Autumn Whitefield-Madrano laid the foundation for the original version of this guide in 2016 and 2017. Autumn also wrote Wirecutter’s guide to the best mattress and pillow protectors and encasements.

I’m Wirecutter’s senior staff writer for bedding, and I’ve written guides to sheets, blankets, duvet covers, robes, and many other categories. I took over this guide in 2018 and have written every update since, building on Autumn’s research and conducting test panels with over two-dozen testers (including myself).

We jumped into this guide with a multidisciplinary approach, interviewing experts in sleep, textiles, manufacturing, and the bedding industry, including Shannon Maher, then assistant professor of the Home Products Development department at the Fashion Institute of Technology; Terry Cralle, a registered nurse and clinical sleep educator; Jennifer Marks, editor-in-chief of Home Textiles Today; Tim O’Hearn, president and founder of Linen Society; Rebecca Robbins, sleep consultant for The Benjamin Hotel; Sean Bergman, chief operating officer of PureCare; Scott Tannen, co-founder of Boll & Branch; and Jamie Diamonstein, co-founder of Leesa.

“If you’re not sleeping as well as you should, changing pillows might be that first step,” said registered nurse and clinical sleep educator Terry Cralle. Your pillow may be worn out—lumpiness and clumping can be cues that you need to replace your pillow (except for shredded foam, since it’s already lumpy). Or you may need to reassess your body’s needs.

The experts we interviewed agreed that there’s no single best pillow for everyone, but there are pillows that will be better suited to your needs and preferences. The ideal pillow will keep your head and neck in the same relative position as when you’re standing with good posture. To find the right pillow, ask yourself what position you sleep in most of the night—on your back, side, or stomach (many people switch it up but generally fall asleep or wake up in the same position). Different types of sleepers have different needs:

Side-sleepers sleep either in a fetal position or a relatively straight one, and they need the most pillow support (roughly 4 to 6 inches). According to this study, most people are side-sleepers.

Back-sleepers usually need a pillow with somewhat less loft to stay properly aligned.

Stomach-sleepers are a trickier bunch: If you sleep with your head turned to the side and resting on a pillow, you need the least amount of support. If you tuck your arms under your torso, sleep in a half-side and half-stomach position, or have sensitive breasts, you may prefer a pillow with more cushioning.

Some manufacturers market their pillows toward back-, stomach-, or side-sleepers specifically, but there are no industry standards on what, for example, makes one model a side-sleeper pillow and another a back-sleeper pillow. At the end of the day these labels are meaningless.

The material inside the pillow also determines its level of support. We’ve tried pillows with a wide range of fills, including latex, buckwheat, and solid memory foam. But our testers have consistently preferred down (the soft, fine feathers under a bird’s main feathers, typically from geese), shredded memory foam (made with polyurethane), and down alternative (inexpensive pillow stuffing that feels similar to down; in our experience it’s usually polyester, and it’s what the majority of pillows are made with).

Down

• Pros: Down provides good neck support and comfort. It’s durable and luxurious. And it’s not made with chemicals. Stomach-sleepers often like that it molds easily around the head.
• Cons: It’s expensive and may trigger allergies (which a pillow protector can guard against). Also, down may be too warm for some people, it requires more care than other fills, and it’s not always ethically sourced.

Shredded memory foam

• Pros: Memory foam is supportive, midrange in price, and easy to maintain. It presents fewer allergy concerns and is not sourced from animals. And it works for a range of sleep positions because the moldable fill easily adjusts.
• Cons: It tends to retain heat, has a shorter lifespan, and might smell.

Down alternative

• Pros: Down alternative provides good neck support and comfort, tends to be much lower in price, and is not sourced from animals. Testers of all sleep positions like that it isn’t too stiff and stays lofty.
• Cons: It’s less durable and fluffy than down.

Once you’ve identified your primary sleep position and determined the fill you prefer, the following criteria are key in choosing a pillow that works for you. Here’s what we looked for when deciding on our picks:

Comfort: We looked for pillows with great neck support that still felt comfortable after a full night’s sleep, and we sought pillows that didn’t bunch, roll, or lose their shape during the night. We ruled out any pillows that caused overheating and sweating. We also favored pillows that were adjustable, allowing our testers to add or remove fill to fit their own body shape.

Construction: We noted when seams were reinforced with piping or binding, looked for covers made with soft, smooth fabrics, and paid attention to how neatly the covers were stitched. In the case of down, we looked for covers made with densely woven fabric that wouldn’t let fill escape. For memory-foam pillows, we paid close attention to any chemical smells that made the pillows unusable.

Return policy and warranty: We favored retailers that offered generous return policies (from 30 to 100 days) or the chance to try pillows in a store, because you really have to try a pillow to determine whether it’s a good fit. We expected higher-end pillows to come with a warranty, which usually covers manufacturer defects only. Length of coverage varies widely, but we looked for warranties of at least two years.

We took the information our experts provided and combed retail sites for promising pillows. We focused on pillows from reputable, familiar bedding companies as well as from startups and new brands we hadn’t considered before. We’ve read hundreds, if not thousands, of pillow owner reviews over the years.

