Best Mattress Under $500

Written by Lauren Hapgood, Performance Staff Writer

Our Methodology

Our Certified Sleep Science Coaches have reviewed more than 300 mattresses in our lab, testing each one on its materials, comfort, cooling, support, and other categories.
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Just Updated

We’ve recently re-reviewed all of the best mattresses under $500 and added more feedback from the testers in our lab – so you can rest easy that if it’s on this list, we’ve personally tested it, slept on it, and stand by its recommendation.

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If there’s one thing we know about online mattress-shopping, it’s that it can be expensive. That’s why we created this guide for the best mattresses under $500. Though they differ in terms of style, design, and construction, the beds in this roundup are built to be as good for your sleep as they are for your wallet.

We’ll walk through our selections, then cap things off with a quick methodology detailing what we like to look for when mattress-shopping on a budget. And just so you know, the $500 price tag we’re alluding to here refers to the cost of a queen size mattress (sometimes after discounts).

Our Top Pick for Mattresses Under $500

The Lucid Hybrid won our top spot because of its mix of pressure relief and support, as well as being available in multiple heights. The bed is versatile — working for both back and side sleepers — and should work for a variety of sleepers.

Best Mattresses Under $500 – Top Picks

• Lucid Hybrid – Best Hybrid Mattress Under $500
• Dreamfoam Essential – Best Cooling Mattress Under $500
• Novilla Vitality – Best Mattress for Stomach Sleepers Under $500
• Siena – Best Mattress for Back Sleepers Under $500
• Minocasa Hybrid – Best Mattress for Heavy Sleepers Under $500

Best Mattress Under $500 — Video Review

Compare the Best Mattresses Under $500

Best Hybrid Mattress – Lucid Hybrid

Expert Opinion

If you’re on the prowl for an affordable hybrid mattress, we’d suggest checking out the Lucid Hybrid, which combines plush memory foam with pocketed coils. When we lie down on it, we get a one-two punch of pressure relief and support — a little bit of contouring, but also a little bit of a lift. You can choose from either a 10-inch or 12-inch tall model, with the 12-inch being slightly more expensive than the 10-inch. 

We put the Lucid Hybrid mattress through our pressure map test, which involves us spreading a mat across the mattress that tracks areas of high, moderate, and low pressure. The results show up on a graphic, and we upload a photo of that graphic to reviews as a visual aid. For each sleeping position we tried on this mattress, we found the graphic lit up with primarily blue and a bit of green. This shows us that sleepers should experience lower pressure buildup in the back, side, and stomach sleeping positions.

What our tester says: “I found it had an impressive amount of edge support, which would make it a great option for heavier sleepers.” — Logan Block, former Sleepopolis director of content and mattress reviewer

What Customers Say

There are 10,000+ Amazon reviews of the Lucid Hybrid, and 71% of them were five-star reviews. Whether shoppers use it for guests or their own bedroom, the general consensus seems to be that it’s a wonderful quality mattress for the overall value.

Pros of the Lucid Hybrid Mattress

• The blend of comfort and support should give back sleepers some cushioning at the lumbar region while keeping the spine neutrally aligned.
• While back sleepers could be comfortable on either model of the Lucid Hybrid, side sleepers should love the extra foam in the 12-inch. This will give them pressure relief at the shoulders and hips, where they need it most.
• The Lucid Hybrid is responsive enough for combo sleepers to be able to easily switch positions.

Cons of the Lucid Hybrid Mattress

• Despite the support from below, the Lucid Hybrid may not be the best fit for strict stomach sleepers, who could sink more deeply into the mattress as their sleep cycle progresses. They may need a more firm mattress.

Learn more by checking out our full Lucid Hybrid mattress review. You can also click here to get the best deal, or see our best hybrid mattress page for more options.

Best Cooling Mattress – Dreamfoam Essential

Expert Opinion

This all-foam bed dreamed up by Brooklyn Bedding is designed with cooling in mind. The chill vibes kick off with a layer of memory foam infused with gel, which helps to dissipate body heat as you lie down for the night. Beneath that, you’ll find a layer of higher-density foam for added support.

While memory foam has a reputation for sleeping hot, the gel infusion and open-celled construction of the foams work together to keep temperatures low. In our mattress lab, it was apparent that cooling is an area in which the Essential shines. We should also mention that the Dreamfoam Essential is available in five different heights (6-inch, 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch, and 14-inch), allowing the bed to appeal to a variety of sleeping positions.

