The Best Body Pillow

As a staff writer on Wirecutter’s sleep team, I research and test gear related to getting a better night’s sleep—from mattresses to sleep-tracking apps. Here’s my groundwork for this guide:

• To learn about using a body pillow for comfort and alignment, I spoke with physiatrist Akhil Chhatre, MD, director of spine rehabilitation (among other roles) at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
• To gain more insight into the mitigation of sleep apnea, I spoke with Chelsie Rohrscheib, PhD, a neuroscientist and sleep specialist at Wesper, a doctor-supervised at-home sleep-tracking company.
• This guide builds on research conducted in 2017 by senior editor Courtney Schley, who interviewed Karen Litzy, a physical therapist and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association, and Marianne Ryan, a prenatal and postpartum physical therapist.
• I spoke with Wirecutter staffers who currently own and love their body pillows (and were all too happy to tell me why).

Anyone can enjoy a better night’s rest by using a body pillow, but according to the experts we spoke to, certain sleepers may particularly benefit from using one. These include:

Side-sleepers: The physical therapists we spoke with told us that side-sleepers may find it comfortable to hug a body pillow (which reduces pressure on the bottom shoulder and arm) or to tuck a body pillow between the knees (which brings the pelvis into a neutral position).

Stomach-sleepers: A body pillow can help you feel like you’re snoozing on your stomach without having to lie flat (and potentially strain your neck muscles). You can lie on your side or at a three-quarter turn with the body pillow pressed along your front.

Pregnant people: A body pillow can support under the belly (to keep the weight of the uterus from pulling on the abdominal and back muscles), along the lower back (to help a pregnant sleeper stay comfortably on their side without rolling backward), and between the knees and ankles (to keep the top and bottom legs relatively aligned and to help reduce swelling).

People who snore and/or with sleep apnea: U-shaped body pillows can help people who snore or have sleep apnea because they keep you on your side. When you sleep on your back, sleep specialist Chelsie Rohrscheib explained, tissues in the upper airway relax, causing snoring or obstructed breathing. (If you snore or suspect you may have sleep apnea, your first step should be to speak with a doctor.)

People with injuries or back pain: Physiatrist Akhil Chhatre recommends using a firmer memory-foam body pillow that you can, ideally, place simultaneously between your knees and under your shoulder to relieve pressure. (For those with injuries or chronic pain, Chhatre recommends using a body pillow as part of a larger treatment plan, under the guidance of a doctor or physical therapist.)

And, of course, some folks want to use a body pillow because they sleep better when they have something to cuddle. A 2013 study showed that hugging a pillow-shaped device decreased the levels of cortisol (commonly referred to as the stress hormone) in study participants’ blood and saliva; a lowered cortisol level is an important factor in facilitating sleep.

Or, you may just want a more luxurious sleep experience. One tester told us that since trying a few body pillows, she feels like she’s been missing out on a higher echelon of comfort: “I never thought to use a body pillow before; now I can’t imagine not having one.” And if you’re worried about making space in the bed for a body pillow, we have some tips.

Top pick

Tempur-Pedic BodyPillow

Curve-conforming and pressure-relieving

Due to its luxurious, slow-sinking foam, this pillow molds to the body better than any others we tested, offering support and intense pressure relief for joints and muscles. But it’s significantly heavier—and pricier—than most other pillows we tried.

Buying Options

$156 from Amazon

$142 from Wayfair

$132 from Home Depot

Best for: The Tempur-Pedic BodyPillow should appeal to people who want a highly conforming, supportive body pillow, need intense pressure relief for their joints, or want a taste of the classic Tempur-Pedic memory-foam feel without having to buy a Tempur-Pedic mattress.

How it feels: Laying on the Tempur-Pedic body pillow feels like slowly sinking into a dense vat of quicksand—in a good way.

Why it’s great

It’s pressure-relieving and moldable. It’s made from the same proprietary memory foam used in the brand’s mattresses, which is known for its ability to mold closely to the body while retaining support. The Tempur-Pedic pillow’s deep cradling relieves pressure on the shoulders, hips, and knees.

