There’s no shortage of mattresses on the market, but when you’re on a tight budget, it can be difficult to find one that suits your needs and your preferred price point. When you’re shopping for your next mattress, it’s important to consider your size, sleeping style, and how much support you need. Luckily, you can find all of that in a handful of mattresses we’ve chosen for our list.
As more mattress companies get into the bed-in-a-box industry, there are plenty of high-quality, budget-friendly options available in various firmness levels, including foam and hybrid models. In this guide, we’ve narrowed down the best mattresses under $500 of 2022.
Best 6 Beds Under $500
- Best Soft Mattress Under $500 :Brentwood Home Cypress Affordable Memory FoamStarting at $399 Shop Now
- Best Firm Mattress Under $500 :Dreamfoam Chill Memory FoamStarting at $349 Shop Now
- Best Memory Foam Mattress Under $500 :OkiOKi OkiEasyStarting at $340 Shop Now
- Best Hybrid Mattress Under $500 :Dreamfoam Bedding Arctic Dreams 10Starting at $219 Shop Now
- Best Queen Mattress Under $500 :AllswellStarting at $279 Shop Now
- Best Amazon Mattress Under $500 :Lucid 10 Memory Foam HybridStarting at $220 Shop Now
Compare The Best Mattress Under $500
Best Soft Mattress Under $500
Brentwood’s mattress contains CertiPUR-US® certified memory foam and BioFoam® that is infused with charcoal. It supports your body’s natural curves and relieves pressure.
Why Brentwood Home Cypress wins as the best soft mattress under $500
Cypress is Brentwood Home’s entry-level mattress, which also makes it the most affordable. It’s a gel memory foam mattress that’s ideal for side sleepers on a budget. The bed was redesigned in 2020 and came back with increased comfort and quality. It’s also made of memory foam infused with charcoal, supporting the body’s natural curves and relieving pressure.
Brentwood Home Cypress’s best features
- Good for side sleepers because of its soft and pressure reliving profile
- Soft and fluffy mattress feel
- Charcoal infused foam helps make the memory foam more temperature regulating
Why we picked this bed
For sleepers who prefer a softer mattress, the Brentwood Home Cypress is an excellent choice at a reasonable budget. Its charcoal-infused memory foam and soft feel make for a comfortable and pressure-relieving sleep
Best Firm Mattress Under $500
Featuring multiple foam layers with open cell technology, the Chill Memory Foam mattress is designed for an elevated sleep experience at an affordable price
Why DreamFoam Chill Memory Foam wins as the best firm mattress under $500
The DreamFoam Chill Memory Foam mattress is one of DreamFoam’s many bed options. As the name implies, this bed is made with memory foam and doesn’t sleep hot. In fact, it helps to regulate temperature and keep you cool. This bed is available in multiple thickness levels and skews toward the firmer end of the spectrum. Because of this, it’s ideal for back and stomach sleepers, providing spinal alignment for small and average-sized sleepers.
DreamFoam Chill Memory Foam’s best features
- Regulates temperature and helps keeps you cool during the night
- Good for back and stomach sleepers
- Available in multiple thickness levels for added durability and support
Why we picked this bed
Like other cooling beds, the DreamFoam Chill bed helps to regulate temperature and keep you cool overnight. And thanks to its firmness, it makes for a comfortable and supportive night’s sleep for back and stomach sleepers.
Best Hybrid Mattress Under $500
Why OkiOki Easy wins as the best memory foam mattress under $500
With a range of four mattress models, OkiOki is an up-and-coming bed-in-a-box brand. For our best mattress under $500 list, we’ve chosen the company’s OkiEasy hybrid mattress, which contains high-density memory foam and a pocketed coil system. As a hybrid mattress, OkiOki’s OkiEasy bed combines the comfort of memory foam with the support of coils. We like this because it allows larger folks to enjoy the feeling of memory foam while still getting the durability and support they need.
OkiOki Easy’s best features
- Affordable for any budget
- Comfortable memory foam mattress for those who like a contouring feel
- Good for all sleeping styles thanks to its middle-of-the-road firmness level
- Accommodating for all body types including heavier individuals
Why we picked this bed
No matter which position you sleep in, OkiEasy should be able to accommodate you. It has enough support for stomach and back sleepers while also providing pressure relief for side sleepers. Combo sleepers should fare well, too, although the memory foam could make it a bit harder to switch positions.
