Best Adjustable Pillows of 2025
Why settle for a plain old pillow when you can shape an adjustable one to your liking?
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Finding the perfect pillow can be a real pain in the neck.
One option is to head to a brick-and-mortar store and do a "pillow fitting," where you lay down with a pillow, much as you would while mattress shopping, and a sales associate helps check your alignment and provide recommendations. But if you want to ditch all the dimensions for an easier pillow selection process, opt for an adjustable pillow instead.
These pillows deliver precisely the level of support you need by allowing you to add or remove the internal stuffing, foam, or layers, usually through a side zipper, as is the case with pillows from brands like Sleep Number and Purple. Other "adjustable" pillows, like the Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Neck, a contoured pillow, allow users to select the large or smaller curved wave sides to suit their comfort/support. Pillow manufacturers will typically include generic instructions as a starting point, telling you how much filling to remove or add based on how you sleep. But don’t forget that what you’ll require from a pillow is also dependent upon your mattress and physical size. A softer mattress will often call for less pillow loft, and vice versa, and a side sleeper and/or larger sleeper will require more loft, says Chris Regan, who oversees Consumer Reports’ pillow testing.
In recent years, sleepers have fully embraced this customizable experience with research insights confirming that adjustable pillows have significantly boosted the pillow market’s expansion. “I think manufacturers have witnessed how popular pillows like the Coop Original Pillow have been and are following suit,” says Marion Wilson, Consumer Reports’ market analyst for pillows.
Our latest batch of 14 newly tested models, included five adjustable pillows. Four earned CR’s recommendation. "We tested several configurations for each pillow,” says Regan. “We found that you can significantly impact your support by making changes to the filling.”
In our labs, we rate pillows from widely available brands. For a full list of the adjustable pillows we’ve evaluated, visit CR’s ratings and filter for “adjustable” under features and specs. For help modifying your own pillow, see CR’s guide to customizing an adjustable pillow. Read on to check out the very best adjustable pillows from our tests.
The adjustable Plank by Brooklyn Bedding Premium Shredded Foam pillow impressed evaluators in every test, besting the Coop (below) that held the number one spot in our ratings for years. It offers top-tier support for both back and side sleepers, which, along with its firmness and height, is expected to remain unchanged with use. Small and large side sleepers may want to try removing about 1/4 of the filling for optimal support, says Regan. He suggests back sleepers remove about half of the filling.
Because this newcomer to CR’s ratings excels in our breathability assessment and has cooling properties, sleepers can expect a comfortable surface that helps regulate their body temperature and dissipate moisture throughout the night.
The Coop Home Goods Original Adjustable Pillow is made of shredded memory foam and earns an excellent rating in our support tests for sleepers of all sizes and sleep positions. It ships with a bag of extra foam so users can add or remove filling to their liking while easy-to-follow instructions provide guidance for adjustments. In our tests, we found that removing nearly half of the filling resulted in the best support for smaller back sleepers. For larger back sleepers, removing approximately a quarter of the filling offered the best support. Smaller side sleepers in our tests found the best support with either the standard fill pillow or removing approximately a quarter of the filling. Larger side sleepers found the best support adding all of the supplied extra filling to the pillow.
Our resilience evaluation proved that it holds its shape well, showing little to no change in height, fluffiness, or support. Though it sleeps slightly warm, it is very breathable, so you’re not likely to feel any dampness between your head and the pillow.
Sleep Number’s adjustable ComfortFit Ultimate Pillow comes with three identical layers made of memory foam and down alternative fibers that you can remove. In our tests, it earns top marks for both side and back sleeper support when adjusted according to Sleep Number’s directions. Our testers noted that the pillow had a lot of loft, and many found it easy to adjust, but some found the foam to be too firm. This pillow doesn’t fair as well over time compared with the Coop (above), but it still earns a very good score in our resilience tests. It’s very breathable, meaning it’ll dissipate moisture if you tend to sweat on your pillow, but it also retains warmth. If you like to sleep cooler, it might not be the pillow for you.
Purple mattresses have made their mark on the sleep industry with their "GelFlex Grid" technology. Today, you can get that same pressure-relieving and contouring comfort with their DreamLayer pillow. This adjustable fill pick is designed with a urethane foam pad containing gel, and it has two removable layers. Side sleepers may like this pillow more than back sleepers and smaller sleepers will want to try it without the extra layers first, says Regan. He suggests larger sleepers should try adding one of the additional layers. This highly breathable pillow offers cooling properties and a washable cover. It doesn’t retain warmth, either.
Despite the "cooling" in its name, this Nectar pillow doesn’t actually have cooling properties. Still, it’s one of the most breathable pillows we’ve evaluated and our tests show that it doesn’t retain warmth. This polyurethane foam and polyester pillow is quite resilient and offers great support for side sleepers. Back sleepers, however, would be better served by the other pillows in this roundup.
For easy customization, Nectar’s pillow has a zipper on each of the long sides. When opened, the zipper makes the pillow case larger, giving the filling more room to move around and ultimately making it softer. Most sleepers will find optimal performance with the zippers open. The Nectar Tri-Comfort Cooling pillow is not machine-washable.
How We Test Adjustable Pillows
We poke, prod, and pound each one with machines to see how well it can handle constant use. We assess how well each pillow supports the head and neck of people of various sizes—petite, average, and large/tall—whether they sleep on their side or their back. We use a pressure mat to analyze roughly 1,600 pressure points, focusing on the contact area between the head and the pillow. (We like to see that pressure is low. If it’s not, you’re likely to experience discomfort and keep shifting in your sleep.)
We also evaluate how well pillows retain their loft by placing an evenly distributed 225-pound weight on each one for 96 hours. The simulation room is set to 98.6° F to replicate the human body and 80 percent humidity to mimic sweat.
Some adjustable pillows have extra filling, some are overstuffed, and some have extra layers. We start with the standard pillow and make adjustments similar to what a sleeper might. We may remove 1/4 or 1/2 of the filling or add 1/2 or all of the additional filling. Our Overall Score for adjustable pillows is comprised of the best support performance for each position from each configuration. We recommend sleepers keep adjusting until they feel supported and comfortable.