It’s highly supportive. Instead of the shredded memory foam most of our other picks use, the Tempur-Pedic pillow is made from a solid slab of memory foam, which gives it a smoother, more-solid, more-supportive feel. We thought the Tempur material would be a little too firm, but most of our testers commented on how seamlessly the pillow conformed to their bodies once they nestled into it. As one tester described it, “[The Tempur-Pedic pillow] felt very firm and heavy at first, but then I melted into it, and it almost felt like I was floating on the pillow.”

Its size and sturdiness helps with proper sleep alignment. At 14 inches wide, the Tempur-Pedic pillow was the second-widest model we tested. It had enough surface area that testers were able to wrap their arms and legs around the pillow while lying on their stomachs or sides, with minimal to no slouching. One tester noted that she found the Tempur-Pedic pillow particularly comfortable to rest her chin on.

It has a terrific warranty. Tempur-Pedic offers a five-year warranty for its body pillow, the longest warranty of any pillow we tested.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s expensive and not returnable. Although this body pillow isn’t nearly as expensive as a Tempur-Pedic mattress, it’s one of the priciest pillows we tested. Tempur-Pedic doesn’t offer returns for its pillows, so before you commit, we recommend that you try out the pillow in a Tempur-Pedic store to make sure you’re a fan. If you’re unsure, consider our other picks first, since all of them can be returned.

It doesn’t come with a pillow case. Given this pillow’s price, we wish the company included a pillowcase. In fact, Tempur-Pedic doesn’t sell them at all, so if you want to encase your pillow, you need to find a pillowcase that can fit a 48-by-14-inch pillow.

It may retain heat. Like all memory-foam pillows, the Tempur-Pedic pillow is more likely to retain heat. Although the Tempur-Pedic pillow’s cover material felt cool, if you tend to sleep hot, you may want to avoid memory-foam body pillows altogether. If you want a softer, squishier, breathable pillow that still offers some support, you might be happier with the Sleep Number Cool ComfortFit Body Pillow or the Arctic Sleep Medium Comfort Cooling Gel Memory Foam Body Pillow.

It’s heavy. At 10 pounds, the Tempur-Pedic pillow was the heaviest pillow we tested—by far. Put it this way: If it falls off the bed in the middle of the night, you might just leave it there.

Specs

• Dimensions: 48 by 14 inches
• Materials: Tempur material filling; 100% polyester cover
• Returns and warranty: returns not accepted; five-year limited warranty

Top pick

Sleep Number Cool ComfortFit Body Pillow

Balanced and huggable

Filled with malleable, shredded memory foam and fluffy down alternative, this body pillow offers a good balance of plushness and support. But not everyone loves the slippery cover material.

Buying Options

$120 from Sleep Number

Best for: The Sleep Number Cool ComfortFit Body Pillow is best for sleepers who prefer a balance of softness and support and don’t want the density and intense sink of an all-memory-foam pillow.

How it feels: This pillow is supple and a bit fluffy, with an underlying firmness that makes it delightful to hug.

Why it’s great

Its blended inner material has a balanced feel. This model is stuffed with a mixture of medium-firm shredded memory foam and down alternative (polyfill). We found that this combination creates a pillow with a more plush feel than the all-memory-foam options we tested. We also found that the Sleep Number pillow’s memory foam conformed to the body, offering good support and pressure relief for the joints. But the down alternative tempered some of the more intense, sinky memory-foam qualities. One of our long-term testers who was pregnant while using this pillow said that it gave her “a cloud-like support” that felt “borderline miraculous.” It also worked perfectly for her 5-foot-9 frame when she slept with a pillow between her knees.

It’s the most huggable body pillow we’ve tested. The Sleep Number pillow had a softer, squishier, and more-pliable huggability. “It had a fluffy feeling that made me want to hug it for eternity,” one tester commented. We also noticed that this pillow felt less lumpy in comparison with other shredded memory-foam pillows we tested; the down alternative likely makes it feel smoother. (For the past several years, we’ve recommended a similar memory-foam and polyfill Sleep Number pillow in our guide to the best bed pillows.)

It’s a good choice for hot sleepers. The Sleep Number pillow comes with a removable, washable outer cover, which the company describes as “cooling.” And our testers did report that the slinky material had a cooling effect.

It has a generous trial period. Sleep Number offers a 100-night trial period (the most generous among the pillows we recommend) and a one-year warranty.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The cover material is polarizing. Its removable cover is made from a quilted polyester material, and about half of our testers disliked its synthetic, slippery, sateen feel (the other half didn’t mind it).

