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If you’re looking for maximum support from your pillow, memory foam is one of your best bets. Originally designed by NASA for aircraft cushions, memory foam is made mostly from a type of plastic called polyurethane — as are most foams. But what makes memory foam “remember” the shape of your body is a specific chemical formula that softens the foam and makes it more flexible. This is what allows it to react to pressure, conform around your body accordingly, then return to its original shape once you get up — that’s why you’ll see a temporary handprint squished into memory foam after you press into it.
The best memory-foam pillow for you should feel comfortable while keeping your head and neck in a neutral alignment with your spine. Because we’re all different and sleep in different ways, there are no one-size-fits-all pillows; most important to keep in mind is your primary sleeping position (back, side, stomach, or a combination). I find that memory-foam pillows are generally best-suited for back and side sleepers, who typically need a little more support and uplift compared to stomach sleepers, who tend to need a lower, softer pillow that won’t get between them and the mattress too much.
This guide to the best memory-foam pillows includes tried-and-true favorites I’ve personally put to the test, as well as recommendations from other Strategist staffers and physical-health experts. I judged how comfortable they are to actually sleep on and looked at their cooling features, cost, and versatility, meaning pillows that can work for a variety of people or that can be adjusted to fit your unique preferences. My top seven picks for the best memory-foam pillows are below, or if you’re looking for a different kind of pillow altogether, take a look at our guide to the best pillows of all types.
Update on December 9, 2024: Updated prices and checked stock for all products.
What we’re looking for:
Solid versus shredded foam versus cross-cut foam
In the past, almost all memory foam pillows were made of a single, solid piece of foam that was designed to conform and contour to your head and neck. These days, there’s a lot more variety, with memory foam fill primarily available in one of two “formats”: solid or in small pieces — either cross-cut or shredded. (Cross-cutting the foam creates more evenly-sized chunks of foam, which can create a more consistent feel. Shredded foam can be less consistent and more prone to clumping.)
Solid memory foam pillows are firmer and typically perforated for ventilation; they’ll provide consistent contoured support and don’t need to be readjusted or fluffed, and that’s nice if you don’t like messing with your pillow to get it feeling “just right.”
Shredded and cross-cut memory foam pillows have a more variable density that feels supportive yet plush because the shredded pieces of foam can move around within the pillow (which also helps to promote airflow). Many shredded and cross-cut memory foam pillows are adjustable, meaning you can add or remove fill to customize the loft height and firmness level — and that means they’re often the most versatile.
Cooling features
Memory foam can be hot, because the foam absorbs your body heat to contour the material around you. That’s why many solid memory foam pillows have ventilation holes to promote air circulation. Others are infused with gel or phase-change materials (PCMs) to pull heat away from your body. Shredded and cross-cut memory-foam pillows naturally allow air to flow a bit more more freely, and the chunks of foam can also be blended with gel-infused fibers for a cooling boost. Additionally, some memory-foam pillows have cooling covers, made with PCMs, bamboo, Tencel, polyethylene, or other materials that keep the surface of the pillow feeling cool.
CertiPUR-US and Greenguard Gold certifications
Dr. Dennis Colonello, chiropractor at Peak Wellness, advises looking for the CertiPUR-US certification to ensure your pillow is free of potential health hazards like volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can cause headaches and irritation in the eyes, nose, and throat. A CertiPUR-US certification means the foam has low VOC emissions. It also ensures foam-based products are made without formaldehyde, ozone depleters, phthalates, and mercury or other heavy metals to meet current requirements for health, environmental, and safety regulations. To see if a brand is certified, you can check the CertiPUR-US database.
Some brands list their CertiPUR-US certification along with a Greenguard Gold certification; they are similar but not exactly the same. The Greenguard Gold certification focuses more on indoor air pollution, so it has strict VOC emissions criteria, as well as criteria for additional chemicals that impact health. Greenguard Gold–certified products also must meet testing requirements set by the California Department of Public Health for VOC emissions (this California legal requirement is considered the industry standard for emissions testing, according to UL Solutions, the issuer of the Greenguard certifications).
Loft
The loft, or height, of your pillow will help you figure out if the pillow will work for your style of sleeping. The general rule is that side sleepers need a higher loft to fill the square-ish space formed by the side of their head, neck, and the top of their shoulder. Back sleepers fare better with lower and medium lofts that support their head enough that it isn’t dipping too far back while also preventing their neck from wrenching upward. And for stomach sleepers, a lower loft is preferable to keep their head, neck, and spine in alignment, since their head and neck are already so close to the mattress. If you’re a combination sleeper, consider an adjustable pillow that will let you get the loft just right or look for one that’s in the middle-ground for your main positions.
