This in-depth, unbiased guide is a Sleeping Ninjas showdown between Nectar vs Tuft and Needle to help you select the best mattress. Disclosure: Sleeping Ninjas has an affiliate relationship with some companies where we get a small percentage of sales if you click over from our site.
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Table of Contents
Nectar vs Tuft and Needle Highlights
The Nectar mattress offers:
- Proprietary materials exclusive to the Nectar company
- A high-quality hybrid construction constructed primarily of memory foam materials
- Cooling technology infused throughout every inch of their mattress
- An astounding year-long sleep trial and a forever warranty – lasting as long as you own the mattress
The Tuft and Needle mattress offers:
- Memory foam-like qualities without the downfalls thanks to their patented Tuft and Needle Adaptive Foam
- A minimalistic two-layer construction featuring only high-quality materials
- A family-friendly price tag with all options coming in under $1000
- Guaranteed temperature control due to the use of only lightweight materials
Here, we’ve compiled a complete comparison review of Tuft and Needle vs Nectar, two popular mattress options available on the market today, to help you determine which of the two will best fit your needs. Let’s dive right in to see who comes out on top!
Construction: What’s It Made Out Of?
In the first section of our Nectar vs Tuft and Needle review, we’ll be comparing the details surrounding the construction of both mattresses.
Nectar Construction
Nectar has constructed their mattress with four unique layers, featuring high-quality materials and a breathable, cooling cover.
Tencel Cooling Cover
The entire Nectar mattress is encased with a Tencel Cooling Cover that’s been custom-milled for ultra-breathability. They’ve specifically designed their cover to quickly wick away sweat and body heat to help keep you cool and dry night after night. They’ve also designed their cover to be bedbug resistant, ultimately making it a healthier and more cost-effective option.
Quilted Gel Memory Foam
The topmost layer of the actual Nectar mattress features quilted gel memory foam. This special memory foam has undergone a tedious, time-consuming, and expensive quilting process that allows for optimal loftiness and breathability. While this process can be a bit of a hassle, Nectar feels that it’s worth it to be able to provide their customers with unsurpassed, luxurious comfort.
Gel Memory Foam
Up next is a layer of Nectar’s proprietary gel memory foam. The company actually holds five patents on their open-cell formula and actually holds the title of one of the most premium gel memory foams available on the mattress market today. Usually, this special foam is reserved for only medical use thanks to its luxurious comfort, unsurpassed cooling abilities, and optimal responsiveness, bounce-back, and recovery time.
Adaptive Hi-Core Memory Foam
Up next, Nectar equips their mattress with their adaptive Hi-Core memory foam to ensure that users never experience that dreadful sinking feeling. Currently, the Nectar adaptive foam is not available in any other mattress on the market. This is due largely in part to its density and weight – lending it expensive to ship. But, because of its unsurpassed ability to provide pressure point relief and joint cradling, Nectar insists on its use.
Breathable Base Layer
It’s pretty easy to see that the Nectar mattress boasts quite a few titles. Their base layer is no exception. The Nectar mattress actually features the most breathable baselayer available on the market. The base layer of the Nectar provides overall reinforcement to the mattress as well as enhances the performance of the above layers. However, Nectar gives themselves the leg up by equipping their base layer with molded channels to allow for the constant flow of fresh air throughout the mattress.
Plus, all materials used in the construction of the Nectar mattress are Certi-PUR US Certified against emissions and to ensure high indoor air quality.
Tuft and Needle Construction
It’s common for most hybrid mattresses to be chock full of all kinds of different layers. While it’s certainly not a bad tactic, Tuft and Needle prefers to take a more minimalistic approach. The creators of T&N decided that the addition of a bunch of different layers was unnecessary and only served to jack up the price without adding any real benefits.
So, instead of adding a bunch of layers to make the mattress sound better, T&N only equips their mattresses with the materials completely necessary for optimal comfort, support, and breathability.
