Nectar vs GhostBed Mattress

Nectar has taken the online mattress industry by storm over the past few years. The company has quickly risen to become a top five brand in the space thanks in large part to the affordable price and comfort of their flagship bed. Here is how Nectar compares to GhostBed.

What Is The Nectar Mattress Made Of?

The Nectar mattress is a 12″ all-foam bed that is comprised of three foam layers.

Starting from the bottom up:

• Standard Foam Base Support – As the name implies, this 7″ layer serves as the bed’s foundation.
• Soft Support Foam – The proprietary material is basically a 2″ layer of memory foam that acts as a transition layer from the support foam below.
• Gel memory foam – A top layer of 3″ gel memory foam.
• Cooling Cover – This soft cover provides a cooling sensation upon direct contact.

Wrapping the three layers of foam is a removable, quilted polyethylene cover. The cover’s cooling technology will quickly wick away superficial heat that was transferred to it through touch.

And if this cover could get any better, it is machine-washable! This is a very important aspect, as most beds-in-a-box don’t offer this feature.

For those of you who aren’t counting, that’s three separate layers of memory foam. As such, it’s safe to call Nectar a true memory foam bed.

GhostBed uses memory foam as well but we wouldn’t consider it a memory foam bed. In fact, the GhostBed mattress actually uses a layer of latex foam for its top layer.

Memory Foam Feel

Given the bed contains three layers of memory foam, you can probably guess what it feels like. Big shocker – the bed has a memory foam feel. However, it’s not your typical super soft memory foam feel. The Nectar mattress actually lands on the firmer side of the spectrum in our opinion.

This is a bit usual. It just seems likes the majority of memory foam mattresses on the market are closer to a medium or soft rating. Don’t get me wrong, the Nectar mattress is still soft and comfortable, you just won’t immediately sink down into the bed. Rather, as you lay down on the Nectar mattress, it feels extra firm at first but then after a few seconds, you’ll notice the top layers soften a bit and start to wrap your body (as you would expect a memory foam bed to do). Still, you do sleep a little more on top of the bed rather than in it.

Overall, we’d characterize the mattress as having a dense, slightly firmer memory foam feel. Bottom line, if you like the feel of memory foam, you’ll be very happy with Nectar. GhostBed, on the other hand, has more of what we consider to be a neutral-foam feel. We’ll discuss this in more detail later in the comparison.

Sleeper Type Analysis

Although the Nectar mattress is slightly firmer than the average bed-in-a-box, we still think it’s good for all types of sleepers. All in all, the bed provides a good amount of support yet it doesn’t sacrifice pressure relief.

Back and stomach sleepers will find that the bed does a good of supporting the area under their lower back and trunk. Side sleepers will be just fine as well. These types of sleepers will find the top memory foam layers actually do a very good job of conforming to and cradling their primary pressure points (i.e. hips and shoulders). To be fair, we think the GhostBed mattress accommodates all types of sleepers as well.

Nectar Is More Affordable

Beyond feel, this is perhaps the biggest difference between the two beds. To cut to the chase, Nectar is more affordable than GhostBed by a decent margin. From an MSRP standpoint, you’re looking at about $800 for a queen size Nectar mattress and $1,000 for a queen size GhostBed.

However, GhostBed is pretty aggressive when it comes to sales and discounts. The company varies their promotions monthly but usually you can expect to receive a $100-$200 discount. As such, it might be a good idea to check GhostBed.com to see what sort of discount they’re currently offering. Although Nectar doesn’t usually offer a discount code, they will typically throw in two free pillows with each mattress purchase.

GhostBed comes to us from the well-known bedding company Nature’s Sleep, which is family owned and operated. The company has maintained a sterling reputation in the bedding industry for over 15 years. Here is how GhostBed compares to Nectar.

What Is GhostBed Made Of?

The GhostBed mattress is an 11″ all-foam bed that is made up of three separate layers. Like the Nectar mattress, the GhostBed mattress starts with a thick layer of support foam on the bottom. In the middle is a 2” layer of gel memory foam. This layer serves dual purposes. First, it acts as a soft transition from the firm support foam below. Second, it provides deep pressure relief for sleepers.

On top is a 1.5″ layer of aerated latex foam, which serves as the true comfort layer for the bed. The top layer of latex foam also contains small holes to help with ventilation and temperature regulation. The GhostBed mattress is one of the few online beds that incorporate both latex foam and memory foam.

Blended Foam Feel

As you might imagine given its construction, the GhostBed mattress sort of has a blended foam feel. It doesn’t feel like a true memory foam bed nor it does feel it like a true latex foam bed either. In sort of lands in-between the two. The bed is soft and comfortable like memory foam yet it’s much more responsive. Overall, it’s a very comfortable bed.

Since the mattress straddles the line between memory foam and latex foam, we view GhostBed as a very safe choice for consumers who aren’t really sure what they want. In other words, we haven’t come across many people who strongly dislike the feel of the mattress. Most consumers find the bed very accommodating. With beds that have a prototypical memory foam feel, that’s not always the case. There are some consumers out there who avoid memory foam like the plague. At the of the end of the day, it really just comes down to personal preference.

What Type Of Sleepers Will Like GhostBed?

Like the Nectar mattress, we think the GhostBed mattress is ideal for all types of sleepers. In our opinion, the bed lands around a medium on the firmness scale.

All in all, the bed finds a nice balance between support and pressure relief. The top layers won’t quite conform to your body as much as the top layers on the Nectar mattress, but the bed overall is still very accommodating for side sleepers. Back and stomach sleepers will be just fine as well. Plus, combo sleepers will find it very easy to switch between positions on the GhostBed mattress since the top latex foam layer is pretty responsive.

Quick Note On Body Type & Weight

We thought it was important to mention that we think both of these beds are best for petite and average size individuals. If you’re a larger person (250+ lb), you’ll most likely want to purchase a bed that contains coils or an innerspring unit. This isn’t to say Nectar or GhostBed are bad mattresses by any means. It more so has to do with their all-foam constructions.

Heavier folks exert more force on beds than small and medium size individuals. As such, hybrid and innerspring mattresses are more ideal for large body types since coils are durable and provide more support than foam foundations. If you fall into this weight category, you may want to look into the DreamCloud and GhostBed Flex mattresses.

DreamCloud is Nectar’s sister brand. This mattress has a firmer memory foam feel (just like Nectar) but has coils for added support. Likewise, the Flex is GhostBed’s hybrid offering. Both of these beds are better suited to handle all the extra pressure and stress big folks exert on beds.

GhostBed vs Nectar Comparison Verdict

Congratulations, you made it to the end of this comparison. Hopefully, we’ve been able make your mattress shopping experience a little less stressful. If you’re still struggling with which mattress to purchase, consider the following factors:

• Price – If you’re working with a limited budget, Nectar is the clear winner. You’re looking at about a $50-$150 difference between the two beds, depending on discounts and which size you want.
• Feel – This is a little bit of a gray area. There’s no winner or loser in this department. It really comes down to personal preference. If you like the feel of memory foam, go with Nectar. If you want more of a neutral or blended foam feel, go with GhostBed.

Those are the two big decision points in our opinion. Thanks again for spending time at The Slumber Yard.