We’ve tested 20+ memory foam mattresses in-house using our extensive objective & data-driven tests. Our best memory foam mattress 2023 guide highlights the best-performing mattresses at a range of price points, firmnesses, and comfort types.
In This Guide
Ghostbed Luxe | Amerisleep AS3 | Novosbed | BedInABox Original | Loom & Leaf | WinkBed GravityLux | Nectar Premier Copper | Emma Original | Mattresses We Considered | How We Choose
The 8 Best Memory Foam Mattresses for 2023
4″ Comfort Layer
Ghostbed Luxe
9.68
Price: $1,598
Firmness: Medium-Firm
6″ Comfort Layer
Amerisleep AS3
9.64
Price: $1,299
Firmness: Medium
4″ Comfort Layer
Novosbed
9.64
Price: $999
Firmness: Soft, Medium-Firm, Firm
3″ Comfort Layer
BedInABox Original
9.62
Price: $799
Firmness: Medium-Firm
6.5″ Comfort Layer
Loom & Leaf
9.56
Price: $1895
Firmness: Medium or Firm
6″ Comfort Layer
Winkbed GravityLux
9.55
Price: $1499
Firmness: Soft, Medium, Firm
5″ Comfort Layer
Nectar Premier Copper
9.50
Price: $1299
Firmness: Medium
6″ Comfort Layer
Emma Original
9.50
Price: $699
Firmness: Medium
GhostBed Luxe
Best For
- Faster response time than more traditional memory foam
- Limited motion transfer
- Excellent cooling
Quick Specs
- 13″ thick + phase-change cover
- 101-night trial period
- 25-year warranty
- Ranked top 21% of all mattresses tested to date
Why It’s Best
The GhostBed Luxe combines memory foam, poly foam, and a phase-change cover for improved cooling, response time, and breathability. It offers many of the classic memory foam benefits, including excellent contour and pressure relief.
This mattress has a solid performance score of 9.68 overall, which ranks it the top-scoring memory foam mattress we’ve tested to date.
The Ghostbed Luxe mattress costs $1598 for a queen, which is higher than the average price for a memory foam mattress, but considering its unmatched performance among memory foam mattresses, the cost helps support the overall value.
Type: Memory Foam
Firmness: Medium Firm (6)
Ghostbed Luxe Performance
The performance of the Ghostbed Luxe mattress is very well-rounded. It has extremely low motion transfer, expected of most quality memory foams, but also an extremely fast response time. Response time is where memory foam can fall short in performance, but certainly that’s not the case with the Ghostbed Luxe.
Edge support is also excellent, especially for a 100% foam mattress, experiencing 3.75″ of sinkage when sitting directly at the edge. The average edge support score among all foam mattresses that we’ve tested is 9.3 (Ghostbed earned a 9.6).
Sitting Edge Support
Lying Edge Support
The Luxe has a phase change cover with cooling fibers, as well as gel-infused memory foam for the top comfort layer. These material choices help to give the Luxe a real advantage in cooling over most other memory foam mattresses.
| Factor | Ghostbed Luxe |
|---|---|
| Overall | 9.68 |
| Max Temp. | 89.7° F |
| Max Sinkage | 2.90″ |
| Total Motion Transfer | 4.90 m/s² |
| Response Time | 0.2 sec. |
| Total Bounce | 8.58″ |
| Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage | 3.75″ |
| Edge Support – Lying Support | Excellent |
| Sex Overall | 9.6 |
| Comfort Material | 5.50″ |
| Off-Gassing – Smell | Strong |
| Off-Gassing – Days | 5 days |
| Trial | 101 days |
| Warranty | 25 years |
Amerisleep AS3
Best For
- Fantastic pressure relief. The AS3 has the perfect combination of softness, contour, and sinkage for an amazing feel.
- Excellent cooling performance, especially for an all-foam mattress.
Quick Specs
- 12″ with a thin cooling cover
- 100-night trial period
- 20-year warranty
Why It’s Best
The Amerisleep AS3 is a 12″ thick foam mattress. It has a 3.0″ comfort layer with a 3.0″ thick transitional layer and 6.0″ foam base. The AS3 has the same top layer as the AS3 Hybrid, but skips the pocketed coil base in lieu of a 100% foam base.