Firmness
Firmness goes hand in hand with loft when it comes to ensuring proper neck support. In general, I recommend a softer pillow for stomach sleepers, a medium-firm pillow for back sleepers, and a firmer pillow for side sleepers. These aren’t strict rules but rather a guideline for what’s most likely to work for you based on your sleeping position. Below, I’ve listed each pillow’s firmness as soft, medium-soft, medium, medium-firm, or firm. It’s worth noting, however, that even though memory-foam pillows can range in firmness, they usually fall somewhere in the range of medium to firm. Pillows that are filled with shredded or cross-cut foam often feel a bit softer, as the filling is more malleable. But if you’re looking for a truly soft pillow, I’d recommend either a down or down-alternative pillow instead of foam.
Best memory-foam pillow overall
Foam format: Solid | Cooling features: None | Certifications: CertiPUR-US| Loft: Medium-high | Firmness: Medium
The versatility of this pillow makes it my top choice: It’s a simple pillow that can work in all three sleeping positions. Made with Tempur-Pedic’s signature foam, Tempur-Material, the Tempur-Cloud cushioned and contoured around my head and neck quite comfortably. I most often switch between sleeping on my back and side, and I felt the Tempur-Cloud’s sturdy-but-soft foam supported my neck in both of these positions. And when I tested lying on my stomach, I didn’t find my neck craning upwards, which I wouldn’t usually expect from a medium-loft, dense memory foam pillow. My stomach-sleeping colleague, Strategist writer Brenley Goertzen, says sleeping with this pillow helped her stop tossing and turning, as well as waking up throughout the night. Her head slowly sank into the center of the pillow, while the medium-level height prevented her neck from flexing forward or craning past a comfortable angle.
Best of all, this pillow is under $100, which is a solid price for a high-quality memory-foam. My biggest con for this pillow is heat. Memory foam easily traps heat, and Tempur-Pedic hasn’t taken any measures to counteract that with this pillow. But it’s no hotter than other memory-foam pillows I’ve tested, so given the quality foam and versatile feel, it’s still my pick for most people.
Best (less expensive) memory-foam pillow
Foam format: Solid | Cooling features: Gel infusions and perforations | Certifications: CertiPUR-US | Loft: Medium-high | Firmness: Medium
This budget-friendly memory-foam pillow is perforated to keep air flowing and is infused with cooling gel that helps to pull heat away from your body. Compared to the Tempur-Cloud, this pillow sleeps a bit cooler, thanks to those ventilation holes that let hot air escape. You can choose from three sizes — standard, queen, and king — and the cover is machine washable. Like the Tempur-Cloud, it feels a little firm at first, but within 30 seconds or so, I felt my head and neck sink in for excellent cushioning and support. The higher loft worked well for me when sleeping on my side but was slightly too tall for comfortable back sleeping. Though the Weekender is the same height as the Tempur-Cloud (both pillows are five inches tall), my head and neck sank into the Tempur-Cloud more, which makes it more accommodating than the Weekender for people who frequently switch between sleeping positions. The Weekender is also noticeably lighter in weight, at two pounds, versus 4.5 pounds for the Tempur-Cloud, so the Weekender’s foam is much less dense. Denser memory foam is more durable in the long run, so you get what you pay for here. Still, the Weekender checks a lot of boxes for its low price, and the value is good enough that if you’re trying to put together the best bed possible for the least amount of money, it’s my top choice for a memory-foam pillow.
Best cooling memory-foam pillow
Foam format: Solid | Cooling features: Gel layer on each side | Certifications: CertiPUR-US | Loft: High | Firmness: Medium-firm
Tempur-Pedic also makes my favorite cooling memory-foam pillow — and I was surprised by just how cool this pillow slept, especially compared to my top-pick Tempur-Cloud. The gel pads on either side of this lofty pillow actually feel cool to the touch. Gel is a common cooling material used for memory foam, but it rarely makes a noticeable difference in how cool I feel when using a memory foam product, so I was impressed to experience it genuinely feeling cold.
Granted, nothing cold can stay (at least when it comes to pillows), so don’t expect to feel icy all night long. Still, I found it noticeably cooler than almost any other gel foam pillow I’ve tried. And with a gel pad on either side, you can always flip over to the other side if one starts to lose its cool.
Aside from the cooling, this pillow offers a lot of the same experience feel-wise as the Tempur-Cloud. The biggest difference is the loft: This one is quite tall, so I’d primarily recommend it for side sleepers or tall back sleepers. Stomach sleepers, this one sadly probably isn’t for you. That high loft is why this pillow doesn’t make my top spot overall; it just isn’t as versatile as the Tempur-Cloud. Plus, it’s just a little more expensive.
Best adjustable memory-foam pillow
Foam format: Cross-cut with microfiber | Cooling features: Cross-cut foam for breathability, polyester/bamboo blend cover | Certifications: CertiPUR-US and Greenguard Gold | Loft: Adjustable | Firmness: Adjustable, arrives medium-firm
This Strategist-favorite pillow is filled with a mix of cross-cut memory foam and microfiber, which you can remove or add to your liking. (Coop supplies a half-pound bag of extra fill to add in.) In addition to adjustability, the cross-cut foam gives the pillow a moldable nature that solid-block-foam pillows lack. You can zhuzh, fluff, and squish the pillow just like you might with a down or down-alternative pillow. But unlike many down or down alternatives, the Coop still feels dense and supportive. Another bonus of the cross-cut fill is that it allows for more air circulation within the pillow than a solid block of foam would.
