Best Mattresses for Under $1000 (2025)

Queen-size mattresses are one of the most popular choices for couples looking to save space and single sleepers wanting to spread out (like yours truly). It can be difficult to find a queen on a tight budget, but Nectar has you covered. The brand’s flagship all-foam mattress comes in at under $700 for a queen. More than that, it scored surprisingly well in areas we don’t often see foam beds excelling—response (4/5) and cooling (5/5).

Our medical product tester Dr. Hannah Habeeb said that this bed “offers the support of an innerspring mattress while adding a touch of softness.” I personally enjoyed this bed on my back and stomach the most, while Dr. Habeeb liked it on her side. “I’m getting good pressure relief at both my hips and shoulders—they’re both sinking into the memory foam,” she explained. I rated this bed at a 7/10 on our firmness scale, so just a touch firmer than medium-firm. This means it should work for a variety of sleepers seeking support. I will say that some lightweight side sleepers may find this bed too firm to get the proper amount of pressure relief, as was noted by some of our more petite testers.

As mentioned, the Nectar surprised me in the response category. I usually steer away from foam beds because, as a combination sleeper, I like a bed with some bounce. But even though the top of the Nectar mattress is a bit doughy, I found it was relatively easy to move around on. I did have to put some effort when rolling from my back to stomach (and vice versa), hence why I docked the bed one point in this category. Despite this high response score, I still found that the mattress’s top layers kept motion from traveling across the surface while my testing partner moved around on the other side. Light sleepers who share the bed with a restless partner shouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night from their movements.

Foam beds tend to trap heat in their dense layers, but the Nectar Classic is outfitted with a cooling cover to prevent this. For our cooling test, I took the bed’s surface temperature and then laid down on the bed for about seven minutes before taking another reading to see how much it heated up. With a temperature increase of barely 4 degrees, this bed has pretty phenomenal cooling. Though I wouldn’t say the bed felt cool to the touch as it contoured to my body, I didn’t feel like I was overheating at any point. Hot sleepers wanting a foam bed should be pretty satisfied with the Nectar.

Where the Nectar faltered the most is in the edge support category, an area of struggle for foam beds, which tend to sag a bit more. I will say, as I sat and lay on the edge of the Nectar, I didn’t feel like I was going to slip or slide off at any point—there was just a noticeable amount of sinkage under my weight. Some older adults or those with mobility issues who rely on a sturdy perimeter for getting in and out of bed might want to consider another option.

Read more in our Nectar Classic Memory Foam review. Want better edge support? The Titan Plus has rock-solid edges.

If you’re prone to overheating, it’s important that you purchase a mattress with proven ability to stay cool. A hybrid mattress is a good place to start, as they tend to be more breathable than all-foam mattresses. Not only is the DreamCloud a hybrid mattress, it also includes a breathable cover to help with temperature regulation. For reference, we gave this bed a 4/5 cooling score after testing. It also only costs $649 for a queen size, well within a $1,000 budget.

My fellow tester Marten Carlson performed the cooling test for the DreamCloud and recorded the surface temperature of the bed before and after lying on it for a few minutes. The thermal gun showed a 8.5-degree increase, which is a smidge higher than our typical readings of a 7-degree increase. However, Marten said that he didn’t feel the bed heating up at all during this test, which influenced his final cooling score of 4/5.

Marten also enjoyed this bed most on his back. “Because this mattress has a firmer feel, it offers plenty of lower back support,” he explained. He rated the firmness of this bed at a 7.5/10, a firmness that should work best for stomach and back sleepers. Our testers did not find that the DreamCloud provided much pressure relief, so we can’t recommend it for side sleepers, who need plenty of cushioning around their shoulders and hips.

Though it performed well in cooling, the DreamCloud earned its highest score in the response category. It has a bouncy feel that makes it easy to move around and change sleep positions on the mattress surface. This is an important factor for combination sleepers, who tend to switch sleeping positions throughout the night, and shoppers looking for a good mattress for sex. The bed’s edge support should also help those in the latter category, as Marten was able to comfortably sit and lie at the edge of the bed without feeling like he was going to slide off, which is why he gave it a score of 4/5 in this category.

The DreamCloud mattress unfortunately didn’t perform up to par in our motion isolation tests, which is common for hybrid mattresses. The same coils that give it its mega-bounce allow movement to travel across the surface of the bed, causing disturbance for light sleepers. Marten could distinctly feel the movements of his fellow tester as they tossed and turned on the other side of the bed, which contributed to the bed’s 3/5 motion isolation score.

Read our full DreamCloud mattress review to find out more. If you want better motion isolation, check out the Brooklyn Bedding Copperflex.

If you want to sleep like royalty without the regal price, check out the Bear Original. A king-size Bear costs only $928 with sales and coupons. It’s an all-foam mattress that performed well across the board, scoring especially well in motion isolation (4.3/5) and edge support (4.2/5). Consider picking it if you want a firmer king-size bed that prioritizes support and has a somewhat bouncy, temperature-neutral feel.