Since 2016 we’ve had a total of 37 testers of various sleep positions help us test 125 pillows, spending roughly 1,230 nights of sleep to help us find our picks. Our testing process has been the same since 2018. We start with an elimination round, during which we ask a handful of testers, representing different sleep positions, to try a stack of pillows and give us feedback on the ones worth sleeping on for a full night. Then we assemble a larger panel of testers, again representing each sleep position, to do a sleep round. We send them the pillows on our short list and ask them to sleep on each for one to three nights, depending on how comfortable they are. Testers fill out a questionnaire with their feedback. There is rarely a single pillow that works for every tester, but we collect enough information to decide which pillows worked for the most people. Remember, when you’re buying pillows for yourself, so much of this decision depends on your particular body type and sleep style. In addition to our picks, there are many in our Other good pillows section that might work for you if our picks don’t.

The Nest Bedding Easy Breather Pillow has been a consistent tester favorite every year since 2016, when we first recommended it. This is our favorite pillow for side- and back-sleepers because of its firm yet soft support, adjustable shredded-foam fill, high-quality materials, and the company’s decent return and warranty policies. Nest Bedding’s pillow is completely machine-washable.

Over the years, we’ve spent many nights sleeping on the Easy Breather pillow, and it continues to be comfy and firm, offering good neck support without causing pain. In our tests, it was the top-ranked pillow among our side- and back-sleepers, scoring higher than the Xtreme Comforts, Leesa Hybrid, and Sleep Number ComfortFit Pillow Classic pillows. After five additional months of long-term testing, our panelists reported that they were still happily using their Easy Breather pillows, with no plans to switch. No one reported neck, shoulder, or back pain.

The Easy Breather is a tall pillow, and this can seem overwhelming. But, as with the Sleep Number and Xtreme Comforts pillows we recommend, the fill is adjustable. All of the foam is contained in a zippered, all-cotton inner pouch that tucks inside the outer cover. You can remove clumps of the shredded foam until you get the loft just right (and maybe save those pieces in a bag for future adjustments). We think this makes the Easy Breather pillow a flexible, work-with-your-body choice for many people. One back-sleeper told us, “I realized after [testing] all of these pillows that I like a really understuffed pillow. And this one, after I took a third of the stuffing out, was perfect. My ideal pillow.” It’s available in standard, queen, and king sizes, plus a side-sleeper version with a curved edge for your shoulder (which we haven’t tested yet).

The Easy Breather pillow’s thick, Tencel-blend cover is similar to that on our upgrade pick, the Sleep Number ComfortFit Pillow Ultimate. It’s very soft, with a stippled surface that masks the slightly lumpy texture of the shredded-foam fill (testers have noted they can feel the clumps on other foam pillows we’ve tried). The Easy Breather’s cover seemed to be of a much higher quality than the covers on the Langria, Layla, and Brooklyn Bedding foam pillows we’ve tested. And the newest version of the cover is much cooler to the touch than previous iterations (in sleep tests, though, the pillow heated up almost as quickly as it has in the past for those who sleep hot). It’s not uncommon for memory foam to smell when it’s brand new, but we haven’t heard complaints of stinky pillows from our Easy Breather sleep testers in the past. In 2019 we did receive one Easy Breather pillow that had a faint unpleasant odor, but it faded after a few days. In our 2021 tests, the Easy Breather pillow had no unpleasant smell at all.

The Easy Breather pillow comes with a 30-day return policy, which should be long enough to make sure it’s the right pillow for you. And it has a two-year warranty covering manufacturer defects. This is the best return-policy/warranty combination of any of our shredded-foam picks. The Easy Breather is also available at Nest stores, so you can try it in person before purchasing.

In addition to its cooler cover, the redesigned Easy Breather is fully machine-washable, something we haven’t previously seen in a shredded-foam pillow. The new inner pouch holding the foam is basically a very thin cotton pillowcase, but removing the outer cover to wash the inner pouch is much easier than it was with past versions of the Easy Breather. To clean the foam, you can also throw the sealed insert into your washing machine, using a cold, gentle cycle and a low-heat dryer cycle (the company suggests attaching a safety pin to the zipper opening to ensure the inner pouch stays closed). The tag of the test pillow we received said to “spot clean only.” However, after seeing the pillow advertised as being machine-washable, we checked with the company; Nest Bedding confirmed that it has done extensive testing and said the new version is definitely machine-washable. We put our test pillow in the laundry, and there were no problems with foam escaping or damage to the pouch.

How the Easy Breather pillow has held up

I’ve been using the redesigned Easy Breather pillow since summer 2021 and have no complaints. I used the previous Easy Breather version for three years, and I’ve found the two versions almost identical in comfort and durability. The newer pillow has shown no real signs of wear and tear, and it still feels very firm. With both versions, the shredded foam occasionally shifts in a way that can make the pillow feel uncomfortable. But it usually just needs fluffing or a few minutes in the dryer to revert to its original shape.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Although this pillow is machine-washable, it takes a very long time to wash—about as long as a bed-sized comforter. In my home washing machine, our test pillow needed an extra spin cycle to wring out all of the water. And in my dryer, it took 3½ hours to get the foam completely dry on low heat. The foam also expanded quite a bit in the wash, so it was hard to wrestle the cleaned insert back into its cover; after washing the insert, you may need to remove more filling and readjust it to your needs. Still, if your pillow gets heavily soiled, it’s nice to know it can be washed, unlike other shredded-foam options we’ve considered.