Tuft and Needle Adaptive Foam
Tuft and Needle equips the topmost layer of their mattress with freshly-poured T&N Adaptive Foam. T&N has designed this material to perform much the same as conventional memory foam while skipping out on all the common downfalls.
Their foam is designed to reduce pressure, pain, stiffness, and numbness while perfectly cradling joints and molding to each individual body shape and size. Tuft and Needle has also made sure that their foam will never allow for that dreadful sinking feeling or trap heat against the body. They also equip their foam with localized bounce to increase responsiveness and greatly reduce any motion transference.
Supportive Base Foam
The second and last layer of the Tuft and Needle mattress is a base layer of supportive foam. Their foundation ensures that customers are getting all of the necessary support and stability while reinforcing the entire mattress and enhancing the performance of the above layers.
Tuft and Needle also encases their mattress with an ultra-breathable, super-soft cover. All of the materials used in the construction of the T&N mattress are certified by Greenguard GOLD, Certi-PUR US, and Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX.
Who Wins?
When it comes to the overall construction of Nectar vs Tuft and Needle, Nectar takes the win in this category. We appreciate the minimalistic approach taken by T&N, Nectar works hard to equip their mattress with the best in high-quality, proprietary materials.
Temperature Control
Up next, we’ll dive into our temperature control section, taking a good look at the technology infused in Tuft and Needle vs Nectar to determine which will keep you cool and comfortable all throughout the night.
Nectar Temperature Control
The only layer of the Nectar mattress that isn’t expressly equipped with temperature controlling technology is their Adaptive Hi-Core memory foam. Every other inch of the mattress is designed to keep you cool, comfortable, and dry.
Their cooling cover is designed to quickly and effectively wick away sweat and heat directly against the skin. In fact, they have designed their cover to be motion-activated in a way. It’s made to draw in fresh air and release it against the body upon movement.
The layer of quilted memory foam topping the mattress also serves as a heat retention safeguard by increasing airflow and breathability. This layer is designed to ensure that no heat is ever trapped by absorbing the body heat and distributing evenly away from the surface of the mattress.
To top things off, Nectar has equipped their base layer with perfectly molded channels. These channels are designed to constantly draw in fresh air and distribute it through the mattress as well as absorb any body heat and direct it away from the surface.
Tuft and Needle Temperature Control
The Tuft and Needle mattress works to keep you cool in two different ways. First and foremost, they infuse their topmost layer with a graphite and cooling gel mixture that’s designed to quickly wick away sweat and body heat – helping to leave you refreshed and rejuvenated every morning.
Tuft and Needle also utilizes their cover to help keep you cool and dry as well. They’ve specially constructed their cover with optimal breathability and airflow to help avoid any heat retention against your skin.
Who Wins?
When comparing Tuft and Needle vs Nectar, Nectar takes the win in the Temperature Control section. Nectar certainly equips their product with more cooling technology. And, we note in our review section below that many consumers have discovered that the T&N mattress doesn’t actually keep them cool.
Overall Comfort: Firmness vs Softness
In this category, we’ll compare the firmness vs softness level as well as the overall comfort offered by the Nectar vs Tuft and Needle mattresses.
Nectar Comfort
Nectar rates their mattress between a 5.5 and a 7.5 on the firmness scale – making it a medium-firm option, which is the most popular firmness level among consumers. The creators of the mattress have worked long and hard to create the perfect harmony of comfort and support.
In fact, they have utilized every last square inch of their mattress to guarantee that their consumers are getting just that. They promise unsurpassed loftiness, comfort, and joint cradling from their layer of quilted memory foam – while their layer of gel memory foam underneath absorbs and evenly distributes body weight to guarantee optimal pressure point, numbness, and stiffness relief.
Their layer of Adaptive Hi-Core memory foam guarantees that users will never sink into their mattress – which is certainly common among products with a primarily foam construction. This layer is specifically designed to reinforce the cradling properties of the above materials as well as provide crucial stability, responsiveness, and bounce-back.
