Saatva and Purple are two of the most popular online mattress retailers. Although these mattresses have some similarities, they’re set apart by key differences that could determine which one is best for you. No two sleepers are the same, so you’ll want to choose a mattress that’s compatible with your body type, preferred sleeping position, and specific sleep needs.
In this Saatva vs Purple mattress comparison, I’ll put these beds through a series of tests and compare how they performed, as well as explain what this could mean for different types of sleepers. We’ll take a look inside the mattresses and discuss their construction, feel, durability, and brand policies. I’ll also evaluate the beds for cooling, motion transfer, pain relief, and more.
I want to note that the Saatva Classic comes in three firmness options: Plush Soft, Luxury Firm, and Firm. In this comparison, I’ll be focusing on the Luxury Firm model.
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Saatva vs Purple
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Here’s a brief overview of the strong points of the Saatva and Purple, as well as which type of sleepers are best suited for them.
| Saatva is best for… | Purple is best for … |
| Combination sleepers | Hot sleepers |
| Back sleepers | Couples |
| Innerspring lovers | People with joint pain |
Saatva vs Purple Comparison Video
Saatva vs Purple: Top Similarities
- Responsiveness: The Saatva and Purple mattresses are pretty bouncy and could be good choices for combination sleepers.
- Sleeping position: Both mattresses feel comfortable and supportive for back sleepers.
- Cooling: These mattresses sleep cool and could be good for hot sleepers.
Saatva vs Purple: Top Differences
- Construction: The Saatva is a traditional innerspring mattress containing coils, and the Purple is a hybrid mattress with foams and a hyper-elastic polymer grid.
- Edge support: The Saatva has excellent edge support that’s strong and supportive. The Purple lacks strong edge support.
- Delivery: Although both mattresses ship for free, the Purple will arrive compressed in a box at your door, and the Saatva will be delivered and set up for free by a team of Saatva workers.
Saatva vs Purple: Construction & Feel Differences
Now that we’ve tackled the main similarities and differences, let’s discuss how it feels to sleep on the Saatva and Purple mattresses. I’ve tested these mattresses for different feel factors, such as firmness, pressure relief, bounce, and sinkage.
Before we begin, I want to remind you that these factors are subjective and can change depending on the sleeper’s body size, shape, and weight.
What’s the Firmness Difference?
A mattress’s firmness is very dependent on the sleeper. Because firmness can feel different to different people, I always test firmness with a handful of coworkers (all of whom are Certified Sleep Science Coaches) and have everyone individually rate the mattress. We rate firmness on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is the softest and 10 is the firmest. A mattress with a score of 6.5 out of 10 marks a true medium-firm mattress. After we’ve all rated the mattress, I calculate the average to create our final score.
The Saatva Classic comes in three firmness options: Plush Soft, Luxury Firm, and Firm. In this comparison, I’ll be focusing on the Luxury Firm model. We gave this mattress a score of 6.5 out of 10, making it a true medium-firm bed. The medium-firm feel comes from the innerspring construction, which offers quite a bit of support. The Firm model will likely feel closer to a 7 or 8 on the mattress firmness scale, while the Plush Soft will be the softest of the three choices.
The Purple mattress is just a touch firmer than the Saatva, earning a 7 out of 10 on the mattress firmness scale. This mattress has a unique construction. A patented hyperelastic polymer Purple Grid makes the bed a bit firmer and adds support.
What Does Each Mattress Feel Like?
You now know where these mattresses fall on our firmness scale – the Saatva is a 6.5 out of 10 and the Purple is a 7 out of 10 – but how does it feel to actually sleep on these beds?
The Saatva is a traditional innerspring mattress made with two layers of coils. These coils help keep the sleeper lifted, and I could feel them working together to support my weight. The coils prevented me from sinking too far into the mattress, and I definitely felt more “on” the bed than “in” the bed. The coils also make the mattress pretty bouncy, and it was easy to move around and switch sleeping positions. In between the coil layers is a layer of zoned support foam. This foam adds just a bit of sinkage to the bed and gives the coils something soft to bounce off of. The mattress is topped off with a soft quilted Euro pillow top. I liked how the plush pillow top provided some immediate cushioning and pressure relief.
