Best Cheap Mattress

Finding The Best Affordable Beds

Shopping for the best budget mattress online can be difficult, especially when you’re looking for a bed that is affordable, yet also comfortable and durable. Lucky for you, we’ve tested over 150 of the most popular online mattresses ranging from under $300 beds to $4,000 luxury mattresses. As such, we feel like we have a good grasp of the current market offerings and which budget beds offer the most value to consumers. Whether you’re after a firm mattress or the best value available, we’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to.

Jump-To Links For This Guide:

Best Cheap Mattress Video Review

Below, you can watch us summarize, in video format, the best cheap mattresses of 2020!

What Makes These The Best Cheap Beds?

In order to put together this list, we had to make a major assumption concerning price. In short, each online mattress on this list costs around $700 for a cheap queen mattress after considering discounts and coupon codes. In other words, they’re all a good value.

We feel like this is an approachable price point for most consumers on a tight budget given the average queen-size bed in a box costs around $1,000. We’ve also included options on this list in the $200-$400 range. Conversely, if you have a budget that is slightly above $700, you might want to check out our list of the Best Mattresses Under $1,000. If we’re talking about an affordable king mattress, the price would be around $1.5K or under. Smaller beds will cost less money.

We spend hours personally testing the best mattresses and researching the best options to make this list.

Top 6 Best Cheap Mattresses Of 2020

Nectar Mattress – Best Cheap Memory Foam Mattress

Nectar is one of the most popular budget bed-in-a-box mattresses on the market. It’s an annual choice on this list for good reason—it’s a solid memory foam bed. Unlike some inexpensive memory foam mattresses, Nectar has more of a viscose memory foam feel. As such, it provides more support than the typical memory foam bed, yet it is still a comfortable mattress.

We think it’s around a medium (maybe a medium-firm) on the firmness scale.

Lastly, not only does is this an affordable memory foam mattress, you almost always get two free pillows ($150 value) with your purchase. If you recently moved or you’re just tired of your current bedroom setup, the Nectar mattress plus pillow combination deal is hard to pass up if you’re on a tight budget. The company also sometimes offers discounts in the $100 range.

In terms of the best price for Nectar, that is likely about $700 for the queen, plus some sort of accessory. For the king mattress, it’s affordable as well, and we usually see it go for around $1,000.

• Free Shipping & Returns

• 365 Nights Trial Period

• Forever Warranty

See Nectar Review

Tuft & Needle – Cheapest Mattress In A Box

Tuft & Needle was one of the first players in the mattress in a box industry and is often credited for bringing the concept into the mainstream spotlight. This gave the company a huge leg up in terms of brand awareness and still to this day, Tuft & Needle is sort of known as THE budget mattress in the online industry.

The Tuft & Needle mattress is an all-foam bed that has neutral, soft foam feel. It comes in around a medium on the firmness scale, making it a great option for back, stomach, side and combo sleepers. There is a good chance that you will consider this the most comfortable affordable mattress.

Like most of the beds on this list, Tuft & Needle also performs well in terms of limiting motion transfer and edge support. That means couples sharing a queen-size bed (or smaller) will be fine.

Overall, Tuft & Needle is a solid mattress we couldn’t leave off this list. If you’re tired of mattress shopping and just want to go with a trusted brand and get a generally comfortable mattress that performs well in almost all categories, Tuft & Needle is your meal ticket.

How can you mention Tuft & Needle in a list of cheap mattresses without mentioning the price? After all, this very well could be the best cheap foam mattress. Last we checked, the best price for the queen mattress was about $600, but visit T&N’s website for current deals.

• Free Shipping & Returns

• 100 Nights Trial Period

• 10 Years Warranty

• Made in USA

See Tuft & Needle Revuew

Casper Element – Best Cheap Comfy Mattress

We are big fans of this bed. Casper first introduced the Element in early 2020 to compete in the budget mattress space. The Element Mattress checks a lot of boxes. Essentially, it’s a cheaper alternative to the popular Casper mattress.

The Element has a soft, neutral-foam feel and rates about a medium on the firmness scale. Not only will the majority of people out there like the bed’s feel, but it will also accommodate all sleeper types. The Element finds a nice balance between pressure ief and support and should be a comfortable mattress for most people.