Nectar even utilizes their very bottom layer to ensure that you’re getting the best in comfort and support. Their foundation provides added stability and support, reinforces the durability of the overall mattress, and even aides in temperature regulation.
Tuft and Needle Comfort
Tuft and Needle also markets their mattress as a medium-firm option. Which, again, is most popular among consumers or those that aren’t quite certain on their firmness needs as of yet. They promise a luxurious level of plushness as well as joint cradling and pressure point relief with their layer of T&N adaptive foam.
This foam layer can be a bit on the soft side. But, Tuft and Needle has worked to combat that issue with the addition of their supportive base layer – which is designed to provide all the necessary firmness, support, and stability.
Who Wins?
In Tuft and Needle vs Nectar: Comfort, Nectar takes the win once again. We note in our review section that both mattresses seem to perform well when it comes to overall comfort and support. But, in the end, Nectar equips their mattress with more high-quality materials to ensure that you’re getting the best of both worlds.
Price: Tuft and Needle vs Nectar
Below, we’ll compare the price tags of Tuft and Needle vs Nectar to see which option gives you the best bang for your buck.
Nectar Price
It’s no secret that Nectar has set out to provide their customers with a stellar mattress. They offer top-notch construction, comfort, and cooling technology. But, Nectar also cares about their customer’s budgets as well. All of their mattress size options come in well under $1000 to help ensure that almost anyone can afford a new, high-quality mattress.
The prices of the Nectar mattress are as follows:
- Twin – $425
- Twin XL – $475
- Full – $595
- Queen – $725
- King – $825
- California King – $825
When you take into consideration all the great benefits and qualities you’ll be getting out of the Nectar mattress, the price is amazing. They feature a high-quality hybrid construction with top-notch cooling and comfort. Plus, you can upgrade your purchase from a king to a California king-size for the same price.
Tuft and Needle Price
The Tuft and Needle mattress company has taken a minimalistic approach to their product to ensure that it’s not stuffed with unnecessary materials that only serve to hike up the price. Thanks to this tactic, Tuft and Needle can offer all of their mattresses for well under $1000. In fact, their full-size option is even under the $500 mark.
The prices of the Tuft and Needle mattress are as follows:
- Twin – $325
- Twin XL – $375
- Full- $475
- Queen – $575
- King – $700
- California King – $700
Tuft and Needle may not offer all of the bells and whistles that some other mattress companies do. But, they’ve created a mattress that will provide their customers with all the crucial comfort and support and constructed it with breathable materials to ensure that you always still cool and at price point that’s very family-friendly. Plus, like their Nectar counterpart, you can upgrade from a king to California king for no additional cost.
Who Wins?
When we compare the price of Nectar vs Tuft and Needle, Tuft and Needle takes the slightest win in this category. Both mattresses are available in their largest option for well under $1000. But, Tuft and Needle comes in at just $100 or so cheaper than their competitor.
Pros & Cons Of Nectar vs Tuft and Needle
Here, we’ll take a good look at a few of the stellar reviews of Nectar vs Tuft and Needle as well as go over some of their most common problems.
What Do Users Love About Nectar?
Nectar users love their purchase, that’s no secret. Their review section is chock full of praises. But, we found that their biggest praise was the perfect balance of softness to firmness. According to real-life reviews, Nectar has perfectly harmonized the support and comfort in their mattress – Soft, supportive, optimally comfortable and allowing some consumers the best night’s sleep they’ve ever had.
In fact, some users have noted in their reviews that they suffer from pain-inducing ailments and the Nectar mattress has greatly reduced or even eliminated some of their nighttime symptoms as well as pain and stiffness upon waking.
Pros
- The Nectar company equips their mattress with adequate edge support to ensure that you’re never left rolling off the side or causing premature wear by sitting on the edge frequently – which is mostly uncommon in foam mattresses
- Nectar’s included cover is ultra-breathable, soft to the touch, and completely removable and washable
- The Nectar mattress is guaranteed to provide comfort and support no matter your preferred sleeping position
- The warrant offered by the Nectar company is industry-leading with a 365-night sleep trial and a forever warranty
- Nectar users claim that they never experienced the off-gassing odor that can be common with foam mattresses that have been compressed for shipment
What Are The Drawbacks Of Nectar?