My colleague Kate Meier owns a king-size Bear Original mattress; she actually purchased it again after giving her old queen-size model to her son. She was initially drawn to the bed’s intended compatibility for athletes and firm-but-supportive feel. “I really wanted something that would be good for alleviating the back pain I was experiencing at the time,” she explained. We rated this bed at a 7/10 on our firmness scale, with testers commenting they preferred the bed on their back and stomach.

This foam mattress had a surprising amount of responsiveness to it, earning a score of 4/5 in this area. Our tester Melanie Kassel commented that though there was no bounce to the bed, per se, she found it relatively easy to move around on. “I was always right at the surface rather than sucked into the layers,” she explained. It’s impressive that the bed isolated motion as well as it did without any slow-moving foam. Melanie gave the bed high scores in our tests, saying, “Multiple times, the other tester got up from the bed and I couldn’t tell that she had gone!”

Another area this bed performed well in was edge support, with its firm feel keeping the edges of the bed from sinking too egregiously under our weight when we sat or lay down on them. Kate corroborated our high score with her own experience owning the mattress. “I’ve never had any issues sliding off the edge or feeling like I was going to fall off the bed,” she said.

The Bear’s firmer feel isn’t for everyone. When side sleeping on the mattress, multiple testers complained of pressure building up in the shoulders, contributing to the bed’s lower score for pressure relief (3.7/5). In that same vein, some lightweight sleepers may prefer a softer mattress, unless they sleep on their stomach. 

Read more in our full Bear Original mattress review. Want better pressure relief? Check out the Leesa Original.

Hybrid mattresses feature an innerspring unit topped with foam layers, creating a balanced feel that should appeal to a variety of sleepers. Finding one under $1,000 is difficult, and finding a quality hybrid at this pricepoint can be even more challenging. Thankfully, the Canadian-made Silk & Snow Hybrid mattress checks both these boxes. A queen-size of this mattress costs only $850; that’s before sales or coupons. And, as the name suggests, it also performed well in our cooling tests (earning 4.5/5), something not often seen in budget beds.

We rated this bed at a 6.5/10 on our firmness scale, which is perfectly medium-firm. Our pressure relief testers of different weights all enjoyed this mattress on their back, commenting on the mix of support and contouring. Our heavyweight tester Matt Schickling, however, particularly enjoyed the bed on his side, calling it “a great mattress for heavy side sleepers or those looking for pressure relief.” These results contributed to the bed’s overall pressure relief score of 4/5. I’ll note that some of our testers complained of pressure buildup in their shoulder, so side sleepers with shoulder pain may want something even softer.

Hybrids are also known for running cooler than most beds as their coils allow for airflow, but the Silk & Snow Hybrid also uses cooling gel memory foam in its comfort layers. My colleague Kate Meier noticed the bed’s cooling capability right away. “The top of the mattress felt cool when I reached out my hand and felt around,” she said. After resting on the bed’s surface for seven minutes, our thermal gun recorded a mere 4.8-degree increase, a sign of great cooling that backed up Kate’s assessment. 

The bed’s highest score was in motion isolation, which is impressive considering Kate found the mattress fairly bouncy. When her fellow tester moved around next to her in the bed, she could barely feel it. “I am a very light sleeper,” she explained, “but I don’t think the little movement I felt from my partner getting in and out of bed or changing positions would have woken me.”

The Silk & Snow’s lowest score was unfortunately in edge support. We usually expect hybrids to excel in this category because of their edge-to-edge coils, but Kate noticed far too much sinkage under her weight—especially in the seated position. “I was slipping off the bed unless I was seated completely back, with the edge of the bed in the crook of my knees,” she said.

Looking for better edge support? Check out the Bear Original mattress. Our review about the Silk & Snow Hybrid is coming soon.

Brooklyn Bedding’s CopperFlex Foam mattress is a value option for folks needing a supportive, firm mattress. We rated this bed at a 7.5/10 on our firmness scale, skewing a touch firmer than medium-firm (6.5/10). Sales and coupons can bring this mattress down below $500 for a queen, which should leave plenty of room in a $1,000 budget. But don’t mistake the low price for a lack of quality: This bed performed surprisingly well in our response tests, earning a rare 5-out-of-5 score for a foam bed, as well as promising good motion isolation (earning a 4/5 score here).

My colleague Kayla Godfrey performed all of our tests for the CopperFlex, including the response test. For this test, we moved around on the surface of the bed, switching positions to see how easy it would be for combination sleepers and sexually active folks to do so. Kayla found it was “super easy” to move around, saying, “the bed doesn’t cave in at all and I don’t feel stuck.” 

Despite this response, the bed still retained the motion-isolating capability we expect of most all-foam mattresses. When her testing partner got in and out of bed, Kayla could feel it, but it was nothing too disruptive. This means it should work great for light sleepers who share the bed with a restless partner. 

Our testers also appreciated the CopperFlex’s supportive feel, mostly when they rested on their back. Its firmer feel doesn’t make it the best option for folks looking for super-sink or pressure relief on their side, but it does keep the spine aligned when back sleeping. Our lightweight tester Riley Otis commented, “It’s doing a good job propping up my hips,” while our heavyweight tester Marten Carlson said, “It does feel a little soft to me overall, but I’m getting great alignment throughout my body.” It’s safe to say that the CopperFlex should support a wide range of body types.