And even though our testers love the adjustability of the Easy Breather, they have also told us that removing handfuls of shredded foam can be messy. In 2023, one staffer who owns this pillow said that even though it’s very comfortable, he had to take out a lot of fill to get it to an optimal height for him. “[The fill] kind of gets everywhere, without a great way to store the extra fill,” he said. We think the payoffs outweigh any short-term mess. But if having some dusty clumps of foam in your bedroom sounds unappealing, consider our upgrade pick for side- and back-sleepers, the Sleep Number ComfortFit Pillow Ultimate, which has neatly sealed envelopes of fill.

The more pillows we test, the more we love customizable options. And the Sleep Number PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate is the only down-alternative pillow we’ve ever tried that offers such flexibility. Typically in our testing, stomach-sleepers gravitate toward a down-alternative fill (and sometimes down) because it’s softer than other fills and doesn’t smell (key when your face is nestled into it). We love that this Sleep Number pillow has tidy, sealed layers that you can remove to suit your body shape. As a result, the PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate is comfortable and supportive for many different types of stomach-sleepers (often a restless bunch). This pillow is also well made, and it has one of the best warranties of all our picks.

The PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate comes with three sealed layers of down-alternative filling zipped inside a crisp cotton cover—our sleep testers were each able to find a comfortable height that was just right for their needs. We also tested the PlushComfort Pillow Classic version, which doesn’t have removable layers, but our testers unanimously preferred the Ultimate’s customization. One stomach-sleeper told us, “Once I took out one of the three inserts, it was pretty much perfect.” Even some back- and side-sleepers found a good fit with two or three layers, though most of those testers preferred Sleep Number’s shredded-foam version of this pillow, the ComfortFit Pillow Ultimate.

In our tests, we’ve found that stomach-sleepers are consistently the hardest to match with a great pillow because they each tend to need something different. As with all sleep positions, body shape can also determine someone’s comfort while sleeping, but we’ve had stomach-sleepers who are also sensitive to how far into a pillow their face sinks. One stomach-sleeper told us he feels like he’s suffocating if his head sinks too low into a pillow. With three layers, the PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate provides more options for a customized fit. This pillow is especially great for stomach-sleepers because it has a more gentle give—and less resistance—than the Brooklinen and Riley down-alternative pillows we tested. Those companies, and many others whose pillows we’ve tested, make pillows in soft, medium, and firm densities, and it’s hard to know which one to buy. Because the PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate is adjustable, you get three options in one pillow. Plus, you can visit a Sleep Number store to try the pillow in person before you buy; this is a fantastic option since so many pillows we test are available only online.

We like that the PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate’s cover zips open on three sides, so you can lift the top like a lid to remove layers, rather than struggling to pull them out or push them back in. The cover’s cotton is thicker than that of other down-alternative pillows we tested from Brooklinen, Riley, and Snowe (our former top pick for stomach-sleepers). This cover is very well made, but it’s more crinkly than the ones on other pillows we’ve tested, and every internal layer is wrapped in the same crisp cotton. However, this effect didn’t bother us during our sleep tests, and we’re confident the cover will hold up to a lot of use.

Since our last update to this guide, Sleep Number has changed its no-return policy to a 100-day return policy. But you can’t return products to a Sleep Number store, only through the mail. The company also still offers a one-year warranty against defects.

How the PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate has held up

One staffer—a stomach-sleeper who often wakes up on her back—bought a PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate in December 2019. She told us, “This is the first time, maybe the longest, I’ve owned a pillow without complaint.” She uses two inserts and has washed them several times, noting that they do “go down in fluff” after a few nights of use. She has a second PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate that she uses with all three inserts, to prop up in bed; this one hasn’t lost its fluff at all. Her husband, a combo side- and back-sleeper, likes this pillow too.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Sleep Number has addressed our biggest long-standing issue with the PlushComfort pillow: the previous no-returns policy. So there’s just one note we have now: If you need to switch sleeping positions or make adjustments in the night, opening this pillow and changing the inserts can be a little involved. But it’s still so much better than sleeping with the wrong pillow.

If you sleep on your back or side and want an adjustable, shredded-memory-foam pillow, but you don’t like pulling out messy handfuls to tailor the amount of fill, the Sleep Number ComfortFit Pillow Ultimate is a tidy package that’s worth the upgrade price. The ComfortFit Pillow Ultimate is a mix of supportive shredded foam and soft down alternative, and of the adjustable pillows we tried, it was the easiest and fastest to customize. Like Sleep Number’s PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate, this pillow has three sealed layers of fill inside. The cover zips on three sides, so it opens like a suitcase and makes removing layers a cinch. Most of our testers were able to find a comfortable fit. One back-sleeping tester noted, “I took out one of the three inserts and it’s perfect! I love this way to adjust shredded foam.”

All of our testers liked the smooth, soft cover (made of Lyocell, like the Easy Breather cover), which masked any lumps in the shredded foam. And this pillow didn’t cause overheating in the night. The layers of fill are wrapped in a jersey knit, so the whole pillow is soft and noiseless (unlike the PlushComfort). Our tester pillow was also odorless, unlike the often-smelly Xtreme Comforts pillow and even one of our Easy Breather tester pillows (which needed to air out for a day or two).

Since our last pillows update, Sleep Number has changed its no-return policy to a 100-day return policy, and the company still offers a one-year limited warranty for defects.

How the ComfortFit Pillow Ultimate has held up

One of our sleep testers, a combo side- and stomach-sleeper, complained of shoulder pain from using his old down-alternative pillows. But he’s been long-term testing the ComfortFit Pillow Ultimate and reports no pain whatsoever. With all three layers inside, this was the tallest foam pillow we tried, so if you need extra loft, it might work well.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Our biggest issue with the ComfortFit had been Sleep Number’s lack of a return policy, but the company has now addressed that. So the only minor flaw our testers have noted is that if you want to make adjustments during the night, it’s a pain to add or remove layers of fill.

