Tempurpedic is one of the biggest and most recognizable brands in the mattress industry. They were the company that invented the memory foam mattress in the early 90s, and they remain a large player in the industry still. In this article, I will give some alternatives to various Tempurpedic models that will feel similar to their Tempurpedic counterparts, but at a much lower price.
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Tempurpedics virtually never go on sale (and when they do, it’s generally something like $100 off of the foundation), so it’s difficult to get a good deal on them. I explain my reasoning and some additional alternatives below the chart. They just feel similar and have comparable features and construction.
All of the comparison models have free trials, so if you don’t like it, you can always switch to the Tempurpedic later. Also, if you absolutely fell in love with a Tempurpedic at a store and you have enough money that you won’t notice the difference in your bank account, I’d recommend just buying the Tempurpedic. You can find links to each model in the chart. It’s a solid brand that gets great customer reviews. However, if the price of the Tempurpedic would sting, consider trying the alternative first and returning it if you aren’t impressed.
From least to most expensive:
The Cloud Prima is the entry-level model for Tempurpedic. It uses a thin softer layer of foam on top and then firmer foams underneath. Because of this, it is overall a very firm mattress. The Nectar Mattress also uses a fairly thin comfort layer over the support layers. This gives the Nectar a medium firm-firm feeling. The Nectar is also very reasonably priced(actually ranked as our “Best Value Mattress”).
The Tempur-Flex lineup is made up of hybrid mattresses, meaning they use coils as the base layer rather than foam. Helix Midnight uses the same style. It’s a slower reaction memory foam on top with coils underneath. The Midnight is one of many models that Helix carries. So if this one isn’t quite right, you have some options.
The Contour Supreme is one of the firmest memory foam mattresses out there. It’s certainly the firmest in the Tempurpedic lineup. The firm version Alexander Signature by Nest Bedding is also very firm. If you liked how the Contour Supreme felt, you’re very likely to like the Alexander Signature.
Another alternative would be the Loom and Leaf Firm. The foams used may feel even a little firmer than the Alexander Signature, but they use more comfort foam overall, so I’d say the L&L is a better match, spec-wise, to the Contour Elite.
The Cloud Supreme is on the softer end. It’s a mid-range model in the Cloud lineup, which uses a softer memory foam on top of the support layers. The Puffy Lux feels quite similar to me. The specific layers of foam are a little different, but the overall result is very close, and the Puffy is better than half the price.
The Flex Supreme is another hybrid mattress, but this one has more of the soft Tempurpedic foam in the top layer, which makes it feel softer overall. The Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid Mattress has a few different firmness options. The one that translates the most here is the “soft” option. It is a pretty good match for the Tempur-Flex. The feeling is not identical, however. The Tempurpedic foam has a slightly different reaction time than the foam the Brooklyn uses. This could be a good or bad thing depending on how much you like that particular feature of Tempurpedic foam.
The Tempur-Adapt is a memory foam mattress but tends to feel a little denser and firm than your traditional memory foam. In Tempurpedic terms, it’s firm with a high “Tempur-Adapt level.” The Leesa uses a similar design philosophy. It uses a few layers of foam above the support layer and gives a fairly similar feel to the Tempur-Adapt, but at a much more reasonable price.
The Tempur-Adapt Hybrid, is the hybrid version of the new Adapt line. While it uses similar foam materials as the regular version, the fact that is has coils gives it a different feel. Like the Signature, the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Hybrid Mattress comes in a few different firmness levels. The firm option might be slightly closer to the Adapt Pro, but some believe the medium is comparable as well. Because the Medium is such a well-reviewed version of the Aurora, I’m inclined to make it the recommendation for a cheaper, comparable mattress to the Tempur-Adapt.
The Contour Elite is very firm, but still uses a rather thick layer of comfort foam. In Tempurpedic terms, it’s firm with a high “Tempur-Adapt level.” The Puffy uses a similar design philosophy. It uses a lot of layers of firm foam above the support layer, and gives a fairly similar feel to the Contour Elite.
The Cloud Elite will be a little softer than the Cloud Supreme but still what I would consider medium firmness. The Leesa offers a similar feel in my opinion. Leesa did a nice job of making their mattress a bit of a catch-all, in terms of who it appeals to.
The Tempur-Flex Elite is a hybrid mattress with a medium to soft feel. It’s a thick mattress with quite a lot going on inside, which is why I think it compares to the DreamCloud mattress, although about half the price or less. Both are hybrid mattresses with coils underneath and softer foams up top.
