The best firm mattress could bear your weight overnight and leave you feeling looser in the morning. I'd recommend a firm mattress for back sleepers, stomach sleepers, tall sleepers, broad sleepers, and anyone who appreciates a bit of extra support.
Firm beds come in all styles and sizes. You can get traditional innersprings with pocketed coils for pressure relief, high-tech hybrids with reinforced edge support, and even memory foam models with thick, dense foam to mold to the shape of your body.
As H&G's resident sleep writer, I lead a team of expert testers in the search to find the world's best mattress. Between all those plush memory foam models and luxury latex beds, we've tested our fair share of firmer surfaces. I've combed through our back catalog of reviews to bring you the best firm mattress for pressure relief and spinal alignment.
Best firm mattress 2024
You can trust Homes & Gardens. Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing the latest products, helping you choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
It's a common misconception, but 'medium-firm' doesn't indicates medium firmness: it's the comfort level that comes between Medium and Firm. Most mattress brands measure comfort as Soft, Medium, Medium-firm, or Firm. You might also see a numerical firmness rating on a scale of 1 to 10.
The quick list
If you've already got a firm mattress in mind, you can skip straight to that section using our jump menu. If you'd rather take stock of your options, then you can browse our picks for the best firm mattress below.
The best firm mattress overall
Made from organic materials and lined with supportive steel springs, the Naturepedic Chorus Mattress is the best bed for eco-conscious shoppers, hot sleepers, and anyone who sleeps on their back or stomach.
The best firm mattress for back pain
Our expert tester, Casey, suffers from fibromyalgia, which means she tends to wake up with aches and pains all over her body. The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress didn't cure her chronic pain, but it certainly relieved some pressure from her back and joints.
The best firm memory foam mattress
If you appreciate the pressure-relieving properties of memory foam, but you're not a fan of that sinking feeling, then I suggest you shop the Emma Original Mattress. It's filled with dense foam to bear your weight and contour to your curves.
The best firm hybrid mattress
It took our expert tester, Millie, a few sleeps to get used to the firm support of the Nectar Premier Hybrid Mattress, but now she loves it. You get a great balance between cradling memory foam and buoyant spring coils.
The best firm mattress for side sleepers
This medium-firm mattress has just enough give to cushion your hips, knees, neck, and shoulders without throwing your spine out of its natural alignment. Our expert tester, Jamie, switches between her side and her stomach in the night and she always felt comfortable on the Helix Midnight Hybrid Mattress.
The best firm mattress overall
This isn't your grandmother's innerspring mattress. The Naturepedic Chorus Mattress isn't springy or squeaky, but supple and responsive, filled with hundreds of individually wrapped steel coils for lumbar support and enhanced motion isolation. That's good news for light sleepers and anyone who shares a bed with a pet or partner.
Our expert tester, Courtney, tends to sleep on her side. She found that the Naturepedic Chorus Mattress cradled her hips just right, though it felt a little firm around her shoulders. Although it took a few weeks for Courtney to adjust from her old mattress, a plush latex hybrid, the Naturepedic Chorus Mattress eventually won her over. Since she started testing, she's been waking up without any aches or pains in her lower back.
The Naturepedic Chorus Mattress does a decent job of dissipating heat and wicking moisture. I attribute that to the microcoils, which boost breathability as they compress and depress beneath your body, as well as the organic wool batting, which is naturally thermoregulating.
One pain point: the edge support leaves a lot to be desired. Whenever Courtney sat on the edge of the bed, the Naturepedic Chorus caved under her weight. She had to grip her feet into this carpet to stay upright. This should ring warning bells for sleepers who lie on the very edge of their mattress and anyone who struggles to get out of bed.
You can find more detail in our Naturepedic Chorus Mattress review.
The best firm mattress for back pain
Our expert tester, Casey, lives with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that leaves her aching all over her body. She needs a mattress that's firm enough to take the weight off her bones but not so firm that it exacerbates her aches and pains. The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress hits the sweet spot.