If you sleep on your stomach and want a luxurious down pillow that cradles your head and neck, or if you sleep in a variety of positions and know you like down pillows, we recommend the Garnet Hill Signature White Down Pillow (firm). This was the highest-rated down pillow over several rounds of testing, with some testers noting that it was the most comfortable to use in multiple positions (making it ideal for stomach-sleepers who shift in the night).

We were surprised that several of our back- and side-sleepers also gave this pillow high marks for its firm support. Down pillows have consistently been unpopular with our back- and side-sleepers, who tend to need stiffer support. So we typically recommend down pillows for stomach-sleepers, who often love them. But the Garnet Hill pillow satisfied several people sleeping in different positions. One stomach-sleeper liked its moldable feel, noting, “It’s definitely got more give to it—I could bunch it and mold it to fit my head and shoulders, as I like to do when I’m sleeping on my side and stomach.”

Garnet Hill told us the Signature White Down Pillow is 80% European white duck down, purchased from a supplier certified by the Responsible Down Standard (RDS). The cover is made with Supima cotton—the highest-quality cotton you can buy in the United States—and it’s silkier than those on several down pillows we tried. The 400-thread-count jacquard weave is taut and thick and shouldn’t allow feathers to poke through the surface. Garnet Hill offers a 90-day return policy and a one-year warranty against defects.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

This is the most expensive pillow we recommend, and one tester told us, “I accidentally saw the price … and really wish I hadn’t.” It’s a high-quality, high-end pillow made with ethical down, and that does add up. Garnet Hill has frequent sales, but if the price tag is still too high, we have other down pillows that are worth considering. Also, if you don’t need a down pillow but you want something with a similar feel, The Company Store’s Company Conscious Down Alternative Pillow was an overall tester favorite in our recent testing; it’s made with recycled polyester fill and is less than half the price.

A couple of our testers found the Garnet Hill pillow to be too high. The company does offer soft and medium options, which we tested. They were less popular with testers, but they might work for you. One recent tester noted, “I think this pillow would be perfect for me in a medium or even soft density so that it has more of a sinking feeling.”

In four years of testing, the Xtreme Comforts Shredded Memory Foam Pillow (standard) consistently outperformed many pricier pillows. However, during our previous testing, two of the four Xtreme Comforts pillows we tried had a strong chemical odor that made them unusable (they are returnable). If you get one that doesn’t smell, this is a great pillow that typically costs about half the price of our favorite shredded-foam pillow, the Nest Bedding Easy Breather.

The Xtreme Comforts pillow offers comfortable neck support without being too stiff (a problem with many loftier pillows). The breathable, micro-perforated cover (a bamboo viscose and polyester blend) feels cool to the touch, and the removable shredded-foam fill makes the pillow easy to adjust. The Xtreme Comforts pillow is lumpier than the Easy Breather pillow, and some testers found that the texture took some getting used to. But most of our back- and side-sleepers—as well as a few stomach-sleepers—have liked it over the years. “This pillow gives much better support for my neck than any down/synthetic down pillow I have owned in the past,” one side-sleeper told us.

How the Xtreme Comforts pillow holds up

One senior editor has owned two Xtreme Comforts pillows since 2018, and she told us she and her husband still like them a lot. Her husband (a combo side- and back-sleeper) uses one as his main pillow, and she (a combo side- and stomach-sleeper) uses it as a secondary pillow. “I like the bulk and density of it, both to keep me propped up and to hug. Way more support than down pillows I’ve used elsewhere,” she told us. She did note that this pillow is heavy to drag around, which she often did when propping herself up to breastfeed her child.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Several readers and staffers who bought an Xtreme Comforts pillow in 2019 said it smelled terrible out of the package and that the strong chemical stink did not go away; one staffer even said it triggered migraines for them. We tested four Xtreme Comforts pillows in 2019, and indeed two of them were so stinky that we couldn’t sleep on them—and one still smelled after a month of airing out. The other two pillows were fine, and they were just as comfortable to sleep on as those we’d tested in previous years. We haven’t heard about any smell issues from staffers and readers since, so we think the company has fixed the problem. Xtreme Comforts has a 30-day return policy, so this pillow may be worth a try if you don’t mind the hassle of possibly having to return it.

We personally are not the most diligent about pillow care. But our research found that everyone should wash their pillows a couple of times a year, to zap any crud that sneaks past pillowcases and even pillow protectors. We asked down expert Jack Sukalac, owner of All About Down, and Christian Alexander, chief operating officer at Nest Bedding, how to wash pillows with different kinds of fill.

Most of the pillows we recommend are shredded foam, and you cannot put most foam pillows in the washer or dryer. You can, however, wash the covers. Empty the shredded foam into a big container or laundry hamper. (This can be a messy process, so we recommend doing it either outside or someplace where it’s easy to contain the mess, like in a bathtub.) Then you can wash the covers on cold and leave them to air-dry, Alexander said. He doesn’t recommend doing this more than once a year. If your foam pillow becomes stained, you can also try to spot-clean it.