The Purple Grid inside the Purple mattress has a unique feel that a lot of sleepers enjoy. This bed provides a lot of lift and not a ton of sinkage. The waffle-like design of the hyper-elastic polymer grid makes it stretchy and able to cradle my pressure points. I felt like my weight was being distributed evenly, and there was a nice balance of comfort and support. The grid provides the bed with a lot of bounce, and it was easy to roll around and switch sleeping positions.
How Does The Construction Differ?
Saatva vs Purple Per Body Type
As I mentioned earlier, a mattress can feel very different to sleepers depending on their body type and preferred sleeping position. Let’s take a look at how the Saatva and Purple may feel for different sleepers.
Saatva Mattress by Body Type
| Body Weight | Side | Back | Stomach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (under 130lbs) |
unpleasant | good | good |
| Average (130-250lbs) |
good | excellent | good |
| Heavy (over 250lbs) |
unpleasant | excellent | unpleasant |
| Body Weight: Light (under 130lbs) | |
|---|---|
| Side Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Back Sleeper | good |
| Stomach Sleeper | good |
| Body Weight: Average (130-150lbs) | |
| Side Sleeper | good |
| Back Sleeper | excellent |
| Stomach Sleeper | good |
| Body Weight: Heavy (over 250lbs) | |
| Side Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Back Sleeper | excellent |
| Stomach Sleeper | unpleasant |
Purple Mattress by Body Type
| Body Weight | Side | Back | Stomach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (under 130lbs) |
excellent | excellent | excellent |
| Average (130-250lbs) |
unpleasant | excellent | unpleasant |
| Heavy (over 250lbs) |
unpleasant | unpleasant | unpleasant |
| Body Weight: Light (under 130lbs) | |
|---|---|
| Side Sleeper | excellent |
| Back Sleeper | excellent |
| Stomach Sleeper | excellent |
| Body Weight: Average (130-150lbs) | |
| Side Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Back Sleeper | excellent |
| Stomach Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Body Weight: Heavy (over 250lbs) | |
| Side Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Back Sleeper | unpleasant |
| Stomach Sleeper | unpleasant |
Saatva vs Purple Comparing Mattress Performance
Our team of Certified Sleep Science Coaches put every mattress we review through a series of tests to objectively assess how they perform in areas such as cooling, pressure relief, motion isolation, and more. Read on to learn how the Saatva and Purple performed on our tests.
Temperature
When I assess cooling, I first take a look at the mattress’s construction. All-foam mattresses tend to trap heat within their layers, but the Saatva has two layers of coils that allow air to flow through the mattress and keep it breathable. I next used a thermal gun to find out how much the mattress heated up after laying on it for 15 minutes. The Saatva heated up 9.3 degrees, which indicates decent cooling. I did feel pretty cool when sleeping on it, so I would recommend the Saatva to hot sleepers.
Although the Purple is a foam mattress, the polymer grid has a waffle-like design that’s super breathable and promotes airflow. When using the thermal gun on the Purple, I found that its temperature only increased by 4.8 degrees after laying on it for 15 minutes. These are great results, and I think the Purple could be a solid choice for any sleeper prone to overheating.
Motion Isolation
If you sleep with a partner, pet, or child, you may frequently wake up at night due to their tossing and turning. A mattress with low motion transfer is able to keep movement isolated to one side of the bed and prevent it from being felt on the other side. All-foam mattresses are typically the best at absorbing motion, while the bounce from the coils in hybrid and innerspring mattresses makes it harder to hide motion. We test motion transfer using three tests: a human test, a wine test, and a seismometer test.
The human test is simple– I lay down on one side of the mattress and have a colleague move around on the other side to see how much motion I can feel. On the Saatva, I felt a lot of my colleague’s movement, especially when they got in and out of bed. For the wine test, we set a glass of wine on one side of the mattress, roll around on the other side, and then observe how much the liquid moved. The wine splashed around and the glass swayed a bit, but there was no spillage. Finally, I dropped a 10-pound steel ball onto the mattress from three heights and then used a seismometer to measure the disturbance levels. The seismometer graph showed a lot of spiking, which indicates high motion transfer. I’m not too surprised by these results considering the Saatva has two layers of springy coils. Overall, I’d say the Saatva has very average motion isolating abilities, and you may be disturbed by a partner’s movement.
