Leesa vs. Layla Mattress Comparison

In this comparison, we’re taking a look at the Layla and Leesa mattresses—two all-foam beds that vary in design and feel. The Layla is a double-sided, flippable bed with two different firmness levels, and the Leesa is a firmer all-foam bed with a latex-like comfort layer and a noticeable bounce.

Which is better for you? The Layla is the best mattress for side sleepers, who will love the hip and shoulder pressure relief from the thick comfort layer on the soft side of the bed. If you prefer a traditional memory foam feel (for instance, if you like to sink into your mattress and feel hugged), the Layla is your best option. Alternatively, if you sleep hot or you’re a combination sleeper, we recommend the Leesa. Its construction gives it much more breathability than competing all-foam mattresses, and the proprietary LSA 200 foam in the top layer has a bounce that makes it an easy mattress for combination sleepers to change positions.

In this mattress comparison, we share everything you need to know about the Layla and the Leesa, including similarities, differences, constructions and price points.

Comparing Layla & Leesa Mattresses

The Layla is a flippable mattress with two firmness options and a traditional memory foam feel. The Leesa mattress has a nice bounce, sleeps cool for an all-foam bed, and is firmer than both sides of the Layla.

Differences

• Motion Isolation—The Layla absorbs motion very well, but you’re likely to feel movement on the Leesa if you sleep with a partner.
• Sleeping Positions—Both beds can work well for back, stomach and combination sleepers, but the Leesa’s firmness setting may create pressure at the hips and shoulders for side sleepers.
• Social Impact—Leesa is known for its charitable giving. The company donates one mattress for every 10 sold through the One-Ten initiative.
• Construction—Both are all-foam beds, but the Layla is a plush, flippable memory foam bed, and the Leesa feels more like a latex foam mattress.

Similarities

• Support—Even though the Leesa offers better edge support than the Layla, we don’t think either bed is supportive enough for heavyweight body types.
• Materials—Both the Layla and Leesa offer “clean” sleeping surfaces in different ways. The Layla’s copper infusion helps kill bacteria, and the foam used in both the Leesa and Layla is CertiPUR-US certified, which means it’s made without harmful chemicals such as ozone depleters, flame retardants, heavy metals and formaldehyde.

Who the Layla Mattress is Best For 

Best For…

• Strict side sleepers—If you sleep exclusively on your side, the feel of the mattress’s soft side and the contouring of the memory foam will allow you to sink deeper for great pressure relief. That way, you won’t feel jammed up at the shoulders or hips.
• Couples—The Layla is virtually silent and eliminates almost all motion transfer from one side of the bed to the other, so it’s a great pick for couples who need quiet and stillness to sleep well together.
• People who love memory foam—If you love the feeling of being hugged by your mattress, the Layla offers more of a classic memory foam feel than the Leesa. You’ll sink into the bed and experience a contouring feeling around the hips, shoulders and other joints. 

May Not be Best For…

• Sleepers who enjoy responsive mattresses—The amount of memory foam used in the Layla gives it practically no bounce, making it a poor choice for people who like responsiveness for sex or other reasons.
• Heavyweight sleepers—Even the firm side of the Layla mattress isn’t supportive enough to bolster heavyweight individuals and larger couples.

Read our full Layla Mattress Review to learn more! 

Who the Leesa Mattress is Best For 

Best For…

• People who sleep hot—Most beds that have memory foam in their construction use it in the top layer, but the Leesa’s memory foam sits underneath a breathable, latex-like comfort foam. This helps prevent some of the heat buildup that tends to happen with memory foam. The bed’s firmer setting also helps with breathability, as firmer mattresses tend to trap less heat and don’t feel as stifling when you’re lying on them. 
• Combination sleepers—If you need to roll around and change positions at night, the Leesa’s medium firmness setting and latex-like top foam will keep you from feeling “stuck” in the mattress. It will give you just enough bounce to remain mobile, making it easy to change positions.
• Back and stomach sleepers—The supportive feel of the Leesa’s foam helps it maintain a flat, even surface for back and stomach sleepers. The bed prevents the hips and upper back from sinking, which encourages proper spinal alignment.

May Not be Best For…

• Side sleepers—If you’re a combination sleeper who spends a bit of time on your side, you should be fine on this mattress, but it’s simply too firm to provide the pressure relief that strict side sleepers need for their hips and shoulders.
• Couples—The Leesa’s LSA 200 foam isn’t great at stifling movement, so it’s not the best option for most couples who want to sleep disturbance-free. But if neither party is a sensitive sleeper and if both prefer responsiveness for sex, the Leesa could be a consideration.

