Best Tempur-Pedic Mattress Alternatives

Since the 90s, Tempur-Pedic has been among the gold-standard mattress companies. Their hybrids and memory foam offerings have long held a reputation for being the best. However, recently, the competition has gotten a lot stiffer.

Nowadays, there are many mattress brands that give Tempur-Pedic mattresses a run for their money in terms of quality. And these mattress brands run circles around them in terms of price. Here are a few of the best Tempur-Pedic mattress alternatives on the market.

Those looking for a more affordable but still comparable alternative to the medium Tempur-Pedic ProAdapt should take a look at the Amerisleep AS3. This medium memory foam option is just as contouring and just as cooling as the ProAdapt for a fraction of the price.

How Lying Down Feels

The medium AS3 offers tons of contouring foam to cradle pressure points and keep your spine aligned. This is also a highly cooling and responsive mattress. So hot sleepers and active sleepers alike can get a good night’s sleep from this medium-feel foam mattress.

Inside the Mattress

One of the features that makes the AS3 such a good alternative to Tempur-Pedic is its Bio-Pur® foam. This plant-based memory foam is just as contouring as traditional memory foam and much more breathable. That means you get amazing temperature regulation without sacrificing an ounce of contouring power.

Another fantastic feature of this mattress is the HIVE® technology in its transition layer. This specialized transition foam targets five different zones of the body. It offers each zone an optimal balance of pressure relief and support to keep your spine aligned and relieve tired pressure points.

Finally, the Bio-Core® base foam is built to last. While the Tempur-Pedic mattress lineups are only covered under a 10-year warranty, the Amerisleep mattress lineup boasts a 20-year warranty and 100-night sleep trial. That means you can expect more years of use from your mattress at an even better price point.

SEE ALSO: Amerisleep Mattress Review

Tempur-Pedic doesn’t offer any mattresses designed specifically by and for athletes. So those looking for a mattress created to enhance performance will have to look elsewhere. The good news is the Zoma Hybrid mattress is a pretty great place to look!

How Lying Down Feels

This medium-firm mattress was designed to enhance performance for anyone with a physically active lifestyle. Not just athletes but physical laborers and those who just love to stay active can get a lot out of this memory foam mattress.

Inside the Mattress

This medium-firm hybrid mattress sports two layers of foam. The comfort layer is made with perforated gel memory foam to provide the perfect balance of pressure relief and cooling comfort. The transition layer is made with springy ReactivTM foam that bounces right back into place as soon as you move without sacrificing motion isolation.

The bouncy ReactivTM foam’s responsiveness is enhanced even more by the springy pocketed coils underneath. These layers work together to make the Zoma Hybrid a highly responsive alternative to latex foam for active sleepers who have latex allergies.

The Zoma comes with a 10-year warranty, free shipping, and a 100-night risk-free trial period.

SEE ALSO: Zoma Mattress Review

If you want a quality product but just can’t afford an expensive Tempur-Pedic, the Vaya Mattress may be for you. The Vaya Mattress is among the best Tempur-Pedic alternatives because it offers unbeatable quality with an even more unbeatable price tag. That means budget limitations don’t have to put a damper on your good night’s sleep!

The Vaya Mattress comes with a 10-year warranty and a 100-night trial period. It also has free shipping.

How Lying Down Feels

The Vaya has two layers of highly contouring foam. This foam bed offers extreme contouring. And that means it offers extreme pressure relief. Those with joint pain and side sleepers will get the most out of this mattress.

Inside the Mattress

The Vaya consists of two memory foam layers. This allows the manufacturer to keep costs low without sacrificing quality. That translates into a low price tag and amazing comfort.

The open-cell Vaya Comfort Foam layer is incredibly breathable and highly contouring. This means you’ll get fantastic pressure relief without the heat retention that normally comes with softer memory foam layers.