Down pillows need more TLC, but they can still be easily washed at home. When down gets wet or dirty, Sukalac said, it can get sticky, lose its loft, or start to stink. These are good indicators that it’s time to wash your pillow. Also, don’t use too much detergent; just like dirt and sweat, soap residue can build up on the down. Wash the pillow in cold or warm water on the gentle cycle. And consider running a second, quick-wash cycle without detergent to make sure the pillow is thoroughly rinsed (it’s hard to know how clean the down is since it’s sealed up inside). “If you do a quick wash with no soap, just [to] try and extract all the soap out, you’re helping,” Sukalac said.

Beware of high heat in the dryer, too. Although hot temperatures are the best way to kill germs and allergens, such as dust mites, they can also bake down and damage the pillow. Sukalac suggests running the dryer on high heat for only the first 20 minutes and then switching to low or medium heat to complete the drying cycle. He also pulls out pillows every 20 minutes to fluff them and make sure the down is redistributing and drying evenly. “Extracting the water is really difficult,” he said. “You’ve really got to take [the pillow] out and beat it up and manually un-clump it.” Keep repeating this fluff-and-dry cycle until the pillow is completely dry.

Down-alternative pillows are the most unfussy to own, and you can just follow the directions on the pillow’s care label. If you’re worried about maintaining the fill’s fluffiness, Sukalac’s advice for cleaning down pillows should work just as well for down-alternative ones.

In between major washings, you can utilize the dryer’s air-dry cycle (aka the no-heat setting) to help keep your foam pillows lofty and fresh. “Knead your pillow like a loaf of bread once a week to let the shredded foam inside open up,” Alexander told us. (You can also put it in the dryer for 10 minutes on no heat.) Regarding down and down-alternative fills, Sukalac said, “When I sell somebody a new pillow, I tell them once every three, four weeks, put it in the dryer for an hour on regular heat to evaporate out moisture [and] perspiration that has collected.” This will keep it fluffier for longer. If you have allergies or are concerned about dust mites, you can use high heat for the first 20 minutes before lowering the temperature for the remaining hour.

Our top picks aside, testers’ responses to pillows are consistently all over the place. Each person reacts differently to every pillow, and our picks drift toward those you can easily adjust or those that just consistently outperform the competition. Below, we list lots of other pillows that have been popular with our testers over the years. So read this section with your own preferences in mind. Something that knocked a pillow out of the running for us might be just what you love in a pillow. We’ve noted the pillows that side-, back-, and stomach-sleepers have found to be comfortable to sleep with.

Down

L.L.Bean 700-Fill-Power Sateen White Goose Down Pillow (firm)
Good for: stomach-sleepers
In 2018, we tested all three densities of L.L.Bean’s 700-Fill-Power pillow, but only the firm density made it into our sleep tests. It scored very well with stomach-sleepers who like down, with one telling us, “It actually conformed to my sleeping positions very well, while still keeping its form. It felt very, very supportive.” It didn’t score as well with side-, back-, or combo-sleepers. We’ve also seen these pillows go in and out of stock or have long delivery delays.

Boll & Branch Down Chamber Pillow
Good for: stomach-sleepers who like taller pillows
In our most recent testing, stomach-sleepers who preferred using an overstuffed pillow gave this one high marks. One stomach-sleeper noted, “It’s a little difficult to get into a standard pillowcase, but not too bad. It’s worth the effort, because I think it’s very supportive.” Other testers of every sleep position who prefer sleeping on a less-lofty pillow found this one overwhelming. But the soft and medium versions might be a better fit if the Garnet Hill Signature White Down or L.L.Bean 700-Fill pillows are unavailable. We tried the soft and medium versions during our initial round of testing, but they didn’t make it to our sleep round because our stomach-sleepers found them uncomfortable (especially the medium loft, which one tester noted “actually feels softer than the soft”).

Parachute Down Pillow (soft)
Good for: stomach-sleepers who like flatter pillows
Parachute’s softest pillow was a previous pick for stomach-sleepers, and we still think it’s the best pillow if you’re a stomach-sleeper and you want just a touch of support for your head. One stomach-sleeper told us at the time, “It stays even and the material doesn’t shift around over time. To me, it’s always soft and comfortable.” Our combo stomach- and side-sleeper couldn’t make it through a night with this Parachute pillow, though, because it was so thin.

Parachute Down Pillow (firm)
Good for: stomach- and back-sleepers
The firm version of the Parachute Down Pillow was an upgrade pick in an earlier version of this guide. A couple of testers said it didn’t stay lofty throughout the night, but others loved how it cradled the head.

Brooklinen Down Pillow (plush)
Good for: stomach-sleepers
Stomach-sleepers who prefer a soft, squishy pillow loved this down pillow, but those who needed more support didn’t. One stomach-sleeper reported that it made her feel “like my head was floating weightless on a freakin’ cloud from heaven.”

Cuddledown 700 Fill Power European White Goose Down Sateen Pillow (medium)
Good for: stomach- and back-sleepers
Some of our back-sleepers really liked Cuddledown’s medium-fill pillow, while others found it comfortable but not remarkable. One stomach-sleeper gave it a perfect score and told us, “It’s soft with enough cushion for my neck. It didn’t feel overly firm, and it felt supportive for a variety of sleeping positions. It’s a really good multi-use pillow.” However, it’s pricey, and it didn’t outperform other pillows we tested for back- and stomach-sleepers.

