The 5 Best Pillow for Side Sleepers

Best Overall Pillow for Side Sleepers

Honeydew The Scrumptious Side Sleeper

Machine Washable: Outer cover only | Fill: Copper infused foam

The Honeydew The Scrumptious Side Sleeper pillow is our favorite pillow for side sleepers. We loved the crescent shape, which provided plenty of room for shoulders, and pleasantly cradled our heads even when rolling around. This super wide model is just as comfortable at the edges as it is in the middle. The level of fill is adjustable, and it still feels full and reasonably firm even after we removed a decent amount.

The only thing we don't love is that it doesn't have an inner liner between the fill and the outer shell. Since the fill itself isn't washable, laundering the outer cover requires removing every piece of stuffing. A band of stiffer fabric runs around the side of the pillow that crinkles when folding the pillow. All in all, we love the Scrumptious pillow. It has a well-balanced firmness, is fully adjustable, and has a great shape. It's our favorite pillow we've ever slept on and the best pillow for side sleepers. If your wish list includes a pillow that is much easier to wash, we recommend the Coop Home Goods The Original, which is also quite affordable.

Best Bang for Your Buck

Coop Home Goods The Original

Machine Washable: Fully washable | Fill: Cross cut memory foam

The Coop Home Goods The Original is a comfortable and quality option for its price. At first glance, it's a standard rectangle pillow with foam fill. However, the shredded memory foam blended with microfiber is quite pleasant and can be adjusted to your desired thickness by inserting additional fill. It's one of the softer options we tested, but it still provides decent support even after removing some of the fill. We also love that it is fully washable — just chuck the whole thing into the washing machine and run it on delicate.

This pillow would rise to the next level if it were crescent-shaped like some of the other top contenders in this category. We also noticed that the double cover design, though nice for washing, leaves the corners of this pillow with less stuffing. Otherwise, this model is a solid choice for those who want a more conventionally shaped pillow for side sleepers. If an affordable crescent-shaped pillow is important for your sleeping habits, check out the Sleep Artisan Luxury Side Sleeper instead.

Best for Restless Sleepers

Sleep Artisan Luxury Side Sleeper

Machine Washable: Cover only | Fill: 85% Latex foam, 15% poly silk fiber

The Sleep Artisan Luxury Side Sleeper only lost to our favorite by a smidge; we love this pillow too. The long crescent shape rolled accommodatingly along with our lead tester, who tends to sleep with all the restfulness of a horizontal tornado. We really like the fill, which nicely fills the cover even when adjusted to be thinner. The sideband that helps keep its shape is also softer than the Honeydew pillow, which is a nice benefit. It can also be folded and tucked nicely if you want a firmer or thicker spot in the middle of the night.

The Sleep Artisan is made with high-quality filling, but only the cover can be laundered, and the filling has to be spot washed. Some testers also wished this pillow was a touch firmer when thinned down, but it is still one of our favorites. We recommend this model as a great pillow for side sleepers who are also restless sleepers, as it rolls with you. If you're looking to simply just throw your pillow into the wash, the Eli & Elm Cotton Side is another crescent shaped pillow option with a latex-cotton construction.

Most Supportive Pillow

Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Ergo

Machine Washable: Cover only | Fill: Memory foam

The Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Ergo offers exceptional support. It is shaped to fit comfortably between your neck and shoulders. This solid-block memory foam pillow is plenty cool, which is all the more surprising given its firmness and density. Though it is not adjustable, it is available in different sizes and thicknesses. The material also rebounds quite easily, so fluffing is never needed. We also appreciate its removable and washable cover for quick cleaning.

This pillow has some annoyingly stiff piping sewn onto the edges of each side. You can feel it through the case, and it's uncomfortable. Some sleepers may also find the overall texture of this pillow too firm to be comfortable. Still, we recommend this one to sleepers who like a very supportive pillow or who have neck pain from pillows that aren't firm enough. If you love supportive pillows with all the bells and whistles, also check out the Mkicesky Side Sleeper Memory Foam, which features a guided structure with high-quality foam.