The Element is also a good choice for couples who share a smaller bed (full-size or queen). The mattress limits motion transfer extremely well, which is helpful when one (or both) partners tend to toss and turn or get up a lot during the night.

Finally, the Element is on this list for a reason. It’s one of the cheapest mattresses on the market. Overall, the Element is a value mattress-in-a-box, considering all that it offers and the sizes you can get for the price. As of writing this, the king-size was roughly around $800 on Casper.com, making Casper one of the best affordable king mattresses.

• Free Shipping & Returns

• 100 Nights Trial Period

• 10 Years Warranty

• Made in USA

See Casper Element Review

Brooklyn Bedding Bowery Hybrid – Best Budget Hybrid Mattress

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Brooklyn Bedding, the company makes its own mattresses, unlike most online mattress-in-a-box brands.

We think the Bowery Hybrid mattress is a good choice for people of all shapes and sizes who are looking for a good cheap mattress.

Bowery Hybrid is a firm mattress with a neutral-foam feel—technically it lands around a medium-firm on the firmness scale. Overall, we think the mattress is most ideal for back, stomach and combination sleepers. If you’re a strict side sleeper, you’ll likely be fine, however, you’d probably prefer a bed like Nectar or Tuft & Needle, (mentioned above) that offer a little more pressure ief for your hips and shoulders.

If you’re looking for the best affordable mattress you can find, this bed qualifies. The queen-size Bowery Hybrid mattress has a MSRP of $800, however, you can often use a discount code to make the mattress even cheaper. We’ve seen the queen size drop to around $650 before. That’s crazy considering the high-quality construction, making it one of the best value mattresses.

Bottom line, if you’re looking for a comfy, well-made mattress for one of the cheapest prices possible, it’s hard to find a better option than Bowery Hybrid. We would put it on a short list of the best budget hybrid mattresses online.

• Free Shipping & Returns

• 120 Nights Trial Period

• 10 Years Warranty

• Made in USA

See Bowery Hybrid Review

Allswell – Best Affordable Firm Bed

Often, a hybrid mattress will come out to be more expensive than a foam mattress like Casper or Nectar. Allswell, on the other hand, offers additional support with a hybrid design (innerspring and foam) for a low price, making it one of the best budget mattresses.

Allswell is Walmart’s online mattress offering, so it’s not a huge surprise that it has such a wallet-friendly price tag. while you might not automatically think of Walmart as the best place to get a bed, it can save you money and still get you one of the best inexpensive mattresses.

The mattress is suitable for all body types, and thanks to its slightly firmer profile, it’s a more ideal affordable mattress for back and stomach sleepers. With that said, we think many side sleepers won’t mind it, especially if you’re over 160 lbs or so.

It’s firm without being overly supportive, and it offers a comfortable neutral-foam feel most people seem to love. We don’t think you can go wrong for the price with this reasonably priced mattresss.

• Free Shipping & Returns

• 100 Nights Trial Period

• 10 years Warranty

• Made in USA

See Allswell Review

Lucid Hybrid – Best Value Mattress on Amazon

Like the Bowery Hybrid mattress, the Lucid Memory Foam Hybrid incorporates both coils and layers of foam. This makes this mattress a good option for heavier individuals (250 lb+) looking for the best budget hybrid mattress.

However, the mattress doesn’t have a prototypical memory foam feel — it has a blended feel between that of neutral foam and memory foam. Overall, we think the majority of people out there will find the bed to be a comfortable inexpensive mattress.

The bed comes in around a medium on the firmness scale, making it great for all kinds of sleepers. It provides enough pressure ief for side sleepers and support for back and stomach sleepers.

Lucid is a brand that is known for providing solid beds at low price points, and this mattress is no exception. You can often find a queen size below the $300 mark, but pricing is constantly changing, so keep an eye on Amazon. Despite being a hybrid mattress, this is also a fairly inexpensive memory foam mattress.

• Free Shipping & Returns

• 30 Days Trial Period

• 10 Years Warranty

• Made in China

See Lucid Hybrid Review

We’re giving away a $100 gift card to a different student each working day for a year

These difficult times have hit students the hardest as they balance schoolwork with an uncertain future. We know that financial stress leads to poor sleep, which is a major contributor to academic performance in college.

That’s why we started the Slumber Yard Student Support Sweepstakes to assist students in need. We’re giving a different student $100 each (working) day for a year to mitigate financial stressors and support healthy sleep in the college environment.