Amerisleep uses its classic Bio-Pur memory foam, a plant-based modern foam with the feel of traditional memory foam, but added enhancements like faster response time and better cooling performance.
Type: Foam
Firmness: Medium (5)
AS3 Performance
The performance of the AS3 memory foam mattress is fantastic, with the only real disadvantage being less edge support. The AS3 has very low motion transfer, with a max acceleration range of 2.11 m/s². This is significantly better than the average across all mattresses we’ve tested to date, which is 5.83 m/s².
In addition to low motion transfer, the AS3 also has excellent cooling, moderate sinkage, extremely fast response time, good edge support, and low levels of bounce. Pressure relief is exceptional and is equally supportive for most sleeper types.
Bear in mind, the AS3 has a medium firmness of 5 out of 10. If you prefer a firmer feel or need extra support, you may want to consider the AS3 Hybrid. The AS3 Hybrid has a similar firmness, but offers better support for heavier sleepers.
| Factor | Amerisleep AS3 |
|---|---|
| Overall | 9.64 |
| Max Temp. | 85.4° F |
| Max Sinkage | 2.16″ |
| Total Motion Transfer | 2.11 m/s² |
| Response Time | 0.5 sec. |
| Total Bounce | 6.71″ |
| Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage | 5.50″ |
| Edge Support – Lying Support | Excellent |
| Sex Overall | 9.3 |
| Comfort Material | 6.00″ |
| Off-Gassing – Smell | Strong |
| Off-Gassing – Days | 4 days |
| Trial | 100 days |
| Warranty | 20 years |
Novosbed
Best For
- Fantastic pressure relief
- A modern memory foam that provides great contour and hug, with cooler foams and fast response
- Ultra-low motion transfer
Quick Specs
- 11″ thick + Tencel cover
- 120-night trial
- 15-year warranty
Why It’s Best
The Novosbed mattress is a memory foam mattress with a 4″ comfort layer and 7″ support layer. It has that classic memory foam feel with high hug and contour, but also while retaining a faster response time.
This mattress comes in three different firmness levels—soft, medium, and firm with a zippered cover that allows you to swap out firmnesses without exchanging the whole mattress.
The Novosbed mattress is a fantastic pick for tighter budgets, priced at only $999 for a queen.
Type: Memory Foam
Firmness: Soft (4), Medium (6), or Firm (8)
Novosbed Performance
During our testing, the Novosbed mattress performed very well in all categories. This mattress uses three different kinds of memory foam for comfort layers, giving the mattress low motion transfer, great pressure relief, and also very low levels of bounce.
Despite the use of three memory foams, the Novosbed mattress still had great cooling performance and minimal sinkage. With Novosbed, you don’t really have to worry about that “stuck” feeling that is sometimes accompanied by traditional memory foam.
| Factor | Novosbed |
|---|---|
| Overall | 9.64 |
| Max Temp. | 85.8° F |
| Max Sinkage | 1.88″ |
| Total Motion Transfer | 2.66 m/s² |
| Response Time | 0.5 sec. |
| Total Bounce | 6.89″ |
| Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage | 4.25″ |
| Edge Support – Lying Support | Excellent |
| Sex Overall | 9.4 |
| Comfort Material | 4.00″ |
| Off-Gassing – Smell | Strong |
| Off-Gassing – Days | 4 days |
| Trial | 120 days |
| Warranty | 15 years |
Bedinabox Original
Best For
- Incredibly good cooling performance, especially for a memory foam mattress
- Motion transfer is very low
- Fast response time of 0.5 seconds
Quick Specs
- 10″ thickness + cotton cover
- 120-night trial period
- 20-year warranty
Why It’s Best
The BedInABox Original mattress offers a modern memory foam feel with high contour and high hug, coupled with a faster-than-expected response time. It had fantastic cooling and good edge support (both lying or sitting).
Motion transfer levels were low, which is a bit to be expected from classic memory foam. It comes in around a 6 out of 10 on the firmness scale making this mattress a good choice for a wider range of sleepers. At this price point, the performance per dollar makes the BedInABox mattress one of the best-value mattresses we’ve tested to date.