Read our full Leesa mattress review to learn more! 

Deciding Between Layla & Leesa

Firmness / Feel

On paper, the Leesa and the Layla are both all-foam mattresses, but they feel completely different. The Layla has a viscous memory foam feel. You’ll sink in moderately or deeply on the firm and soft sides, respectively, and you should experience nice pressure relief and “hug” from the bed. The Leesa’s top layer of foam has a latex-like feel, so it’s responsive and firm, and you’ll experience minimal contouring.

Motion Isolation

Most all-foam beds absorb motion very well, and the Layla follows suit as a silent mattress that minimizes movement disruptions to a great degree. The Leesa, however, doesn’t earn top marks in motion isolation: The top foam layer is very responsive and bouncy, so you’ll be able to feel the movements of a child, pet or partner on the other side of the mattress. Keep this in mind if you’re a light sleeper or have a partner who likes to get up in the middle of the night for snack runs. For more motion isolating mattresses, see our picks for the best mattress for couples.

Edge Support

When you sit or lie along the edge of a bed, does it feel like you’re sinking? That’s the main question our team asks when we discuss edge support. Edge support is typically best in hybrid and innerspring beds, which have coil cores and, sometimes, dense perimeter foams to prevent sinkage. All-foam beds aren’t typically the winners in the edge-support category, but the Leesa has above-average edge support for an all-foam bed because of the responsive nature of its firmer foams. You’ll sink some into the top two layers of the Leesa when you sit along the edge, but not so much that you feel like you’re going to roll off the mattress. The Layla isn’t as good at edge support. You’ll sink at the edges when you sit on the edge of the bed, and you should consider another mattress style or type if you want to stretch out across the bed’s full width. 

Pressure Relief

Foam beds with deep contouring tend to provide the best pressure relief by cradling heavier parts of the sleeper’s body as they come into contact with the mattress. The Layla’s memory foam provides excellent pain relief and creates a body-hugging cradle that is great for those who struggle with aches and pains. The second layer of memory foam in the Leesa will provide some pressure relief, but you’re going to feel the firmness and responsiveness of the top latex layer more when you lie down.

Spine Alignment 

Finding a bed that promotes neutral spinal alignment is essential for healthy sleep, and body type and sleeping position greatly influence which mattress will be right for you when it comes to spinal alignment. The Layla allows you to sink into the bed a bit more, making it a great choice for side sleepers who need contouring at the hips and shoulders to achieve a neutral spine. Stomach sleepers and back sleepers are the opposite: They usually find that firmer mattresses help position their hips in alignment with the shoulders. Both the Leesa mattress and the firm side of the Layla will keep the spine in a healthy line for stomach and back sleepers. Still, neither all-foam bed is supportive enough to promote neutral spinal alignment for heavyweight individuals (>230 lbs.). Plus-size sleepers should seek out firmer beds with supportive coils for the ultimate comfort. For more supportive mattresses, see our picks for the best mattress for stomach sleepers & the best mattress for heavy people.

Durability

Leesa and Layla are relatively new to the mattress scene, but we predict that they will both last the average for all-foam beds: 7 to 10 years. The Leesa may have a slightly longer lifespan because it contains less memory foam. Memory foam tends to break down faster than firmer, less viscous foams. If durability is your main mattress-shopping consideration, hybrid and innerspring beds are going to be your best bet. After all, the steel used to create innerspring coils will last much longer than even the most high-quality memory foam. 

Cooling / Temperature 

If you sleep hot or need a breathable mattress to get a great night’s sleep, the Leesa sleeps much cooler than the Layla. Even though the Layla has copper-infused memory foam, which should help with temperature control, it doesn’t do enough to help the hottest sleepers.  The Layla sleeps temperature neutral at best, whereas the Leesa is firmer, with a top layer of latex-like foam that allows for a cooling mattress compared to other all-foam beds.

Layla Mattress Construction

The Layla is a 10” tall, flippable, double-sided memory foam mattress with a traditional memory foam feel.

The Layla is flippable, so it features a softer and a firmer side. The bed is encased in a polyester blend cover with the brand’s signature hexagonal design. The soft side of the Layla features a 3” comfort layer of copper-infused memory foam, and the firm side has just 1” of the same foam. The softer side’s thicker comfort layer will give the sleeper deep contouring and sinkage, while the firm side will feel lightly contouring with little sinkage.