Best Pillow to Keep You Cool

Hullo Buckwheat Pillow

Machine Washable: Cover only | Fill: Buckwheat hulls

The Hullo Buckwheat Pillow might be the cushion of your dreams if staying cool at night is one of your top priorities. A staple in many traditional Japanese households, this pillow for side sleepers is a simple but pleasant product incorporating an organic cotton case and American-grown buckwheat filling. Our lead tester, who sleeps warm, found that the buckwheat fill stayed cooler than foam pillows, maintaining a comfortable temperature all night long. It's also heavy. The standard size weighs nearly nine pounds, so it won't roll away from you at night, and it generally keeps its shape once you settle in. It's also adjustable, and Hullo offers replacement buckwheat if, for some reason, you need to refill it.

One noticeable drawback is the amount of noise the buckwheat makes. The shells are noisy when your ear is pressed against the pillow, especially when moving. If you're sensitive to noise at night, this might not be the best product for you or your partner. It's also considerably firmer than any other non-buckwheat cushion we tested and has a texture similar to a bag of beans, which some might find offputting. However, if you need a supportive pillow that keeps you cool and you like the idea of natural materials, we recommend trying the Hullo pillow. If you're not a fan of the buckwheat construction, take a look at the Honeydew The Scrumptious Side Sleeper, our favorite crescent-shaped memory foam pillow.

Compare Products

Compare select up to 5 products to compare

	Score	Product	Price
	78	Honeydew The Scrumptious Side Sleeper Best Overall Pillow for Side Sleepers	$220
	74	Sleep Artisan Luxury Side Sleeper Best for Restless Sleepers	$100
	72	Coop Home Goods The Original Best Bang for Your Buck	$75
	71	Nest Bedding Easy Breather	$119
	69	Saatva Latex	$165
	68	Eli & Elm Cotton Side	$145
	67	Casper Hybrid	$99
	65	Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Ergo Most Supportive Pillow	$129
	61	Mkicesky Side Sleeper Memory Foam	$79
	60	Hullo Buckwheat Pillow Best Pillow to Keep You Cool	$109
	58	Xtreme Comforts Shredded Memory Foam Bamboo	$59
	56	Epabo Contour Memory Foam Pillow	$49
	53	Beans72 Organic Buckwheat	$60
	50	Beckham Luxury Hotel Collection Gel Pillow	$61
	33	Linenspa Shredded Memory Foam	$23

How We Tested

Before purchasing the top pillows for side sleepers, we scoured the market, assessing dozens of models to determine the most promising ones to evaluate. We tested these pillows extensively, with thorough personal use and carefully designed evaluations. We measured how far they compressed under the normal weight of a head and scrutinized their filling comfort. Our testers and their partners slept on these pillows for weeks, rotating through them to make comparisons and see how they performed. Our testing team also washed each model according to their instructions to see how they held up and put every pillow through multiple dryer cycles to accelerate the wear process and see how each fared.

We have divided our scoring of pillows for side sleepers across four different metrics:

• Comfort (40% of overall score weight)

• Features (25% weighting)

• Construction Quality (20% weighting)

• Washability (15% weighting)

Why Trust GearLab

Leading this review are Ethan Newman and Ben Applebaum-Bauch. Ethan knows quality bedding as someone who owns and operates a small B'n'B. He is also an extremely light sleeper and sensitive to small changes in his sleeping environment. Ethan has picked through dozens and dozens of pillows, sheets, and mattresses to find the highest quality and value in his bedding for himself and his guests. Ben has been testing products with GearLab since 2018. In that time, he has reviewed hundreds of home goods and camping products, including camping blankets, tents, and backpacking chairs, so he takes his sleep and relaxation seriously, no matter where he is.

How to Pick the Best Side Sleeper Pillow

Knowing that you're a side sleeper is just the first step in finding the right pillow to ensure your nights are restful and don't end in sore mornings. Whether you sleep on your side all night or toss and turn from your side to your back, to your front, and roll around, we can help you find the right pillow to wake rested.

What Shape Should Your Pillow Be?

Pillows for side sleepers can be purchased in a bunch of odd shapes, including your standard rectangle, a curved crescent bottom, a scooped-out middle channel with elevated sides, and even bolsters strategically placed to support parts of your head or neck.