Best Hybrid Mattress Under $500
Why DreamFoam Essential wins as the best hybrid mattress under $500
The DreamFoam Essential bed is created by Brooklyn Bedding, a well-known bed-in-a-box company. With a neutral, accommodating feel and versatile construction, this mattress is designed for all types of sleepers. No matter which size mattress you’re looking for, you can probably find it with the DreamFoam Essential mattress. Outside of the typical bed sizes, the company also sells less-traditional sizes, such as short queen and short king.
DreamFoam Essential’s best features
- Good for anyone seeking a comfortable medium-firm mattress like back or stomach sleepers
- Affordable online bed
- a comfortable, neutral-foam feel that most people will really like
- Available in a hybrid construction for heavier individuals over 230 lbs.
Why we picked this bed
We like that the DreamFoam Essential mattress comes in foam and hybrid constructions to suit multiple body types and sleeper styles, including heavier folks. It isn’t easy to find an accommodating hybrid bed that’s less than $500, so we appreciate that about this mattress. It’s an all-around comfortable bed that most people will enjoy. Since the DreamFoam Essential bed has a medium firmness rating and a neutral-foam feel, it’s a “safe pick” and should appeal to a large portion of mattress shoppers.
Best Queen Mattress Under $500
Why Allswell wins as the best queen mattress under $500
With an MSRP of $375 for a queen-sized bed, it’s hard to argue with the Allswell bed in terms of value. In fact, the brand comes from the kind of low cost, Walmart. Plus, the company usually offers additional discounts, so it’s possible to snag one of these mattresses for around $300. This bed has a hybrid construction, making it more durable than other budget mattresses and suitable for folks of all sizes.
Allswell’s best features
- Great for budget shoppers
- Innerspring mattress makes it suitable for all body types from small to heavy
- Available in Walmart stores if you’re a fan of the brand
- Slightly firmer profile in between a medium to medium firm is suitable for most sleeping positions
Why we picked this bed
Thanks to its combination of poly foam and innerspring pocketed coils, this mattress provides a comfortable and affordable night’s sleep for sleepers of all sizes and sleep styles.
Best Amazon Mattress Under $500
Why Lucid Hybrid wins as the best Amazon mattress under $500
As one of the top-selling mattress brands on Amazon, Lucid is popular with budget shoppers who like the feeling of memory foam. Although the company sells several mattress models, we selected the Lucid Memory Foam Hybrid as our pick for best memory foam mattress under $500.
Lucid Hybrid’s best features
- Comfortable hybrid mattress accommodates all body types from petite to heavy
- Ability to purchase on Amazon
- Suitable for all sleeping styles including side, back, stomach, and combination
- Hugging, contouring memory foam feel
Why we picked this bed
This mattress is a great option for anyone who prefers to shop on Amazon and wants a comfortable hybrid mattress. Thanks to its medium sleeping feel, it works for all sleeping styles.
Finding A Mattress For Under $500
Mattresses aren’t cheap, but that doesn’t mean you have to go into debt to avoid sleeping on the ground.
How much you spend on a mattress is up to you. Sure, there’s an established price range, but it’s a wide range. We’ve tried $200 mattresses, but we’ve also tried $2,000 mattresses. You’ll have to consider your financial situation, as well as what features of a mattress are important to you.
We will say, though, that spending more doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get a better bed for you. So don’t splurge on a mattress thinking that the extravagant price tag will buy you a better night’s sleep.
Also, if you’re not totally sold on a new bed, we’ve also posted an article about the best mattress toppers for your reference.
Some of these beds are sold exclusively on Amazon, so the policies won’t always adhere to online mattress industry standards. Check the product page for details and terms regarding shipping, returns, trial periods, and warranties.
Pros And Cons Of Mattresses Under $500
Shopping for a mattress under $500 might limit your selection depending on the size of mattress you are shopping for. It also might mean buying a bed with a shorter lifespan than some of the more expensive options on the market.
With that being said, finding a high-quality mattress under $500 is doable, and it doesn’t always mean you’ll be sacrificing comfort or support. A higher price tag doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a more accommodating mattress for you.
What Type Of Mattress Should You Get?
Why A Hybrid Spring Mattress Makes Sense
We talk about weight and body type all the time in our reviews because comfort is so affected by a person’s build. Different bodies require different things. Heavier folks, for example, will generally experience a bed to be softer than rated, while someone petite will think the bed is firmer than rated. This is the chief reason that we consider hybrid or spring mattresses to be the most ideal for heavy people. Larger individuals need support, and hybrid spring mattresses often provide that more than foam mattresses.
