Best Innerspring Mattress in 2024 - CNET

Oct 30, 2024

Article updated on October 11, 2024 at 10:22 AM PDT

Get classic comfort with one of the best innerspring mattresses of the hundreds we've tested.

With over six years of mattress testing experience, we use our different sleeping positions and body type perspectives to offer well-rounded, honest reviews.

What to consider

Firmness

A firm mattress will offer more support while a soft mattress will be more pressure-relieving. Medium mattresses fall in the sweet spot right in between. The right firmness level for you depends on your sleeping position.

Sleeping position

Side sleepers should consider a medium to soft mattress that cradles the hips and shoulders. Back and stomach sleepers should consider a medium to firm mattress that keeps the spine straight. Switch between positions? A medium firmness level can accommodate all sleeping positions.

Feel

Coils and latex foam give a bed more bounce, while memory foam and poly foam make a bed feel more cushy and pressure-relieving. The feel of your mattress will depend on the types of materials it has on the inside.

Construction

There are essentially two mattress types, hybrid and all-foam. Hybrid mattresses are constructed with steel coils and foam, but all-foam mattresses are just as their name implies.

Body type

Hybrid mattresses tend to be best for people who want extra support and durability. Sleepers over 230 pounds in particular should consider a hybrid over an all-foam mattress because it’s more supportive, durable and long-lasting.

Performance

Motion isolation, edge support and temperature are important features for couples or people who sleep hot to consider. Hot sleepers should consider a mattress that boasts special cooling features. Couples want minimal motion transfer and a strong, supportive bed perimeter.

Company policies

All online brands offer a free trial, free shipping and a warranty, but some brands are more generous with their policies than others.

While memory foam beds are popular right now, many still prefer the support, durability and springy feel of a traditional innerspring mattress. The innerspring mattresses of today are updated from when they first came out, with pillow tops and contouring foam among the enhancement options available.

If you've tried all-foam mattresses and they weren't right for you, or you don't like that sinking, contouring sensation you get with memory foam, these options might be a better choice. With so many mattresses out there, it’s tough to separate the good mattresses from the overly bouncy -- so I did the comparison shopping for you. Here are my favorites.

There are plenty of great innerspring mattresses available from top-notch brands. But the bed that stands out from the rest is the Beautyrest Black Series One. Beautyrest is known for making luxury mattresses with high-quality materials.

The Beautyrest Black is the best overall innerspring mattress because it's a hybrid bed with 10 different firmness and feel options to choose from. Bed brands always get extra points if they offer customization through various models because they allow you to pick the firmness level that best suits your personal needs and preferences. Beautyrest Black isn't what I would consider a budget mattress, but it's worth the money if you're looking for a bed that will last.

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Technically a hybrid, it's made with several layers of pressure-relieving cooling and gel memory foam and topped with Beautyrest's Sleep Climate technology to help keep you cooler throughout the night. The coils are constructed with a proprietary technique called T3 Pocketed Coil Technology, which is found only in the Beautyrest Black models -- a fancy way of saying that each coil has three strands of steel wound into one. This construction solves some of the typical problems associated with innerspring mattresses by reducing motion transfer and absorbing bounce. The innerspring coils provide extra support so the mattress doesn't sag over time.

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The next layer consists of individually wrapped coils made from durable recycled steel that relieve pressure points and quickly respond to your body's movement to prevent motion transfer. On top of those steel coils sits high-density memory foam and a 3-inch Euro pillow top that gives it some extra oomph, if that's what you're looking for.

It comes in two mattress heights, 11.5 and 14.5 inches, and three comfort levels: Plush Soft, Luxury Firm and Firm. The Plush Soft is ideal for all types of sleepers, but the Luxury Firm is the most popular (what 82% of customers ultimately end up choosing, according to Saatva). Firm is best for spinal alignment and back support, especially if you're a heavier sleeper. This Saatva mattress is compatible with an adjustable base.

Read more in our Saatva Classic mattress review.

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The Stearns & Foster Estate mattress comes in various feels and firmnesses. You can choose between soft, medium or firm profiles in the standard luxury feel or a soft or firm profile with a pillow top feel. This specific model is classified as medium, which means it offers that initial plush feel when you first climb onto it, but with an underlayer of firm support, no matter your sleeping position. Read more in our Stearns & Foster mattress review.

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There are three models with different feels and firmnesses: medium, plush and ultra plush. The plush and ultra plush come at additional cost of $800 to $1,600, and they add extra plushness, contouring and advanced motion isolation. Avocado boasts an impressive list of sustainability certifications, including Climate Neutral, Greenguard Gold and B Corp -- some of the hardest to get in the industry.

Read more in our Avocado Luxury Organic review.

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The Sunset Luxe offers a luxurious pillow top feel and a medium-soft firmness profile that accommodates side sleepers by providing plenty of pressure relief for the shoulders and hips. While testing this mattress, our sleep experts found it to have a slight hint of a memory foam feel because of the foam layers, but it's still very responsive and has a neutral, accommodating feel overall.

Helix also has a sleep quiz on its website that considers your personal sleep preferences and positions (as well as your partner's) to help you choose the right Helix mattress.