The Vaya Base Foam layer is ultra-firm to keep you lifted onto the sleep surface and keep your spine aligned. This highly dense foam is also super-tough. It will resist sagging and soft spot development for a full 10 years. That translates into less than $100 per year of use, even for the king sizes!

SEE ALSO: Vaya Mattress Review

Those looking for a mid-priced alternative to expensive Tempur-Pedic beds might want to check out the Nolah Signature 12. This memory foam bed is a cool, comfortable alternative to a variety of Tempur-Pedic mattresses.

Another fantastic feature of this mattress is its accident protection plan. It already comes with a generous lifetime warranty and a 120-night sleep trial. However, neither of those covers any damage you cause. But for a few extra bucks, the Nolah Signature 12 also offers 10 full years of protection against damage not covered under the lifetime warranty.

In addition to the lifetime warranty, the Nolah Signature 12 also boasts free shipping and a 120-night sleep trial period.

How Lying Down Feels

This memory foam mattress has a lot to brag about, starting with the 100 percent temperature neutral AirFoam™ comfort layer. This plush comfort layer still offers unbeatable contouring and pressure relief without losing its medium-firm feel. This makes it perfect for hot sleepers and sleepers who need more support.

Inside the Mattress

Underneath the AirFoam™ layer sits a layer of stronger and more durable foam than the comfort foam to offer you spinal support without exerting pressure. This transition layer also adds tons of responsive bounce to the comfort foam above.

Below all the comfort and transition foams rests a layer of ultra-durable base foam. This reinforced high-density support core helps keep you on top of the sleeping surface, so you feel like you’re sleeping on a cloud. It also means this mattress is durable enough to boast a lifetime warranty.

SEE ALSO: Nolah Mattress Review

If you’re looking for a latex mattress, you’ll have to look somewhere besides Tempur-Pedic anyway. And the Saatva Zenhaven is a great place to start looking. This pure latex mattress offers all-natural comfort without synthetic chemicals and tons of bounce without motion transfer.

How Lying Down Feels

The Zenhaven is one of the best mattresses on the market for those looking for eco-friendly and all-natural beds. Its perforated latex offers some of the coolest sleep on the market. And its flippable firmness means you have two different firmness options. So this latex foam mattress can have any feel you want.

Inside the Mattress

This bed starts off with a cooling quilted cover made of organic cotton. Directly underneath this cover sits a layer of organic New Zealand wool. These two organic textiles work together to provide you with the ultimate natural temperature regulation.

Underneath the cover and wool fire barrier, you’ll find the five-zoned perforated latex comfort layer. This all-natural foam contains no petroleum-based products or polyurethane foams. So it’s perfect for those who have sensitivities to synthetic chemicals or don’t like mattresses that off-gas.

The high-resilience support cores are also made of firm natural latex foam. So you don’t have to worry about any part of this mattress. The support layers provide bounce without motion transfer and durability without stiffness.

The best thing about this mattress is it’s flippable. The soft side is luxury plush (medium-soft), while the firm side is gentle firm (or medium-firm). That means almost anyone can purchase this amazing mattress.

The Zenhaven has a 180-night trial period, free shipping, and a 20-year warranty.

Those looking for an alternative to the Tempur-Pedic PRObreeze Hybrid should check out the much more affordable Ghostbed Flex. This medium mattress offers tons of fantastic cooling features and costs several thousand dollars less than its Tempur-Pedic counterpart.

The Ghostbed Flex has a 101 night trial period, a 25-year warranty, and free shipping.

How Lying Down Feels

The Ghostbed Flex was designed with hot sleepers in mind. So it offers a cool-to-the-touch feel. It also features a medium feel that edges closer to medium-firm, so it’s not just excellent for hot sleepers. It’s also amazing for back sleepers and heavier sleepers.

Inside the Mattress

All the elements in this mattress work together to keep you cool, starting with the quilted cooling cover and continuing down to the cooling fiber with immediate cool burst airflow technology. Below the fiber layers, you’ll find the first of two layers of gel memory foam.

