Purple is best known for their mattresses featuring their signature hyper-elastic polymer grid, but Purple offers a lot of other products besides mattresses, including pillows. If you’re interested in a new pillow from Purple but not sure which is right for you, then keep on reading! I’ll be comparing the original Purple pillow, the Purple Harmony, and the Purple Cloud pillows to help you pick the best pillow for you.
Just want the highlights? Skip to the end for my review summary.
Purple Pillow vs Purple Harmony vs Purple Cloud: Which is Better for You?
Everyone has different needs from their pillow. Your sleeping position, body temperature, and body type can all play a role in how well a pillow will work for you — not to mention personal preferences.
If you want to take a deeper dive into any of these pillows, we’ve got you covered with a full length Purple pillow review, Purple Harmony pillow review, and Purple Cloud pillow review.
Who should try the Purple Pillow
- Every sleeping position — back, side and stomach sleepers — can sleep comfortably on the Purple pillow. It comes with adjustable boosters that allow you to customize the loft, so it can maintain spinal alignment in all sleeping positions.
- If you like a firmer pillow, the Purple pillow is a great choice. It feels firm, but it cradles the head and neck nicely.
- The Purple grid core of the Purple pillow allows for lots of airflow, so it sleeps really cool — making it a good option for hot sleepers.
Purple Pillow
Built with contouring hyper-elastic polymer, the Purple pillow is fantastic for those in need of pressure relief.
Sleepopolis Score
3.80 / 5
Read Full Review
Who should try the Purple Harmony
- The Purple Harmony is also a great pick for hot sleepers. Its Purple Grid Hex gel pad and latex core promote lots of airflow and keep it super cool.
- As a back sleeper, I thought the Purple Harmony was basically the perfect back sleeping pillow. It kept my head and neck properly aligned, and the medium firmness is just right comfort-wise. It comes in multiple lofts, but I recommend the low or medium loft for back sleepers.
- I also think it’s a great pillow for side sleepers, but I’d go with the medium or high loft to ensure spinal alignment.
Purple Harmony™ Pillow
The Purple Harmony is great for back and side sleepers and is extremely breathable to help you sleep cool through the night!
Sleepopolis Score
4.40 / 5
Read Full Review
Who should try the Purple Cloud
- The Purple Cloud has a high loft that makes it great for maintaining side sleepers’ spinal alignment.
- It’s the only one of these pillows that’s entirely machine washable, which makes it a great option for people with allergies or who like to keep their bedding super clean.
- The Purple Cloud is also the least expensive of these three pillows from Purple, making it a better choice for shoppers on a budget.
Purple Cloud Pillow
The Purple Cloud pillow is a down alternative pillow filled with gel fibers coated in silicone.
Sleepopolis Score
4.10 / 5
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Purple Pillow, Purple Harmony, and Purple Cloud Feel Comparison
I personally tested all three of these pillows so that I could give you an idea of how they feel, but keep in mind that feel is subjective, so you might have a different experience than me.
Each sleeping position generally does best with a different feel from their pillow: side sleepers with a firmer feel, stomach sleepers with a softer feel, and back sleepers with a medium feel. This is because the head and neck are placed differently when sleeping in these positions, and you want to ensure that your neck stays aligned with the rest of your spine.
Purple Pillow Firmness
Overall, I found the Purple pillow to be pretty firm. I wasn’t expecting that, because when I first felt the Purple grid, it felt super squishy. But once you lay your head on it, the grid meshes under your head and neck to gently cradle them, while still maintaining firm support.
Purple Harmony Pillow Firmness
The Purple Harmony has more of a medium firmness than the original Purple pillow. Its latex core gives it a bouncy and supportive feel, but it has enough give that you’ll get some contouring around your head and neck.
Purple Cloud Pillow Firmness
I found that the Purple Cloud also had a medium firmness, but it’s quite a different feel than the Harmony’s. The gel fiber fill gives the Purple Cloud some of the softness of traditional down — your head will sink down into it — but it maintains an elevating feel, so you don’t sink quite as much as you might with traditional down.
Purple Pillow, Purple Harmony, and Purple Cloud Lofts
Loft is another term for a pillow’s height. Like firmness, each sleeping position does best with a different loft. Side sleepers do best with a higher loft, stomach sleepers with a low loft, and back sleepers with a medium loft. Again, the purpose is to ensure spinal alignment.
The Purple pillow’s loft is 3 inches, but it comes with two adjustable boosters that can be added under the Purple grid to raise the loft. One booster is an inch and the other is a half inch, so the loft can be raised to a total of 4 ½ inches with the boosters. Or if you want your pillow to be even taller, you can order additional boosters from Purple.
The Purple Harmony pillow comes in three different lofts. The low loft version is 5.5 inches, the medium is 6.5 inches, and the high is 7.5 inches. And the Purple Cloud comes in just one loft: 6 inches.
