Sleeping with the right pillow can mean the difference between waking up feeling refreshed or spending your day nursing a sore neck. But, with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. That’s why we’ve rounded up the best pillows worth dozing on.
Of course, what constitutes the ideal pillow is subjective. Side sleepers will do well with firm pillows, such as those made from memory foam, while back sleepers may prefer a squashy pillow that cocoons their head – feather and down or a synthetic dupe are great options. Front sleepers need a low-profile pillow, and wool or synthetic are great for this.
Allergy sufferers should also consider investing in pillows that are hypoallergenic – synthetic, wool or bamboo are a go-to. You need to be able to wash the pillows properly, to blitz out the dust and dust mites (grim, we know, but dust mites are the main cause of house-based allergies in the UK).
Not sure if you need a new pillow? If your sleep is disrupted, then it’s likely time to get an upgrade. A pillow’s lifespan is about one to five years – and that’s if you look after it properly. Keep scrolling for our pick of pillows for all types of sleepers.
How we tested
We’ve spent two years putting pillows to the test for this article – that’s almost 6,000 hours of testing. We recruited side-, back- and front-sleepers, to check the pillows for comfort and covered loads of different fillings, with synthetic, natural and hybrid options. We also paid close attention to comfort, how easy it was to fall asleep, whether we stayed in position throughout the night, and how our neck and shoulders felt in the morning. Whether the pillows offered good value for money was also taken into consideration. Here are the ones that won the pillow fight…
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Zoe Phillimore is a journalist and editor who has been writing review features for IndyBest since 2021. She specialises in all things sleep, from mattress toppers and duvets to sleep aids and SAD alarm clocks. Having written countless sleep-related reviews, Zoe has a keen eye for high-quality materials, durability and affordability. A criteria she applied to the best pillows over months of testing.
The best pillows for 2025 are:
- Best overall – Simba firm hybrid pillow: £135.15, Simbasleep.com
- Best budget buy – Silentnight airmax pillow: £10.50, Amazon.co.uk
- Best memory foam filling – Panda London hybrid bamboo pillow: £89.95, Pandalondon.com
- Best silk option – Fine Bedding Company boutique silk pillow: £38, Amazon.co.uk
Simba firm hybrid pillow
We love a firm pillow, and you will struggle to find a more comfortable option than this one. The folks at Simba are always innovating, and the design of this pillow is a case in point. Within the zip-up outer case are a series of fibre layers, and an aerocoil layer. You can remove or add in more fibre layers to find the right loft and softness for you. There are instructions for how to do this, and you can tailor it for if you’re a back or side sleeper. With all the layers in, it’s slightly too deep for us, but we were able to quickly adjust it to make it just right.
If that’s not enough, one side of the pillow is covered in cooling fabric, which draws heat away from your head. We found this very effective, and we didn’t wake up in a sweat once.
Buy now £135.15, Simbasleep.com
Silentnight airmax pillow
Silentnight has created this airmax pillow for those who are, well, sweaty sleepers. The medium to soft firmness is apparently ideal for side sleepers, and it did test well. It is, however, quite quick to sink and it has the undeniable feel of a synthetic pillow. We liked that the mesh sides encouraged cool air to circulate around our head, and found we were kept temperate all night. There are bonus points, too, as it’s hypoallergenic, and you can chuck it in the washing machine at 40C and kill off any germs.
Buy now £10.50, Amazon.co.uk
Simba hybrid pillow
Another great pillow from Simba, the softer hybrid is great for back and front sleepers. The washable cover encases loads of soft foam “nanocubes”, which you can remove (there’s a pouch for storage of unused cubes) until you find your optimal softness. The cover is designed to be cool to the touch, and there are air vents to help you stay cool – we never felt too warm while sleeping on this pillow. Despite it being softer than the firm version, it looked great on our bed, too.
Read the full Simba hybrid pillow review
Buy now £92.65, Simbasleep.com
Fine Bedding Company boutique silk pillow
Combine super insulating, soft, long-lasting, gentle silk with some sturdy polyester and you’ve got the best of both worlds with this pillow. It will suit a back sleeper well, as it cocoons your head really cozily. Thanks to the silk and the high-quality cotton cover, we found we didn’t overheat while using this pillow, either. You can wash it at 40C and tumble dry it, which makes it easy to keep it at its best, too.
Buy now £38.00, Amazon.co.uk
Premier Inn firm & fresh pillows, set of two
We admit we were surprised at how much we loved these pillows, which are perfectly firm and ideal for side sleepers. They’re made from hollow fibre (aka polyester), so, they are, perhaps not the most breathable in this line-up but we didn’t find overheating an issue. They come with quilted protectors and are machine washable. Although these pillows are well-priced, Premier Inn says you should replace them after one to two years.
Buy now £36.00, Premierinnathome.com
Panda London hybrid bamboo pillow
We found this pillow an absolute delight, with fantastic staying power night after night. Inside is charcoal-infused memory foam, while charcoal and bamboo work together to draw heat away from your head and keep it sweat-free all night. It should also stop you getting that grim sleepyhead smell, too.
We found this pillow absolutely brilliant for those that like a fairly firm pillow. You won’t sink into it, but nor does it feel like sleeping on a brick. Even Goldilocks would be happy with this pillow.
Buy now £89.95, Panda London
Next duck feather and down pillows, set of two
You can select from soft, medium or firm with these Next pillows. We opted for medium but we would say they’re slightly on the softer side. The breakdown of the filling is 90 per cent feather and 10 per cent down, inside a thick cover that meant no feathers poked us in the face. The loft is pretty decent on these, although, they do squash down and require a plump every morning – we don’t judge them for that, as we are similarly disposed ourselves. Let’s not forget that the price of these pillows is incredible for a set of two in natural fibres – particularly the prized down. Overall, these are a great, purse-friendly feather option.