I performed the human test on the Purple mattress and didn’t feel my colleague moving around on the other side of the mattress, even when they were getting in and out of bed. When observing the wine test, I saw a bit of liquid moving in the glass but no sloshing or spilling. Finally, the Purple performed very well on the seismometer test; the small spikes on the graph were nothing to be concerned about. The Purple is a bouncier mattress, but I was impressed with its low motion transfer and could see it being a nice choice for couples, especially if one or both sleepers wake up easily.
Edge Support
Edge support refers to how strong a mattress is along its perimeter. A mattress with solid edge support will be just as strong at the perimeter as it is in the center. Edge support can indicate how durable a mattress is and whether it’s prone to premature sagging. Couples can also appreciate strong edge support because it allows them to spread out and use the entire mattress, which can make the bed feel larger.
I was impressed by the edge support on the Saatva mattress. This mattress has reinforced edge support that combines coils with firm polyfoam to create a strong perimeter. When sitting on the edge, the mattress sank less than an inch under my weight. I didn’t feel like I was slipping off the mattress when laying on the edge. I think Saatva has the best edge support out of all the mattresses I’ve reviewed.
Unfortunately, I found the edge support on the Purple mattress to be quite disappointing. When I sat on the edge of the mattress, it sank immediately under my weight and I could feel the layers of foam collapsing. The Purple does not have coils, which can help a mattress achieve stronger edge support.
Pressure Relief
We test pressure relief using a specialized mat that we roll onto each mattress and then lay down on. The mat is able to sense pressure and translate the results into a graphic, called a pressure map, using thermal imaging. Areas showing blue and green indicate low pressure, and areas showing yellow and red indicate high pressure.
As you can see on the pressure map, the Saata produces mostly blue and green, indicating low pressure buildup. I’m very happy with the amount of blue in the back area, and the Saatva did a great job at supporting the lumbar region and providing pressure relief. There is a small amount of green at the hips and shoulders, but I don’t find this concerning and still think the Saatva relieved pressure well in these areas. The top layers of foam helped ease me onto the coils, and the medium-firm feel kept me lifted and supported without placing pressure on my joints.
The Purple also performed exceptionally well on the pressure relief test. The pressure map is overwhelmingly blue, which shows us that the Purple does a great job of relieving pressure and could be a great choice for anyone looking for extra support.
Pain Relief
When assessing a mattress’s ability to relieve pain, we can take another look at the pressure maps. If a mattress does a good job at relieving pressure in a certain region, there’s a good chance that it can help reduce preexisting pain or prevent pain from forming.
The Saatva does a really great job at relieving back pain, and those struggling with tension or stiffness in this area could find a lot of relief on this mattress. Per the green on the map, there’s a small amount of pressure building at the hips and shoulders, but I don’t think this will be an issue for sleepers that don’t have preexisting pain in those areas. However, people with very sensitive shoulder and hip joints may want to check out our best mattress for hip pain or best mattress for shoulder pain instead.
The Purple is a good choice for anyone experiencing pain in the back, hips, and shoulders. This mattress is really the jack of all trades when it comes to pain relief, and that’s largely due to the hyperelastic polymer grid that works to cradle every part of the body. I think it’s unlikely that you’ll experience new pain when sleeping on the Purple mattress.
Durability
We can determine a mattress’s durability by looking at the materials it’s made with and examining their quality. Edge support can also be an indicator of whether or not the mattress is prone to sagging over time. Lastly, we can take a glance at the mattress warranty, which can tell us the brand’s confidence in the bed’s ability to withstand the test of time.
The Saatva is a super durable mattress. This bed is constructed with high-quality materials that should last a long time. The two layers of coils ensure that the mattress won’t sag over time, and the reinforced edge support system affirms this. All Saatva mattresses come with a lifetime warranty, so the brand is confident in their ability to last you for many years to come.