The firm side has no transition layer, but the soft side features a layer of convoluted foam to prevent the sleeper from sinking too deeply into the base foam. Finally, both sides of the mattress share the same layer of support foam: a 4” layer of high-density polyfoam.

Leesa Mattress Construction

The Leesa is a 10” all-foam mattress that features a latex-like alternative top foam and a firmer-than-average feel, giving it a bouncy, responsive nature that’s great for stomach, back and combination sleepers.

The 10” Leesa consists of three different foam layers. The cover has a thick, cozy feel when you lie on it, and the comfort layer is made with LSA 200 foam, a latex-like alternative material designed by Leesa. It’s bouncy, responsive and moderately dense, so it helps the sleeper stay cool and makes it easy to change positions.

The transition layer of the Leesa consists entirely of memory foam. It allows for some body contouring, but not as much as all-foam beds that feature memory foam in the top layer. This construction prevents the memory foam from trapping heat and the sleeper from ever feeling “stuck” in the Leesa mattress. The base layer of the bed is 6 inches of high-density foam to add stability, shape and durability.

Sizing & Price Comparisons 

For the best price on a new mattress, check out our Layla Mattress Coupons and Leesa Mattress Coupons.

Shipping and Returns for Layla & Leesa

Layla:

The Layla mattress comes with free shipping anywhere in the lower 48 states. The brand also offers a 120-night sleep trial, so you can test out the mattress for more than three months and return it for a full refund within the trial period. Layla does require a two-week break-in period, so you’ll need to sleep on it for a minimum of 14 days before deciding to send it back. (Note that it takes up to 30 days on average for the body to adjust to a new mattress). If you decide to keep the mattress, it’s covered by Layla’s Lifetime warranty, which protects the original owner in the event that seams come apart or visible, permanent compressions of more than 1 inch develop.

Leesa:

The Leesa ships as a bed-in-a-box for free to the contiguous U.S. and Canada. The company offers shoppers a 100-night sleep trial, which includes a mandatory 30-night break-in period. The break-in period means that, after 30 days have passed, you can return the mattress for a full refund as long as you’re still within the bounds of the trial period. If that 30-day break-in period seems strange to you, rest assured that it’s normal and backed by common mattress knowledge: After all, it can take up to 30 days for the body to adjust to a new bed. The Leesa Original is backed by a 10-year warranty, which means that for 10 years after you purchase your new mattress, if it has a defect covered under the warranty, such as visible indentations greater than 1 inch, the company will replace or repair it. This includes all parts of the mattress determined to have a defect, and there’s no deductible.

More Layla Mattresses

This is a flippable all-foam bed like the Layla, but it uses pocketed coils at the support core instead of foam. It’s a great pick for sleepers who need truly firm support or sleep hot.

See our full Layla Hybrid mattress review to learn more.

More Leesa Mattresses

This hybrid mattress is constructed with foams that are similar to the Leesa Original, but the Leesa hybrid swaps the Original’s foam core for 6 inches of pocketed coils. It has a medium firmness with good bounce, making it a great choice for combination sleepers.

See Leesa Hybrid mattress review to learn more.

Leesa’s newest and most expensive model, this hybrid bed is 12” tall and has a medium-firm feel. It sleeps much cooler than the Original and is great for average-weight sleepers who tend to sleep hot.

Read our Leesa Legend mattress review to learn more.

Haven’t made a decision yet? Check out these other comparisons:

• Layla vs. Nectar
• Layla vs. Casper
• Layla vs. Purple
• Leesa vs. Nectar
• Leesa vs. Tempur-Pedic
• Leesa vs. Nectar
• Leesa vs. Purple
• Leesa vs. Amerisleep
• Leesa vs. Helix
• Leesa vs. GhostBed
• Leesa vs. Saatva
• Leesa vs. Bear

Our Final Take

Layla and Leesa are both great online mattress brands that produce high-quality flagship all-foam beds. The Layla is the best mattress for strict side sleepers who need relief for pressure points at the hips and shoulders. It’s also the best new mattress pick for shoppers who want a truly classic memory foam feel and enjoy sinking into their mattress. If you like a firmer, more responsive mattress, go with the Leesa. It’s the better option for people who sleep hot, and for combination sleepers who want to change positions easily atop its bouncier surface. Either can be a mattress for back sleepers and stomach sleepers who are lightweight and average-weight, so the right pick for these sleeper types will come down to preference in feel and budget.