What our tester says: “I sunk into the memory foam comfort layer just a touch and enjoyed some body-contouring, while the firmer support layer ensured my hips stayed elevated and aligned with my spine.” — Logan Block, former Sleepopolis director of content and mattress reviewer

What Customers Say

A large number of reviews note positive comments regarding the Dreamfoam Essential’s ability to relieve or alleviate back pain.

Pros of the Dreamfoam Essential Mattress

• Side sleepers need more pressure relief than other sleeping positions (especially at the shoulders and hips), and should get it from the all-foam construction. They’ll likely be most comfortable on the 12-inch or 14-inch model.
• Back sleepers are probably best-suited for the 6-inch, 8-inch, or 10-inch models.
• Although all of the mattresses on this list are inexpensive, we find the Dreamfoam Essential to be an especially good value, as it was created by Brooklyn Bedding — one of our favorite brands and a major player in the bed-in-a-box game.

Cons of the Dreamfoam Essential Mattress

• People over 250 pounds will probably not find the support they need on the Dreamfoam. Instead, they may want to peruse our roundup of best mattresses for heavy people.

Does the Dreamfoam sound like a dream? Read our full Dreamfoam Essential mattress review. You can click here to get the best deal, or see our best cooling mattress page for more options.

Best Mattress for Stomach Sleepers – Novilla Vitality

Expert Opinion

Stomach sleepers usually need a good deal of support and firmness to ensure that they don’t sink too far into the bed. We think Novilla’s hybrid Vitality mattress stands out in both of these departments. We scored it a high 7.5 out of 10 on the firmness scale, as we found its foundation of independent springs to be sturdy and strong. And for some extra support, they’re stacked on top of a stretch of high-density base foam. When we tested out the mattress on our stomachs, we felt properly elevated, which helps keep the spine neutrally aligned to prevent back pain.

What our tester says: “Though this is a hybrid mattress, I’d say it feels more like a classic innerspring bed, since its coil layer takes up the majority of the mattress’s height.” — Zoe Ettinger, former Sleepopolis editor and mattress reviewer

What Customers Say

There are over 200 reviews of the Novilla Vitality mattress on the company site. Many folks over 65 years of age really liked the feel of this mattress and said they receive an ideal amount of comfort and support.

Pros of the Novilla Vitality Mattress

• The Novilla Vitality is responsive, making it easy for combo sleepers to switch between their stomachs, backs, and sides.
• Hybrid mattresses tend to sleep cool because of their construction, and the Novilla Vitality goes the extra mile with an infusion of cooling gel and a soft, breathable cover made of bamboo rayon fiber.
• The cover is hypoallergenic and designed to ward off dust mites and mold.

Cons of the Novilla Vitality Mattress

• Side sleepers probably find the Novilla Vitality to be far too firm to get the pressure relief they need.
• The edge support is fairly low and, like many other hybrids, it isn’t the best at isolating motion. If you sleep with a partner, you may feel each other’s movements at night.

For more on this mattress, check out the full review of the Novilla Vitality hybrid. You can also click here to get the best deal, or see our best mattress for stomach sleepers page for more options.

Best Mattress for Back Sleepers – Siena

Expert Opinion

Back sleepers will appreciate this mattress because of its seven rating on the firmness scale, which allows the sleeper to feel supported throughout the night, while still providing cushioning for the lumbar region. This mattress exerts limited pressure on back sleepers, mainly because of its three layers of foam. These layers provide cushioning for the mattress while continuing to stabilize the sleeper. The Siena mattress is also fairly easy to move around on, especially for an all-foam mattress, so combination sleepers shouldn’t have a problem finding multiple positions throughout the night.

What our Tester Says: “I think it’s a great option for those after a firm mattress. It will keep sleepers propped up and slightly cushioned, which is especially a major win for stomach sleepers. I also think it’s fairly easy to move around on for an all-foam bed and has some solid edge support.” — Bridget Chapman, senior product editor

What Customers Say

There are over 1,500+ reviews on the Siena website, and many of them are stomach sleepers who are pleased with the level of support this bed has.