Specs

• Dimensions: 54 by 18 inches
• Materials: 75% foam, 25% polyester fill; 100% polyester cover
• Returns and warranty: 100-night return or exchange window after purchase; one-year warranty

Budget pick

Arctic Sleep Medium Comfort Cooling Gel Memory Foam Body Pillow

Moldable and affordable

This moldable memory-foam pillow offers good support for less than half the cost of our other picks. But it feels lumpier and has a less enticing cover.

Buying Options

$33 from Lowe's

$52 from Wayfair

Best for: The Arctic Sleep Medium Comfort Cooling Gel Memory Foam Body Pillow suits sleepers who want a decently supportive memory-foam pillow for less than half the price of most of our other memory-foam picks.

How it feels: This pillow feels like a cool, medium-firm marshmallow.

Why it’s great

It provides decent support at a low price. This pillow is a good choice for those who want something with a moderately dense memory-foam feel. It offers sufficient support when placed between the knees and is somewhat curve-conforming. And it’s less than half the price of the Sleep Number Cool ComfortFit Body Pillow and a quarter of the price of the Tempur-Pedic BodyPillow.

Its shredded memory foam makes it feel lighter (but also lumpy). The Arctic Sleep pillow is filled with shredded memory foam, as opposed to a single memory-foam layer. So although it’s not as smooth as other picks—one tester described it as “lumpy”—the shredded filling makes it more malleable than the solid-memory-foam Tempur-Pedic pillow.

It comes with a no-fuss, removable encasement. The polyester cover doesn’t feel particularly luxe, but it is removable and machine washable.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s liable to go flat by morning. The Arctic Sleep pillow is less dense than our other picks, so we found it was more likely to go flat if you lie on it for an extended period of time. This can be remedied by fluffing it the same way you would fluff a regular bed pillow (the brand recommends grabbing both sides of the pillow and squeezing it like an accordion).

It comes with an unattractive encasement: The company doesn’t sell pillowcases for the body pillow, and the zippered polyester cover that’s included isn’t particularly attractive or nice feeling; you’ll have to find one that can accommodate a 52-inch pillow.

Specs

• Size: 50 by 14 inches
• Materials: gel memory-foam fill; polyester cover
• Returns and warranty: 30-day return policy; no warranty

Top pick

Bean Products The Original Sleeping Bean Body Pillow

Stylish and soft

This extra-long, super-fluffy pillow has a silky, all-cotton cover and comes with a range of attractive pillowcase options. But it’s less supportive than our other picks.

Buying Options

$150 from Amazon

$140 from Walmart

Best for: Bean Products’s The Original Sleeping Bean Body Pillow works well for sleepers who are over 6 feet tall, want a long, pliable pillow, prefer a very soft pillow with minimal support, or are seeking a stylish-looking pillow that coordinates with their bedding.

How it feels: This pillow feels silky and squishy.

Why it’s great

It’s the most stylish of our picks. Of all the body pillows we tested, this model looked and felt the most like a piece of high-quality bedding. With its cylindrical shape, fluffy stuffing, and smooth, silky cover, it may be appealing if you’ve avoided body pillows due to their typical bulky or oversize aesthetic. You can choose white or natural (a sandy-beige color), as well as organic cotton. The company also offers cotton pillowcases in eight colors, so you’re likely to find something that coordinates with your bedding.

It’s well made. The Sleeping Bean is shaped like a long bolster, structured with strong, well-stitched seams and a zipper that operates smoothly. The all-cotton cover felt similar to a good-quality percale sheet.

It’s particularly soft, squeezable, and malleable. You can opt for a pillow filled with polyester polyfill (down alternative) or kapok (a natural tree-seed fiber that resembles silky, brown stuffed-animal fluff). We tested the Sleeping Bean filled with kapok and we found that the fiber gave the pillow a notably soft, squeezable consistency. One tester commented that it felt “fun to squish.”

At 10 inches wide, the Sleeping Bean was thinner than most of the pillows we tested, which means it was easier to bend and manipulate to support different areas of the body. One tester likened it to a “luxurious pool noodle.”