As far as the adjusting goes, I had to remove a good amount of the Coop’s fill to get it to a loft and firmness that I found comfortable, as a combination sleeper who prefers a slightly lower loft. The pillow comes filled basically to the brim, so unless you like a quite lofty and firm pillow, you’ll likely want to remove some filling too. The fill is contained within an inner lining, which you unzip to add or remove fill. A second cover encases that entire inner pillow, which is made from Coop’s “Lulltra” fabric — a blend of polyester and bamboo viscose.
Best memory-foam pillow for combination sleepers
Foam format: Single piece of medium-density foam | Cooling features: Perforated foam | Certifications: Not listed | Loft: Medium | Firmness: Medium-soft
This memory-foam bed pillow from Ostrichpillow, the maker of one of our favorite travel pillows, is designed to provide support for every sleeping position, making it especially well-suited for combination sleepers. The oval-shaped pillow has a dipped, lower loft in the center with taller edges — so whether you rest on your back, stomach, or side, you can achieve proper alignment of your head, neck, and shoulders. Our senior editor Jen Trolio and Goertzen both tested the Ostrichpillow; Trolio was impressed with its more plush feel that’s softer than other memory-foam pillows she’s tried. Some foam pillows are very weighty and dense, but this one is much lighter and squishier. While it does offer a bit of that quintessential “sinkiness,” the lightness makes it more springy and responsive than typical memory-foam pillows.
Meanwhile, Goertzen likes how the pillow’s edges act like cushy bumpers on either side of her head. The unique construction even allowed her to fall asleep on her back, which is typically an unpleasant position for her, she says. The pillow comes with a lightweight modal cover that Goertzen describes as super-breathable, so both sides always feel cool against her face. Worth noting, however, is you won’t be able to use your standard pillowcase with this pillow, due to the shape (unless you don’t mind a too-big pillowcase). Luckily, you can choose between five colors for the provided pillow cover.
Best low-loft memory-foam pillow
Foam format: Solid | Cooling features: Gel infusions and perforations in the foam, bamboo-blend cover | Certifications: CertiPUR-US | Loft: Low to medium | Firmness: Medium
Back and stomach sleepers need flatter, softer pillows than side sleepers to maintain a neutral neck, since their heads and necks are so much closer to the mattress. Designed to be lower profile than the average medium-loft pillow, the BlueWave Bedding Super Slim pillow is available in three low-loft heights: “Hyper Slim” (2.25 inches in height), “Ultra Slim” (2.75 inches in height), and “Super Slim” (3.25 inches in height). The Hyper Slim and Ultra Slim are ideal for stomach sleepers, while the Super Slim can work for stomach or back sleepers. The pillow is available in two sizes, king and standard, and the solid memory foam is perforated and infused with cooling gel to help regulate your temperature. It comes recommended by Strategist senior editor Crystal Martin, a back sleeper who found that the Bluewave helped resolve the neck pain she was feeling after sleeping on too-high pillows. Martin uses the Super Slim, which “supports my neck enough so it’s not dipping too far back.”
The bamboo-and-polyester-blend cover is also cooling, as well as machine washable. If you are concerned about heat, for approximately $10 more, some sizes of this pillow are available with additional cooling technology in the form of a graphite-infused coating on the pillow and a cooling Tencel-blend cover.
Best cervical memory-foam pillow
Foam format: Solid | Cooling features: “Ice silk” viscose cover | Certifications: CertiPUR-US and Greenguard Gold | Loft: Contoured | Firmness: Firm
A cervical pillow is one that is designed to support your cervical spine — a.k.a., your neck. The natural curves of your spine can twist out of whack from injury, age, or tech neck, explains spinal surgeon Dr. Thomas Schuler. Pillows for neck pain, like this one by Elviros, can help alleviate pressure and hold your neck in place while you sleep. Unlike the other pillows on this list, which contour around you once you lay on them, the solid memory-foam fill of the Elviros pillow is pre-molded to provide support and cradle your head and neck in a stable position. You can position the pillow so your neck rests on the higher-loft side (for more neck support) or the lower-loft side (to keep your head in a stable position). This pillow doesn’t have ventilation holes, but the breathable, machine-washable “ice silk” viscose cover is designed to help keep heat at bay.
Some more memory-foam pillows we’ve written about
Our experts
• Dr. Dennis Colonello, chiropractor at Peak Wellness
• Logan Foley, editorial director at sleepfoundation.org
• Brenley Goertzen, Strategist writer
• Crystal Martin, Strategist senior editor
• Latifah Miles, former Strategist writer
• Kelly Murray, sleep consultant
• Dr. Thomas Schuler, chairman of National Spine Health Foundation’s Medical and Scientific Board and founder of Virginia Spine Institute
• Jen Trolio, Strategist senior editor
• JD Velilla, founder of Designing Sleep and former head of sleep experience at Tuft & Needle
Additional reporting by Latifah Miles.
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