Gel memory foam is much more cooling than traditional memory foam because it’s so thermoconductive. This means it pulls heat away from your body and pushes it down towards the coil layer, where it gets circulated out of the mattress. The reinforced coils around the mattress’s edges also offer edge support without decreasing circulation.

The coils don’t just offer extra cooling breathability. They also work with the proprietary Ghost Bounce layer to add tons of responsiveness to the upper layers of the mattress. This lets active sleepers toss and turn to their hearts’ content.

SEE ALSO: Mattress Sizes and Dimensions

Tempur-Pedic offers hybrid options on several of their mattresses. So if you want something comparable in a lower price range, consider the Purple Hybrid Premier 3. This mattress offers a fantastic combination of bouncy and cooling gel and coils.

How Lying Down Feels

The Purple Grid™ is designed to accommodate all sleep positions. It’s also made to be extremely responsive and cooling. The hyper-elastic polymer (also known as GelFlex) material offers a unique squishy feel you won’t find in other mattresses.

Inside the Mattress

The main feature of the Premier 3 mattress is the amazing Purple Grid™, a feature of every Purple mattress. The Grid™ is made of responsive and flexible GelFlex material. This means it can form itself to your body shape and bounce right back when you move while maintaining motion isolation.

The GridTM is also extremely cooling. Not only does the gel absorb body heat and conduct it away from you. The ventilation channels mean the GridTM is about 80 percent air. This keeps cool air moving underneath your body all night long and leaves you feeling like you’re sleeping on a cloud.

The Grid’sTM superior airflow is aided by the pocketed coils underneath. Pocketed coils are much more breathable than foam. They keep air flowing throughout your entire mattress. They also up the bounce and adaptability over what you would get in a mattress with an all-foam support core.

The Purple Hybrid Premier 3 has a 100-night sleep trial period and a 10-year warranty. It also boasts free shipping and free returns.

SEE ALSO: Best Purple Mattress Alternatives

Budget shoppers who cannot afford a Tempur-Pedic but need a firmer alternative than the Vaya might want to check out the Tuft and Needle Original. Its mildly medium-firm feel can suit back sleepers and some heavier sleepers over 230 pounds.

This one isn’t quite as affordable as the Vaya, but it’s in the same basic price range as one of the best mattresses under $1000. Like the Vaya, the Tuft and Needle Mattress is a mattress that cuts costs without cutting quality too.

How Lying Down Feels

The T&N mattress has a medium-firm feel. That means it offers a balance of support and pressure relief that slightly favors support. So it’s one of the best firmness options for heavier sleepers and those who sleep on their backs or stomachs.

Inside the Mattress

This medium-firm mattress consists of two layers of foam. The top layer provides a contouring and flexible sleep surface that relieves pressure in tired joints. The open-cell structure helps keep air flowing throughout the whole mattress to keep you cool all night. The responsive foam also has a comparatively fast response time.

Below, the base foam is ultra-dense to keep you on top of the sleeping surface and promote ideal spinal alignment. This supportive foam also fights sagging as well as sinkage. That’s why the T&N Original mattress comes with a full 10-year warranty, free shipping, and a 100-night trial period.

SEE ALSO: Tuft & Needle Mattress Reviews

How To Choose The Right Tempur-Pedic Mattress Alternative

Choosing the best mattress to fit your needs doesn’t have to be an indecipherable nightmare. If you go shopping armed with the knowledge of how your sleep position and body type affect your mattress needs, you already have everything you need to choose a mattress that works for you.

Firmness Level

The firmness of any mattress will be measured on a scale of one to 10, with one being soft as goose down and 10 being hard as a rock. Most people don’t want to sleep on either goose down or a rock.

So virtually every mattress you find is going to be between a three and an eight on the firmness scale because these different firmness options all offer different mixes of support and comfort.

Sleep Position

Your sleeping position is the single most important factor in determining your firmness needs. The way you sleep determines how much support and pressure relief you need, as well as where you need it.