Type: Memory Foam
Firmness: Medium Firm (6)
BedInABox Performance
Performance on the BedInABox mattress is exceptional, especially considering its lower price point ($799 for a queen). This puts the BedInABox in a good position to appeal to a wider range of sleepers.
It has very low levels of motion transfer (max acceleration range of 2.85 m/s²), which is less than half of the average level of motion transfer.
The 3.0″ gel-infused memory foam atop the BedInABox mattress provides great comfort, cooling, and pressure relief. All in all, there’s not much to not like about the BedInABox Original and it’s a solid pick by any standard.
| Factor | Bedinabox Original |
|---|---|
| Overall | 9.62 |
| Max Temp. | 87.4° F |
| Max Sinkage | 1.86″ |
| Total Motion Transfer | 2.85 m/s² |
| Response Time | 0.5 sec. |
| Total Bounce | 5.40″ |
| Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage | 4.50″ |
| Edge Support – Lying Support | Excellent |
| Sex Overall | 9.2 |
| Comfort Material | 3.00″ |
| Off-Gassing – Smell | Moderate |
| Off-Gassing – Days | 3 days |
| Trial | 120 days |
| Warranty | 20 years |
Loom & Leaf
Best For
- Organic, euro-cotton cover, provides excellent contour and pressure relief
- Extremely fast response time
- Very low levels of motion transfer, great for sensitive sleepers
Quick Specs
- 12″ thick with Euro-top
- 365-night trial
- 25-year warranty
- My personal mattress since 2017
Why It’s Best
The Loom & Leaf is a memory foam mattress with high contour and excellent pressure relief. The 12″ mattress includes an organic cotton cover and cooling gel foam.
This mattress has a solid performance score of 9.56, but it’s not going to win any awards for its score alone. Being a memory foam, it takes hits for things that most memory foams struggle with (ie: low bounce, deeper sinkage, worse edges). But the real value of this mattress comes in the quality materials, build quality, and exceptional pressure relief performance. The Loom & Leaf costs $1895 for a queen, which is 35% higher than the average price for a memory foam mattress.
Despite it’s middling performance in bounce, sex, and edge support, the pros far outweigh the cons. So much so that this is the mattress I have been personally sleeping on since 2017. For those who are okay giving up some of the benefits of a hybrid mattress in exchange for best-in-class comfort Loom and Leaf is it.
Type: Memory Foam
Firmness: Medium (5.5) or Firm (8)
Loom & Leaf Performance
Performance tests on the Loom & Leaf are overall quite good. The overall score takes a hit in two areas—once for poorer edge support and again for low levels of bounce.
While edge support is an obvious weakness of the Loom & Leaf, I don’t think that discounts the mattress as a whole. Bounce, as a scoring factor, is more preferential since high vs. low levels of bounce are neither good nor bad.
The build quality and materials of the Loom & Leaf are simply exceptional. The mattress has a tufted organic cotton cover and a deeper pressure relieving body contouring hug.
Despite the deeper sinkage, it maintains a reasonably fast response time and great cooling performance.
| Factor | Loom & Leaf |
|---|---|
| Overall | 9.56 |
| Max Temp. | 87.6° F |
| Max Sinkage | 3.09″ |
| Total Motion Transfer | 5.02 m/s² |
| Response Time | 0.6 sec. |
| Total Bounce | 4.72″ |
| Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage | 6.25″ |
| Edge Support – Lying Support | Excellent |
| Sex Overall | 8.9 |
| Comfort Material | 4.50″ |
| Off-Gassing – Smell | None |
| Off-Gassing – Days | 0 days |
| Trial | 365 days |
| Warranty | 25 years |
Winkbed GravityLux
Best For
- 3 different firmness levels
- Classic memory foam feel, but with limited heat retention and fast response
- Extremely low levels of bounce
Quick Specs
- 10″ thickness + Tencel cover
- 120-night trial
- Lifetime limited warranty
Why It’s Best
The Winkbed GravityLux mattress is a 10″ high memory foam mattress, available in three firmness levels—soft, medium, or firm. This mattress is a solid pick if you need more firmness options and are looking for a modern memory foam feel.