Feathered Friends Down Pillow – 700 Fill (medium and firm)
Good for: back- and side-sleepers
Back- and side-sleepers appreciated the luxurious quality of the Feathered Friends firm and medium 700-fill pillows when we tested them several years ago. But some wanted more support, while others wanted less from both the medium and firm versions. If you’re concerned about the ethics of down, Feathered Friends is a good choice because its products are RDS-certified. Unfortunately, we’ve continued to see stock issues for this pillow in several sizes and densities. But Feathered Friends lets you sign up to get notified when stock returns.

Crane & Canopy Back Sleeper Goose Down Pillow
Good for: back-sleepers
Testers loved the fluffiness of Crane & Canopy’s Back Sleeper but had problems with its level of support—some found it too firm, while others said their head “bottomed out” during the night. For people who want a medium-loft down pillow, this one is worth a try.

Brooklinen Down Pillow (firm)
Good for: side-sleepers
We tested an older version of this pillow that was a mix of feathers and down, which made it a little less lofty than all-down versions. Side-sleepers didn’t find it as comfortable as other down pillows we tried. Brooklinen recently redesigned these pillows, so we’ll retest them for a future update.

Brooklinen Down Pillow (mid-plush)
Good for: back-sleepers
Back-sleepers found that the mid-plush version (also made of feathers and down) didn’t hold its loft as well as the competition, and they said it wasn’t as comfortable as they’d expected from down. As with the firm version of this pillow, Brooklinen redesigned the mid-plush version, so we will retest it for a future update.

Down alternative

Sleep Number PlushComfort Pillow Classic
Good for: all sleep positions
We prefer the adjustability of the PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate, but the PlushComfort Pillow Classic was one of the comfier down-alternative pillows in our 2019 testing. Side-sleepers found it was more supportive than the Snowe Down Alternative pillows and much softer than the Brooklinen Down Alternative. If you like a medium-density pillow, for any sleep position, this is one to consider.

Parachute Down Alternative Side Sleeper Pillow
Good for: back-sleepers
It might seem counterintuitive, but Parachute’s side-sleeper pillow was pretty comfortable for our back-sleepers. One tester who prefers a lower-loft pillow noted that it felt a little too squishy by the end of the night, but it caused no discomfort. It’s well made, and the gussets help keep the soft fill evenly distributed inside the cover. If you can’t find the Sleep Number PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate, this pillow might work for you.

Cuddledown 450 Thread Count Sateen Synthetic Fill Pillow (overfilled)
Good for: side-sleepers
If you’re a side-sleeper and you don’t like foam pillows but need especially firm support, this is the pillow to try. We tested only the medium-density version of this Cuddledown pillow, but we’ve since gone back and tested both the overfilled and soft densities with a smaller test group. We think the overfilled version is a great choice for side-sleepers—it was firmer and more supportive than the firm Snowe Down Alternative and loftier than the Sleep Number PlushComfort Pillow Classic. One of our side-sleepers, who prefers extra height and very firm support, used to stack two down-alternative pillows to get enough height but was comfortable using this pillow on its own.

Cuddledown 450 Thread Count Sateen Synthetic Fill Pillow (medium)
Good for: stomach- and side-sleepers
This pillow’s scores were all over the map in our testing. One stomach-sleeper told us it was one of the better synthetic-fill pillows, while another thought it was too puffy and firm. One side-sleeper said it sank too much. And another, who typically uses two pillows noted, “I started with two pillows and actually switched in the night. It was pretty great on its own.”

Cuddledown 450 Thread Count Sateen Synthetic Fill Pillow (soft)
Good for: stomach-sleepers
If you’re a stomach-sleeper and you don’t want a lot of loft and don’t like down (and the Sleep Number PlushComfort Pillow Ultimate is unavailable), we recommend this Cuddledown pillow in the soft density. It doesn’t offer as much support as the PlushComfort, but our stomach-sleeper still found it comfortable, preferring it to the soft-density Parachute Down Pillow. The outer shell is thicker and the fabric is smoother than that of the Parachute. And though our tester didn’t love this feel, once the pillow was inside a pillowcase, it wasn’t noticeable.

Leesa Hybrid Pillow
Good for: back-sleepers
Some of our back-sleepers liked this pillow. One side of the pillow is tufted for extra loft, while the other is flat and smooth. It also has a smaller, removable pillow inside with a cooling gel insert surrounded by synthetic fill. “I appreciate being able to take out the extra small pillow inside, probably the size of an airplane pillow, because I like my pillows extra thin,” one tester told us. After five months, she’s still using this pillow regularly and loves it. Another noted, “This pillow had just the right amount of firmness for making sleeping on my side or back comfortable. It seemed to adapt well to my different neck and head positions. It’s also just fun to squish.” Our third back-sleeping tester found that it was too stuffed, and they had some neck pain in the night.

Riley Down Alternative Pillow (firm)
Good for: stomach-sleepers
Riley’s firm-density pillow was comfortable for a few nights, but then it began to hurt one tester’s ear in our tests. It’s a fine, well-stuffed pillow if you switch positions or like more height, but it might be too stiff for some, and it wasn’t significantly better than other pillows we tested.

Parachute Down Alternative Pillow (firm)
Good for: side-sleepers
Our early panel of side-sleepers liked Parachute’s firm down-alternative pillow, but not more than the others we tested.

Parachute Down Alternative Pillow (soft)
Good for: stomach-sleepers
Some stomach-sleepers who liked a soft pillow with little support appreciated this pillow, but those who wanted more substance found it to be merely flat.

