18 Best Pillows for Every Budget, According to Sleepers

In these divisive times, one thing unites all Americans: the desire for a good night's sleep. And that begins with choosing the best pillow. There are a lot of options out there — from cheap pillows to definitely-not-cheap — and what's comfy to one person may be hard as rocks to another. But rest easy, side sleepers, back sleepers, and stomach sleepers: All of these pillows have garnered a critical mass of positive ratings on Amazon and recommendations from reliable professional reviewers.

Prices and availability are subject to change.

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Price: $6 and up from Walmart
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Walmart shoppers love this low-priced bed pillow, which is designed for people who sleep on their side or back. Buyers generally acknowledge they're buying a cheap bed pillow and adjust their expectations accordingly in reviews like this one: "Perfect pillows, firm and lightweight too. They do flatten rather quickly though."

Price: $6 and up from Target
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This is Target's answer to Walmart's Mainstays brand: It's cheap, fluffy, and gets the job done, according to most buyers. The polyester fill isn't quite as firm as some owners would like, but the low price is hard to beat. "Great for guest pillows, not too soft. Such a great price," one owner writes in a 4-star review.

Price: $25 and up from Home Depot
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There's nothing more decadent than jumping into bed and letting your head sink into the cloud-like fluff of a down or down alternative pillow. This oversized cooling pillow is great for watching TV in bed or sleeping on your side, owners say. What makes it a "cooling" pillow remains a source of some mystery: "I do not know much about the technology or pillow materials and types in general but I can tell you that this is a nice comfortable pillow," one 4-star review reads in part.

Price: $29 and up from Amazon
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Buckwheat pillows are filled with just that: dried buckwheat hulls. Enthusiasts say these pillows are great for neck pain because they conform to the shape of your head, providing ample support no matter how you sleep. But they also take some getting used to, as many people have never slept with buckwheat hulls beneath their head before. "I hated this pillow at first ... it's heavy, it makes noise as you roll around and it just gets in the way," says one buyer in a 4-star review. "Now I find myself searching it out at night to make a little nest for my head and shoulders that keeps me comfortable all night long."

Price: $30 and up from Amazon
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If you sleep hot, a bed pillow with ventilated memory foam like this one may help you get a better, cooler night's sleep. The test-obsessed folks at Wirecutter say this pillow is a great low-cost alternative to their $100 recommended model, slightly softer though still supportive. "Admittedly, it is pricier than others, but in my opinion, it is worth it if I don't wake up with a stiff neck," reads one buyer's review.

Price: $30 and up from Amazon
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This memory foam pillow comes wrapped in a layer of contoured gel (kinda like the stuff in your sneakers) that promises to "optimize" airflow while you sleep, keeping your head cool and comfy. Most owners agree with that assessment, though it's a bit firmer than some prefer. "This pillow was a pleasant surprise," one reviewer says. "It's cool when I initially lay down, just long enough to get me to sleep."

Price: $38 and up from Amazon
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If popularity were based on internet search volume alone, the My Pillow Classic would win hands down. Based on the reviews at Amazon, however, buyer opinion is more polarized. The people who love their My Pillow really love it, particularly the choice of four different firmness levels. The negative reviewers (of whom there are a sizable minority) complain of lumps and pillows that need constant fluffing. We suspect the truth lies somewhere in between, picky as people are about pillows.

Price: $43 from Costco
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A wedge pillow is great for sitting upright in bed to read or watch TV, and the angle of recline may be more comfortable for back sleepers. This Costco memory foam bed pillow also costs less than similar wedge pillows. One (potential) drawback, say the otherwise-enthusiastic editors at Best Reviews: The pillowcase costs extra. "But for the quality and value, you may not mind."

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Price: $45 from Amazon
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This pillow promises extra-firm support, although firm to one sleeper can be feather-soft to another. Though reviewers disagree on just how supportive this pillow is, especially if you've got neck pain, most agree that it's well made, and it comes with a three-year warranty. "It's definitely not firm. It's more medium," one reviewer writes. "It's still comfy, big and I use it every night. This brand is reliable and durable."