We could find hardly any complaints revolving around the actual performance of the Nectar mattress. For the most part, users love the product and claim that it performs perfectly. The biggest grievance actually revolves around shipping.
According to several Nectar reviews, it can take up to several weeks for your Nectar purchase to ship and be delivered. Some customers have even noted that their order was repeatedly pushed back and a small percentage even claims that it took months for their mattress to arrive.
Cons
- The adjustment period can be a bit long due to the unique construction of the Nectar mattress
- While the Nectar cover is removable and washable, it is not currently replaceable – something Nectar is working to rectify in the near future
- The Nectar company does offer to finance your purchase, but it does come with additional fees
What Do Users Love About Tuft and Needle?
Much like their Nectar counterpart, Tuft and Needle customers are highly impressed with the perfect balance of softness vs firmness in the T&N mattress.
Comfort as a whole is certainly a subjective matter. It’s nearly impossible to please every single person simply because their preferences may differ. But, based on the review section, it looks like Tuft and Needle has come pretty close. Several reviewers have claimed that the T&N mattress allowed them to finally achieve proper alignment and seriously alleviated chronic neck and back problems.
Pros
- The Tuft and Needle company offers an industry-standard sleep trial and warranty to keep your purchase protected
- Tuft and Needle keeps their price points well under the $1000 mark to help ensure that nearly anyone can afford their product
- According to real-life reviews, the T&N mattress offers unsurpassed pressure, joint pain, and stiffness relief
- Tuft and Needle cares about their communities – regularly holding school fundraisers and donating lightly used mattresses to local homeless shelters or charities
What Are The Drawbacks Of Tuft and Needle?
For the most part, Tuft and Needle users are highly satisfied with the comfort they get out of their mattress. As a matter of fact, their firmness to softness ratio was their biggest praise. But, we did notice that a small percentage of users found that the T&N mattress was still a bit too soft for their liking.
A few reviewers feel like the pressure relieving properties don’t perform as well as they should and several users have noted that the mattress is not comfortable or compatible with all sleeping positions.
Cons
- We noted in our above “Temperature Control” section that the T&N mattress does feature a few heat retention safeguards – But, several reviews claim that it doesn’t perform well
- A large handful of consumers have noticed a very strong, chemical-like off-gassing odor upon opening their T&N mattress that took several weeks to fully dissipate
- Tuft and Needle users of a larger body size have noticed an unpleasant sinking feeling
Warranty: Nectar vs Tuft and Needle
Up next, we’ll compare the warranties offered by the Nectar vs Tuft and Needle companies.
Nectar Warranty
The creators of the Nectar mattress are extremely proud of their product and they happily prove that with a simply unsurpassed, industry-leading warranty and sleep trial period.
Most online mattress companies offer their customers somewhere around 100 nights to try the mattress in their home. Then, they typical protect your purchase with a limited warranty for the next 10 years of ownership. But, Nectar has really gone the extra mile.
Starting the day your mattress arrives, you have 365 nights to try the mattress in your home. That’s an entire year – 3x longer than the typical sleep trial period. You get to try your Nectar mattress out through all four seasons so you can determine 100% if the Nectar mattress is going to be the perfect fit for you through any conditions.
Nectar claims that less than 3% of their customers opt to return the mattress during the sleep trial period. However, if you do end up deciding that it’s not the best choice for you, Nectar will issue a full refund of your purchase price and will even arrange to have the mattress picked up from your home.
If you decide to keep your mattress, like most customers, then Nectar will guarantee the materials, durability, construction, and quality of your mattress for as long as you own it. Provided that you’re the original purchaser of the mattress, Nectar will repair or replace your mattress at no cost to you for the first 10 years of ownership. This is the point where most extended warranties begin to prorate your cost. But, that’s not the case with Nectar.