Pros of the Siena Mattress

• With a firmness level of seven, the Siena Mattress allows stomach sleepers to keep their spine in line with their shoulders while resting, creating a healthy spinal alignment.
• In the pressure map test, which uses heat technology to show where pressure is the highest, the Siena is primarily blue, which equates to low pressure. This showcases that sleepers with back pain will have minimal pressure exerted on them during the night.
• The Siena’s motion transfer results show that couples should not feel the tosses and turns of their partner during the night, and the added edge support helps couples roll around without fear of moving their partner.

Who Should Avoid the Siena

• In order to contour their hips and shoulders during the night, side sleepers will want to find a slightly less firm option. We’d recommend going for one of our best soft mattresses.
• The Siena may not provide enough support for heavier sleepers throughout the night. Instead, check out our roundup of the best mattresses for heavy sleepers.

Want more information? Check out the full review of the Siena Mattress. You can also click here to get the best deal, or head over to our best mattress for back sleepers page for more options.

Best Mattress for Heavy Sleepers – Minocasa Hybrid

Expert Opinion

With an eight on the firmness scale, the Minocasa hybrid mattress makes sure that heavier sleepers will feel supported throughout the night. Being a hybrid mattress, it includes both a 2-inch gel-infused memory foam layer and pocketed foils in five zones to keep you supported and comfortable at the same time. The Minocasa hybrid also includes a premium Tencel cover which is eco-friendly and keeps the mattress breathable, helping hot sleepers find comfort during the night. Both stomach and back sleepers, especially those over 250 pounds, will appreciate the firmness underneath this mattress.

While testing out the Minocasa, we put it through our pressure map test. The graphic results showed mostly blue and some green. Overall, this mattress should provide relief for back sleeping and back pain.

What our Tester Says: “I would consider the Minocasa Hybrid a great option for back and stomach sleepers who prefer a firmer mattress. It is also responsive, cooling, and has decent edge support, making it a good option for couples who prefer a firmer mattress. Above all, I think it’s a great budget option with proper materials.” — Bridget Chapman, senior product editor

What Customers Say

Customers really appreciate the level of support on this mattress, especially those who like a firmer feel.

Pros of the Minocasa Mattress

• The firmness of the Minocasa mattress makes it a good option for stomach sleepers that want to feel like they are very “on top” of the bed.
• The Minocasa mattress includes a cooling gel in the memory foam layer that helps to counteract the heat-trapping of the foam. Being a hybrid mattress, it also includes a coil layer to help with airflow.
• Back sleepers will appreciate the pain alleviation that comes with this hybrid mattress. Plus, the combination of the firmness of the coils and the cushioning from the memory foam helps keep back sleepers comfortable and supported all night long.

Cons of the Minocasa Mattress

• Couples who are easily disturbed by their partner’s movements during the night might find that the motion transfer of the Minocasa mattress is slightly too high. Check out our roundup of the best mattresses for couples to find the right fit.
• Sleepers under 130 pounds may find that this mattress is too firm for their liking. Instead, take a look at our roundup of the best mattresses for lightweight sleepers.

Does this sound like the right mattress for you? Click here to get the best deal, or head over to our full review of the Minocasa Hybrid Mattress. You can also read our best mattress for heavy sleepers page for more options.

Pros of Mattresses Under $500 

• Price: No surprise here. The best part about mattresses under $500 is that you’re getting a mattress for under $500. You can’t beat that price for a queen size bed.
• More money for accessories: Saving so much on a mattress allows you to splurge on accessories like the best pillows, the best mattress toppers, and the best bed sheets.
• They’re not all bad: Some brands do take the time and care to make the $500 worth the money. We think that all of the mattresses in this roundup, for example, are really stellar mattresses for the price. We thought a number of them were comfortable and sufficiently supportive for many sleepers. Some even included cooling features.

Cons of Mattresses Under $500

• Mattress quality: Truly, you get what you pay for. Beds under $500 may not have the same level of excellence in terms of construction or materials, so it may not be as comfortable as a mattress that’s priced twice as much.
• Mattress longevity: If you’re looking for a bed to last you seven to 10 years, options under $500 likely won’t serve that purpose for you.

How to Find a Cheap Mattress

If you’re still struggling to find a mattress that’s within your budget, let me leave you with a few buying tips you can use to land on a fantastic and affordable bed.

Quality Over Everything

A poor quality bed is the risk you take when buying a queen size mattress under $500. Cheap is great until your mattress sags within the first year of use. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to quality, and to really focus on it throughout the buying process. 