The Original Casper Pillow
Good for: all sleep positions
When we tested this pillow, one tester loved it, while everybody else thought it was just fine. It wasn’t as moldable or supportive as our side- and back-sleepers preferred. Stomach-sleepers who liked a flatter pillow found that the Casper was too thick, but they noted that it was useful for stomach-sleepers who shift to their side throughout the night.

Shredded foam

Sleep Number ComfortFit Pillow Classic
Good for: all sleep positions
In two years of testing, side-sleepers have liked this pillow a lot, and it ranked in the middle of the pack for back- and stomach-sleepers. But no one liked it better than the Nest Bedding Easy Breather or the Xtreme Comforts pillows, and we prefer the adjustable Ultimate version for its flexibility.

Saatva Latex Pillow
Good for: side-sleepers
If you like the squishy feel of down alternative but need firmer, loftier support, you might like the shredded-latex and down-alternative Saatva Pillow. I’m a side-sleeper who prefers a tall, firm pillow, and I loved the softly supportive Saatva, which felt cloudlike. A shredded Talalay latex core is surrounded by down-alternative fill, and you can remove the core—although one of our sleep-testers tried this and found that the pillow wasn’t supportive at all. Most of our testers didn’t like the texture, which was soft but not as squishy as a plain down-alternative pillow.

Authenticity 50 Custom Comfort Pillow
Good for: side- and back-sleepers
We tested this pillow and found it softer and a little less supportive than the Easy Breather. The polyester cover made one side-sleeper overheat a little, too. It’s made from a blend of shredded foam and microfiber, and it’s a good combination of the loft we like in shredded-foam pillows, with a bit of the squishiness you get from down alternative.

Xtreme Comforts Slim Sleeper Shredded Memory Foam Pillow
Good for: stomach-sleepers
This is a version of the Xtreme Comforts we like as a budget pick, just with less fill. We tested it, but we found that people who preferred a flattish pillow liked down options more, and people who wanted a pillow with more support needed more loft.

Nest Bedding Easy Breather Natural Pillow
Good for: back- and side-sleepers
The Natural version of Nest Bedding’s Easy Breather has an organic-cotton cover and is made with shredded latex foam instead of memory foam. It smelled a bit when it arrived, but that odor faded after a few days. During our first round of testing, it didn’t feel as comfortable to sleep on as the original Easy Breather, so we didn’t see a reason to sleep-test both.

One-piece memory foam

Weekender Gel Memory Foam Pillow
Good for: side-sleepers
The budget pick in our guide to memory-foam pillows was one of the highest-rated memory-foam pillows we tested. It didn’t cause overheating like some other solid-foam pillows we tried, and the low price makes it a great choice if you want to try a solid-foam pillow but aren’t sure you’ll like it. This pillow is not as tall as most memory-foam pillows we’ve considered, so if you prefer a medium loft, it might work for you.

Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt Pro + Cooling Pillow (mid-density)
Good for: back- and side-sleepers
The upgrade pick in our memory-foam pillows guide is tall, cool, and very well made. It was the highest-quality solid-foam pillow we tried in previous testing, and it molds to the shape of your head and neck without sinking too low. It’s an excellent choice if you like very firm support, but it’s not adjustable, so it’s less flexible than shredded-foam pillows.

Sleep Number Classic True Temp Pillow
Good for: all positions
The True Temp was the highest-rated pillow overall in our most recent testing, and some sleepers in every position loved it. It’s a solid foam insert inside a cooling cover (made with 37.5 technology, which we’re currently researching), and it’s also lined with some down-alternative polyfill stuffing to provide more cushioning than solid foam alone. Eight of our 10 testers rated it 6 out of 10 or higher, although some noted they still prefer a fluffier pillow to dense, solid foam. One tester who disliked it said it actually gave her back pain. We haven’t tested it directly against our existing memory-foam picks, including the Weekender and TempurPedic solid-foam pillows, but we will soon for a future update to that guide.

Ecosa Pillow
Good for: side- and back-sleepers
The Ecosa is the only contoured pillow we recommend in our memory-foam pillows guide, and it’s our favorite pillow to help with neck and head pain. Our testers reached for this pillow when dealing with migraines, sinus headaches, and chronic neck pain. The Ecosa offers firm support that’s still soft, so your neck can curve over the contoured shape and still feel cushioned. I’ve used one off and on since our testing, and it still holds its shape.

Tuft & Needle Original Foam Pillow
Good for: stomach-sleepers
The Tuft & Needle could be a good bet for stomach-sleepers who like one-piece memory-foam pillows—but it reminded us why we didn’t test more one-piece memory-foam pillows. Testers found it to be too low for comfortably sleeping on their back or side, and too stiff to mold to their head.

Down

The Company Store Company Conscious Down Pillow
We had 10 sleepers test this pillow, sleeping in all positions. The stomach-sleepers disliked it, but some of our side- and back-sleepers, as well as sleepers who rotate through all positions throughout the night, gave it high marks. We typically recommend down for stomach-sleepers, but it might work for people who sleep in other positions and who like down. It comes in just one loft, though, and some testers found it to be too firm. This pillow is made with recycled feathers, which we appreciate.

Garnet Hill Signature White Down Pillow (soft)
Testers didn’t like the soft version of this pillow nearly as much as they did the firm version, our upgrade pick for stomach-sleepers. One tester noted, “It’s like sleeping on a tea towel. Are you sure there’s a pillow here?”