With the firmness and lofts of these pillows in mind, let’s go over how they work for different sleeping positions.
Side — All three of these pillows work well for side sleepers. I thought the Purple pillow’s firm feel was great for maintaining spinal alignment while side sleeping, but I would definitely recommend adding in the boosters, as 3 inches is a pretty low loft. If you have a larger frame, you may even want to order an additional booster to raise the loft to the right height for you.
The Purple Harmony is also quite comfortable for side sleeping. I’d recommend the medium or high loft versions, as 6.5-7.5 inches are all in the range of what I would consider a “high loft.” And the Purple Cloud is a great choice for side sleepers, as it has a high loft and does a great job of keeping the head and neck properly elevated.
Back — I thought that both the Purple pillow and Purple Harmony were good back sleeper pillows. With the Purple pillow, I recommend experimenting with the boosters. The loft is lower, but the firm feel of the grid keeps the head and neck elevated. For the Harmony, I’d recommend either the low or medium loft. The “low” loft version is 5.5 inches, which is what I would actually consider to be a medium loft, so I found it to be perfect for back sleeping.
The Purple Cloud was a bit too lofty and I felt my neck craning upwards while lying on my back.
Stomach — The Purple pillow was the only one of these three pillows that I thought worked for stomach sleepers. It does have a firm feel, but the loft is low enough for a stomach sleeper and I didn’t feel my neck craning upwards at all when I was lying on my stomach with the Purple pillow. However, the Purple Cloud and even the “low” loft version of the Harmony are far too lofty for stomach sleeping.
Comparing Purple Pillow, Purple Harmony, and Purple Cloud Materials
Let’s take a look at what these three pillows are made from.
Purple Pillow Construction
Cover: The Purple pillow’s cover is a breathable mesh made from a blend of 88 percent polyester, nine percent spandex, and three percent nylon. It has a zipper underneath so that you can remove the cover to wash it or to add in the boosters.
Adjustable boosters: The Purple pillow comes with two adjustable boosters that can be added underneath the Purple grid core to raise the loft. Each booster is made from polyurethane foam covered in polyester fabric.
Core: The core of the Purple pillow is a gridded block made of the hyper-elastic polymer material used in many Purple products. It has a coating of non-toxic polyethylene copolymer that is used to prevent the grid from sticking to itself.
Purple Pillow
Built with contouring hyper-elastic polymer, the Purple pillow is fantastic for those in need of pressure relief.
Sleepopolis Score
3.80 / 5
Read Full Review
Purple Harmony Construction
Cover: The cover of the Purple Harmony is also a breathable, mesh fabric. It’s made from a blend of 92 percent nylon fiber and eight percent spandex. It’s also moisture-wicking, which is a plus for hot sleepers. The cover is removable and machine washable.
Purple grid: Sewn into the cover of the Purple Harmony is a Purple Grid Hex gel pad. It’s a mini version of the hyper-elastic polymer grid in a honeycomb pattern. Purple says there are over 2,000 open-air channels in it that allow for lots of airflow.
Core: The Purple Harmony’s core is a block of Talalay latex foam. It’s also perforated to allow for even more airflow.
Purple Harmony™ Pillow
The Purple Harmony is great for back and side sleepers and is extremely breathable to help you sleep cool through the night!
Sleepopolis Score
4.40 / 5
Read Full Review
Purple Cloud Construction
Cover: The Purple Cloud’s cover is 100 percent cotton with a 300-thread count. It is not removable, but the entire pillow is machine washable.
Fill: The fill of the Purple Cloud is 100 percent gel fiber, a down alternative. Each gel fiber is coated with silicone, which prevents the pillow from going flat or needing fluffing. It also makes the fill hypoallergenic.
Purple Cloud Pillow
The Purple Cloud pillow is a down alternative pillow filled with gel fibers coated in silicone.
Sleepopolis Score
4.10 / 5
Read Full Review
Are the Purple Pillows Good for Hot Sleepers?
If you’re a hot sleeper or if you just like the feel of a cool pillow, one of the most important qualities to assess in a pillow is whether or not it traps heat. After testing them out, I found all three of these pillows are pretty good for hot sleepers. However, the Purple Harmony and original Purple pillow are noticeably cool, whereas I’d say the Purple Cloud is more temperature-neutral. It doesn’t have any specific cooling features, but the gel fiber allows for airflow within the pillow and it has a breathable cotton cover, which keeps things decently cool.
The Purple grid core of the original Purple pillow promotes a lot of airflow and prevents heat from being trapped, leading to a cool pillow surface. And the Purple Harmony is even cooler, with a naturally-cool latex core and the Purple Grid Hex. Both of these pillows are noticeably cool to the touch.
