An efficient nighttime routine goes a long way in getting your mind ready for bed, but functional bedding gets the rest of your body on board, too. Studies show that a cool environment—around 68 degrees—improves sleep quality and brain function. That’s why we found the best cooling pillows to help you rest easy and avoid sweating the bed.
“Sleeping in a cool environment helps your body relax and get into deep sleep more easily,” says Raj Dasgupta, MD, who practices medicine at Keck Medicine of USC’s division of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. “Cool bedding, like a cooling pillow, can keep you from overheating, which often disrupts sleep. A cooler bed means fewer wake-ups, better REM sleep, and feeling more refreshed in the morning.”
A cooling pillow gives you the support you need (especially now that many are fully adjustable to different heights and firmness levels) while maintaining a cool temperature at night. Our testing team spent weeks snoozing on the best cooling pillows that’ll upgrade your bedding—and your sleep.
Our Favorite Cooling Pillow Overall
The Luxome Layr is our top pick. It’s packed with cooling memory foam that our tester swears actually stays cold all night. The adjustable design lets you reach that just-right firmness and height for pain-free mornings.
Best Cooling Pillows: At a Glance
We tested the best cooling pillows to keep your sleep sweat-free, no thermostat changes required.
How We Found The Best Cooling Pillows
When we decided to find the best cooling pillows, we knew we had a big job ahead. We’ve started our testing with thousands of cooling bedding products and narrowed our final results down to nine pillows that disperse heat and leave you feeling fresh all night. The team judged each pillow by its cooling power, support, firmness, and overall value. Learn more about our sleep lab in our testing methodology guidebook.
The Luxome Layr Pillow stood out in every category. It feels luxuriously soft with extra cool materials that put it in competition with high-end hotel pillows. You don’t have to choose just one firmness level: Adjustable inserts allow you to dial in the height and support level to fit your sleep position.
Our Tester’s Take
Think about how many pillows you’ve bought and discarded in your search for the best cooling pillow. Well, the Luxome Layr combines the best of them with an adjustable, layered design and cooling fabrics in each layer. Our tester, who sleeps in a 68-degree room with a partner, gave it five stars all around, and said she especially loved that it felt cool to the touch and shockingly soft. The bamboo viscose cover allows that coolness to shine through, while the memory foam inserts are infused with gels for more freshness. The cover also has perforations that allow for more airflow and breathability, ultimately eliminating heat from the inside out.
The Luxome Layr comes with three removable inserts that you adjust to reach the ideal firmness and height. The inserts are soft, medium-firm, and firm, which combine and stack inside the cover. If your preferences change, just swap out the inserts to create a practically new pillow. “I love the firm solid foam inserts that contour perfectly to my head and provide optimal support and comfort,” our tester says. “It’s the most comfortable pillow I have ever slept on.”
Back sleepers will love the Brooklyn Bedding Luxury Cooling Pillow for its extra-padded cushion you can sink into. Gels and copper also aid in its cooling efforts.
Our Tester’s Take
A pillow has to work a little harder to cool you down when you sleep on your back, as opposed to your side or stomach. (Basically, it’s easier to cool your face than the back of your head.) The memory foam in the Brooklyn Bedding Luxury Cooling Pillow is copper-infused, which means it’s microbial and breathable. Gel in the foam also works to combat body heat, so it keeps you cool even as you lie on your back.
Although the pillow comes in a low and high loft, our tester notes that the former probably isn’t for you if you’re looking for firmness. The low height doesn’t offer as much support as its higher counterpart, but it may be the right option if you prefer to sink into your pillow. Either way, bedtime just got cooler.
The Latex Pillow by Saatva is our most sustainable pick. The inner latex foam and cotton cover add breathability so you don’t end up with a stuffy pillow.
Our Tester’s Take
If you’re an eco-conscious sleeper, the Saatva Latex Pillow is for you. Shredded latex foam is extra breathable and cooling while offering support for your neck and head. You might think the latex is firm, but the pillow is pretty bouncy. Latex is also hypoallergenic and repels dust mites and mildew better than synthetic foams. Our tester does say that the shredded foam tends to bunch together, requiring a good fluff every few nights, but the pillow is encased in 100% cotton, which is more breathable than engineered fabrics. However, our tester also notes that the shredded latex pillow had a chemical smell for the first few days after opening. It might be hard to justify the higher price tag for a standard-sized pillow, but Saatva offers discounts if you buy the pillows in a pair.
The EdenCool+ Pillow from Coop has a double-sided design—so you get the cool side of the pillow every time—and uses proprietary adjustable foam pieces so you can switch up the height and firmness to your liking.
Our Tester’s Take
Multiple features of the Coop EdenCool+ Pillow solidify its place as one of the best cooling pillows. Memory foam tends to trap heat, but the EdenCool+ combats this with a double-sided design, foam pieces that add breathability, and a heat-wicking inner liner. According to our “human furnace” tester, it’s refreshing and light—even while getting some shut-eye after her marathon training.