Of course, finding a mattress that’s of considerable quality despite the low price is more than possible. The beds on this roundup represent many examples of online mattresses that deliver in value. 

Pay Attention to Branding 

Don’t focus on name brands. Sure, they might be backed by flashy advertisements and celebrity endorsements, but that doesn’t speak to how comfortable they actually are. Focus on the materials and your own sleep needs and you might be surprised by the “no-name” mattresses you discover.

For extra help in this category, we offer a plethora of mattress reviews, covering brands both infamous and obscure. 

Keep an Eye on Policies 

Look out for warranties. Nowadays, there are plenty of online companies that equip their mattresses with lifetime warranties, which ensures that your bed will be fixed or replaced if it’s ever damaged. This can help soften some of the initial shock of an initially high price tag, especially if it means you’re covered basically forever.

Also keep sleep trials in mind. These periods typically last for 100 nights, wherein the company allows the customer to test out the mattress before fully committing. That means you can try out a bed before dropping a ton of money on it.

Shopping for Online Mattresses

Here are a list of pages and guides we have on our site that we think should be most helpful to you and your mattress buying process:

• Buying a Mattress Online
• Best Online Mattress
• How to Return a Mattress
• Making Mattress Shopping Fun

Buy at the Best Time of Year

Shop around the holidays. Perhaps one of the biggest industry secrets is that a lot of bedding brands have huge savings around the holidays. And not just Christmas or Thanksgiving (Black Friday and Cyber Monday), but around President’s Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day, too. 

For more tips, see our guide on When’s the Best Time to Buy a Mattress.

Find the Best Deals

Utilize our coupons. Did you know that Sleepopolis has year-round discounts on some of the most popular mattress brands? Snag some major savings by taking a peep at our mattress coupons page.

Determine a Reasonable Sizing

If you’re sleeping w a partner or pet and need more space, consider opting for a queen instead of spending extra cash on extra space you may not need on a king or California king.

Mattress Roundups by Size

• Best Twin Mattress
• Best Twin XL Mattress
• Best Full Mattress
• Best Queen Mattress
• Best King Mattress
• Best California King Mattress

Materials for the Best Mattresses Under $500

Below, we’re going to break down a few of the materials used in the construction of these beds, describing not just how they feel, but also how expensive they tend to be.

All-Foam Mattresses

Memory foam has a slow response to pressure, which provides plenty of space for folks to sink in for relief at the shoulders and hips. Many describe the best memory foam mattresses as having a contouring “hug,” so it could work particularly well for folks who like to feel more “in” their bed than “on top” of it. In terms of price, memory foam can be expensive, mostly because it’s a super-dense material. But, if you’re able to find a mattress that pairs memory foam with a less-expensive material, you could reap all its benefits at half the cost.

Poly foam has a quicker response to pressure than memory foam, so it establishes a firmer and bouncier feel. Though poly foam doesn’t have nearly as many comfort benefits of memory foam (no sinkage, body-contouring, or deep pressure relief here), the material is pretty affordable. So, we’d recommend snagging a mattress that uses this material somewhere in its design to help cut down on the overall cost.

Latex Mattresses

Latex is an eco-friendly foam option that’s soft, bouncy, and naturally cooling. There are a ton of benefits to the best latex mattresses, so they tend to be expensive, especially if latex is the primary material used in the bed’s construction. One way to get it at a budget price is to look for a latex-foam alternative. Several brands have developed their own take on all-natural latex, so keep your eyes peeled as you investigate your potential mattress’ construction specs.

Hybrid Mattresses

Hybrid mattresses combine foam layers with either pocketed coils or springs. For this reason, the best hybrid mattresses typically pretty expensive, though that’s not always the case. If you want a hybrid mattress, you’ll just have to make sure that the foam comfort layers are made from an affordable material (see above).

Innerspring Mattresses

Innerspring mattresses are made almost exclusively from tall steel coils (though some beds do feature foam comfort layers or pillow top sections). This makes them one of the least expensive mattress options on the market. If you’re looking to really cut down on the overall price of your bed, you could go with one of the best innerspring mattresses… as long as you don’t mind a firm, bouncy, and ultra-supportive feel.