Side Sleepers

Side sleepers need the softest beds because this sleep position presses the shoulder and hip joints firmly into the mattress. On an overly firm bed, this can lead to pain in these sensitive pressure points. For that reason, you’ll need to choose a soft mattress that falls at a three or four on the firmness scale.

Mattresses at this firmness level will compress underneath side sleepers’ sensitive joints to absorb pressure and relieve pain. Many of the best mattresses for side sleepers even offer targeted support to the shoulders and hips for extra cushion.

Stomach Sleepers

Stomach sleepers, by contrast, need the firmest mattresses. When you sleep on your stomach, your pelvis tends to sink into your mattress. This overarches your spine and causes lower back pain. That means you’ll need to go for the firmest of the firmness options when looking at mattresses for stomach sleeping.

Firm mattresses (sevens and eights) can help counter pelvic sinkage. Firm mattresses keep your pelvis lifted onto the sleeping surface, fighting sinkage and maintaining proper spinal alignment. Firm mattresses also offer maximum lift.

Back Sleepers

Back sleepers need mattresses that fall near a six on the firmness scale. Medium-firm mattresses (sometimes also called luxury firm) offer the perfect balance of support and comfort for back sleepers.

A good mattress for back sleeping is supportive enough to keep you from sinking into the bed. But they’re contouring enough to compress under the buttocks to fill the gap in the lumbar region. This encourages spinal alignment and prevents back pain.

Combination Sleepers

Combo sleepers like to switch things up from night to night or even throughout the same night. They might adopt any of the other sleep positions and don’t usually have a strong preference for just one. That means the best mattress for combination sleepers will be the most versatile.

If you’re a combo sleeper, you need a mattress that falls in the middle in terms of firmness. A five on the firmness scale (medium firmness) will be versatile enough to comfortably accommodate you in a variety of positions. It can offer both pressure relief and support.

Body Type

Your body type is not as significant a factor in your firmness needs as your sleeping position, but it does have an impact. Different body types have different firmness needs. Think of your sleep position as the baseline for your firmness needs. You can increase or decrease from there.

Average Weight Sleepers

Sleepers who fall between 130 and 230 pounds are considered average weight in the sleep industry. Most mattresses are manufactured with this weight in mind. This means you don’t have to factor your weight into your firmness decision if you fall into this range. You can just select the mattress that corresponds to your sleep position.

Heavier Sleepers

Heavier sleepers weigh over 230 pounds. When you’re in this weight category, your body exerts more force on the mattress. That means you may need to go up a firmness level from the one that corresponds to your sleep position to get sufficient lift to fight sinkage when looking at mattresses for heavy people. Firm mattresses also offer extra edge support for when you’re getting in and out of bed.

Petite Sleepers

Petite sleepers have the opposite problem that heavier sleepers do. When you weigh less than 130 pounds, your body may not compress the mattress enough for you to get sufficient contouring. That means you will likely need to go down a firmness level to get the cushioning you need when considering mattresses for lightweight sleepers.

Couples’ Considerations

Partners don’t always have 100 percent matching sleep styles, so they need to find a mattress for couples that can accommodate each of them. Couples who have mildly different sleep preferences may find that a medium to medium-firm mattress provides each partner with what they need.

People sharing the bed will need to decide if a queen or king size mattress is better for their needs, with each offering something distinct:

• A queen size mattress is more affordable and fits in more bedrooms.
• A king size mattress is better for couples who want their personal space as they sleep.

Alternatively, couples can consider a split king size mattress, with each side tailored to a partner’s preferences. Split queen and split California king mattresses also exist, but these are harder to find than a split standard king.

SEE ALSO: King vs. Split King: What’s the Difference?

Material and Construction

A mattress’s material is just as important as its firmness but for a different reason. Your body type and sleep position don’t have nearly as much of an impact on your firmness needs because all mattress types come in a range of firmness levels. Your personal preferences have much more of an impact on whether you need hybrid, innerspring, or foam mattresses.