Technically, this bed supports all sleep positions, but Casey found she felt most comfortable when lying on her back or stomach. She appreciated how the mattress sank a little beneath her chest to make some breathing room, but never so far that she threw her spine out of alignment. The Nectar Memory Foam Mattress didn't cure Casey of her chronic pain, but it made it much easier for her to fall asleep at night and wake up feeling nice and loose.
Like any memory foam mattress, this bed tends to trap heat: all that thick foam doesn't leave much room for air to flow. If you're a hot sleeper, like Casey, you might want to dress your Nectar Memory Foam Mattress with a set of the best cooling sheets or cover it with the best cooling mattress protector.
You can find more detail in our Nectar Memory Foam Mattress review.
The best affordable firm mattress
The Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress is one of the best firm beds we've ever tested and certainly the least expensive. Even at full price, you'll never need to pay more than $599 for a Queen. This medium-firm memory foam mattress should keep your spine aligned, while the cooling blend of copper and green tea works to dissipate heat and block odors.
The Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress offers solid support that extends all the way around the edges, unlike a lot of the beds on this list. Our expert tester, Camryn, found that she could sit comfortably on the side of the bed to tie her sneakers and she could lie on the edge of the mattress without worrying that she might slip off.
Camryn was prepared to test a firm mattress, but she didn't expect to feel quite so uncomfortable at the start of the testing period. It took around 10 days for the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress to warm up and start to mold to the shape of her body. Once it did, Camryn found she could sleep comfortably on her side, while her husband, who sleeps on his back, appreciated the extra support.
A few practical points: the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress only comes in sizes Twin, Full, Queen, and King. If you're shopping for a Twin XL or California King bed, you'll need to look elsewhere. It's also worth knowing that the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress incorporates fiberglass as a fire retardant. That shouldn't pose too much of a problem unless you remove your mattress cover: Zinus strongly suggest you don't.
You can find more detail in our Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress review.
The best memory foam firm mattress
Memory foam is made to mold to the shape of your body and bear your weight, taking all the pressure of your neck, shoulders, hips, and knees. You'll see a lot of 'soft' and 'medium' memory foam mattresses, but I suggest 'medium-firm' for enhanced support, which the Emma Original Mattress delivers in spades.
Our expert tester, Chiana, prefers a firmer surface, so she was hesitant to try a memory foam mattress. The Emma Original Mattress surpassed all her expectations. As soon as she laid down, she could feel the foam begin to contour around her curves. Chiana shares a bed with her partner, who prefers a softer surface, but even he agreed that the Emma Original Mattress offered excellent lumbar support. Chiana was only supposed to test the bed for a few months to write this review, but she's still sleeping on it, more than a year later: it's just that good.
After all that time testing, we can conclude that the Emma Original Mattress is the best box mattress on the market. It arrives neatly packaged in a narrow box, ideal for smaller bedrooms and tight corners in corridors. Chiana found that the Emma Original Mattress inflated quickly – in a matter of hours, rather than days – and the chemical smell of mattress off-gassing disappeared within a day or two.
Like any memory foam mattress, the Emma Original Mattress tends to trap heat. What this bed lacks in breathability, it makes up for in comfort, support, pressure relief, and motion isolation. Still, if you're a hot sleeper, I suggest you search for the best cooling mattress, instead.
You can find more detail in our Emma Original Mattress review.
The best firm hybrid mattress
A hybrid mattress marries the motion isolation of memory foam with the enhanced airflow and superior support of an innerspring. Comfort and support are founded on solid steel.
Nectar rates their Premier Hybrid Mattress as a 6 on a firmness scale of 1 to 10, but our expert tester, Millie, reckons it's more like a 7. It took her a few weeks to break in the bed and get used to its medium-firm feel, but now she appreciates the cradling hug of the memory foam.
Millie had a few houseguests stay during the testing period and she let them take the Nectar Premier Hybrid Mattress for a spin. One of her guests has a bad back and found that the firm support of the memory foam eased her aches and pains.
The edge support is a little lacking, which seems to be a recurring theme with hybrid beds. Still, the motion isolation is excellent, and the price is pretty appealing, especially when you shop the mattress sales.
You can find more detail in our Nectar Premier Hybrid Mattress review.