The Purple is pretty durable, but it’s likely not the most durable mattress out there. It contains foams that aren’t very dense, and the flexible grid adds gaps to its construction. The lack of edge support is concerning, and I could see this mattress potentially sagging over time. The Purple comes with a 10-year warranty. This isn’t a forever guarantee but is still pretty solid.
Company Policies
Saatva Policies
- Trial period – 365-night sleep trial
- Shipping – Free white glove delivery
- Mattress Warranty – Lifetime warranty
Purple Policies
- Trial Period – 100-night sleep trial
- Shipping – Free
- Mattress Warranty – 10-year warranty
Saatva Sleepopolis Customer Service Rating
- Stellar: Saatva has many channels to access a customer service representative, from immediate online chat to email and phone assistance. I found their customer service reps to be polite, quick to respond, and knowledgeable about Saatva products and policies. Saatva also offers free white glove delivery with each mattress purchase, so a team of workers will arrive at your home and set the mattress up for you.
Purple Sleepopolis Customer Service Rating
- Great: I found the chat feature on Purple’s website very user-friendly, and the responses I received were detailed and friendly. Purple also has a phone number listed on its website, so you can talk through questions and issues with a Purple representative.
Comparing Saatva vs Purple Price
Price is certainly an important factor when choosing a new mattress. Below you’ll find a pricing chart for each size of both mattresses. Be sure to check out our Saatva mattress coupon page and Purple coupon page for the latest coupon codes and promotions.
Prices listed are before discount or offer for each size.
| Size | Purple | Saatva |
|---|---|---|
| Twin | $599 | $887 |
| Twin XL | $799 | $1,087 |
| Full | $999 | $1,474 |
| Queen | $1,149 | $1,574 |
| King | $1,499 | $1,974 |
| California King | $1,499 | $2,174 |
Saatva vs Purple
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Other Saatva and Purple Mattress Comparisons
Wondering how the Saatva and Purple stack up to some of their competitors from other online mattress companies? Take a look at some of our other comparisons below.
Purple vs
- Casper vs Purple
- Purple vs Puffy
- Leesa vs Purple
- Purple vs Tempurpedic
- Layla vs Purple
- DreamCloud vs Purple
- Nectar vs Purple
Saatva vs
Comparing Other Mattress Models
Saatva vs Purple Frequently Asked Questions
How do the Saatva Classic and Purple mattresses ship?
The Purple ships for free and arrives at your door compressed in a box. It may take 24-48 hours for the mattress to completely decompress. The Saatva mattress comes with free white glove delivery, so a team of Saatva workers will come to your home and set up the new mattress for you and dispose of your old one.
Are the Saatva and Purple mattresses good for hot sleepers?
Yes. The coils within the Saatva allows for plenty of airflow and keeps the mattress nice and breathable. The Purple’s hyper-elastic polymer grid is also super breathable and helps the mattress sleep cool.
Is the Purple firmer than the Saatva mattress?
The Purple is just a touch firmer than the Saatva. We gave the Saatva a score of 6.5 out of 10 on our mattress firmness scale, where 1 is the softest and 10 is the firmest. This makes the Saatva a true medium-firm mattress. The Purple scored a 7 out of 10, making it slightly firmer.
What are the return policies for the Saatva and Purple mattresses?
Saatva accepts returns within their 365-night trial period, but you’ll have to pay a $99 processing fee. You can return the Purple mattress 21 days after delivery and before the 100-night trial period ends.
As we wrap up, I’d like to leave you with a few of my favorite things about the Saatva, as well as some of my complaints.
Now that the comparison is almost over, I want to call out a few highlights and a few noticeable complaints.
Our Review Process
Our Sleepopolis reviewers personally test each mattress. We start by unboxing the mattress to figure out how difficult (or easy) it is to get the mattress from the box to the bed. Then, we spend time laying on the bed in different positions, taking time to assess it on our backs, stomachs, and sides. Next, we perform our Sleepopolis tests, using specialized tools to measure qualities like motion transfer, bounce, and pressure relief. Our last step is to open up the mattress and take a look at each layer. These steps allow us to give our final verdict on the mattress. Jump back to our mattress picks.