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Gel pillows are ideal for people who need extra support to deal with neck and back pain, as well as for people who run hot but like to sleep cool.
The Coop Home Goods Eden Gel Foam Pillow is our top pick, thanks to its support and cooling and because it can be adjusted for ideal custom comfort.
I can't speak for you, but I'll say that the first time I lay my head down on a gel pillow, I wasn't immediately sold. Far from it, in fact. Upon initial contact, many gel pillows feel too firm and even a bit unusual, with a rubbery texture that's a far cry from the feathers or fabric stuffing to which most of us are accustomed.
But then my head settled down into the foam, and soon I found myself feeling a level of comfort and support almost unknown in those low-tech pillows I'd used all my life. Also, I who fog up car windows and often sleep without even sheets while my wife is under a down comforter stayed relatively cool throughout hours of use.
So while standard pillows feel soft and snuggly at once, they don't offer much actual neck and back support and they often heat up. Gel pillows tend to hold their shape, offering all-night support, and they stay relatively cool thanks to the gel's propensity to draw heat in and away from your body.
Are there drawbacks? Sure. Each time you shift with most gel foam pillows, you need a moment to sink in again to reestablish ideal comfort. And also some of them are a bit pricey. Do the benefits way outweigh those minor issues? Oh yeah. At least, if hours of comfortable sleep followed by a day during which you feel well-rested matters much to you.
In selecting the best gel pillows you can buy, we factored in everything from price to shape to intended use. Some are ideal for cervical support (spinal support, e.g.), while some are great at keeping you cool. Others still have all the bases covered, though you'll need to pay for that level of quality and capability.
Here are the best gel pillows you can buy:
Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.
The best gel pillow overall
Why you'll love it: The Coop Home Goods Eden Gel Foam Pillow is comfortable, cooling, and customizable — you can remove its filling until it's just the right density for your preference.
The Coop Home Goods Eden Gel Foam Pillow is sort of a best of both worlds situation. Most gel foam pillows are essentially solid blocks of viscoelastic memory foam that either have a layer of cooling gel material or that have gel infused into the foam itself.
This unique gel pillow does indeed use a gel-infused memory foam, but it's not a solid block of the material. Rather, the pillow is stuffed with hundreds of little bits of gel foam, thus the best of both worlds. When you first put your head down on this pillow, you will settle into it much like with a feather or synthetic fill pillow.
So comfort right off the bat? Check. The more time you spend lying down with your head, neck, and shoulders on the Coop Home Goods Eden Gel Foam Pillow, the more you'll start to realize that gel foam isn't just a term bandied about by the fat cats in the pillow industry. This stuff actually does draw more heat away from your body than feathers or polyester could ever hope to.
Thanks to the shredded gel memory foam fill, the airflow throughout this pillow is unrivaled. Thus you enjoy that immediate comfort and all night cooling.
With more than 400 reviews logged on Amazon at the time of this writing, the Coop Home Goods Eden Gel Foam Pillow has a solid 4.4-star rating. One shopper speaks for many when she calls it the "best pillow" she has "ever owned," saying they help her and her husband "sleep all night and wake up without any aches or stiffness."
A writer from RealMattressReviews loved that users can "adjust the fill" to create ideal custom comfort and noted the "lighter, fluffier feel" of this pillow compared to most gel pillows.
Pros: Custom adjustable fill, immediately comfortable, backed by satisfaction guarantee
Cons: Less supportive than solid pillows
The best gel pillow for side sleepers
Why you'll love it: If you sleep on your side, your head and neck need a specific kind of support for comfort, and the Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Contour Breeze Side-to-Side Pillow provides it perfectly.
When you sleep on your side, you are asking a lot of your spine in the name of comfort. In fact, you are asking your spin to align itself in a way that it doesn't really want to align, namely bent sideways at the neck. This hardly bothers some people, but for others it can cause pain both acute and chronic.
But if sleep on your side you must, whether for everyday comfort, during pregnancy, or after an accident that requires specific positioning during recovery, do your spine a favor and get the Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Contour Breeze Side-to-Side Pillow.
With your head and neck cradled by the Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Contour Breeze Side-to-Side Pillow, a pillow purpose-built for supporting side sleepers, your spinal column will be kept in line and without undue stress.
Beyond cervical ergonomics, your head will sink down into the memory foam and be cradled all night long. Also, a layer of cooling gel set near the surface of the pillow will keep you nice and cool during all those hours of ergonomic spine support.
Most shoppers who chose this pillow were thrilled with their choice. An owner named Penny called it "supportive and comfortable" and said it far outperformed others she had tried, while a gentleman named Bruce said it helped him "maintain a straight neckline" all night long.
A writer from NYMag called the Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Contour Breeze Side-to-Side Pillow loved the "cooling gel layer" that served "hot-headed sleepers" so well.
Pros: Provides ergonomic spinal support, lasts for multiple years, washable knit cover
Cons: Quite expensive, too firm for some users
The best low-cost gel pillow
Why you'll love it: The PharMeDoc Contour Cooling Foam Pillow will keep you cool and supported for about half the cost of most comparable gel pillows.
How can the PharMeDoc Contour Cooling Foam Pillow cost only 20 bucks, about half the price of many comparable gel pillows — and less than a quarter of the price of some options on our list — yet still provide decent neck support and cooling? Well, it's a bit on the small side, at 14 inches by 20 inches. And it's too firm for some people. All in all, though, this pillow punches well above its price point.
Its gel-infused memory foam offers excellent head and neck support, and its two long axis have slightly different heights — four inches and five inches — so you can choose the rise that best suits your neck.
Also, unless you need to constantly move around to achieve ideal comfort or you have a particularly large head, the fact that this pillow is smaller than standard pillow size isn't much of a problem, and you'll soon get used to it. Besides, in case this part isn't crystal clear yet ... it costs less than 20 dollars.
Most reviews of the PharMeDoc Contour Cooling Foam Pillow are glowing, such as that left by a customer named Elsie who called it "just right" for providing the "support [she] needed as a side/back sleeper."
A number of people did note its smaller size, though, which can be an issue when pairing it with standard pillowcases.
Pros: Great low price tag, two height options, supports neck and head
Cons: Notably smaller than standard pillow
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