Memory Foam

Memory foam is now one of the most popular bedding materials on the market. Originally designed by NASA to cushion pilots during high-speed flight, memory foam quickly became the newest fad once the recipe was made public. However, it wasn’t long before that fad grew into a mattress powerhouse that now dominates a huge portion of the market. And with good reason!

A memory foam mattress is one of the most contouring materials around. It can follow the curve of your body, compressing under your pressure points and filling in the gaps in your waist and lumbar region. For this reason, memory foam mattresses offer some of the best pressure relief and spinal alignment you can get.

Despite memory foam’s amazing contouring, it does have a few issues. One of the primary problems with a memory foam mattress is its slow response time. Memory foam mattresses are notoriously nonresponsive.

While newer foams have improved on this issue, memory foam mattresses are still the least bouncy beds by far. Couples might like this because of the motion isolation. But active sleepers who like to toss and turn may have a problem with memory foam mattresses.

Memory foam mattresses also tend to retain heat. Older memory foam was downright hot. But new additions like gel infusions and open-cell technology have cooled memory foam mattresses down a whole lot. Still, the average memory foam mattress will not be as cool as latex or coils. So hot sleepers, take caution.

Latex Foam

Latex foam is a natural material derived from the sap of the rubber tree. This all-natural substance is a wonderful alternative to memory foam if you’re not into polyurethane and petroleum products, and many eco-conscious shoppers you go for an organic latex mattress.

The two basic types of latex are Talalay and Dunlop. Talalay latex is highly cushioning and contouring, just like memory foam. But it’s much springier and more breathable. Dunlop latex is a bit denser than Talalay. It’s the perfect fit for those looking for tons of support and durability.

In fact, both latex varieties are the most durable material on the market. Other mattresses will last between 10 and 20 years. But you can expect to get at least 20 out of latex, sometimes a lot more, due to how long a latex mattress lasts.

The drawbacks of latex are its price and its contouring ability. Even the most contouring latex, Talalay latex, is less contouring than memory foam because it wants to retain its shape. And latex is also one of the most expensive materials on the market. Its superior durability means its cost may eventually even out with other mattress materials. But you’ll be paying a lot upfront.

SEE ALSO: Memory Foam vs. Latex – Whats the Difference?

Innerspring

Innerspring mattresses consist of an open coil system. This means the coils of this mattress are wired together to form a network. Typically, innerspring mattresses have thinner comfort layers made of one of any number of materials from wool to cotton to foam.

Innerspring mattresses are cooling and easy to move from place to place, but they have a lot of issues. Due to their networked coils, they cannot contour very well. They tend to sag underneath your body rather than following its shape. This issue is countered somewhat by a pillow or Euro top, but it’s never quite solved.

Another problem with innerspring mattresses is they tend to not be all that durable. Their coil cores lose tension and break down fast. That means you’ll be replacing them more than any other mattress type. For these reasons, we recommend hybrids over innerspring mattresses. They’re simply an outdated technology in the process of being supplanted by better ones.

Hybrid

Hybrid mattresses are a much better option if you prefer coils. They have all the breathable bounce of innerspring mattresses and none of the problems. This is because hybrid mattresses have pocketed coil support cores rather than open coils. This means each coil is freestanding and wrapped in its own fabric cover.

Pocket coils can move independently of one another, making a hybrid mattress much more adaptable than an innerspring bed. Pocketed coils are also better at motion isolation because they can bounce back underneath you without transferring all that motion all over the bed.

A hybrid mattress comes with a thicker foam comfort layer as well. Remember, if it doesn’t have at least two inches of foam in the comfort layer, it isn’t a hybrid. This means you can get all the cradling and contouring of memory foam or latex foam and still have a coil core.

The only real issue with hybrid mattresses is their price. They’re not quite as durable as latex, and they’re a whole lot more expensive than memory foam and innerspring mattresses. That works out to make hybrids the most expensive mattress type over time. The initial price of a hybrid mattress might be lower than latex, but the price per year of use certainly is not.