Buy now £40.00, Next.co.uk
Piglet in Bed merino wool pillow
Piglet in Bed has somewhat of a cult following for its trendy, Insta-friendly bedsheets. The brand also does pillows in merino wool, which is a fantastic natural fibre. Keeping you warm and toasty during winter, and cool and fresh in the summer, the fibres are also incredibly fine and soft, so they won’t feel itchy.
Piglet in Bed offers both standard and super king sizes of this pillow, and options of soft, medium or firm of which we tried the latter. The filling is 100 per cent merino wool, and the casing is 100 per cent organic cotton. We found this pillow incredibly comfortable, as it has a good loft to it, yet offered a really lovely “sink” when we settled down for sleep. We found you could mould and knead it into the perfect shape and still it provides a deep level of support and springs back in the morning like nothing’s happened.
Buy now £79.00, Pigletinbed.com
Marks and Spencer body-temperature control pillows, two pack
To review this pillow, we recruited a highly fussy tester who is liable to overheating at night. M&S’s body sensor pillows have technology to help regulate your temperature – this means our tester should be warm and cosy during colder nights, and cool during the hotter ones. When they reported back, they said these pillows were comfortable and our tester didn’t overheat once while using them.
Our reviewer said they’d be happy to use these as their regular pillows in future, which is firm praise indeed. The pillows are made from polyester, inside and out, which means you can lob them in the washing machine and even tumble dry them on a low setting.
Buy now £35.00, Marksandspencer.com
Dorma extra firm and deep deluxe Oxford border pillow top
If you want a very deep loft, this Dorma pillow should go straight to the top of your list. We were hugely impressed with how darn sturdy this pillow is. It’s incredibly firm (you wouldn’t want it any firmer) and, well, big. It’s ideal if you like to sit up in bed and watch TV, sip tea, or just ponder life, but sleeping on it was a bit of a mission. Inside, there are two layers of polyester, while the casing is made of cotton. Despite all the manmade fibres, we didn’t find it too sweaty, and it’s machine washable, which is a bonus.
Buy now £30.00, Dunelm.com
Rem-Fit 500 cool gel pillow
This memory foam pillow bends and flexes as you move in your sleep, which meant we got a very comfortable night’s kip on it. Despite the relatively low loft, we found the support it provided was excellent, and it had the power to support us all night before springing back up in the morning.
The cool gel inside is part of the pillow’s temperature-regulating features. The pillow aims to help you stay cool all night, while the outer fabric wicks away sweat. We certainly didn’t feel hot at all while sleeping atop it. Should you ever get a bit sweaty, you can wash the outer cover.
Buy now £59.99, Rem-fit.co.uk
Soak & Sleep supreme Canadian goose down pillow
This pillow comes in soft or medium-firm versions. We opted for the latter, and it certainly provided plenty of support, especially for a goose-down pillow. It sat proudly on our bed – it was so filled it was actually quite hard to get in the pillowcase. It provided reassuringly firm support, too. After a night of snoozing on it, it was deflated where our head had been but it quickly plumped up again after a quick shake. Side sleepers will love that it keeps spines aligned well, and tucks in well at the neck.
Buy now £143.50, Soakandsleep.com
Aeyla dual pillow
As neck-pain sufferers, we were keen to try out the Aeyla dual pillow, as it claims to specifically ease this type of ache. Now, we are total converts. Initially, we pondered if the pillow would be too soft – we’ve found very soft, low-loft pillows exacerbate our neck pain – but that wasn’t the case. The dual pillow is mid loft but it provided solid support while not feeling like we were sleeping on a brick. Whatever we threw at it overnight, it regained its composure in the morning and plumped up again.
It’s hypoallergenic and vegan-friendly, too, as it’s filled with microfibres – it’s also free from toxins and chemicals. The design of the dual pillow is based on an inner pillow encapsulated in a padded cover, which helps it maintain its shape. We found it adapted to our movement really well, and we found it gave us some of the best nights’ sleep during testing.
Buy now £69.00, Aeyla.co.uk
What type of pillow is right for you?
Microfibre: These pillows tend to be among some of the most affordable and are man-made from synthetic materials such as polyester. They come in a range of different firmness levels, which makes them suitable for most sleeping styles, particular front sleepers, as they tend to be flatter. However, they aren’t the most breathable option, as they can retain moisture and heat.
Feather and down: To be called a down pillow, a product must be made up of at least 70 per cent down feathers, with the rest being regular feathers. Down feathers are typically far softer and better at retaining heat. It’s worth noting they're more expensive than most other pillows and not always suitable for those with allergies, however, you can find anti-allergy options. As down pillows flatten over time, they’re not the best option for side sleepers who require more height, but others will usually find it a comfortable choice.
Memory foam: These pillows are ideal for anyone who struggles with neck pain, as they offer sturdy support by moulding to the shape of your body. While they are durable, memory foam pillows can feel quite rigid and have limited airflow, which means they can get hot. Back and side sleepers will benefit most from this type of pillow.
Wool: If it’s an eco-friendly and naturally hypoallergenic pillow you’re after, wool could be the option for you. Wool pillows help to regulate your temperature, keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer, and are best suited to front sleepers.
Latex: An alternative to memory foam, latex pillows share similar properties, as they are firm and supportive. While they are much more breathable than memory foam, latex styles are on the pricey side and can have a distinct smell.
The verdict: Pillows
We absolutely loved the Simba hybrid firm pillow – it’s great for back and side sleepers, as you can adjust the profile. It also looks great fluffed up on the bed and keep up temperate at night. Front sleepers will love the Piglet in Bed pillow, which is packed with natural fibres. For budget-friendly pillows, we were impressed with Premier Inn’s products as well as the Silentnight airmax.
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