If you don't sleep 100% on your side, instead moving between positions through the night, you'll sleep well on a pillow that doesn't have a bolster for your neck, as that can easily become uncomfortable when you roll onto your stomach or back. Either a simple rectangle or crescent shape can still work for you, though. If you like to be able to fold your pillow or sleep right up to either edge, aim for a rectangular pillow. If you want a higher chance of your pillow following you as you roll across the bed at night, try a crescent-shaped model.

On the other hand, if you sleep on your side all night, having that bolster along the bottom edge of the pillow will better support your neck and head in alignment with the rest of your spine. Once again, how much you tend to move in your sleep can help you determine the best shape for you. If you often wake up in precisely the same position in which you fell asleep, a highly contoured pillow designed to cradle your head directly in the center is a great option for you. If you switch from sleeping on your right or your left sides, try a slightly simpler bolstered pillow that only has the bottom segment raised, allowing you to have the same comfort across the whole width of the pillow.

How Firm Do You Want Your Pillow?

Despite what some pillow manufacturers might claim, there's no “silver bullet” when it comes to the perfect firmness for your side sleeper pillow. Determining what firmness is likely to work for you comes down to a few main considerations: what proportion of the night you are sleeping on your side, the width of your shoulders, and what your preferences are.

If you spend most or all of the night sleeping on your side, you will likely want a firmer pillow to better maintain a comfortable alignment of your head, neck, and spine. However, this consideration overlaps considerably with your shoulder width. If you have wider shoulders, a firmer — and thicker! — pillow will help maintain that alignment throughout the night. If you have narrower shoulders, a pillow that's too firm or too thick might actually bump your head up too high — and back out of alignment with the rest of your back, resulting in an uncomfortable night of sleep.

Before you start measuring your shoulders to try to find the right thickness of pillow, also consider what you actually like. If you're the type of sleeper who gravitates toward firmer, more supportive surfaces, you'll probably appreciate those same qualities in a pillow. However, if you prefer a softer, more yielding sleeping surface, you'll likely want the same softer attributes in a pillow.

Unless you've determined that you'll be happiest on a sturdy slab of memory foam, you may appreciate the ability to adjust your pillow's firmness and level of loft. Many pillows are filled with chunks of foam or individual pieces (like buckwheat seeds) that you can add or remove to make your pillow thicker and firmer or thinner and softer. This is also a great feature if you're not completely sure what pillow you need, as you can adjust it yourself until it perfectly matches your sleeping preferences.

Analysis and Test Results

We used four metrics to analyze the pillows for the most objective reviews possible. Each metric covers a different kind of performance for these products. We rated each pillow for comfort, quality, washability, and features for this review.

What's the Best Value?

When thinking about value, we are comparing the overall score of a product relative to its price. We want to determine whether an expensive item can justify its price with its performance. Similarly, we also look for models that punch above their weight class. Given a product's price point, that means a performance exceeding what we expect. The Coop Home Goods The Original has excellent overall performance at a reasonable price. Its adjustable fill allows you to find your perfect loft and firmness. On the other hand, some products are worth their higher prices because they represent a sound investment. The Honeydew The Scrumptious Side Sleeper is that product. It's an all-star sleeper sidekick that cradled our heads in the utmost comfort and was unanimously loved by our entire testing team.

Comfort

First and foremost, pillows must be comfortable. Otherwise, why even buy them? Comfort is also essential for this specialized pillow for side sleepers review because, if you're here, you've likely already tried conventional pillows, and they just aren't comfy enough or don't suit your preferred sleeping position. Most pillows are designed for back sleepers, and a comfortable pillow for a back sleeper might be quite uncomfortable for a side sleeper.

We began our comfort testing by evaluating the firmness of each pillow in our tests. We measured the thickness of every pillow “as-is” — that is, without removing or adding any fill to the adjustable options, and instead testing them how the manufacturer sent them. We then placed our weighted “test head” on the pillow and measured how much each compressed under its realistic weight.