Interested in more cooling bedding? Take a peek at our best cooling pillows and our best cooling sheets.
Comparing Purple Pillow, Purple Harmony, and Purple Cloud Sizes and Prices
Curious how much these pillows cost? Here are the prices, broken down by size. All prices are listed before discounts, but be sure to use our Purple coupon to get the best price.
| Pillow | Size | Dimensions | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purple Pillow | Standard | 24" x 16" | $134 |
| Purple Harmony | Standard | 26" x 17" | $179 |
| Purple Harmony | King | 34" x 17" | $219 |
| Purple Cloud | Standard | 24" x 17" | $59 |
| Purple Cloud | King | 34" x 17" | $79 |
My Final Thoughts About the Purple Pillows
Despite all coming from the same brand, these three pillows are quite different from each other. Here are my final takeaways on each one.
The Purple pillow is simultaneously the most versatile of these three pillows — it can work for every sleeping position — but it’s also the most controversial. Many customers who’ve reviewed it don’t like that it doesn’t have a “traditional pillow” feeling or don’t like how firm it is. I definitely fell into that camp — even though I felt that the pillow supported my head and neck well, I just didn’t like the firm feel.
However, the whole point of this pillow is to be non-traditional and that’s what some people love about it. If you do like a firmer pillow, I think you’ll appreciate how the Purple grid compresses beneath your head and neck to offer pressure relief, but still maintains firm support. I also love that Purple includes the option of boosters to adjust the loft to fit different sleepers’ needs.
The Purple Harmony was definitely my personal favorite of these three pillows. The use of the Purple Grid Hex gel pad with the latex foam core allows the pillow to conform around you, while still providing head and neck support. I’d say this pillow offers the best blend of Purple technology with a more classic pillow feel.
I also like that the Harmony comes in multiple lofts, but none of them are truly “low,” with the lowest one being 5.5 inches — what I would consider a medium loft. Therefore, I think the Purple Harmony is best suited for only back and side sleepers because there isn’t a loft low enough to prevent stomach sleepers’ necks from craning upwards.
Finally, the Purple Cloud, which is the most “traditional” of these three pillows. Because of the high loft and the elevating feel of the silicone-coated gel fibers, I thought this pillow was best suited for side sleepers. It’s also the only of these three pillows that is entirely machine washable (only the mesh covers of the other two can be machine washed), so it’s a good option for people with allergies.
Purple Policies and FAQs
How do the Purple pillows ship?
Purple ships for free within the contiguous United States. Customers in Hawaii and Alaska will have to pay an additional shipping fee.
Do the Purple pillows come with a sleep trial?
Yes, Purple offers a 100-night sleep trial with all three of these pillows. That means you can test the pillow out for up to 100 nights, and if you decide you don’t like it, you can return it within that trial period for a full refund.
Do the Purple pillows come with a warranty?
All the Purple pillows come with a 1-year warranty.
How do I clean the Purple pillows?
The Purple Cloud pillow is entirely machine washable. Purple recommends washing it in warm water on a delicate cycle. To dry, tumble on low heat on a delicate cycle, as well. Purple even says that washing the Purple Cloud can fluff it! The covers of the Purple pillow and Purple Harmony can be machine washed. Additionally, you can hand wash the core of the Purple pillow in warm water.
Do Purple pillows smell?
No, in my experience, the Purple pillows didn’t have any noticeable smell. But if you do notice any unpleasant smells from your pillows when unboxing, let them air out for a day or two and the smell should dissipate.
Are Purple pillows good for neck pain?
It depends. I think each of these pillows can work to prevent neck pain, but it depends on your sleeping position. The Purple pillow should work for every sleeping position, the Purple Harmony for back or side sleepers, and the Purple Cloud for side sleepers.
Do Purple pillows go flat?
Nope. In my experience, all three of these pillows maintained their shape well. The Purple pillow’s Purple grid core is super durable and can’t be fluffed or molded, so it keeps its shape superbly. The Purple Harmony’s latex core also keeps it from going flat, as latex reforms quickly to its original shape. And the Purple Cloud uses silicone-coated gel fibers to prevent the pillow from going flat.
Do Purple pillows need a pillowcase?
Because all three of these pillows have a washable cover or are completely washable, you don’t need a pillowcase if you don’t want one, but you certainly can use a pillowcase with any of these pillows.
What about the Purple Plush pillow?
The Purple Plush is a pillow that Purple used to offer. It featured a two-firmness design that could be changed by zipping or unzipping it and was filled with Purple’s Smart Fluff fill. However, this pillow has been discontinued. The most similar pillow currently offered would be the Purple Cloud, or the Purple TwinCloud, which isn’t featured in this review.
Other Products from Purple
- Purple mattress
- Purple Hybrid mattress
- Purple SoftStretch sheets
- Purple Platform bed frame
- Purple mattress protector
