All the Best Hybrid Mattresses We’ve Ever Written About

If you’re looking for a new hybrid mattress and don’t want to give it too much thought, we’d recommend this one. It’s a can’t-go-wrong choice that’s constructed with two layers of foam above an innerspring system made of individually wrapped coils, plus a cotton top layer. New York deputy editor Alexis Swerdloff, a side sleeper, tested it out and said that compared to when she slept on her previous matters, she now “sleeps very soundly and well with no aches and pains.” Her husband adds, “I don’t have a lot to say about it, because it’s very comfortable and I never wake up complaining” — an impressive feat considering Swerdloff calls him a bit of a “Princess and the Pea.” Just note: Owing to its hybrid construction, Swerdloff says, “I don’t feel like I’m being bathed in the lap of luxury (the pillowy top of the mattress isn’t particularly plush or soft),” so if you’re looking for a very plush mattress, check out our all-foam favorites or our favorite pillow-top below.

For a mattress that’s optimal for supporting you as you change positions throughout the night, consider Leesa’s Original Hybrid Mattress, which Strategist writer Ambar Pardilla, who is a combination side and back sleeper, says made her feel “supported either way with my posture aligned as it’s supposed to be.” The mattress is constructed with a supportive innerspring core that includes 789 “active response” springs which are sandwiched between a high-density-foam base layer, a memory-foam layer, and a high-airflow-foam layer. Altogether, the springs and foam add up to a supportive mattress for fidgety sleepers — and one that has reinforced sides that won’t sink if you sit on the edge.

The Helix Dawn is a four-layer mattress comprised of a layer of springs and three layers of foam — specifically, durable support foam, cradling foam, and dynamic foam. It’s the firmest mattress the retailer sells, and our top pick for back and stomach sleepers because its coils support your body and prevent you from sinking into the mattress, which experts note is important for both of these sleeper types. If you’re a side sleeper who prefers a firm mattress, though, the Helix will likely work for you too. That was the case for former Strategist associate editor Louis Cheslaw, who slept soundly and never woke up with aches when sleeping on the Dawn. He adds, “I never once felt like I was sinking into the mattress — even on days I worked for hours in bed. When my girlfriend spent the night on it with me, we never rolled inward toward each other, as we would on the all-foam mattress we had been sleeping on,” he writes. While Cheslaw never woke up hot or sweaty when sleeping on the mattress, you can upgrade to a cooling cover for an additional $199 or a cooling cover plus a pillow top for an additional $299 if you run hot.

Stomach sleepers, good news: The best mattress for you happens to come at an incredible price. The Allswell mattress combines layers of high-density foam and copper-gel-infused memory foam with a layer of individually wrapped coils that minimize motion transfer and provide edge support on all sides. In fact, it is so supportive that when former Strategist senior editor Margaret Rhodes, a stomach-to-side sleeper, first slept on the mattress, she passed out — “It’s almost physiologically impossible for me to do this,” she says. Rhodes, who likes a soft but supportive mattress, describes sleeping on the mattress as “float[ing] firmly atop the mattress instead of nestling in.” She slept like a rock for eight hours several nights in a row. Then, in the mornings (and in between snoozes), “I’d return to my back from a fetal position and could practically feel my spine unfurling again, realigning for the day,” she says.

Unlike your average all-foam mattress, a hybrid mattress can provide zoned support with the help of specially-placed coils. In the case of this Saatva hybrid, recycled steel coils are individually wrapped to help with motion isolation and then layered with memory foam, high-density foam rails, and a supportive foam core. For a non-fussy side sleeper like former Strategist writer Latifah Miles, those coils were essential for getting a good night of sleep: “My husband moves around more and wakes up earlier than I do and the Saatva has more noticeable motion isolation than our previous mattress. … The extra-firm edge support around the perimeter also adds a lot of stability. I realized that within a few nights of sleeping on the mattress, my husband, who is often restless and snores very loudly, seemed to be sleeping more peacefully (and more quietly, too).” She also appreciated the coils for their ability to provide extra lumbar support and prevent that sinking feeling that can come with memory foam. Another plus: Saatva delivers its mattresses unfurled and sleep-ready and offers free disposal of your old mattress, a service that’s antithetical to a bed-in-a-box.

