Best Mattresses for Couples

For couples, choosing a new mattress isn’t something to take lightly. Your mattress has a significant impact on your quality of sleep and mental and physical health, and it plays an important role in your romantic life.

This is a decision you and your partner shouldn’t rush into. After all, there is a lot to consider. What level of firmness does each of you prefer? Which mattress will complement your sex life? Which is the best at eliminating motion transfer?

Sleeping with a partner means meeting twice as many needs. To help you find a mattress that meets those needs, we’ve compiled a list of essential factors to consider when shopping. Finally, we’ll share our suggestions for the best mattresses for couples.

Special Considerations

From comfort preferences to health concerns, there is a lot to consider when shopping for the best mattress for a couple. Below are some of the most important aspects to keep in mind when browsing mattress models for a shared bed.

Motion Isolation

Motion disturbance is one of the biggest problems for a couple in bed. If your partner is a restless sleeper, you risk waking in the middle of the night from their tossing and turning. Thankfully, most mattresses are designed to absorb shock and motion using specialized materials or combinations of materials. However, not all mattresses accomplish this feat to the same degree. When shopping for a mattress for your couple, make sure to look for one that does a good job of minimizing motion transfer.

Temperature Regulation

Sleeping with a partner means twice the body heat, so to prevent your bed from becoming a sauna, you’ll want a mattress that effectively regulates temperature. It’s a well-known fact that we get better quality sleep in cool temperatures. Finding a bed that doesn’t trap heat, but wicks it away, is crucial not only to your comfort, but also to your and your partners’ overall wellbeing.

Sex

One of the most important aspects of a mattress for any couple in bed is how fit it is for a romp in the sack. This is quite an important consideration, as it turns out, because it involves many characteristics of a mattress, including bounce, reactivity, support, and edge support. Hybrid mattresses tend to be some of the best mattresses for couples, as they offer the bounce and responsiveness of a spring mattress, as well as the comfort and support of a foam mattress.

Firmness

Firmness is at the heart of comfort. How firm or soft your mattress is, is often the most critical factor in choosing a mattress. This can get complicated, though, when picking the best mattress for couples. There are a few options if you and your partner have different firmness preferences. You can opt for a medium firmness mattress that mostly satisfies both sleepers, choose a split queen or king mattress with each for your preferred firmness levels, or get an adjustable firmness mattress like Ecosa.

Support

Support is one of the most important factors for singles and couples. It is what determines whether or not you wake up with aches and pains and helps you stay soundly asleep all night.

Couples need a mattress that remains supportive even when both of your bodies are close together. A non-supportive mattress will create a slope around the body, causing partners to roll together, especially if one or both partners are of a heavier weight. Most mattresses have an optimal weight capacity—surpassing it compromises support for both sleepers, especially on a full or queen size mattress.

Another reason couples should care about support is that it can affect snoring. Good support, especially for back sleepers, can prevent loud snoring that may be disruptive to a partner.

Best Mattress Materials for Couples

Now that you know what factors to consider when shopping for the best mattresses for couples, you need to know which mattress materials are the most accommodating.

All mattress builds have their benefits, but that doesn’t mean they’re all a good fit for your couple. The perfect mattress is subjective. Each couple will have to consider the factors that are most important to them. Use this guide to help determine which mattress materials might be interesting for your bed.

Memory Foam

High-density memory foam is regarded for its excellent motion cancellation, making it a good choice if one or both of you is a restless sleeper. It’s also good for encouraging proper spinal alignment and head and neck support, reducing the chances of snoring. The trade-off, however, is that memory foam can sometimes be slow to react and not very bouncy, making it a mediocre setting for sex.

Latex

Latex offers a similar feel and support as memory foam, but tends to be more expensive due to its natural sourcing and processing. It may also be a better choice for romantic activities, as it is usually more reactive and bouncy. Latex mattresses are also some of the best mattresses for couples who prefer eco-friendly and sustainable options.

Pocket Coils

Individually-wrapped pocket coils are great for bounce, reactivity, motion isolation, and support. You can find them in most modern hybrid mattresses. But be careful—don’t confuse them with innerspring mattresses, which can make motion transfer worse and cause couples into each other. Hybrid beds are some of the best mattresses for couples with different sleep preferences because they are very adaptable.

Cooling Materials

A mattress with some kind of cooling factor is indispensable for couples, whether they sleep cuddled up or, like the majority of couples, facing away from each other. Keep an eye out for gel-infused foams, springs or coils, or breathable textiles like cotton or down, all of which are good at moving heat away from the body so you and your partner stay cool and comfy.

Pillow Top

For couples that do like to snuggle, a pillow top mattress might be the best mattress for you. The extra cushion is not only luxuriously soft and comfortable, it’s also great for side sleepers because it absorbs the extra pressure in the shoulder and hip regions.

Our Picks for the Best Mattresses for Couples

Casper Nova – Best for Heat Regulation

Casper offers three mattresses, two of which are hybrids that are even better for heat regulation than their original memory foam mattress. These two hybrids are called the Wave and the Nova. The Casper Nova is the newest Casper mattress with the most advanced cooling features. Hot sleepers will love how effectively the cooling gel. Perforated foam also keeps heat flowing away from the sleep surface so that you and your partner stay cool all night.

Nectar – Best for Motion Isolation

The Nectar mattress is an all-foam mattress with a medium firmness level. It’s a highly adaptable mattress for couples with different sleep preferences. With four layers of memory foam, it adeptly cancels out motion disturbance to keep you and your partner sleeping peacefully.

Saatva - Best Overall

Offering a combination of luxurious comfort, customizable support, individually-wrapped coils, and strong edge support, the Saatva mattress is an ideal option for couples. This mattress addresses nearly all of a couple’s considerations, from heat regulation to sex to motion transfer and support, which is why we recommend it as the best overall mattress for couples. While not available as a split queen mattress, it is available in split king and split cal king sizes.

For more excellent mattress options, browse all of our mattress reviews. Compare different brands and types of mattresses and learn all about the different benefits they have to offer couples!