Read more in our full review of the Helix mattresses.

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Gel memory foam, which offers advanced lumbar support and breathability to keep you cool, sits on top of the innerspring, while a thin layer of memory foam underneath the coils provides extra support for your body and the mattress. This under-layer of memory foam adds a little bit in terms of comfort, but it mostly prevents the springs from sagging in one spot and eliminates the need to regularly flip the mattress, which is a common complaint with older innerspring models.

Shopping for a mattress is an extremely subjective process. What works for one person may not suit your preferences and needs. There are key factors that you should keep in mind when comparing innerspring mattresses. They include your sleeping position, body type, health conditions and budget.

Your sleeping position is one of the most important factors in deciding what mattress will be best for you. It will determine how firm or soft your mattress needs to be to keep you comfortable at night.

Your body type will determine how much pressure you put on the mattress and which mattress you should choose. People who weigh over 230 pounds should generally choose hybrid mattresses for their support and durability.

Your weight also influences the firmness level of a bed. The more you weigh, the more pressure you put on your mattress, meaning it will feel softer. Petite body types will experience mattresses firmer because they put less pressure on the bed.

When shopping for mattresses, your health conditions also affect your decision making. For example, if you have joint pain, you'll want to choose a soft mattress with plenty of pressure relief. If you have back pain, stick with a firmer mattress to keep your spine aligned.

Mattresses are big investments; there's no way around that. Thankfully, there are mattresses at every budget level. Luxury mattresses are going to be more expensive than the average mattress. That doesn't mean you can't get a nice mattress for a fair price. Most brands run big sales around holidays and events. If you time it right, you can get a couple hundred dollars off the price tag.

Our CNET Sleep editors have tested more beds than the average sleeper -- around 300 different ones, in fact -- and have dedicated hundreds of hours to the craft. We take pride in our mattress testing methodology.

When we start mattress testing, we first determine the firmness and feel of the mattress. Firmness is simply how hard or soft a mattress is. We have several team members test and rate each bed to get the most well-rounded picture of how a bed performs in these categories.

The feel of the mattress describes how the mattress reacts. Is it slow responding like traditional memory foam? Does it snap back like latex foam? This will translate to how it will feel rolling around on the bed at night.

The Mattress Smasher 9000 objectively tests the firmness of each bed.

We also test firmness objectively using our proprietary CNET device, the Mattress Smasher 9000. This machine presses into the middle of a bed, and our corresponding software measures firmness on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the firmest. While we also test each bed personally for perceived firmness and feel, we can support our opinions with the data from the Mattress Smasher.

The durability, or how long a mattress will last, is based on what it's made from. Mattresses with pocketed coils as the base are more durable than all-foam options. They also tend to be more expensive.

The key performance criteria we assess for mattresses include motion isolation, edge support and temperature.

We test how the mattresses isolate movement by placing a glass of water on the edge of the bed and rolling around to see how much it moves. Motion isolation is a big deal if you have a partner who rolls around and wakes you up.

Edge support is how strong the perimeter of the bed is. The test for this is simple: we sit and lie on the edge to see if it gives way under pressure.

When assessing temperature, we examine the materials and construction of the mattress. Materials like latex and gel memory foam can keep a mattress from retaining body heat.

Read more on how we test mattresses.

Our CNET Sleep editors collectively write our best mattress lists based on their experience with hundreds of different mattresses. The beds listed above are all top picks, but with so many to choose from, a few other great beds deserve an honorable mention.

The Leesa Legend mattress is a thick, premium bed with two layers of coils. One layer is made with pocketed coils, while a micro-coil layer in the top layers offers a ton of back support. As far as comfort goes, it has a medium firmness level and a fluffy, soft foam feel that is more responsive than traditional memory foam.

Value shoppers should keep Brooklyn Bedding Signature on their list of ideal options. It's a premium hybrid mattress that costs the same price as popular foam mattresses like Casper or Purple. It's also available in three different firmness levels so that any sleeping position can find a comfortable option.

The main difference between innerspring and hybrid mattresses is what's in the top layers of the bed. Simply put, hybrid beds typically have more layers of foam and other materials around the inner coils. Innerspring mattresses have that classic, responsive and springy feel, while hybrid beds vary more in their feel based on the top materials. Innerspring beds don't isolate motion well and are generally better for stomach and back sleepers who need extra support.

Yes and no. People don't buy the traditional innerspring mattresses your parents or grandparents had as kids. Modern mattresses utilize coils or innersprings to provide ample support and durability. There are usually layers of foam materials, cotton or wool for added comfort.

The best innerspring mattresses have 1,000 springs or more. Smaller mattresses like twin or twin XL beds may have slightly fewer because they aren't as large and require fewer springs in their constructions.

"Innersprings" and "coils" are terms that can almost be used interchangeably, and they often offer the same benefits of support and durability. Pocketed coils are all individually cased in fabric, and move independently from one another. This makes it better at isolating motion than traditional innerspring systems which all move as one cohesive unit. Most innerspring beds these days are made with "pocketed coils" rather than regular inner springs.

No, an innerspring mattress doesn't need a boxspring. Innerspring mattresses are designed to be supportive enough without the boxspring.