While it’s a bit more expensive than other memory foam mattresses (18% more than the average), it excels in areas where other memory foam may struggle (extremely fast response and exceptional edge support).
Type: Memory Foam
Firmness: Soft (4), Medium (6), or Firm (8)
Winkbed GravityLux Performance
The performance of the Winkbed GravityLux is an all-around solid performer. It has great cooling performance, moderate sinkage, fast response, exceptional edge support, and excellent pressure relief.
Sitting Support
Lying Support
As a possible disadvantage, bounce is extremely low on the Gravirtyy Lux, although this tends to be more of a preferential factor rather than a good / bad factor.
Also, the GravityLux has higher levels of motion transfer. In our tests, we measured 11.85 m/s² of acceleration range. This is 55% more motion transfer than the average of 7.61 m/s².
| Factor | Winkbed GravityLux |
|---|---|
| Overall | 9.55 |
| Max Temp. | 85.2° F |
| Max Sinkage | 2.06″ |
| Total Motion Transfer | 11.85 m/s² |
| Response Time | 0.2 sec. |
| Total Bounce | 3.83″ |
| Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage | 2.50″ |
| Edge Support – Lying Support | Exceptional |
| Sex Overall | 9.1 |
| Comfort Material | 4.00″ |
| Off-Gassing – Smell | Strong |
| Off-Gassing – Days | 3 days |
| Trial | 120 days |
| Warranty | Lifetime |
Nectar Premier Copper
Best For
- Fantastic pressure relief—feels great in every position
- Fast response and reasonably good edge support while lying
- Excellent cooling performance
Quick Specs
- 14″ thickness + thin cover
- 365-night trial
- Lifetime limited warranty
Why It’s Best
The Nectar Premier Copper is a memory foam mattress that is made up of three layers of foam, the top layer being a gel memory foam for enhanced cooling, contour, and comfort.
This mattress has a good performance score of 9.50 overall and has a reasonable cost of $1299 for a queen. This puts the Premier Copper in that sweet spot below luxury memory foam mattresses (in terms of price), but above some other popular budget picks.
Type: Memory Foam
Firmness: Medium (5)
Nectar Premier Copper Performance
The performance of the Nectar Premier Copper has consistently good scoring in all of the same areas categories as the mattresses shown above. And it also shares the same small struggles, worse edge support, and lower bounce (which notably can hurt sex performance).
Motion transfer is extremely low (max acceleration range of 1.88 m/s²). It has moderate sinkage, extremely fast response time, and excellent pressure relief.
The copper-infused cover really helps the cooling performance of this mattress as well as the gel-infused foam used in the comfort layer.
| Factor | Nectar Premier Copper |
|---|---|
| Overall | 9.50 |
| Max Temp. | 90.6° F |
| Max Sinkage | 2.22″ |
| Total Motion Transfer | 1.88 m/s² |
| Response Time | 0.3 sec. |
| Total Bounce | 5.14″ |
| Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage | 6.25″ |
| Edge Support – Lying Support | Excellent |
| Sex Overall | 8.9 |
| Comfort Material | 5.00″ |
| Off-Gassing – Smell | Strong |
| Off-Gassing – Days | 3 days |
| Trial | 365 days |
| Warranty | Lifetime |
Editor’s Choice
Nectar Premier
Best For
- Lower price point compared to the Nectar Premier Copper
- Extremely low motion transfer levels
- Cooling cover improves performance
Quick Specs
- 13″ thick with cooling cover
- 365-night trial period
- Lifetime limited warranty
$400 Less Than the Nectar Premier
The Nectar Premier offers many of the same benefits of the Premier Copper (listed above), with a few distinct advantages as well.
The Nectar Premier is 1″ thinner and has 1″ less gel memory foam within the comfort layer.
It also lacks the copper-infusion technology for cooling, but approaches cooling in a different way.
This mattress has a cooling cover and also integrates a thin layer of phase change material within the comfort layer.
For savings and a thinner mattress height, the Nectar Premier can be a great option.