How We Chose the Best Mattresses Under $500

Pressure Relief

We talked about this measure a little bit above, but pressure relief refers to how well (or not well) a mattress is able to alleviate tension at sensitive spots like the shoulders, hips, and lower back. It could be especially important for those who experience pain or doze primarily on their sides.

So, how can you score high-quality pressure relief on a cheap mattress? By paying attention to the materials in the comfort layers. If you need a bed that’s deeply pressure-relieving, we’d recommend looking for mattresses built with either quilted pillow-top layers or thick sections of memory foam. Either material is worth the splurge if you’re a sleeper who regularly wakes up with aches and pains in the night.

We also recommend trying out a new mattress for at least two weeks before committing to it. Thankfully, a lot of direct-to-consumer online brands have generous trial periods that allow folks to do just that. This can also help with concerns of pulling the trigger too fast on a purchase.

How Do We Test Pressure Relief?

Our method of testing pressure relief on a mattress is two-fold. First, we lay on the mattress in different sleeping positions to see if we initially feel any pressure buildup, such as if there is noticeable pressure on the shoulder in the side sleeping position. Then, we use a heat-mapping pressure map to show visually where pressure is building along the body in various sleeping positions.

Support

Though definitions of support vary, we like to think about it in terms of spinal alignment. If a bed is truly supportive, it will be able to lift the hips in line with the shoulders, establishing a straight line all across the body.

To determine the support level of your mattress, pay extra-close attention to the foundational core of the bed. In our opinion, pocketed coils and steel springs are some of the most supportive materials around. Not only do they lend their structures a ton of firmness and bounce, but they actively work to position the sleeper more “on top” of the bed than “in” it. If you’re a back sleeper or someone who likes to move around at night, you’ll really want to dig into the construction specs of your mattress to find out what its base is made of.

We’d also note that mattresses with three or more layers tend to be more supportive than mattresses built with single-layer or two-layer designs. This creates more space for folks to sink into the structure, providing a more nuanced or “balanced” vibe. A lot of budget mattresses only feature two layers, so be on the lookout for ones that utilize more materials.

FAQs

What is a good price range for a mattress?

At Sleepopolis, we categorize mattresses as Cheap, Budget, Average, or Luxury. Based on the price of  a queen size, we consider under $1,000 to be cheap, $1,000 to $1,500 to be budget, $1,500 to $2,000 to be average, and over $2,000 to be luxury. Learn more in our guide on how much you should spend on a mattress.

What are the disadvantages of a cheap mattress?

The primary disadvantages of a cheap mattress will likely be 1) lower quality materials, 2) shorter trial period and warranty, if offered at all, and 3) the mattress may not be as supportive. However, there are some quality cheap options out there.

What is the best time to buy a mattress?

Holidays such as Labor Day, Memorial Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are often the best times to buy a mattress, since many companies run sales.

How We Chose These Mattresses

We’ve reviewed more than 300 products in our mattress lab, running each one through tests such as pressure-mapping and measuring motion transfer with a seismometer. From there, we give every bed an overall score based on materials, comfort, support, cooling, and edge support. We also factor in brand performance with categories such as value and warranty.

For this particular roundup, we naturally chose mattresses where a queen size costs less than $500 after discounts. We then focused on the category of value, stacking how well each mattress performs against how much it costs. With all of that in mind, we then only selected beds that have an overall score of 3.5 out of 5 or higher. And of these four products, three of them scored a 4 or higher. Jump back to our mattress picks or click here to learn more about our methodology.

Summary: The Best Mattresses Under $500

Mattress	Best For	Price (Queen)	Coupon	Review
Lucid Hybrid	Hybrid	$1,332	See Our Coupons	Read Our Review
Dreamfoam Essential	Cooling	$1,099	Brooklyn Bedding Coupon	Read Our Review
Novilla Vitality	Stomach Sleepers	$1,795	See Our Coupons	Read Our Review
Siena	Back Sleepers	$2,449	See Our Coupons	Read Our Review
Minocasa Hybrid	Heavy Sleepers	$1,199	See Our Coupons	Read Our Review

Lauren Hapgood

Staff Writer

About Author

Lauren is on the editorial team and is a Certified Sleep Coach at Sleepopolis, where she researches the best mattresses for all types of sleepers. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. When Lauren isn’t keeping readers updated on the best sleep products, you can find her playing guitar, going for a run, or reading classic novels.

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