Snowe Down Pillow
We tried all three densities of the Snowe Down Pillow, and the firm version was our former upgrade pick. However, we no longer recommend the company’s products due to chronic customer service problems and quality issues. We bought and retested several former Snowe picks, including the firm-density down pillow. And though the pillow was fine, we still have overall concerns about the brand’s quality and customer service.

Parachute Down Side Sleeper Pillow
We sleep-tested only the down-alternative version of this pillow because the down version sank easily and didn’t feel supportive.

Lands’ End Ultimate Goose Down Pillow (medium)
This goose-down pillow prompted lukewarm responses from our side- and back-sleepers. Testers found it nice but not exceptional, and a bit of down was already migrating out of the shell, which isn’t a good sign for longevity.

Royal Bedding Luxury Down Pillow
This pillow has appeared in a few blog posts as an Amazon best-seller, and we’ve tested it twice. It’s unimpressive. Back- and side-sleepers rated this pillow as strictly average. Two reviewers likened it to a hotel pillow, but not in a good way: “You can tell most people are just ‘whatever’ about this pillow, but it’s not uncomfortable, so it gets by,” said one back-sleeper. (Our side-sleepers agreed.)

Parachute Down Pillow (medium)
In contrast to the firm and soft versions of the Parachute Down Pillow, the medium option was a disappointment. Testers said that it flattened out or bunched up too easily.

Riley Down Pillow (plush and firm)
Both of these pillows arrived with a strange smell (which one tester compared to his chicken coop). We didn’t sleep-test these pillows.

Down alternative

Fern & Willow Down Alternative Pillows
Most of our testers rated this pillow, which comes in a two-pack, as average or lower. A couple of testers who prefer flat pillows found it comfortable. And I have used it on and off for months as a secondary pillow, but I found that it flattened very quickly and didn’t retain its loft over time. The two-pack is usually about $45, though, so it’s not a bad budget option.

Snowe Down Alternative Pillow
Testers didn’t love the soft and medium densities, but the firm density was our former top pick for side- and back-sleepers. That pillow was beloved among testers, but my husband purchased two for himself. And after about a year, they were floppy, thin, and gave him back pain. Snowe has also been plagued with customer-service and quality-control problems. Later, we bought and retested a down-alternative pillow, and though it seemed fine, we don’t think it will last long, and we still don’t recommend the company’s products.

Riley Down Alternative Pillow (plush)
We tried both densities of the Riley Down Alternative pillow, but only the firm density passed through for sleep-testing. The plush version didn’t feel supportive enough in any position.

Brooklinen Down Alternative Pillow (plush, mid-plush, and firm)
We tried all three densities of this Brooklinen pillow, and we sleep-tested the mid-plush and firm pillows with different sleep positions. All were universally uncomfortable to our sleep panel.

Garnet Hill Signature Down-Alternative Pillow (soft and firm)
Neither density of the down-alternative version of the Signature stood out among the down-alternative pillows we considered in previous testing. We didn’t sleep-test either model.

The Company Store Company Essentials LoftAire Down Alternative Pillow
Our first-round side-sleeping tester liked this one, but we passed on testing it in favor of similar-feeling pillows with better owner reviews.

The Company Store Legends Hotel PrimaLoft Black Label Down Alternative Pillow
This pillow compressed too much for side- and back-sleepers, though one back-sleeper noted that its softness made it feel more luxurious than most down-alternative options. It received a thumbs-down from all stomach-sleepers, who said it was just too lofty.

Parachute Down Alternative Pillow (medium)
We tested this one with back-sleepers, who reported that it was too dense to be truly comfortable.

Cuddledown Gusseted Sateen Synthetic Fill Pillow
All of our initial testers found this pillow uncomfortable.

Shredded foam

Coop Home Goods Adjustable Loft Pillow
Testers struggled to figure out how much fill to remove from this pillow, and it lacked the thick, lump-hiding cover of the Easy Breather pillow.

Snuggle-Pedic Shredded Memory Foam Pillow
The Snuggle-Pedic pillow managed to feel even bigger than the Coop Home Goods pillow, despite weighing less. Side-sleepers wanted more malleability than it offered.

Brooklyn Bedding Premium Shredded Foam Pillow
Our testers particularly disliked this pillow in our first round. They found it too hard, with clumps of the memory foam easily felt through the cover, and it wasn’t high enough. We didn’t sleep-test it.

Layla Kapok Memory Foam Pillow
This pillow is made with a combination of shredded memory foam and fill produced from kapok trees. It was uncomfortable in our first round of tests, so we didn’t sleep-test it. This pillow also smelled strongly, and one of our testers found the texture strange—her head kept sliding off it.

One-piece memory foam

Purple Pillow
We tested a now-discontinued version of Purple’s pillow, made with the same purple, jiggly “Hyper-Elastic Polymer” as the top layer of the Purple Mattress (which we tested for our foam mattresses guide). This pillow wasn’t popular with testers.

Malouf Z Zoned Gel ActiveDough Pillow, Malouf Z Convolution Pillow, and Leesa Premium Foam Pillow
We tried these pillows in a first round of testing but didn’t end up sleeping on them. All three suffer from the same problems as the rest of the solid-foam pillows we’ve tried: They’re harder, flatter, and less moldable, so they appeal only to a few specific people.

Epabo Contour Memory Foam Pillow
This pillow has a concave dip in the center for your head and neck, and it’s thinner than the Ecosa contoured pillows we tested. But we found that it didn’t offer enough support.

This article was edited by Daniela Gorny and Christine Ryan.