What’s The Best Firm Mattress? Top Choice + 3 Alternatives To Have You Sleeping Comfortably

Spoiler alert: my top choice for the best firm mattress is the Avocado Green Mattress:

Looking for the best firm mattress but feeling overwhelmed by all the options available? Feeling unsure about what it even means to call a mattress “firm?”. Firm mattresses are favored for promoting good sleep in many countries around the world, and a firm mattress could be just what you need. What’s the best firm mattress, and what are the answers to all those other burning questions?

I’ve spent countless hours reviewing online mattresses, and have a good idea of what different people will need for a mattress that is firm for them. I’m also very confident in the five mattresses I’ve chosen to recommend to you here, so save yourself hours of research and vexation and find your best firm mattress here.

Which Will Feel Firm For ME?

There are a number of factors that will determine whether a mattress feels firm to you or not, and for that reason some of the mattresses on this list are less firm than others.

• Lighter people will need a mattress rated around 6.5 – 7.5 on the mattress firmness scale for a mattress to feel firm without being uncomfortable. Anything firmer will probably be unable to offer you any pressure relief and will be too firm.
• Side sleepers also need a mattress rated around 6.5 -7.5 in their quest for the best firm mattress. If you’re a side sleeper, you’ll know that you need some responsive cushioning around your shoulder to prevent that “dead arm” feeling.
• Heavier people will do best on a mattress rated at least an 8 out of 10, so really getting into that quite firm end of the scale. The firmer the mattress, the better it can contour and support your body weight just as you need it to.
• Stomach sleepers also need a mattress right at the extreme end of the firmness scale (unless you’re a really light stomach sleeper) because you put a lot of weight through your pelvis as you sleep. This needs a firm mattress to do the job of keeping your spine aligned during the night.
• If you are a back or combination sleeper, your body weight may determine which of the mattresses is right for you. If you are an average weight then a firm mattress that will feel comfortable for you probably sits around the 6.5 to 8.5 depending on if you want “gentle firm” or “really firm”.

How I Chose The Top Mattresses For This List

The options for purchasing a mattress online are seemingly endless. Having too many options can be really overwhelming, as mattresses can start to all look the same as each other after a while! And what is going to feel firm for YOU? I’ve been casting my critical eye over the online mattress market for well over a year now, and am really happy with this list I’ve prepared for you. Here are the criteria each mattress had to meet to get a place on my list:

• High quality materials
• Lots of happy customers, with lots of reports that the mattress lives up to the marketing claims made by the company
• Great customer service
• Generous sleep trials and warranty periods
• A unique feature that isn’t found in other mattresses
• A minimum firmness level of 6.5 out of 10 on the mattress firmness scale (this will feel comfortably firm for lighter people and side sleepers) and a maximum firmness level of 10 out of 10 (the firmest you’ll get)

The Five Best Firm Mattresses For 2020 Are:

Best Memory Foam Firm Mattress: Plank By Brooklyn Bedding

Unique Feature: The firmest mattress your money can buy.

OVERVIEW

Sleep Trial: 120 nights
Warranty: 10 Years

Firmness: 8 on one side, 10 on the other

Materials:

• Quilted top (but with zero loft to ensure maximum firmness)
• Proprietary “TitanFlex” foam (a highly responsive, open cell foam designed to be durable and cooling)
• High density core foam
• Quilted bottom
• Optional cooling pad (at extra cost)

Best For

• People looking for the firmest mattress on the market
• People who want a mattress with two firmness options
• Heavier people wanting to try a memory foam mattress
• Stomach sleepers

The Plank Mattress by Brooklyn Bedding really tells you everything you need to know in its name: it is FIRM, no question about it! The Plank mattress has two unique features that helped it win its place as the best firm memory foam mattress: it is flippable (one side is rated a firm 8, the other an extremely firm 10) AND it has the highest firmness rating out of all mattresses I have ever reviewed, of any material. If you’re in the market for the firmest mattress you can find, this. is. it.

The TitanFlex foam used in this mattress has been designed to be really durable, and features in several other Brooklyn Bedding mattresses, for example the Titan, which is their leading mattress for heavy people. It’s a beautiful quality foam.

You’ll find no shortage of happy customers leaving reviews about the Plank living up to its name, and I couldn’t find anyone complaining that it was too soft. If you want a firm memory foam mattress this is the one for you.

Best Latex Firm Mattress: Botanical Bliss By PlushBeds

Unique Feature: The most customizable mattress of this review.

OVERVIEW

Sleep Trial: 100 nights
Warranty: 25 Years

Firmness: Range from 7-9, customizable to your preference

Materials:

• Cover
• Organic Natural Latex (you choose if you want 3 or 4 layers)

Best For

• People wanting a mattress made of natural materials
• People who like the idea of being able to customize the feel of a mattress by rearranging its internal layers
• Couples who have different firmness preferences
• Higher body weight
• Stomach sleepers

The Botanical Bliss mattress (you’ll be buying the “medium-firm” option to get the latex layers shown above) by PlushBeds is my favorite latex mattress in any category, not just firm mattresses. Why? There are a couple of reasons.

