | Sleep position: Back and side sleepers

We’ve been writing about Saatva’s Classic mattress for many years. It’s our top pick in our best-mattress roundup because it offers plenty of support and pressure relief, making it an attractive option for those comfortable in multiple positions — including Strategist senior editor Simone Kitchens, a back-to-side sleeper who prefers a mattress that supports her “generally sore” back. Kitchens found that of the three different firmness levels offered by the brand, the firmest one was both the most supportive and the most comfortable: “The firmness of this mattress never created a sunken, stuck feeling, which I’ve found happening with memory foam,” she said. “Instead, the supported feeling of this bed (which still manages to be pretty plush) kept my lower back from collapsing in, making my spine feel more aligned overall.”

Construction: All foam | Materials: Memory foam | Sleep position: Back-to-side sleepers

Kitchens also tested Plank Firm’s flippable mattress — which the brand says is the firmest on the market — and discovered that the “ultra firm” side was, in fact, the firmest memory-foam model she’d ever laid down on, she says. But Kitchens says it’s not without give; the top layer of foam provides a squishiness that cradles you if you’re a side sleeper and lifts and evenly disperses your weight if you lie on your back. “The best way to describe it is ‘neutral spine’ — similar to lying on the floor at the end of yoga class in Savasana, when the curvatures of your spine are all in alignment,” Kitchens says. Even after a year of sleeping on the Plank Firm, she says the initial firmness she felt is still intact.

Construction: Hybrid | Materials: Memory foam | Sleep position: Stomach and side sleepers

Former Strategist senior editor Margaret Rhodes is a stomach-to-side sleeper who tends to prefer softer mattresses, but with Allswell’s Luxe Hybrid, “there was something comfortably paralyzing about letting this very firm mattress straighten out my skeleton,” she said in our best mattresses shopping guide. The mattress provided what Rhodes said is a “sumptuously Spartan” feeling from its construction, which combines individually wrapped coils with a soft layer of high-density foam and copper-gel-infused memory foam. The top layer is soft, Rhodes said, “but you’ll float firmly atop the mattress instead of nestling in.” In this suspended state, she found nighttime nirvana. But what really sets this hybrid apart from the firm Saatva mattress above is that it’s available for nearly half the price.

Construction: All foam | Materials: Memory foam and polyfoam | Sleep position: Back and side sleepers

The Sealy Cocoon Chill is an all-foam mattress that Kitchens, who also tested the Saatva Classic, described as “every bit as firm as the innerspring coil mattress I’ve slept on for years.” The Cocoon has just two foam layers — memory foam on top of high-density foam — but still feels substantial, and it was sturdy enough to combat some of her chronic back pain and neck soreness: “Right before trying the Cocoon Chill, I had a new, specific bit of spinal pain,” she said. “But much of that immediately subsided after that first night and hasn’t returned. Crawling into this bed at the end of the day gives me a floating yet hugged feeling that I find to be full-body relaxing.” Plus, if the memory foam shows any indentations or dips lower than one inch, a full return is covered by Sealy’s ten-year limited warranty.

Construction: All foam | Materials: Memory foam | Sleep position: Back sleepers

Another supportive all-foam option is the Zinus Original Green Tea, the company’s least expensive mattress — and it’s nearly half the price of the Cocoon above. It’s ten inches tall and made of three layers of CertiPUR-US-certified foams, which Strategist sleep writer Amelia Jerden describes as “pretty firm” in our extensive mattress shopping guide. Zinus says its foam is infused with green tea for use as an antioxidant to “maintain freshness.” Though the foam construction doesn’t have much give, according to Jerden, she says the Original Green Tea is not as firm as some other superfirm beds she’s tried, such as the Plank (which we mentioned above). While Jerden found it to be too firm for side sleeping, her partner loved the Original Green Tea: “He even said he felt less neck pain, and as if his spine were more neutrally aligned, after we switched to this bed,” Jerden says, adding that for those who like a firm mattress and are looking to save money, it’s a solid option.

Construction: Innerspring | Materials: No foam | Sleep position: Stomach and side sleepers

Parachute makes some of our favorite linens and home staples, but in addition to hotel-quality robes and towels, it offers its own innerspring mattress. Parachute’s take on an ecofriendly bed features a 6,000-coil-spring interior and zero foam, which the brand says tends to deteriorate and change its feel. In our best-mattress roundup, Rhodes was pleasantly surprised that, unlike other mattresses she has tried, Parachute’s didn’t emit a plasticky aroma when she opened the box. She also appreciated the lack of heat-retaining foam but pointed out that the springs-only design might be too firm for some. “My initial impression was one of sleeping on a very sturdy topper floating on top of nothing,” Rhodes said. If you need something softer, Parachute recommends adding one of its Strategist-approved mattress toppers for extra comfort, which Rhodes ultimately found worked well for her: “It’s positioned as a luxury, hotel-style mattress, and it really feels like one.”