Yes, this mattress is pricey, but it’s truly ideal for those who shift through several different sleep positions at night. The mattress is “firm enough to keep stomach sleepers’ hips lifted, yet flexible enough to relieve joint pressure for side sleepers and balanced enough for back sleepers,” according to Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio. You should expect at least a month of break-in time, but after patiently sleeping until the mattress felt just right, Strategist senior editor Crystal Martin says, the mattress “gives a little shock absorption when I’m flipping back and forth at night. The feeling is subtle but meaningful, like wearing an excellent running shoe compared to a just-okay running shoe. Or even a bit like floating.” This feeling comes from the mattress’s flexible gel grid that flexes under pressure as you shift. In combining this with the layer of pocketed coils, which provide extra-responsive support and pressure relief, the mattress will support any combination sleeper throughout the night.

Though this hybrid has a steeper price tag, you can almost think of it as getting two mattresses for the price of one. The flippable mattress features one side that’s topped with a layer of soft memory foam (a four, on the firmness scale of one to ten) and another side with firmer foam (a seven on the same scale). It’s best for folks who like more control over their mattress firmness and folks whose preferences might change over time. While Strategist writer Tembe Denton-Hurst found herself preferring the memory-foam side because she likes her mattresses a bit plusher, she says, “The firm side isn’t too firm for my taste.” She and her partner had no problems sleeping through the night on it — “We never overheat, nor do we feel each other moving around,” she says.

When former Strategist editor Maxine Builder first opened the mattress, she noticed that something was missing — the chemical smell typically associated with a mattress-in-a-box. But that wasn’t all that appealed about the Birch: “What impressed me most about the Birch is how supportive yet plush it is — a dream for a stomach sleeper like me, who tosses and turns throughout the night,” she writes. “The wool cushioning cradles every curve of my body, no matter how I’m positioned, yet I never feel like I’m being pulled under, thanks to the firm support of the steel coils.” Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo and her husband are also fans, and say that after two years of sleeping on it (including when Corsillo was pregnant), it has been plenty supportive and shows no signs of any sagging or denting. Just note: If you prefer a firmer mattress, you might want to try the Helix Dawn or Leesa Original Hybrid, which I described above, because Builder’s husband, a firm-mattress devotee, describes the Birch as “too sinky.”

Like the Birch mattress above, the Avocado Green mattress has an ecofriendly construction, but it also has the added benefit of a pillow top. This means that unlike the other hybrids on this list that specialize in support, the Avocado Green can deliver support plus cushioning. It’s worth noting that the extra cushioning adds some height to the mattress, bringing it to 13 inches — which was the first thing that Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo noticed about the mattress during testing. “I’ve never preferred a tall bed, but there was definitely something decadent about flopping down on a giant slab of rising dough,” she writes. “It took a few nights to get used to the feeling that I was floating above the mattress, rather than sinking into it, but two weeks in, I felt incredibly well supported and less affected by my boyfriend shifting and changing positions.” And while she found the pillow-top layer was enjoyably cushy, Corsillo adds that hot sleepers shouldn’t need to worry about night sweats: “The Green mattress is a big improvement over my Casper, which made my night sweats worse.”

While we’re talking night sweats: This is our favorite hybrid cooling mattress because of its expert incorporation of temperature-regulating elements. First, there’s the cover that’s infused with phase-change material to help you maintain a consistent temperature throughout the night. Then there are perforated foam and latex layers for airflow and thermal bands that move heat away from your body. You’ll also get the added support from coils typical with hybrid mattresses and gel pods under the waist and lower back to encourage proper spine alignment. Strategist writer Dominique Pariso sleeps extremely hot and put this mattress to the test during the summer. “I didn’t wake up in sweaty sheets once, even during the hottest nights of the year,” she says. “I actually found myself sleeping better with the additional support, too.”

While adults tend to have a preference between firmer and softer mattresses, the firmness of a child’s mattress should differ based on their age. Helix’s flippable design — with a plusher side and a firmer side — will serve your child from the moment they get their first “big kid” bed (when something firmer is ideal) all the way to age 12 or so (when they’ll want a softer bed). Both of Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio’s daughters sleep on a Helix, and she can confidently say that the mattress feels like one of the best values on the kid-mattress market. “Not only might it last an entire childhood, but thanks to its hybrid construction, it’s tolerable for an adult to sleep on occasionally (something I couldn’t say for many other kids’ mattresses after testing a couple all-foam models that were far too soft),” she says.