We next tested our comfort metric by using each pillow in our beds, with our lead testers and their partners using each one for multiple nights to evaluate them. We specifically evaluated comfort while sleeping on our sides, which is the natural sleep position of all our testers. We considered each model's head and neck support and assessed any neck discomfort we experienced in the morning or misalignment that would wake us up during the night.

We also looked at the texture of the exterior as well as the interior fill. They scored lower if we had to do a lot of squishing and specific positioning for the pillow to be comfortable. The pillow scored higher if it felt nice with just the initial adjustment. Because comfort is so important for a side sleeper pillow, we heavily weighted their performance in this metric.

Our testing team found that crescent-shaped products, like the Sleep Artisan and Honeydew Scrumptious, are some of the most comfortable pillows for side sleepers. The curve provides room for your shoulders, while the wider part cradles your face nicely. These particular models are equally comfortable from edge to edge. The Sleep Artisan pillow fill is a touch softer than the Honeydew. The Eli & Elm Cotton Side has an even more pointed crescent shape with a deep concave center. The fill is springier than the Honeydew and offers a little more resistance.

For similar textures with a more standard shape, we like the Coop Home Goods The Original pillow quite a bit. Its fill is a pleasant blend of shredded memory foam and microfiber that can be adjusted to your desired thickness. It's one of the softer options we tried, but it still provides decent support even after removing some of the fill. The Saatva Latex is one of the plushest in the category. Its latex core and polyester outer layer offer a soft but supportive headrest in a traditional rectangle. The Casper Hybrid offers a similar level of support with a unique combination of a polyester fiber base with a layer of foam on top.

The foam fill of the Nest Bedding Easy Breather is nicely firm and springy but also allows your head to sink into the pillow. It is adjustable by removing some stuffing through a side zipper. The outer fabric is nicely textured and quite soft. The texture also helps keep it a touch cooler, as it allows for a bit of airflow. The Linenspa Shredded Memory Foam uses the same strategy of incorporating shreds or chunks of fill rather than a solid mass of memory foam.

The Epabo Contour Memory Foam and Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Ergo are firmer, more supportive options designed to contour your neck. For a very firm pillow, the Hullo pillow is filled with buckwheat, which compresses less than foam and also keeps you nice and cool. The Beckham Luxury Hotel Collection Gel feels like a standard pillow. It has a nice gel fiberfill and smooth cotton fabric, though ultimately, it is way too fluffy to be a decent pillow for side sleepers.

Features

You might be asking, how many features can a pillow for side sleepers truly have? A surprising amount, we'd answer. The key feature for many of these is adjustability. Some pillows can be completely adjusted from overstuffed orbs of fluff to nearly empty bags with just a whiff of fill and every level in between.

The Sleep Artisan, Honeydew Scrumptious, Xtreme Comforts Shredded Memory Foam Bamboo, Coop, Hullo Buckwheat, Eli & Elm Cotton Side, and Beans72 Organic Buckwheat are all completely adjustable by adding or removing their loose-fill materials. This customization is a great advantage for fine-tuning the fill level we want to fit our neck and shoulders.

The Saatva Latex is unique among the fleet. It has a latex core in a separate case, surrounded by another layer of polyfiber fill in a separate compartment, all wrapped in another case. It's not technically adjustable in the same manner as the models with shredded foam, but you could remove the latex center if you wanted a much lower-volume pillow.

The buckwheat pillows involve the least amount of hassle to adjust. The buckwheat hulls are simple and quick to pour in and out of the case. On the other hand, shredded foam tends to get everywhere once it's out of the casing. As a bonus, buckwheat pillows typically feel cooler than foam pillows — a great feature for hot sleepers.

We also like the Xtreme Comforts Shredded Memory Foam Bamboo for its excellent airflow and the Casper Hybrid, which both have a long-lasting cool-pillow feeling.

On the pillows made of a solid piece of foam, include scoops to support the curve of your neck away from your shoulders. We liked the execution of this feature on the Epabo pillow.

We didn't like it nearly as much on the Mkicesky Side Sleeper Memory Foam, as it felt like it pushed our shoulders awkwardly. The Mkicesky also has a hole cut through the middle to create a head cradle that seemed like a better fit for back sleepers than side sleepers, but we could kind of use it when trying to relax when wearing earbuds.