The Brooklyn Bedding CopperFlex mattress, as the name implies, features a layer of copper-infused memory foam as its first comfort layer. Copper can be added to a mattress for its purportedly cooling and antibacterial properties, but in our testing experience, the CopperFlex’s heat-trapping foams won out. After lying on the bed for about seven minutes, Kayla could feel the mattress getting hot underneath her. Further, the temperature gun recorded an increase of more than 10 degrees at the surface, hence the bed’s low cooling score of 3/5.

If you want a bed that runs cooler, check out the DreamCloud mattress. Or you can read more in our full Brooklyn Bedding CopperFlex mattress review.

Folks who weigh over 230 pounds might struggle to find a mattress that properly supports them, budget or not. Thankfully, Brooklyn Bedding created the Titan Plus line, a series of hybrids that provide industrial support and comfort for these sleepers. Aside from support, this bed also excelled in our response and edge support tests, earning perfect 5-out-of-5 scores in each. You can get a queen-size Titan Plus for just $936 with sales and coupons.

We rated this bed at a 7.5/10 on our firmness scale, which means it has a firmer feel that should suit sleepers over 230 pounds and stomach sleepers needing support. Our medical product tester Dr. Hannah Habeeb also praised the bed’s ability to keep sleepers aligned and supported. “Regardless of your sleeping position, I think this bed will keep the spine straight and prevent back pain from worsening,” she said. 

The bed’s firmer feel contributes to its highest-performing categories: edge support and response. My fellow tester Cait Giddings could barely get the bed to sag as she sat or lay down on it, saying, “The firmness of the bed at its far edge was virtually identical to the firmness in the center of the mattress.” It also helped her switch between positions on the surface with ease. She claimed that the bed became a “springboard” when she moved around on top of it.

With bounce like that, we’d usually expect the Titan Plus to lag behind in motion isolation, but Cait was satisfied here, too. She only vaguely felt the movements of her testing partner. “It didn’t move my body or affect my own comfort on the other side of the mattress,” she said. Couples should appreciate disturbance-free sleep, but there is a chance they might overheat in this bed. Our cooling tests yielded a 9-degree increase in temperature at the surface after Cait rested on it for seven minutes, though she claimed she had “no complaints” as she lay there. Still, a 3/5 score means that most egregiously hot sleepers might want to steer clear.

The biggest drawback of the Titan Plus is also its biggest plus (pun not intended): It’s made for sleepers with larger bodies. Dr. Habeeb expressed that it would be too firm for some because of this fact. “Light sleepers won’t find much sinkage on this mattress and won’t experience enough cushioning to relieve pressure at the joints,” she explained. This was reflected in the bed’s lower pressure relief score, as the bed definitely keeps you more on its surface, rather than allowing you to sink in.

Read more in our full Titan Plus mattress review. If you want a mattress that’s better for sleepers of a lighter weight, consider the Nectar mattress.

Memory foam beds are the most common style of affordable mattresses, so it can be difficult to choose just one under $1,000. However, the Leesa Original stands out because of its above-average performance; this bed earned 4s and above in every testing category, a sign of a particularly well-rounded mattress. Combine this with the fact that it only costs $999 for a queen (on sale), and it’s easy to see why it scored a spot on this list.

The Leesa Original earned its two perfect scores in the surprising areas of response and cooling, often areas in which all-foam beds lack. After moving around on the surface of the mattress, my fellow tester Kayla Godfrey claimed that the bed’s firmer feel made it more conducive to switching positions. “I didn’t notice any effort needed to lift my body out of the mattress,” she explained. 

On the cooling front, our temperature gun recorded a barely 4-degree increase on the surface of the bed after Kayla lay on it for seven minutes, a rare sight for foam beds. Kayla noted the bed didn’t get too hot even as she was resting there, adding, “I felt like the mattress was cool to touch at first and almost a little chilly.” Edge support is also another area foam beds tend to lack, but Kayla felt secure when she lay down at the perimeter. “I did not feel like I would tip over or slide off what so ever,” she said, but noted that there was some sinkage in the seated position, leading to the bed’s score of 4/5 in this category.

The Leesa unsurprisingly coasted through our motion isolation tests too. Foam is known for absorbing motion before it can travel across the surface, and Kayla noticed this effect in our water glass test. We placed a glass of water on one side of the bed and moved around on the other, switching positions and getting in and out of bed to mimic nightly disturbances. Kayla said that she “really had to move hard to get the glass to wiggle,” and gave the bed an overall score of 4/5 for motion isolation. This means couples should be able to sleep soundly without waking each other up when they move.

Since the Leesa scored so well in all our tests and has a great price tag, it’s difficult to find something to complain about. It’s worth noting that Kayla found this bed to be on the firmer side, at an 8/10 on our scale. Even though our testers all approved of its pressure-relieving ability, the Leesa still made us feel like we were resting on top of the mattress. So if you’re looking for a soft bed that you can sink deeply into, you should look elsewhere. 

If you want something a touch softer, you might prefer the Silk & Snow Hybrid. Otherwise, read more in our full Leesa Original mattress review.