Construction: All foam | Materials: Memory foam | Sleep position: Stomach sleepers

At first, Nectar’s memory-foam mattress “seemed almost too firm to the touch,” said former Strategist senior editor Casey Lewis, a stomach-to-side sleeper who shares a bed with a fidgety pitbull-boxer. But when she “plopped down on a corner, it had nearly no bounce at all,” she said in a previous version of this story. This quality lends itself to excellent motion isolation, which helped her sleep without worrying about her dog waking her up. Like the Sealy Cocoon Chill above, the Nectar contains three foam layers, but has an added “shift resistant” lower cover to provide sturdy support. The thick base foam layer provides the bulk of the support, followed by a thin middle layer of soft, transitional foam and three inches of memory-foam gel. Because of all that foam, Lewis said it’s quite firm. But despite this mattress’s overall dense structure and feel, the softer top layers of foam supply it with “just the right amount of give.”

Construction: Hybrid | Materials: Polyfoam | Sleep position: Combination sleepers

Helix’s Dawn mattress is the brand’s firmest option, which the company recommends for back and stomach sleepers thanks to a balanced combination of springs and foam. The mattress is made up of one layer of wrapped coils and three layers of responsive foam for ergonomic back support. When former Strategist associate editor Louis Cheslaw, a side sleeper who prefers a firm mattress, tested the Dawn, he says, “I drifted off as quickly as I ever have, regularly slept through the night, and never woke up feeling hot, sweaty, or achy in the morning.” And if you sleep hot, you can add a cooling cover for $199.

Construction: Hybrid | Materials: Memory foam | Sleep position: Combination sleepers

WinkBeds’s mattress is made with a combination of memory foam (for comfiness), air springs (to keep you cool), tempered steel coils (to maintain the mattress’s shape), and an ergonomic pad (for lumbar support) — all of which “saved” New York features editor Katy Schneider’s boyfriend, who claimed in our guide to the best mattresses that “he hasn’t woken up with pain since we started sleeping on it.” Schneider, who’s always changing her sleeping position and has spent her life sleeping on soft beds, was a tougher sell. But in the end, they both liked WinkBeds’ “luxury firm” model. “Because the memory-foam layer is thin, it still felt soft without enveloping my body,” she said. And thanks to the motion isolation provided by the springs, she no longer notices when her boyfriend comes to bed late. “Though I bristled at the word firm, I quickly converted from ‘Will only sleep on pillows’ to ‘I think I’m a firm-mattress person,’” she said.

Construction: All foam | Materials: Memory foam | Sleep position: Front and back sleepers

As a five-time marathon runner who prefers a firm mattress, former senior writer Karen Iorio Adelson tested Bear’s original, all-foam model that’s designed for athletes and said her legs felt “fresher and less fatigued than they normally would on days after doing sprints and thigh-punishing barre workouts.” According to the brand, the mattress’s four layers of foam provide enough sinkage and contour to ergonomically support bodies in recovery, while its proprietary Celliant cover directs body heat back to the muscles as restorative infrared heat. Adelson says although her muscles felt better after sleeping on the Bear, she did feel pressure along her hips and shoulders as a side sleeper. Her husband, however, didn’t experience any pain as a stomach sleeper, so she says the mattress may be more compatible with those who sleep on their front or back.

Construction: All foam | Materials: Memory foam | Sleep position: Combination sleepers

Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio has two daughters, each of whom sleeps on a Helix mattress in the bunk bed they share, she says. The flippable model has a firm side with an inch of high-density foam and a soft side with a gel memory layer so Trolio’s daughters can choose what feels best to them. (Her 6-year-old sleeps on the firmer side, while her 8-almost-9-year-old sleeps on the softer side.) Trolio says the Helix feels like one of the best values on the kids’ mattress market, as it’ll likely last an entire childhood, but it’s also tolerable enough for an adult to sleep on (she says other mattresses she tried were far too soft). “It’s comfortable and supportive and an excellent choice for growing kids whose preferences can be fickle,” she says.