Price: $50 and up from Amazon
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The concept is simple: Add or remove the shredded filling to achieve the perfect degree of support and comfort. Editors at The Spruce name it one of their favorite pillows because "the fill will bounce back each day, ensuring your pillow isn't flat after a few months." Over at Amazon, some 3,500 buyers chime in with their two cents, many of them pleased to finally find a pillow that's "just right" — even if it takes some time and effort. (One otherwise-satisfied buyer seemed to lose some sleep over this: "How does one guess at the correct volume of stuffing to remove to satisfy our highly individual tastes? It is in effect playing darts in the dark.")

Price: $50 from Amazon
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You don't curl up with a Boppy pillow so much as it curls up to you, cradling your body from head to toe. The editors at The Bump named this their favorite pillow for expecting moms, saying, "It's soft enough to fold into any position and comes in very handy during waking hours too; tuck one end behind you on the couch and use the other end us a lap desk …"

Price: $60 and up from Amazon
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The appeal of this "adjustable" pillow is the filling, a mix of shredded memory foam and microfiber that can be added or removed to find that Goldilocks zone of perfect pillow comfort. True, finding that zone takes some trial and error, and it can get messy when adding or removing the pillow filling. But it's hard to argue with more than 14,000 (mostly) positive buyer reviews on Amazon, where the Coop Home Goods pillow gets a 4.4-star average rating. "Ever had a pillow so good you want to stay in bed? Yeah. It's like that," one satisfied owner wrote. "Oh, and my cat has claimed the other pillow because he likes it, too." If that's not enough, Good Housekeeping and Consumer Reports also give this bed pillow the thumbs-up.

Price: $65 and up from Amazon
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The bed-in-a-box company has expanded its repertoire to include pillows, amongst other things. Their "pillow-in-pillow" has two layers of microfiber fill, wrapping a sturdy core with a softer outer fill layer. Side sleepers, in particular, say the Casper strikes the right balance between down pillows (too mushy) and memory foam pillows (too firm), and some also say it alleviated their neck pain. "We are pillow snobs. Go through them like crazy. Don't even want to know how much money we have spent over the years. This pillow, by far, is the best one ever!" one Amazon buyer raves.

Price: $70 from Amazon
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Pillows can be polarizing; just read the competing pro-con reviews for any of the top-selling pillows on Amazon. This bamboo pillow (the outer case is made of bamboo-fiber fabric) is one of the few that definitely enjoys a strong consensus among the nearly 5,000 buyers who have rated it. The dense foam filling, though supportive, does take some getting used to, as this buyer notes: "Turning over in the middle of the night and then readjusting the pillow is like wrestling a bear. However, when I settle in, this thing is uber comfortable." An added endorsement: Editors at Wirecutter recommend this body pillow for pregnant women and people with hip or knee problems.

Price: $89 and up from Tempur-Pedic 
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Owners and reviewers alike praise this Tempurpedic pillow for its supportive, contoured form ("the ideal shape," according to Good Housekeeping) and durable filling that doesn't get all mushy over time. This memory foam pillow comes in three sizes, and there is a travel pillow as well. One potential drawback: The unusual shape doesn't fit neatly into a standard pillowcase.

Price: $99 from Amazon
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Yes, it's purple. But the real selling point is the dense, heavy filling — this pillow weighs 10 pounds — that feels soft yet provides enough support for side sleepers and back sleepers, according to owners. "Seriously … if you wield this in a pillow fight I am certain you'll win," one good-humored buyer writes. "You may also cause substantial bodily injury and get some charges! But it is a comfortable pillow!"

Price: $100 and up from Amazon
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This ginormous U-shaped body pillow will swallow sleepers, but that's precisely the point. No matter how far along you are in your pregnancy, you can find a comfy position for sleeping or sitting in bed or on the couch, owners say: "Don't use it all of the time but when I do, I sleep like a baby." A handful of owners who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia say they're also pro-body pillow.

Price: $120 from Amazon
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A cheap option this is not, but if money is no object the Leesa may be your perfect pillow. One side has deep quilted down-alternative pockets of softness, the other a firm layer of cooling gel. And inside, a removable microfiber-fill pillow for additional support. There aren't too many reviews at Amazon, but on the Leesa site, 74% of buyers say they'd recommend this pillow to a friend.