Saving on Tempur-Pedic Alternatives

Most of the Tempur-Pedic alternatives above are already more affordable than Tempur-Pedic mattresses, especially when you factor in things like free shipping or extended warranties. However, to save even more on online mattresses, you can hit the sales!

There are tons of amazing mattress sales going on throughout the year. Many of these sales fall on or around major days off. Big ones include:

• Presidents Day mattress sales
• Memorial Day mattress sales
• July the Fourth mattress sales
• Labor Day mattress sales
• Don’t forget about Black Friday mattress sales

Going for mattress in a boxes over traditional store-bought mattresses can also save you money. When you buy online, you’re not paying a store’s rent or power bill or sales personnel. That sometimes translates into hundreds of dollars in savings, especially if you’re not paying for delivery.

Plus, since mattress-in-a-boxes tend to overlap with mail order mattresses, you can usually enjoy the benefits of free home delivery! Some brands drop the mattress off at your door, while others may offer in-home mattress setup.

FAQs

What is the best mattress material for hot sleepers?

There is more than one answer to this question because hot sleepers have a couple of different options. Hot sleepers who want an all-foam mattress should consider latex. This ultra-breathable foam also has thermoconductive properties. That means it can absorb body heat and wick it away at the same time. Latex is a much cooler alternative to memory foam—even gel memory foam.

Hybrid mattresses are also a fantastic choice for hot sleepers. Hybrid mattress coils are adaptable and breathable, so you get coolness without sacrificing contouring. Latex or gel memory foam hybrid mattresses also offer thermoconductive temperature regulation. So you get breathability and heat absorption all at once.

How firm are Tempur-Pedic mattresses?

That depends on your selections. Tempur-Pedic mattresses come in a range of firmness ranging from plush to medium luxury firm and truly firm. When you buy a Tempur-Pedic mattress, you select your model and then choose from the available firmness options. You can also choose between solid foam and hybrids, depending on the model.

Which is the best mattress for my sleep position?

That depends on your sleep position. Back sleepers and combo sleepers need middle-of-the-road firmness levels. Stomach sleepers need firm or even extra-firm mattresses, as so heavier sleepers. Meanwhile, side sleepers and petite sleepers need mattresses on the softer side. Always take both your body weight and sleep style into account when selecting a mattress firmness.

How often do I need to replace my mattress?

Your mattress’s material has the most impact on how often you should replace a mattress. Latex mattresses are the most durable and can last anywhere from 20 to 40 years. Dunlop latex is especially resilient.

On the flip side, innerspring mattresses tend to break down rather quickly because their coils lose tension. That means you’ll be replacing an innerspring mattress every five to 15 years.

Memory foam and hybrid models fall in the middle. Both these mattresses will last longer than innerspring beds but less than latex. Be ready to replace them every 10 to 20 years.

What kind of bed base do I need for my mattress?

Depending on what kind of mattress you have, you can choose from several options. Mattress foundations and platform beds are compatible with all mattress types. These mattress bases both have rigid slat systems that offer sturdy support to every mattress. The only real difference between them is foundations are meant to go in a bed frame while platform beds can stand on their own.

Box springs are another option, but only if you have an innerspring mattress. Other mattress types are too heavy for these weak support systems and may break them under their weight.

By contrast, adjustable bases are compatible with every mattress type but innerspring. Innerspring mattresses are very rigid and cannot move with an adjustable bed. They may float over the base or even break when you move the base from the flat position.

Bottom Line

Tempur-Pedic mattresses are great. But there are tons of mattresses on the market in this day and age that offer all the quality and all the comfort of a Tempur-Pedic mattress for a fraction of the price. That makes it easy to find the best Tempur-Pedic mattress alternatives for you.

If you want a mattress that feels like Tempur-Pedic, you can easily get it. Just keep an eye on your sleep position and body type, and you can choose the balance of pressure relief and support that’s right for you regardless of the mattress brand name!