The Best Pillows (2023): The definitive in-depth review of top-rated pillows

John Krauss Obsessive tester & Avid dreamer.

For decades, I had been sleeping on whatever pillow I found at the department store when moving residences. I would pick pillows that felt good at the store, but they didn’t perform when I had to sleep on them for eight hours a night. Finally, decided to systematically go through a process of testing different pillows.

I started by reading online reviews and looking through best-seller lists. also received recommendations from friends and family. I selected fourteen pillows that cover a variety of fill materials and firmness levels among the best-selling and top-rated pillows. This included shredded memory foam, down and feather, solid memory foam, down alternative, and latex pillows. I slept on each pillow on my side, my stomach, and my back in order to understand how they perform in different positions. I’m most naturally a side-sleeper, though I tend to shift into all three positions throughout the night. After at least five nights of sleeping on each pillow, found a winner that I now use as my personal pillow every night.

Overall, my sleep experience on the Saybrook Adjustable Pillow impresses me the most. I enjoy sleeping on the Saybrook Adjustable Pillow in all three sleep positions thanks to the adjustability of the loft and the medium softness/firmness.

highly recommend this pillow as my top pick, especially for side-sleepers or people who sleep in a combination of positions.

recommend against the options under $50, and you’ll save money in the long run by going with a higher quality pillow. Many of the cheaper pillows can cut corners in ways that don’t show up on paper. For example, shredded memory foam pillows under $50 tend to use junk foam from leftover scraps of mattress production, which results in lumpy pillows. Down and feathers pillows under $50 tend to use more quills than down clusters, resulting in a pokey pillow. Cheaper pillows also tend to use less filling, which can result in a flatter pillow. If you’re able to invest in a higher quality pillow, I believe you’ll see the returns through a longer lasting product, better sleep, more energy throughout the day, and improved work performance.

The Saybrook Adjustable Pillow is by far the most comfortable pillow I’ve tried, and it’s the only pillow that stops me from tossing and turning at night. It’s also the perfect combination of softness and firmness. I’d describe the consistency as firm enough to support my head but also soft enough so that it doesn’t hurt my ears or jaw. I’m obsessed with the Saybrook pillow, and I use it as my personal pillow now.