It comes in two lengths to suit diverse heights. At 5 feet 6 inches long, the adult-size Sleeping Bean was one of the few non-wraparound body pillows we tested that was long enough for those over 6 feet tall. Our 6-foot-tall tester found it was long enough to fit between their knees and ankles while still reaching up to their shoulder, mitigating the need for slouching or sacrificing shoulder support. The Sleeping Bean also comes in a teen size, which is 4 feet 6 inches long.

It’s a good choice for hot sleepers. With its all-cotton cover and natural fill, the Sleeping Bean feels cooler during the night than pillows made with memory foam and synthetic materials.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It can be a little too squishy. If you’re looking for a body pillow that provides substantial support, the Sleeping Bean wouldn’t be the best option due to its narrow width and soft kapok fiber. If you need firmer support for your joints or back (for those who like to sleep with a body pillow behind them), a wider memory-foam pillow would be a better fit.

It’s not easy to clean. Washing the Sleeping Bean is an involved process, since you have to remove the loose filling to launder the cover and then restuff it. Since the kapok filling is light and fluffy, it can get all over the place. We suggest transferring the filling to a clean bag or, as the company suggests, removing it outdoors.

Specs

• Dimensions: 65 by 10 inches (adult), 54 by 9 inches (teen)
• Materials: the hypoallergenic pillow is stuffed with polyester polyfill; the Organic Veggie pillow is stuffed with kapok (a natural tree-seed fiber); all come with 100% cotton covers
• Returns and warranty: 14-day return window after purchase for unused pillows; no warranty

Top pick

Milliard 54 Inch U-Shaped Memory Foam Body Pillow With Velour Cover

All-around comfort

This U-shaped body pillow surrounds the sleeper, supporting the back and the front. The shredded memory-foam fill makes the pillow moldable and pliable, but it tends to flatten without regular fluffing.

Buying Options

$50 from Amazon

Best for: The Milliard 54 Inch U-Shaped Memory Foam Body Pillow With Velour Cover is likely to suit side-sleepers—particularly those who need extra support to remain on their sides or like to switch positions during the night—and people who want both front and back support.

How it feels: This pillow feels like a moderately firm teddy bear covered in velour.

Why it’s great

It’s gently supportive and versatile. If you’re looking for a U-shaped or wraparound pillow that offers support on three sides, our pick from Milliard is a solid, affordable choice. It’s filled with shredded memory foam, so it conforms to your body as you sink into it, but the pressure relief you get is not as intense as with the Tempur-Pedic BodyPillow. The Milliard pillow is also less dense than some of the other U-shaped options we tried, including the Yana body pillows, which makes it more maneuverable, pliable, and versatile. For example, we found it was easy to prop the pillow behind us for back support while sitting up in bed, and we also found it was easy to bend the pillow and place it between the knees or ankles.

It’s excellent for stomach- and side-sleepers. One of our testers appreciated that the Milliard pillow gave decent support to his back and his stomach, allowing him to get comfortable while being “half on his back” (at a 45-degree angle from the mattress). Another tester used the Milliard pillow while recovering from a back injury and said that the simultaneous back and stomach support prevented her from making any sudden movements that might have caused further pain.

It’s easy to wash and easy to return. The Milliard pillow’s removable, washable polyester velour cover feels soft—though if you don’t like the velvety feel, you may prefer a pillow with a smoother or more-breathable cover. When you purchase the pillow from Amazon, you have 30 days to return it.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It can lose shape in high-pressure areas. A few testers noted that the Milliard pillow was less supportive and more deflatable than the other U-shaped pillows we tested, such as the Yana 360° Cooling Gel Body Pillow. When I slept with the Milliard pillow overnight, I found that when I put pressure on one area for too long, the shredded memory foam separated, leaving a flat spot. This was remedied when I shook out the pillow to redistribute the foam in the morning.

It can take up your whole bed. Like all U-shaped body pillows, the Milliard pillow is huge—it takes up most of a queen-size bed. If you don’t have that much space to allocate to a body pillow, you might be happier with one of our other options.

It’s not a great choice for hot sleepers. Because the Milliard body pillow is made of memory foam, it is more likely to retain heat during the night, and the polyester cover is less breathable than those made of cotton. The soft velour material also makes the pillow feel warmer than pillows with smoother covers, such as the Bean Products Original Sleeping Bean Body Pillow and the Arctic Sleep Medium Comfort Cooling Gel Memory Foam Body Pillow.