After the 10-year mark of your warranty, you will only become responsible for a $50 transportation fee both ways. But, if your mattress is found to be truly defective within the terms of their warranty, that fee will be waived.
Like most warranties, Nectar does not cover any damage incurred from improper use, any differences in personal preferences or sensitivities, or any mattress that is purchased “as is” or from an unauthorized dealer.
Tuft and Needle Warranty
The Tuft and Needle mattress company offers an industry-standard sleep trial period and warranty. Once you receive your T&N mattress, you get 100 nights to try the product in your home. If you end up deciding that it’s not the best option for you, after all, T&N will happily issue a full refund and cover the cost of shipping within the US. Most likely, your gently used mattress will be donated to a local charity.
If you do decide to keep your Tuft and Needle mattress, the company will continue to protect your purchase through the next 10 years of ownership. The terms of the T&N warranty are pretty typical for the industry. They will repair or replace your mattress at no cost to you if it’s found to have an impression of greater than ¾”, any failures that cause the foam material to crack or split, or any defect in the included cover.
Tuft and Needle does note that they reserve the right to replace your cover with the current one in use which may differ in color or design. T&N also does not cover any damages inflicted by misuse or abuse or any mattress purchased from an unauthorized deal or “as is”.
Who Wins?
When we compare the warranties offered by Nectar vs Tuft and Needle, it’s pretty clear that Nectar takes the win. Tuft and Needle protects your purchase with an industry-standard warranty. But, Nectar keeps you covered with a year-long sleep trial and a forever warranty that protects you for as long as you own the mattress.
About The Companies
In the very last category of our Nectar vs Tuft and Needle comparison review, we’ll take a look at a few of the pertinent details surrounding the companies.
Nectar Company
We were unable to find a whole lot of details surrounding the startup of the Nectar mattress company. But, their website does feature their Better Sleep Blog and a complete FAQ section that can answer almost any question you may have.
Just based on the information we’ve gathered in the above sections, it’s easy to see that Nectar has done their best to create a high-quality product that offers optimal comfort and support at an affordable price point. Plus, their forever warranty makes it pretty clear that they care about eco-sustainability and don’t want to see their mattresses lying in landfills.
Tuft and Needle Company
TJ Marino and Daehee Parks found themselves in the same troubling position that many online mattress company founders have found themselves in – the process of buying a new mattress in a big box store is full of unnecessary hassles and over-inflated prices.
In 2012 the two college friends, with backgrounds in everything from product/software development and marketing to e-commerce, they created an online, direct-to-consumer mattress company. Their company does away with the big box experience as well as the big box cost and provides customers with a minimalistic, comfortable, and high-quality mattress at an affordable price.
Tuft and Needle also sources all of their materials sustainably and creates their product entirely in the US. They guarantee that T&N customers can be proud of their purchase by only using high-quality materials and fresh foams.
What’s The Final Conclusion Of Our Nectar vs Tuft and Needle Comparison Review?
Both of the mattresses we’ve covered in this comparison review are truly great options. If you’re looking for something that will offer high-quality and overall comfort at a price that doesn’t break the bank, then the Tuft and Needle mattress is a great option with their minimalistic design and high-grade construction.
But, if you’re okay with spending just a little bit more, we definitely think that Nectar is a fantastic option. They offer a stellar, 4-layer hybrid construction with an ultra-breathable cover encasing the entire mattress. They equip almost every layer of their mattress with cooling technology and guarantee optimal comfort.
In our opinion, the Nectar mattress is one sweet deal.
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See also our in-depth Nectar mattress review and related comparisons: Nectar vs Leesa, Nectar vs Purple, Nectar vs Casper, Tuft and Needle vs Casper, and Tuft and Needle vs Ghostbed.
Andrea is a professional freelance writer based out of Kentucky who has researched and reviewed over 40 major mattress brands. She digs politics, activism, and sarcasm. Andrea spent over 5 years in the medical field before deciding to follow her dreams for a lot less pay but a lot more happiness. She’s a mom to two great kids.