Mattresses

What Is a Hybrid Mattress?

It's a confusing term, but no need to lose sleep over it. We've got the answer, plus the five best hybrid mattresses worth considering.

By Tanya A. Christian
Senior Home & Appliances Writer

Updated January 9, 2025

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A cross-sectional illustration of a hybrid mattress showing layers of a quilted top, yellow foam, blue support material, and coil springs, set on a white bed frame against a light purple background. — Hybrid mattresses use a combination of foam and springs, but the exact makeup varies from model to model.

As if mattress shopping weren’t hard enough, a “new” category has emerged—hybrids. Over the past few years, this option has soared in popularity, with many mattresses originally conceived as innersprings now being called hybrids, and many companies adding a hybrid or two to their existing lines.

Part innerspring, part foam, these combo mattresses are supposed to offer the best of both constructions: the cuddle of foam with the resilience of coils. It’s a good thing (theoretically) for those who can’t decide between the two. But as with hybrid work models, hybrid mattresses are a bit like the Wild West: There’s no industry standard. In terms of composition, the proportion of foam and coil is entirely up to the manufacturer.

In this article

How Long Does a Hybrid Mattress Last?
Are Hybrid Mattresses More Expensive?
Best Hybrid Mattresses From CR's Tests

As a result, says Chris Regan, who oversees CR’s mattress testing, it’s up to manufacturers to determine whether their mattresses count as hybrids. He says that hybrid construction can vary greatly among the mattresses in our ratings.

For instance, the Casper Dream has two layers of memory foam (totaling about 3 inches thick) on top of a layer of 6-inch-high coils. Under the springs is an additional layer of foam that’s 2.3 inches thick. The construction is a departure from what most shoppers would expect to see in a hybrid because most of these mattresses are just layers of foam on top of coils. It’s why Regan says you can’t assume you’ll get the same makeup with every hybrid mattress.

As another example, Regan points to the Therapedic Agility Hybrid. Its coils—actually, micro-coils—are only 1.5 inches high. And while we found just over an inch of latex on top, the bulk of the foam (two layers of polyurethane, about 8 inches thick in total) exists under the coils.

The variation makes it “difficult to say if a specific construction is better than another,” Regan says. You may very well find a hybrid that still has a quicksand memory foam feel, with only a whiff of resilience. You may also find a hybrid that’s bouncy, with just a touch of foam that barely conforms to your curves.

In short, “hybrid” is a marketing term—and a successful one at that. According to Technavio, a global market research firm, the hybrid mattress market is expected to grow by $1.83 billion by 2028. It makes perfect sense. After all, who doesn’t like hybrids? It has worked for cars, corporate work models, and my oh-so-adorable Labradoodle (part Labrador retriever, part poodle), Duke. But for the consumer, confusion about the term makes selecting the right hybrid mattress quite tricky.

“When we look at the construction of the full slate of innerspring mattresses in our ratings—so 100-plus mattresses—we’re seeing similar characteristics between those with hybrid in the name and those without hybrid in the name,” Regan says.

See all of CR’s sleep coverage in our Guide to Better Sleep.

If you lie on several hybrid mattresses (as a CR staffer did), you’ll notice that some can feel very foam-forward, like the Tempur-Pedic ProAdapt Medium Hybrid, or more spring-forward, like the Saatva Latex Hybrid. And while the top five hybrid mattresses from our tests, below, are all solid picks, the different construction results in very different experiences when lying on the mattress—from how it supports different sizes of sleepers to how stable it feels.

Nailing down a definition for hybrid mattresses may be confusing (read: impossible), but that’s okay. The right mattress simply needs to balance support and pressure relief in a way that feels comfortable to you—and you need to try out a mattress in person to figure that out. That’s true not just for hybrids but for any kind of mattress.

How Long Does a Hybrid Mattress Last?

Generally speaking, a mattress will last eight to 10 years, and our rigorous lab tests suggest that this is the case for those labeled hybrids by manufacturers, too. In our durability evaluation, all the hybrids highlighted below excelled. That means you should expect that they won’t sag or soften after a few years. We rolled a 309-pound wood roller across the surface of each of them 30,000 times to make sure of it, analyzing any changes in firmness, sagging, and support. That simulates eight to 10 years of typical use.

Are Hybrid Mattresses More Expensive?

When we analyzed prices for the models in CR’s ratings, those for hybrid innersprings didn’t differ much from those of non-hybrid innersprings. Whether you’re looking for a wallet-friendly innerspring, foam, or hybrid, you should be able to find one that fits your budget.

That said, if you already have an innerspring mattress but want a more cuddly foam feel, it may be more cost-effective to add a mattress topper to your bed. This added layer of cushioning comes in a range of feels and softness, and could give you the hybrid experience you seek. (You’ll find more details in our buying guide to mattress toppers and our mattress topper ratings.)

Best Hybrid Mattresses From CR’s Tests

The manufacturers of these top-scoring mattresses describe them as hybrids. If you’re hoping for a more cuddled feel, go for a model with more foam. If your preference is for more resilience with just a touch of that embracing feel, those with less foam are more likely to please.

Tanya A. Christian

Tanya Christian joined Consumer Reports as a multimedia content creator in 2021, bringing with her more than a decade of experience in the home and lifestyle space. As a content manager for small kitchen appliances, home remodeling products, and the sleep category, she’s happy to provide readers with recommendations on great design, helpful cooking tools, and smart ways to achieve better sleep. Follow her on X: @tanyaachristian.