In our content, we do our best to account for all body types and let you know how a mattress will feel for petite, average and heavier folks. It’s a simple concept, but it’s also an easy one to overlook when you start reading up on a mattress.
Why a Flippable Innerspring Mattresses Makes Sense
In general, most hybrid mattresses are also innerspring mattresses. As such, our pick above for the best hybrid mattress is also the best innerspring mattress under $500 because both beds have coils. What we mean is that you can have a hybrid that combines two types of materials (i.e., foam and springs or foam and air). An innerspring mattress, by definition, has springs, and because it needs a comfort layer, it will be a hybrid mattress because 99% of the time it will use foam on the top.
Why a Memory Foam Mattress Makes Sense
For internet shoppers, the memory foam mattress is synonymous with the bed-in-a-box mattress. They typically start with a dense poly foam on the bottom and will have memory foam as some part of the comfort layers. There are a few types of memory foam mattresses:
- Dense memory foam — This is the more typical/traditional type of memory foam. A few online beds with a dense, viscous memory foam feel are Nectar, Eve and Novosbed. They might not be under $500 for the queen mattress, but they’re quite budget-friendly nonetheless. Usually, people will say a bed with a more traditional/dense feel is a firm mattress.
- Light and airy — It’s still memory foam, but you will see some beds, such as Layla, that have a fluffy and airy memory foam feel. They’re not as dense and viscous as Nectar, and therefore can offer more pressure relief. Another example of this type of memory foam bed is Puffy Lux.
- Responsive memory foam — We’ve only seen a few types of memory foam that are responsive, but they’re pretty neat. They offer the deep contouring effect you’re familiar with, but they snap back into shape a little faster. The quintessential memory foam mattress with this responsive feel is Amerisleep. They make everything from a soft to a firm mattress, and everything in the middle.
- Single-layer — So far, we have only discussed memory foam beds with a true memory foam feel, but there are several beds that use the foam but feel more neutral overall. The best such examples here are Leesa and Casper, which have a soft foam feel, despite having memory foam in the center of the bed.
Mattress Sizes To Consider
A lot of people shop for queen-size mattresses under $500. By far, the most popular size online and in-store in the mattress industry is the queen mattress, which is usually around $1,000. However, budget-friendly options are possible to find. They will most likely be memory foam or poly foam mattresses, and they aren’t always designed to last as long as the more expensive options.
Full size mattresses are 75” long by 54” wide and tend to be cheaper than queen mattresses. We usually recommend full mattresses for single people, children and teens. The full size is about 68% of the surface area of the queen mattress and usually about 75% of the cost of the queen.
Buying A Mattress Online
Here are a few things to note before purchasing a mattress online:
- Research what bed might be best for you based on your sleeper type and budget. Be certain about what you’re buying because you’ll likely purchase one without getting to test it first (though, you do usually get a trial period).
- Read the return policies, warranties and trial periods before purchasing a mattress. They will vary company to company, but the online mattress industry standard is to offer free shipping, free returns with full refunds, a 100-night trial period and 10-year warranties. Amazon will be different.
- Consider how long you want your mattress to last. Mattresses under $500 likely won’t have the longevity that more expensive mattresses are designed for, so if you’re looking for something with the longest lifespan possible, you might need to rethink your budget.
How To Find The Best Mattress Deals
If you have the option of waiting for a major holiday, you can usually cash in on the sales. You can also find good deals on cyber and shopping event days, like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Prime Day.
If your situation is dire and you can’t put off your purchase, that’s okay—there are many companies that toss out coupons and promo codes year-round. Check our Mattress Deals page to see the best discounts companies are currently offering.
How We Select The Best Mattresses
It depends on the size. If your budget for a new twin mattress is $500, you’ll find plenty of fantastic options. If you need a queen mattress under $500, there are a few nice beds, but the list isn’t long.
Most likely. Even if you spend $500 on a new mattress, you will almost certainly get free shipping.
That’s up to you, but there are plenty of innerspring beds that retail for under $500.
Many hotels put a lot of thought into the mattresses they use to ensure guests have the best sleep possible. They often use hybrid options that are comfortable and supportive regardless of sleep position or body type.
Mattresses can cost anywhere from $300 to more than $3,000 or more depending on size, quality and material. Know what your priorities for a mattress are before purchasing one and find one that lines up with your own personal budget.
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.