Emma Original
Best For
- Incredible value for the money
- Excellent cooling for a memory foam
- Extremely fast response time
- Very good edge support
Quick Specs
- 12″ thickness + thin cover
- 365-night trial
- 10-year warranty
Why It’s Best
The Emma Original is a memory foam mattress that contains a mix of poly foam, memory foam, and support foam. It has a 12″ profile height and is available in a single firmness—medium (5 out of 10).
The Emma scores a 9.50 overall, but where this mattress really shines is in its value. Emma costs only $699 for a queen-sized mattress, which is 44% less than the average memory foam mattress.
And despite its lower costs, Emma still excelled in all scoring categories except for motion transfer (where it had more motion transfer than average).
Type: Memory Foam
Firmness: Medium (5)
Emma Original Performance
The performance of the Emma Original all-foam mattress was very good considering its price point. This mattress has excellent cooling with an extremely fast response time and moderate levels of sinkage.
There is moderate levels of bounce with a total of 9.0″. This is a little over 1/2″ less bounce than the average. For most mattresses, I hope to see a bounce in the 8-12” range, so the Emma still stays in that sweet spot.
The only area where this mattress struggled a bit was regarding motion transfer.
Emma has a moderate level of motion transfer, with an acceleration range of 10.50 m/s². The average across all mattresses we’ve tested is 7.82 m/s² so this mattress has more motion transfer than average.
| Factor | Emma Original Foam |
|---|---|
| Overall | 9.50 |
| Max Temp. | 89.8° F |
| Max Sinkage | 2.24″ |
| Total Motion Transfer | 10.50 m/s² |
| Response Time | 0.2 sec. |
| Total Bounce | 9.00″ |
| Edge Support – Sitting Sinkage | 4.75″ |
| Edge Support – Lying Support | Excellent |
| Sex Overall | 9.7 |
| Comfort Material | 6.00″ |
| Off-Gassing – Smell | Strong |
| Off-Gassing – Days | 2 days |
| Trial | 365 days |
| Warranty | 10 years |
Mattresses We Considered
In choosing the best memory foam mattresses for 2023 we looked at all of our tests, scores, data, and reviews specifically for the memory foam mattress type. We analyzed this data alongside our established best mattress framework here.
For this list, we only considered mattresses that explicitly use memory foam as the primary comfort material.
Mattresses with the highest scores earned spots on our list. There were a few mattresses that may have earned a spot, however, they were excluded from the list due to one our more issues that we felt disqualified them based on our inclusion criteria.
- Zoma All Foam: (9.62 overall score): good score, but tends to have stocking issues and is not always available for purchase. If / when it becomes more readily available it could be added to this list.
- BedInABox EcoLux (9.57 overall score): good score, but more expensive than the BedInABox Original. Also, we typically exclude multiple mattresses from the same brand. In almost all cases we would recommend Bedinabox Original over the EcoLux.
- Ashley Sleep Gruve (9.53 overall score): good score, but very limited return policy. With such a poor return policy it’s not a mattress we could confidently recommend.
- Tempur Cloud (9.53 overall score): another good performer, but it’s only available in the UK.
Our scoring cut off for the best memory foam mattress is 9.50 / 10. Any mattress below this scoring threshold was not considered.
How We Choose The Best
Each “Best of” list is put through a customized performance analysis with specialized consideration given to our objective & data-driven performance tests, mattress type, design, materials, value / price, and more.
For our Best Memory Foam Mattress list we based our selections on the best-scoring / highest-performing memory foam mattresses according to our series of objective testing.
These tests analyze performance across 8 critical factors. The mattresses that scored the highest in tests were then chosen to represent the “best memory foam mattress”.
Our testing and selection process is incredibly detailed and rigorous. The links below have detailed write-ups on our testing process, scoring formulas, and the precise criteria for how we choose the best mattresses.
Editor’s Choice Picks
Editor’s Choice
Editor’s Choice mattresses are special inclusions on a more subjective basis. These picks may have 1-2 disadvantages that exclude their score from out-ranking the other “best of” picks. But these mattresses are still considered good and worth considering for many sleepers.