First, it’s pretty darn rare to find a full latex mattress that uses organic latex. This is something really special about PlushBeds.

Second, it’s highly customizable. As you can see from the picture, your PlushBeds mattress is made up of internal latex layers with different firmness levels. You may move them around as shown, to change the firmness of the mattress until it’s exactly what you want. Not only that, but if you buy a King size, the latex is actually split down the middle, so each person using the mattress can move their own layers around to have them exactly how they want.

Botanical Bliss is a highly versatile, high quality mattress that will work well for a wide range of people.

Best Hybrid Firm Mattress: Avocado Green

Unique Feature: Top rated by Consumer Reports and most eco-friendly mattress with zero carbon manufacturing

OVERVIEW

Sleep Trial: 365 nights
Warranty: 25 Years

Firmness: 7

Materials:

• Organic cotton cover
• Organic wool
• Organic Latex
• Pocket coil support core

Best For

• People looking for an eco friendly mattress
• People looking for luxury touches such as hand tufting and all organic materials
• A wide range of sleepers

Voted one of the best mattresses you can by for several years running by Consumer Reports, the Avocado Green mattress boasts the best materials you could hope for in a hybrid mattress. Everything is organic, and the coils are arranged into 5 zones for targeted pressure relief. Avocado is an eco friendly company, who donate 1% of their profits to “1% For The Planet” and aim for zero carbon manufacturing.

The mattress is full of luxurious touches, such as hand tufting on the cover, and a beautiful layer of wool between the cover and the latex of the comfort layer.

With a firmness rating of 7 and the high quality durable materials, this is the mattress out of all on this list that will appeal to the widest range of people. It’s firm but not too firm, it’s got a bit of softness but robust materials. It’s pretty much the Goldilocks of mattresses, I think it should feel “just right” for many of you. The 365 night sleep trial is not a typo, you’ve got a whole year to decide if your Avocado Green Mattress is truly the best mattress for you so there’s nothing to lose here.

Best Luxury Firm Mattress: DreamCloud

Unique Feature: The mattress with the most layers and longest trial/warranty

OVERVIEW

Sleep Trial: 365 nights
Warranty: Lifetime

Firmness: 6.5

Materials:

• Cashmere blend cover
• Memory foam quilted Euro top
• High density gel memory foam
• Low motion transfer foam
• Pocket coil support core
• Porous foam

Best For

• Like Avocado, DreamCloud will suit a wide range of sleepers
• Those who want to try out the feel of memory foam without sacrificing the familiarity of coils
• People looking for the best trial and warranty period you can think of

DreamCloud is a really nice hybrid mattress made of coils and memory foam. It has a generous height thanks to its many layers, and has a wonderfully luxe cashmere blend cover. Each layer has been carefully engineered to complement the layers around it, and high quality, breathable foams sit on top of a robust coil support system which has been engineered to provide strong edge support.

DreamCloud offer an unbeatable year long sleep trial and lifetime warranty, so if you’re feeling nervous about buying a mattress in a box these should put your mind completely at ease.

I’ve classified DreamCloud as the best luxury pick in this review, and this is based on the volume and quality of great materials that have gone into this mattress. You might get a pleasant surprise when you click on the price tag, DreamCloud offers more than value for money, it well exceeds it.

Best Budget Firm Mattress: Tuft And Needle

Unique Feature: The hot favorite on Amazon that won’t break your bank

OVERVIEW

Sleep Trial: 100 nights
Warranty: 10 Years

Firmness: 6.5

Materials:

• Knit cover
• Graphite and gel infused foam
• High density support foam

Best For

• People looking for a firm mattress under $700
• Lighter people wanting a mattress that will feel firm for them
• Side sleepers

The Tuft and Needle mattress was an easy choice for my top budget pick. It has some great foams with innovative cooling technology infused into the comfort layer. It has a 100 night sleep trial, which is very difficult to find on budget priced mattresses sold on Amazon. It has thousands of happy customers (based on verified purchases) and is a top seller.

Being an all foam mattress with a firmness rating of 6.5, this mattress is going to feel like a great firm mattress for lighter people and for side sleepers. If you’re a heavier person or a stomach sleeper, I have to say that this mattress will not cut it for you: it’s going to feel too soft and I suggest you look at some of the others in this review.

Author’s Choice

So if I had to choose one of these winning mattresses for myself, which one would it be?

The one I would buy is: The Avocado Green Mattress

Why? I’d consider my husband and myself to be of average weight and to be combination sleepers (I often fall asleep on my side and wake on my back). This means a mattress rated around 6.5-8 is going to be right for us if we’re looking for a firm mattress. It truly is a mattress that will work well for most people, which is not an easy thing to engineer.

Avocado makes a mattress with extremely high quality materials which are all organic. They are an eco friendly company, which I think is something we all should be giving more and more credence to. And to top it all off, you’re paying a very reasonable price for all of these features and you get a whole year to try it out at home. Read my full review of it here.