The Tempur-ProAdapt is the newest memory foam mattress from Tempurpedic boasting of a handful of new features and materials. It comes in a few different firmness options, so it’s harder to compare apples to apples, but it seems like the feel most is similar to the Tuft and Needle Mint. You’re going to save some serious dollars with the Mint as well.
The Tempur-ProAdapt Hybrid, is the hybrid version of the new ProAdapt line. It also comes in a few different firmness options, but not sure it lines up with some of the other brands that offer options. The closest comparison seems to be the Leesa Hybrid, which is going to most align with the medium/firm versions.
This is another one for which there is no direct comparison. The Cloud Luxe is similar to the Cloud Elite, but it uses even more soft foam in the top layers allowing you to sink even further into the mattress. None of the “alternatives” on the chart can quite compete in thickness, so the closest I can suggest is getting a Brooklyn Aurora Soft, even though it is a hybrid.
The other option may be the DreamCloud mattress.
This comparison has the biggest price difference between the Tempurpedic model and the alternative on the chart. The Rhapsody Luxe is a very popular model because it is firm without being exceedingly hard, and it also uses a lot of comfort foam to contour around most people. The Leesa Hyrbid, feels very similar in firmness and the overall feel (e.g. response time of the foam) and it’s about significantly less than the Rhapsody Luxe. It won’t feel identical, but it’ll be close enough for most people.
Most of the other “alternatives” on this chart have a little bit quicker of response time than their Tempurpedic counterpart. One complaint about Tempurpedic is that the foam takes a few seconds to adjust when you switch positions. Other people love how the Tempurpedic responds. Whereas the other “alternative” brands try to make the foam more responsive to compete with Tempurpedic, Sapira takes the more direct approach and copies how the Tempurpedic feels more closely.
The last one on the chart just has no comparison at all. I may recommend the Rhapsody Luxe as a comparable model for half the price (and similarly the Loom and Leaf Relaxed Firm), but presumably if you’ve tried the Grand Bed, you’ve also tried the Rhapsody Luxe, and if you came here searching for the Grand Bed, the Rhapsody Luxe was not close enough for you.
So, if you fell in love with the Grand Bed, and even the other high-end Tempurpedics couldn’t compare (and you have $7,500 that you’re not relying on), you should buy the Grand Bed.
I have two tips to possibly save you money on the Grand Bed:
Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps. If you got an alternative mattress, let me know how it worked out for you in the comments below.
Disappointed to see Alexander Signature no longer has a soft option. What else is there? I’m petite and I like a very plush mattress. I’m very sensitive. Most feel like rocks to me.
Hi! What mattress would compare to the pro adapt soft?
Actually there’s no one review out there where they talk about the new Alexander. They all tallk about different layers etc. Getting this bed blind. Hopefully I’m lucky
Here is my Alexander review. It is up to date with the Alexander Signatures they have on their website.
Hi thanks for the article! I noticed that the article is almost a year old. I just ordered an Alexander Signature Firm. For my understanding this matress has been completely uosated. Do you think is best than the prior one, and how it compares with the tempurpedic?
This article was written just after the update, I believe. I just double-checked, and it looks like it’s still applicable.
Ok so I tried the grand today and it was BY FARy favorite of every mattress foam or not in the store. He’s willing to give me the floor model for $2800…no warranty…is it worth it????
(I realize this has nothing to do with your site but since you didn’t offer me a comparison, this one’s really on you.) :)
Yes, I’d say it’s worth it.
ALSO, you might still have a warranty. When I worked on a sales floor, the STORE wouldn’t service the warranty, but Tempurpedic still warrantied their floor models from the date of manufacture printed on the law tag. As long as you have the law tag still attached, you might still have a warranty. (You should unless Tempurpedic’s policy on that has changed in the few years since I stopped working in a retail store)
So yes, go for it.
Thank you for your chart, very helpful! We are trying to decide between the loom and leaf relaxed firm versus firm. When we went to the Tempur-pedic store, we compared the contour elite versus the rhapsody luxe and we liked the rhapsody luxe because it felt more firm/felt like we sunk in less ( even though the charting indicated it was less firm then the contour elite.) That’s why we are confused as far as which loom and leaf to purchase. Based on your chart it looks like I should go with the relaxed firm since we overall like the rhapsody luxe feel? We don’t like the sensation of sinking into much which is why I wonder if we should get the loom and leaf firm?
Even the relaxed firm is pretty firm. You won’t sink in that much. (Or at least I didn’t, and I’m even heavier than average.)
On the other hand, if there’s no risk at all of the mattress being too firm, you could always get the firm instead.
The nice thing about Loom and Leaf is they have a free exchange policy. I think you just need to pay the delivery charge (if even that, I’m not certain).
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