Purple vs. Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison

Overall Rating

8.3

Purple Mattress

Bottom Line

The Purple Mattress uses Purple Grid technology to stay incredibly cool at night while providing deep pressure relief.

Check Price on Purple.com

$1,399 from Purple (queen)

Full Mattress Review

VS

Overall Rating

8.0

Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Adapt

Bottom Line

The TEMPUR-Adapt uses proprietary memory foam to provide close contouring and deep pressure relief for sore spots.

Check Price on Tempurpedic.com

$2,199 from Tempur-Pedic (queen)

Full Mattress Review

Purple and Tempur-Pedic are popular mattress companies that have built their brands around unique, high-performance materials. 

Purple’s mattresses feature an innovative grid material designed to adapt to the body’s weight, while Tempur-Pedic was one of the first companies to layer mattresses with memory foam, a material initially developed by NASA. 

Today, both companies offer a diverse product lineup featuring these specialty materials. In this comparison, we’ll focus on two flagship offerings – the Purple Mattress and the Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Adapt. 

We know that choosing a mattress can be challenging, which is why we’ll delve into all the details about these two models. This comparison includes their construction, sizing, and pricing. We’ll also go over their performance ratings from our Seattle Test Lab.

Our Testing Team’s Take

To assess mattresses, our testing team uses a methodology involving both quantitative analysis and real-world experience. We use advanced equipment to measure qualities like heat buildup, surface-level motion transfer, and pressure relief.

After our hands-on tests have concluded, we send mattresses home with our team members for a practical, in-home assessment. This allows us to personally try out a mattress in our own bedrooms for an extended period of time. We also read verified customer reviews to ensure our findings line up with real-world experiences of mattress owners.

This approach, blending objective data with subjective user insights, enables us to generate detailed and reliable evaluations, ultimately assisting you in choosing the best mattress for your personal needs.

Our Verdict

Purple and Tempur-Pedic both have proven track records of manufacturing mattresses that earn impressive reviews from customers. Several different factors may help you decide between their popular mattresses. 

Firmness is one significant difference. The Purple Mattress is medium firm (6), while the TEMPUR-Adapt is medium (5). The TEMPUR-Adapt can feel even softer because of its memory foam layers that conform closely to the body. 

Brad Nehring

Senior Product Analyst

Side sleeper

215 lbs.

Sleeps with a weighted blanket

“Purple’s signature buckling column gel is definitely a unique material that you’ll either love or hate, but I personally really like the feel. As a side sleeper, I appreciate that it relieves pressure well and helps prevent heat buildup.”

In general, people who want the feel of being hugged by their mattress are better suited to the TEMPUR-Adapt. Sleepers who want ample cushioning but less sinkage and hug may prefer the Purple Mattress. 

We found that both mattresses work well for side sleepers up to 230 pounds. Most back and stomach sleepers with a lighter body weight found the Purple Mattress more supportive than the TEMPUR-Adapt. Testers over 230 pounds did not award high ratings to either mattress, although the Purple was marginally better for these sleepers. 

Both mattresses performed extremely well during our testing of motion isolation and pressure relief, with the TEMPUR-Adapt rating just a touch better in these categories. However, the Purple Mattress earned higher marks for temperature control, ease of moving around in bed, and edge support. 

Jeremy Klein

Senior Product Testing Manager

Side sleeper

160 lbs.

Nightly melatonin user

“TEMPUR foam was a great fit for me as a side sleeper. It had just the right amount of contouring, and its motion isolation absorbed almost all vibration from the other side of the mattress.”

Pricing can also be a factor when choosing a mattress. The Purple Mattress has a lower price tag than the TEMPUR-Adapt, but it is still more expensive than the average foam mattress. Purple’s sleep trial is risk-free, while Tempur-Pedic charges for return shipping. However, Tempur-Pedic provides free White Glove delivery, a service that incurs additional fees from Purple.

Construction and Materials

Both the Purple Mattress and the TEMPUR-Adapt have unique design elements. The Purple Mattress includes Purple’s GelFlex Grid, an innovative proprietary material. The TEMPUR-Adapt includes TEMPUR memory foam, which is widely regarded as a high-quality version of this material.

The following table shows the layered construction of each mattress. The TEMPUR-Adapt is offered in an all-foam and a hybrid model, with the only difference being the composition of the support core.

Purple Mattress Breakdown

The Purple Mattress has three internal layers and a cover made of a stretchy polyester-spandex blend. In total, the mattress is 9.25 inches tall and medium firm, or a 6 on our 10-point firmness scale with 1 being the softest and 10 the firmest. 

The top layer is made with Purple’s unique GelFlex Grid. The grid is 2 inches thick and, in mattress terminology, is known as a buckling column gel. Think of a pliable material that is formulated into an array of dozens of small squares. 

When weight is applied to the mattress, the walls of the squares squish down, allowing the material to gently cradle the body. When weight is removed, the squares quickly pop back up. That’s how the GelFlex Grid provides pressure relief and motion isolation.

The next layer of the mattress is made of polyfoam. This transitional layer feels firmer than the GelFlex Grid, but it still adapts to the body The bottom layer is made with 4 inches of polyfoam that is dense and sturdy, giving the mattress a reliable base.

Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Adapt Breakdown

The TEMPUR-Adapt is 11 inches tall and comes in two different designs. One is made entirely of foam, and the other has a support core with steel coils.

Both models are medium (5) in terms of firmness, making them softer than the Purple Mattress. Many sleepers perceive the all-foam model to be slightly more plush than the hybrid.

Under a cover made of stretchy fabric, the top layer of the TEMPUR-Adapt is made with 1.6 inches of proprietary TEMPUR memory foam. This material is renowned for hugging the body, giving extra cushioning to heavier zones and sharp pressure points. A 1.6-inch layer of denser TEMPUR foam acts as a transitional layer, boosting pressure relief and motion isolation while pushing back against your weight.

In the all-foam model, the base layer is made with high-density polyfoam. In the hybrid model, the support core is made of pocketed coils that are reinforced around the perimeter for added edge support.

Mattress Sizing and Weight

The Purple Mattress Mattress comes in all of the six standard mattress sizes and a split king size. The TEMPUR-Adapt is offered in all of those sizes, as well as a split California king.

The Purple Mattress is 9.25 inches tall, which is nearly 2 inches shorter than the TEMPUR-Adapt. The all-foam version of the TEMPUR-Adapt weighs only 70 pounds. This is considerably lighter than the Purple Mattress, which weighs 98 pounds. However, the hybrid model of the TEMPUR-Adapt weighs over 100 pounds.

Performance Ratings

Our testing team found that the Purple Mattress and the TEMPUR-Adapt offer high-quality performance for certain sleepers. 

Based on our tests, the Purple Mattress is best for side sleepers who weigh up to 230 pounds. It also provides quality support to most back sleepers up to 230 pounds and some stomach sleepers who weigh less.

Like the Purple, the TEMPUR-Adapt was rated highest by side sleepers under 230 pounds. It didn’t fare quite as well with sleepers in other positions, although some back sleepers under 130 pounds found that it provided adequate support. 

In specific performance categories, the Purple Mattress won its highest marks for pressure relief and motion isolation. Although it doesn’t have the deep hug of memory foam, the mattress was able to reduce joint pressure and promote spinal alignment for most sleepers. The Purple Mattress also received solid ratings for temperature regulation.

Both the all-foam and hybrid models of the TEMPUR-Adapt earned standout scores for motion isolation and pressure relief. The memory foam layers closely contour to the body, which made this mattress popular among people who like a softer feel from their sleep surface. 

The weakest performance areas for the TEMPUR-Adapt were edge support, ease of movement, and temperature control. Lower ratings in these categories are common among memory foam mattresses.

Full Reviews: Other Purple and Tempur-Pedic Models

Purple Mattress

Overall Rating:

8.3 /10

Price Range:

$799 – $1,798

Mattress Type:

Foam

Firmness Options:

Medium Firm (6)

Purple Restore Mattress

Overall Rating:

8.5 /10

Price Range:

$1,845 – $3,690

Mattress Type:

Hybrid

Firmness Options:

Firm (7)

Purple Rejuvenate Mattress

Overall Rating:

8.4 /10

Price Range:

$4,495 – $8,990

Mattress Type:

Hybrid

Firmness Options:

Medium (5)

Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Adapt

Overall Rating:

8.0 /10

Price Range:

$1,999 – $3,998

Mattress Type:

Foam

Firmness Options:

Medium (5)

Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-Cloud

Overall Rating:

7.7 /10

Price Range:

$1,699 – $3,398

Mattress Type:

Foam

Firmness Options:

Medium (5)

Tempur-Pedic TEMPUR-ProAdapt

Overall Rating:

8.2 /10

Price Range:

$2,699 – $5,398

Mattress Type:

Foam

Firmness Options:

Soft (3), Medium (5), Firm (7)

Mattress Pricing

The Purple Mattress costs less than the TEMPUR-Adapt, making it more appealing to shoppers who are closely watching their budget. That said, neither are low-cost mattresses. 

The Purple Mattress has a slightly above-average price for an all-foam mattress. The TEMPUR-Adapt has a luxury price-point that is well above the average for both all-foam and hybrid mattresses, but it comes with free White Glove delivery in most locations in the contiguous U.S. 

Both companies offer a sleep trial that lasts at least three months. However, it is important to note that Tempur-Pedic charges a fee for return shipping.

What Customers Are Saying

The Purple Mattress Mattress and the TEMPUR-Adapt have thousands of customer reviews, the majority of which are positive. That said, because both mattresses have a distinct feel, people tend to either love or hate them.

Virtually no other material has the same feel as the GelFlex Grid in the Purple Mattress. Most people find the material to be comfortable, with many raving about its balanced support and pressure relief. However, since the Purple Mattress comes in one firmness level, some sleepers find it to lack support as a result of being either too hard or too soft. 

Customers praise the TEMPUR-Adapt for its deep contouring and high-end pressure relief. It is beloved by people who like to be hugged by their mattress, but, by the same token, the mattress is not a good fit for people who prioritize ease of motion and sleeping cool. Couples praise this mattress for its excellent motion isolation.

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