![]() | VS. | ![]() |
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$399 – $1,598 | Price Range | $745 – $1,095 |
$100 Off + $399 In Free Accessories | Offer | 20% Off Applied In Cart |
| Best For |
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365 Nights | Trial Period | 100 Nights |
Forever | Warranty | 10 Years |
Free Shipping and Returns | Shipping Options | Free Shipping and Returns |
Shop Now | Shop Now |
Nectar vs. Tuft & Needle Mattress Overview
Nectar and Tuft & Needle are well-known names in the bed-in-a-box mattress space, ranking in popularity with Casper and Purple. In the comparison of the Nectar mattress vs. Tuft & Needle, the primary differences include:
- Price — Before sales or promotions, Nectar retails for around $1,300, and Tuft & Needle retails for about $900 (based on queen sizes).
- Feel and construction — Nectar features memory foam, while Tuft & Needle is made of soft neutral foam.
- Company policies — Nectar has a longer warranty and trial period.
Nectar has become a popular memory foam choice in the online mattress industry, a more affordable option to the luxury TempurPedic memory foam mattress. Tuft & Needle, on the other hand, has gained notoriety for their budget-friendly, neutral-foam feeling mattresses. You may have even seen them in a commercial on TV, discussing their great customer reviews. In this Nectar vs. Tuft and Needle comparison, we’ll discuss the major differences between these two beds and make recommendations based on body type, sleeper positions, price, and more.

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Design & Construction
A Nectar mattress is about 12” thick, which is the average size of most bed-in-a-box mattresses made only with foam. To give our readers a better view of what’s inside Nectar, we cut through its casing.

- 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.

The Tuft & Needle mattress is a bit thinner than Nectar. It has a simple construction made of only two layers of foam — less than Nectar — and is 10” thick instead of 12”. The two layers are as follows:
- Comfort layer – Tuft & Needle Adaptive Foam, a proprietary foam infused with graphite to allow for better temperature regulation.
- Base layer – Dense polyurethane foam (neutral foam) that provides the mattress’s base.
Feel & Firmness

Due to the two layers of memory foam at the top of a Nectar mattress, it has a dense memory foam feel, in which you become nestled inside the foam once you lay down. Despite this, it won’t immediately sink into the mattress. It takes about 4-6 seconds for the mattress to soften from your body heat and not only pull you in but also mold you to the curves of your body. And, even though it’s memory foam, Nectar ranks around a medium-firm feel.
Tuft & Needle, on the other hand, provides a feeling that would be described as “soft and fluffy” with its combination of neutral polyfoam and Tuft & Needle Adaptive Foam. Still, it lands as a medium on our softness to firmness scale. It fits in the sweet spot between soft and relieving while also being supportive.

Nectar also offers another memory foam bed called Nectar Premier. The Nectar Premier is the next step up from the Original Nectar mattress. It’s thicker than Tuft & Needle, comes with a cooling cover for temperature regulation, and is a touch softer. Though, it’s also more expensive, as a queen Nectar Premier bed retails around $1,797.