How to apply for the Slumber Yard Student Support Sweepstakes

Winners will be picked weekly from all entries submitted 12:00 am EST Saturday through 11:59pm EST Friday starting on 9/19/2020 and ending on 9/24/2021. Winners will be notified within 48 hours of determination, and will have 7 days to claim their prize. 

A new pool of entries starts each week. Previous winners are not eligible to enter to win again. By emailing giveaways@myslumberyard.com, you agree to the Official Rules, and to your information being collected and used in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Best Cheap Mattresses Pricing

If you’re looking for the best inexpensive mattress, pricing is probably the most important factor at the end of the day. Here is how these mattresses compare without any discount at the time of writing. Remember that you may be able to save by waiting for sales or coupons, so check the websites for current pricing.

Why Trust Us

Get the kind of sleep you’ve only dreamed of with some help from our team of mattress experts. We personally test more than 150 of the best sleep solutions from over 60 leading brands on site, so you can be sure you’re getting unbiased reviews, fair comparisons and personalized recommendations.

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  Jon Gomez

  Side Sleeper

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  JD Christison

  Combo Sleeper

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  Owen Poole

  Side Sleeper

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  Dillon Lopez

  Combo Sleeper

Mattress Prices Online vs. In Store

According to sleep.org, you will pay about 15% less online than in stores. Websites almost always offer trial periods and easy returns, and you often have easier access to deals and coupons.

However, we recognize others may feel uncomfortable making such a big purchase online. If you want the same deal you see online but want to purchase your mattress in person, present deals you find in-store and see if the sales associate will honor that same price. Sales members can often negotiate with you and get you a price you feel good about. However, not all of the best budget mattresses are sold in stores.

How To Pick Quality Cheap Mattresses

Because you’re looking for an inexpensive mattress, you’re price-conscious, but you do need to consider other elements beyond just the price. The materials will make a big difference in how good your bed is.

Cheap Memory Foam Mattresses

Even if you get an affordable memory foam mattress, it should have certain commonalities with a more expensive option. The foam cradles your body, but can also leave people feeling stuck. We’ve seen so many inexpensive memory foam beds online and in stores, and they tend to be thinner and not as supportive because they are designed for a smaller body type. Budget foam mattresses also frequently have a dense feel that you may like or not like. Not all affordable memory foam mattresses have the same feel, but a good majority of them are similar.

Gel memory foam is a newer technology that has a similar feel but incorporates gel for added temperature regulation. The idea here is to offer an inexpensive bed that’s doesn’t tend to be as warm as traditional memory foam. There are several budget mattresses made of gel memory foam on the market. For example, Nectar is both a cheap mattress and budget gel memory foam mattress because it has gel memory foam in its comfort layers.

Budget Latex Mattresses

Latex mattresses have a more sponge-like feel. Latex is bouncy and airy, so it tends to stay cooler than memory foam. A lot of latex beds tend to take the natural and organic angle, which means they will cost more than a cheap foam mattress, so a cheap latex mattress is likely to be more expensive than others. These are often also considered to be a firm mattress because of how responsive they are.

Polyurethane Foam Budget Mattresses

Polyurethane foam is commonly used for support in an all-foam bed. It comes in many different densities and is typically affordable. Polyfoam beds tend to be a good value. Technically, all inexpensive memory foam mattresses are made of polyfoam because memory foam is just poly foam that’s injected with a viscous material. We have seen more budget foam mattresses made with poly foam than anything—and most people find them to be incredibly comfortable. For instance, Casper Element uses mostly polyfoam.

Affordable Hybrid Mattresses

With coils, you have two options: pocketed coils or traditional innersprings. Both are bouncy and responsive, and both allow for good airflow. Innersprings transfer motion, however.

Some mattresses will use gel or Hyper-Elastic Polymer (only Purple beds), which has a unique feel and is heavy but comfortable. However, beds with this kind of proprietary material don’t make it to best cheap mattress lists.

Most of the time when you’re dealing with a budget hybrid mattress, you’re looking at 6″ pocketed coils and 2-3 comfort foams. These more inexpensive beds will often be firm beds because they don’t have a ton of comfort foams. As an example, the Brooklyn Bowery Hybrid and Allswell mattresses are pretty firm because they have coils and just a few layers of foam.

Best Cheap Mattress Review Overview