Construction Quality

If you're going to plunk down the cash for a decent pillow, it should be well-constructed and made with quality fabrics and fill. We evaluated each pillow's quality by assessing its materials and finely combing over each pillow before and after use to find spots that might break down over time. We also washed each model multiple times according to the manufacturers' instructions to see how well they recovered from it and if they suffered any wear and tear.

The highest-scoring models impressed us from their unboxing through the end of our extensive testing: the Casper Hybrid, Honeydew Scrumptious, and Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Ergo. We especially appreciate the elasticity and the quality of the zipper on the Casper case.

The Nest Bedding Easy Breather has a thick and nicely textured case with a silk band to keep this pillow well-lofted for years to come. Both buckwheat pillows, the Hullo and Beans72, are also quite durable. The cotton covers held up well to multiple washes, and the buckwheat fill is robust. Buckwheat hulls are also inexpensive and easy to replace if needed.

Certain flaws like runs in stitching, easily caught zippers, and pilling fabrics can show up over time, and any pillows that had these issues during our testing scored lower in this metric. Fill quality also affected the scores here. For example, the Xtreme Comforts and Coop pillows are fairly similar in style, but we found the Coop pillow to contain higher quality fill, which kept the pillow fluffier in the long term. The Eli & Elm Cotton Side looks luxurious and offers a comfortable night's sleep, but the fill has a lumpier texture than the Honeydew Scrumptious. However, the Sleep Artisan Luxury Side Sleeper has a ribbon around the perimeter that helps the fill to stay evenly distributed. Saatva Latex has an outer case that looks and feels like it has a high thread count, and the separability of its three layers speaks to its thoughtful construction.

Some pillows, like the Epabo, have softer fabrics, but we found that they typically pilled up quickly during our testing. For most folks, this texture will be hidden under a pillowcase, though, so it isn't a large concern. The Linenspa Shredded Memory Foam looks and feels like a lower-quality item than other top contenders, but you get two in a pack, so depending on what your budget looks like, it may be a good option.

Washability

Like the rest of your bedding, pillows should be washed periodically. Pillowcases absorb the daily amount of skin oils and dirt, but eventually, any pillow not covered in a protector needs to be cleaned. A good washing not only cleans the pillow but also revives the fill to its previous levels of fluff and volume. The easier each product is to clean, the higher its score is in this metric.

The fully washable pillows in our lineup include the Xtreme Comforts Shredded Memory Foam Bamboo, the Coop Home Goods The Original, and Beckham Luxury Hotel Collection Gel Pillow. Of course, these are also the ones that score the highest in this metric. You can simply throw each one into the washing machine set on a delicate cycle. With the other pillows, only the cover can be machine-washed.

Models like the Nest Bedding Easy Breather and the Honeydew Scrumptious technically have a washable case, but all of the fill must be removed to clean it because there is no inner case — a highly impractical step.

The Beans72 Organic has a similar setup, but removing the buckwheat is easier than the other models' synthetic fill. On the far end of the spectrum, the Linenspa Shredded Memory Foam can only be spot cleaned as there is no way to separate the fill from the outer, which is completely sewn shut all the way around.

We are big fans of the zipper on the outer case of the Casper Hybrid. It unzips around two adjacent sides of the pillow, making it super easy to pull off and toss in the machine. Though it is air-dry only, we still found the process much simpler than many other wrestling matches we got into with other models to get the case back on. The Saatva Latex, Epabo Contour, and Eli & Elm Cotton Side all have removable outer cases that are easy to wash in a machine.

Conclusion

Sleep quality is vital — it can affect everything from cognitive function to athletic performance. We have identified some options that provide some of the best support and point out which situations they will perform best in so you can pick the right pillow to suit your needs. Everyone has different sleeping habits and preferences, so there is no single best pillow for every side sleeper out there; however, good head and neck support are worth their weight in gold no matter who you are. With that in mind, we hope you are well on the path to the right pillow for side sleepers.

Looking for some other gear to enhance your bedtime routine? If you love white noise, check out our dedicated reviews of the top-rated fans and sleep sound machines. And if you love to read a good book in bed, take a look at our book light review.