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Other Factors to Consider
When choosing between the Nectar vs. Tuft & Needle mattress, it’s not enough to consider the design & construction and feel & firmness, although these factors are important. Before making your decision, explore and compare these features of each mattress.
Edge Support
Edge support is the amount of resistance support there is for the sleeper around the perimeter of the bed. The better the edge support, the more you might feel as if you won’t “fall off” the bed.
The Nectar memory foam mattress provides decent support, even when you take a look at the materials it’s made of. If you roll over a bit too far or stretch out, you’ll feel secure.
Tuft & Needle doesn’t have the best edge support out there, but it’s sufficient. If you go with a firmer bed from Tuft & Needle, the more edge support you’ll experience. But, overall — great edge support or not-so-great edge support — this mattress is still an excellent value.
Motion Isolation
Motion isolation prevents motion being transferred from one side of the bed to the other. If you’re purchasing a mattress as a couple, then this is something that’s important to consider.
The Nectar mattress has fairly good motion isolation and is a good option if you or your partner tends to move around in the middle of the night or has to wake up before the other one to get to work. This would, therefore, be a good bed for couples who want to get a good night’s sleep without being disturbed.
The same goes for Tuft & Needle, which does a decent job at motion isolation, especially for a bed that doesn’t have memory foam.
Temperature
Temperature is an important factor to consider in a mattress, as some people get hot or cold at night. A mattress can help you maintain the temperature that you feel comfortable with when you go to sleep.
Generally, memory foam is good for warm sleeping, as the foam retains heat. The Nectar mattress — although it uses gel memory foam instead of traditional memory foam — does a good job at this, but won’t get too hot, either. Other memory foam mattresses usually are hotter. Therefore, the Nectar mattress is more temperature neutral.
As for the Tuft & Needle mattress — which lacks memory foam — has a breathable cover and T&N Adaptive Foam, which cools it down and might be better for people who feel more comfortable sleeping in a cooler bed. That being said, we would say this is considered temperature neutral for the most part, too.
Body Type Analysis
Body type can have a huge impact on how comfortable you’ll be with a given mattress. Without attempting to label bodies, knowing generally what body type you have — petite, normal, or heavy — can help you choose the best mattress for you.
Sleeper Type Analysis
It’s not just your body type that plays a role in what mattress is best for you; it’s also the way you sleep! This is otherwise known as your “sleeper type,” which includes side sleepers, combo sleepers, and back and/or stomach sleepers. The good news is that Nectar and Tuft & Needle are both medium-firm beds in general, and therefore ideal for all sleeper types. But let’s break it down a little further.
Nectar vs. Tuft & Needle Mint
The story between Nectar vs. Tuft & Needle Mint (one of the brand’s more premium bed models) and Nectar comes down to feel and firmness. Do you prefer a softer feel or one that’s slightly firmer? Do you want a neutral foam feel or a memory foam feel? Those questions will help you decide which is a better fit for you. Tuft & Needle Mint has a neutral feel, but it is a soft mattress. Our team rates it a medium-soft, so it is the better option for strict side sleepers. Nectar, on the other hand, will be best for back or stomach sleepers.
Nectar vs. Tuft & Needle Mattress Pricing
When it comes to mattresses, you can either go with a budget-tier mattress, luxury mattress or somewhere in the middle. Tuft & Needle is definitely in the budget-tier, while Nectar is an example of a mattress that straddles the budget and average tiers. Here’s a pricing breakdown for queen size beds in the comparison of Tuft & Needle vs. Nectar:
Size | Nectar (Discount) | Tuft & Needle |
Twin | $599 ($499) | $645 |
Twin XL | $669 ($569) | $695 |
Full | $799 ($699) | $795 |
Queen | $899 ($799) | $895 |
King | $1,199 ($1,099) | $1,095 |
Cal King | $1,199 ($1,099) | $1,095 |
*Listed price before sales or promotions.
Nectar vs. Tuft & Needle Mattress Review Verdict
Here are the main questions you need to ask before you decide on Nectar vs. Tuft & Needle:
- Are you a fan of memory foam? We think you’ll like Nectar. If you want a general, soft-foam feel, that’s Tuft & Needle.
- Are you a price-conscious buyer? Tuft & Needle is the more affordable option between the two.
- Do you want the option of a longer trial period or warranty? Nectar offers a generously long trial period and warranty policy.
- Are you an extra petite side sleeper? We think you might enjoy Tuft & Needle a little more than Nectar.
Shipping, Returns, Trial Periods And Warranties
The online mattress industry has fairly standard policies for shipping, returns, trial periods and warranties. Here are the details for these two brands:
- Shipping: Both companies offer free shipping
- Returns: Returns with Nectar can be requested after 30 days but before 365 days. A third-party service removes the mattress. Tuft & Needle also uses a third-party return service.
- Trial period length: Tuft & Needle offers 100 nights, while Nectar offers a full year.
- Warranty policy: Nectar offers a forever warranty for as long as you own the mattress. Tuft & Needle has a 10-year warranty.
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.
The Review Team
We purchased this mattress via Amazon with our own funds. In fact, in a one-year span, we actually purchased two Tuft & Needle mattresses so we could test them, review them and share our thoughts with the public. Tuft & Needle also sent us a twin-size mattress for our initial tests in June 2017. However, they did not pay us to write or say good or bad things about their bed.
Truthfully, we don’t really know much about why Serta Simmons bought Tuft & Needle or what they plan to do with the brand. Our best guess is that the company will continue to operate as usual; only Serta Simmons will take over manufacturing since that is one of their core competencies. If anything, we actually see the acquisition as a good thing since it means Tuft & Needle isn’t going anywhere for a long time.
Nectar is compatible with any solid surface that has next to no flex, such as slatted frames and box springs. They even say the bed is compatible with adjustable bed frames, although we didn’t put this to the test.
Tuft & Needle has plenty of other products in addition to their two mattresses. They have sheet sets, duvets, blanket, a mattress protector, a mattress topper and a pillow. Even more, they have an entire furniture section on their website, where they sell bed frames and mattress foundations. We were surprised to see that they don’t offer an adjustable bed frame.
Yes, we think it is. It’s a simple, comfortable foam mattress that’s highly affordable.
Tuft & Needle is made of two layers of foam and measures 10″ thick.
It’s made in the United States, which is pretty amazing considering it sells for under $1,000.
The Nectar Mattress is not a hybrid but an all-foam mattress.