Specs

• Size: 54 by 26 inches
• Materials: memory-foam fill; polyester cover
• Returns and warranty: 30-day Amazon return policy; no warranty

If you want a U-shaped pillow with a firmer feel: The Yana 360° Cooling Gel Body Pillow, which is stuffed with shredded memory foam and features a cooling gel, may be worth considering. Our testers liked its plusher, firmer feel, and they noted that it offered better support than the Milliard 54 Inch U-Shaped Memory Foam Body Pillow. The Yana Cooling Gel pillow’s velour outer cover—made from a blend of bamboo, cotton, and polyester—felt very soft, reminiscent of crushed velvet. But with a price of about $200 (at the time of publication), this is one of the most expensive pillows we tested. And several customer reviews complained of poor customer service or difficulty returning the pillow. We also had trouble reaching the company’s customer service via email.

After speaking with experts—and testing standard bed pillows—we determined that a good body pillow should be:

Supportive and comfortable: A supportive body pillow strikes the right balance of softness and resistance. Pillows that are too soft and thin collapse under your body weight; pillows that are too thick or springy don’t let you comfortably sink in. “It should give gentle support and mold to the arm and leg,” said physical therapist Marianne Ryan.

The right shape and size: The appropriate shape and size of a pillow for you depends on your height and where you need support. We tested pillows in a range of lengths and shapes, most being around 54 inches long. For sleepers of average height, that size can support the arms and knees or the knees and ankles (but it doesn’t reach all three). If you need full-body support, consider an extra-long or a U-shaped body pillow, which surrounds you on three sides. But these larger pillows may feel overwhelming or take up too much of the bed.

Covered with a cool, comfortable case: A good body pillow should be something you want to snuggle up against each night. We looked for pillows with outer cases made from cotton or rayon/polyester; our testing of sheets and bed pillows has shown these fabrics tend to feel cool and absorb moisture well. Even though you’ll probably want to use a separate pillowcase, the outer cover should still feel soft.

Washable: All of the pillows we chose to test were either machine washable or came with covers that were removable and washable.

Returnable: You may not be able to tell if a pillow suits you until you’ve slept with it, so a generous return policy is an important bonus, especially for an expensive pillow. It’s even better if the pillow comes with a guarantee or a warranty (of at least two years, according to our bed pillows guide). You will, however, need to pay more for this; most cheaper pillows we found didn’t offer that assurance.

During our testing we considered 16 body pillows. We evaluated the cover, fill, shape, smell, and feel of each. And we eliminated models with scratchy and cheap-feeling covers, poor-quality construction, lumpy textures, and strange smells, as well as those that felt noticeably over- or under-filled.

We tested the remaining nine pillows in our Long Island City, New York, office, with a panel of 10 Wirecutter staffers. Our testers ranged in height from 5-foot-1 to 6-foot-1. And the group included stomach-, side-, and back-sleepers; some of these testers reported experiencing various discomforts during sleep.

On a latex-foam innerspring mattress, each tester reclined on their side with one arm under the pillow and one between their knees, if they were able. They then filled out a survey ranking the support, comfort, and general feel of each pillow and how easily it facilitated a restful position.

The Nüe by Novaform Body Pillow, with a down-alternative fill, seemed to be cheaply made. When it arrived, its outer casing was snagged in multiple spots, and we quickly noticed material spilling out from tears in the seams.

The Snuggle-Pedic Body Pillow, filled with shredded memory foam, was a former top pick in this guide. But when we reevaluated it in 2022, we noticed how squishy and lumpy it felt and how loose the cover was compared with other shredded-memory-foam pillows we tried.

The inexpensive Oubonun Premium Adjustable Loft Quilted Body Pillow, stuffed with a down alternative, felt thin and flat, and the polyester outer layer felt particularly unbreathable.

Although we liked the shape and outer softness of the Yana 360° Natural Latex Body Pillow, which is filled with shredded latex, it felt heavy and lumpy. More significantly, it retained a strong latex smell (like a rubber glove), even after we aired it out for two weeks.

This article was edited by Courtney Schley and Ingrid Skjong. It was originally published in 2017.