The Best Cheap Mattresses Are Easy on Your Back and Your Wallet

Risk-free trial details: You can try the mattress for 100-nights before deciding whether you want to keep it, no strings attached.

Warranty: Tuft and Needle mattresses come with a 10-year limited warranty that covers manufacturing and workmanship defects. The company clearly defines what this includes, like splits in the foam, on its website.

Another Upgrade Mattress Worth Considering: Casper Element Pro

What makes it great: In years past, we’ve named Casper’s Element as our favorite cheap mattress overall. Despite being the cheapest mattress in the entire brand’s line, the medium-firm mattress was still wildly comfy—made from two layers of polyurethane foam, comprised of a dense bottom base layer and a cushy perforated foam on top that kept the whole unit breathable—and sadly was discontinued during the pandemic. The brand just unveiled a new Element Pro, though (which we haven’t had the luxury of testing), that claims to take the best aspects of the original Element and dial it up with three layers of support. There’s that same perforated layer on top, a middle layer of cushy memory foam, plus a more solid foam base at the bottom. If it’s anything like the original, it’ll be solidly constructed for plenty of edge support, though we can’t really vouch for it ourselves.

This one’s not quite as affordable as the original, which is another adjustment. It falls closer to the $1,000 mark than some of the other truly cheap mattresses on this list, but if your budget can handle a little hike in price, we’d recommend taking one for a 100-day sleep trial to see how you like it.

Risk-free trial details: Casper gives you 100 days to try its mattress “commitment-free,” which starts the day your mattress box is delivered. If you decide to return the mattress, the company will come pick it up from you. Thankfully, you do not have to worry about getting the mattress back into the box.

Warranty: Casper mattresses are covered by a 10-year limited warranty against defects. That means something like a tear in the fabric or foam. The full list of what the warranty does and doesn’t cover is available here.

2 Other Mattresses We Like From the ‘Zon

Though our handful of picks above are still our most stood-behind recs on this list, you might want to secure something on a quick turnaround (say, two days before your Cousin Fred pops in for a stint in your guest bedroom). That’s where the ‘Zon comes in, ever a reliable choice for last-minute purchases of at least reasonable quality…according to reviews. Below, we’ve singled out two of its best cheap mattresses for slinging out to your pad without you needing to invest in a whole futon or put your guests up on an inflatable.

What makes it great: Many of the all-foam budget mattresses you’d find on Amazon are likely from the same manufacturer, potentially the same factory, just with a different algorithmically generated brand named slapped on top. Among this morass of practically identical foam beds, the cheapest ones with a significant threshold of reviews usually come from Amazon itself through its AmazonBasics brand. The queen size 10-inch memory foam, plush-feel AmazonBasics mattress clocks at just under $300. It’s not a mattress anyone will have dreams about. But it’s no source of nightmares either. Most people will sleep on the firm mattress fine for a night or two (and they’ll certainly like it more than an air mattress or a pull-out futon). If that’s all you need, it’ll do the trick.

Risk-free trial details: Amazon will let you return the mattress within 30 days. (This is a lot stingier than most risk-free trial periods.)

Warranty: The mattress comes with a one-year warranty against defects, which isn’t very long compared to the policy among other picks on this list.

What makes it great: Terrible, inaccurate name aside, the Best Price mattress is a decent option for people that want something firmer than the Allswell. Compared to the Allswell and the Zinus, the sleeping surface is kind of hard. There is a little bit of give, but not really enough to make sleeping on your side very comfortable. If you’re a back sleeper, however, this is a plus—softer mattresses can cradle you in a way that feels weird and unwelcome.

Risk-free trial details: Best Price does not offer a free trial period for its mattress.

Warranty: The company boasts a 10-year warranty, but reviews seem to indicate these are difficult to actually redeem.