The best firm mattress for side sleepers
Side sleepers have a tough time finding a supportive mattress. You need something with enough give to cushion your neck, shoulders, hips, and knees and sufficient support to lift and lengthen your spine. Helix claim that their Midnight Hybrid Mattress is ideal for side sleepers and our expert tester, Jamie, is inclined to agree.
Jamie and her partner share a bed, but not a sleep style: she tends to switch positions in the night, flipping between her side and her stomach, while he partner sleeps on his back. They each managed to sleep comfortably on the Helix Midnight Hybrid Mattress. Jamie says there's just enough give to take the weight off her hips, but not so much that she feels uncomfortable sleeping on her stomach. On a firmness scale of 1 to 10, she'd give the Helix Midnight Hybrid Mattress a 7.
Good news for hot sleepers: the Helix Midnight Hybrid Mattress is wrapped in a Breathe Knit Cover to carry heat away from your body and out of the bed. The motion isolation is a little lacking, but that's not surprising for a hybrid mattress: all those spring coils create too much bounce, but that's what gives the Helix Midnight Hybrid Mattress its solid support.
You can find more detail in our Helix Midnight Hybrid Mattress review.
How we test mattresses
We put a lot of thought into how we test mattresses. Our expert testers sample beds for months, if not years, sleeping through heatwaves and cold snaps to monitor their performance over time. We assess each mattress against the same criteria: comfort; support; cooling properties; motion isolation; edge support; and weight bearing capacity.
Some of our tests are fairly subjective. The most meaningful way to measure comfort or cooling, for example, is to sleep on the mattress and see how we feel. Other tests are more scientific. We use a combination of weights and water glasses to measure motion isolation and edge support. We would expect a firm mattress to score highly for support and lower for comfort.
Where possible, we compare our results against verified customer reviews to show a range of perspectives on the same product. Finally, we bring it all back to the price of the mattress to help you determine value for money.
Meet the team
Emilia is our resident sleep writer. She leads our team of expert testers in the search to find the best mattress. Emilia curates our testing guidelines and edits each review to give you the fullest possible picture of what it might be like to use this product.
Courtney is a professional product tester, working out of the Midwest. She reviewed the Naturepedic Chorus Mattress for inclusion in this buying guide.
Casey is one of our freelance product testers. Her work is featured in Tom's Guide, Forbes and Insider, among other publications. She reviewed the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress for inclusion in this buying guide.
Camryn is a writer and product reviewer, specializing in home, kitchen, and pet products. Her work appears in publications such as Forbes, USA Today, and The Spruce. She reviewed the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress.
Chiana writes for our Solved team and specializes in decluttering, cleaning, and tidying content. She tested the Emma Original Mattress for inclusion in this buying guide.
Once the Solved Section Editor at H&G, Millie now works as a freelance lifestyle writer. She tested the Nectar Premier Hybrid Mattress for inclusion in this buying guide.
Jamie is a writer, attorney, and product reviewer. She's tested hundreds of items first-hand and reviewed the Helix Midnight Hybrid Mattress for inclusion in this buying guide.
Best firm mattress FAQs
Can a firm mattress help back pain?
Yes and no. It all depends on your sleep position. If you sleep on your back or stomach, then a firm mattress should help to evenly distribute your weight throughout the bed, which should lead to less pressure on your back. If you sleep on your side, then a firm mattress might crush your hips, knees, neck, and shoulders, causing aches and pains. Still, you don't want your mattress to feel too soft, or you'll start to sink into the surface.
Of course, even the best mattress can't cure back pain. That's the sort of thing you should take up with a medical professional, rather than a mattress maker.
Where can I buy a firm mattress?
Out of all the best places to buy a mattress, I recommend Nectar, Helix, and Emma to find a firm mattress. Mattress Firm also has a wide range of beds of all shapes, styles, and sizes, including one of our best firm beds, the Zinus Cooling Green Tea Mattress.
Final thoughts
You might have made it to the end of this article on window-shopping mode. You'd love to toughen up your soft, sagging mattress, but you just can't afford a brand new bed. Not to worry: you can make your mattress firmer. I suggest you invest in the best mattress topper to transform the feel of your bed for a fraction of the price.
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