It’s a scientific fact that the human body gets better sleep when it’s cooler. Experts say the ideal room temperature for sleeping is a brisk 65-68°F—so if your body temperature runs hot like mine, a lot of the time you should be spending sleeping turns into a fistfight with the thermostat and blankets.
While much is made of sleep schedule and duration, temperature matters, too—anyone who regularly wakes up in a wet pretzel of sheets can tell you that. That’s why I’ve rounded up some of the best cooling pillows to help you get a restful night’s sleep. Keeping you cool while also relieving sore muscles and protecting your neck (literally), cooling pillows are an underrated bedtime accessory that could very well be the missing piece in your sleep arsenal.
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From memory foam to cooling gels and even water pillows (my personal favorite!), these are our top picks to keep your head cool and your body loose between the sheets.
Quick look at the best cooling pillows
- The ultimate cooling pillow – Casper Snow Foam Pillow
- Best down alternative cooling pillow – Slumber Cloud UltraCool Pillow
- Best cooling pillow for side sleepers – Tempur-Pedic Breeze Pro+
- Prevent the night sweats – Coop Home Goods Eden
- Best cooling memory foam pillow – Marlow Adjustable Memory Foam Pillow
- If you deal with neck pain – Mediflow Memory Foam Water Pillow
- Adjustable cooling comfort – Nest Bedding Easy Breather
- For travelers – Travelon Cooling Gel Neck Pillow
- Best budget cooling pillow – Ultra Pain Relief Cooling Pillow
How to pick the best cooling pillow
Gone are the days of buying a cheap pillow at a big box retailer and hoping for the best. But with all the marketing and design jargon that gets thrown around, how do you know what to look for when shopping for pillows that stay cold?
I selected the best cooling pillows based on four things:
- Adjustability
- Fill material
- Support
- Airflow
The point of investing in an expensive pillow is to address issues that regular pillows don’t, so adjustability and fill material are the first things to look for. Each adjustable pillow works a little differently. Some use water, memory foam, gel foam, or combinations of different ways to find the perfect feel.
Supportive pillows conform to your unique body shape, and all of the options here offer different types of support that go hand-in-hand with adjustability. Lastly, airflow is one of the most important elements of the best cooling pillows, so they don’t trap heat.
The ultimate cooling pillow – Casper Snow Foam Pillow
Cooling pillow technology doesn’t get much more impressive than this. The Casper Snow Foam Pillow is built on three foam layers. There’s a comfortable, inviting cover, then a layer of breathe-flex foam mixed with Casper’s proprietary Align memory foam, and finally, the proprietary Casper Core to help you get deep, rejuvenating sleep all night long.
Different foam densities with small channels help circulate air so you get cool, restful sleep. Zoned support helps the pillow conform to different body types and sleeping positions with a firm core in the middle and a softer feel on the edges.
It’s cool and breathes really well. If you’re looking for a cooling pillow with breathable foams and zoned body support, this is a top choice. For a down alternative, take a look at the Slumber Cloud UltraCool.
Best down alternative cooling pillow – Slumber Cloud UltraCool Pillow
Depending on personal preferences and individual health conditions, some people want a pillow stuffed with a down alternative. A lot of down alternative pillows use questionable materials that build up and trap heat. Slumber Cloud’s UltraCool is not one of them.
It comes in a few different options to match your bed and preferences, with king and standard sizes and medium/firm and soft/medium softnesses. The Polysilk fiber-fill material is a great down alternative—perfect if you need a cooling pillow that won’t stir up allergy issues.
NASA-approved ClimaDry Outlast fiberfill regulates temperature on both sides, even through a pillowcase. It’s Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Certified, meaning nothing chemical or harmful is used in its design.
Every UltraCool goes through abrasion testing before leaving the factory so you can rely on it night after night. It’s easy to clean using your home washing machine and dryer. For comfortable, uninterrupted sleep with a high-tech feather fill, it doesn’t get much better.
Best cooling pillow for side sleepers – Tempur-Pedic Breeze Pro+
Tempur-Pedic has made quite a name for themselves in the sleep game. And their Breeze Pro+ pillow follows in their tradition of quality and attention to detail. It keeps you cool with comfortable pressure relief and advanced dual cooling power thanks to the ProLo memory foam that is built to retain form and shape.
It’s available in king and queen sizes, in either high or low profiles, and comes fitted with Tempur’s breathable, stretchable memory foam interior that adapts to body contours. Breeze technology offers market-leading cooling and the comfort you’d expect from Tempur-Pedic.
Plus, a 500-thread-count washable cooling cover offers hassle-free cleaning. Like the Casper Snow Foam Pillow, this is one of the best cooling pillows on the market.
It’s one of the pricier cooling pillows for side sleepers, but it’s also great for back and stomach sleepers. And can you really put a price on a great night’s sleep?
For those that suffer from sleep-related issues – Coop Home Goods Eden
There are a lot of reasons why people get night sweats, but I think everyone can agree that waking up soaked is hell.
The Coop Home Goods Eden has soft gel-infused memory foam with microfiber fill makes for a great blend that provides cooling and comfort night after night. A unique adjustable design gives you access to the foam filler so you can perfectly adjust the size to your needs.
It’s a great choice for other sleep-related issues like snoring, tossing and turning, and bad sleeping posture. Every Eden goes through rigorous Greenguard and CentiPUR-US safety and quality testing so you can rest assured there isn’t any harmful used in manufacturing them and they come from high-quality materials. What’s more, they’re also cruelty-free and vegan!
The case is a proprietary Lulltra, with a blend of rayon and polyester, and the foam is manufactured fresh without any repurposed materials. You even get an extra ½ pound bag of filler so you can increase the pillow’s loft if you need.
No matter what position you sleep in, the medium-soft memory foam with cooling gel and breathable material keeps you comfy—and dry.
Best cooling memory foam pillow – Marlow Adjustable Memory Foam Pillow
Sure, cheap memory foam pillows exist, but none of them do it like this.
The Marlow Adjustable Memory Foam Pillow features two zippers for firmness control. With both sides unzipped, it’s plush. One side unzipped gives medium support, and then both sides zipped to create the firmest feel. Both zippers are ventilated for maximum airflow, and gel-infused cooling foam keeps your head at a comfortable temperature all night.
But it’s not just the gel, the memory foam provides additional temperature control. Ergonomic support, breathable materials, and softness make you look forward to going to bed.
The only downer is what the firmness material is made of. Ever opened a container with packing peanuts that spills everywhere? Pain in the ass to clean up, right? It’s not the end of the world, but you’ve been warned!
If you deal with neck pain – Mediflow Memory Foam Water Pillow
Water fill is a newer idea in the pillow world. These types of pillows are recommended by the medical community for a reason. I always struggled with neck pain from sleeping in awkward positions that I shifted to during the night. My chiropractor recommended I get a water pillow, so I bought the Mediflow Memory Foam Water Pillow. And I’ve never looked back.
All you have to do is fill the water compartment with the right volume to meet your needs. Now, this is where the work comes in. Until you know exactly how much water to put in to meet your preferences, there’s some trial and error involved.
Think gradually filling it up and testing it intermittently. Usually, the first few times are the hardest; eventually, you’ll learn the perfect volume. The fill material is memory foam, but the key comfort factor is the right amount of water.
Water pillows are ideal for everyone regardless of sleeping posture, and they are one of the best types of cooling pillows that provide better sleep quality and reduce neck pain. I’ve been using mine for a few years now and have never slept better.
Adjustable cooling comfort – Nest Bedding Easy Breather
Adjustability is a huge deciding factor when shopping around for the best cooling pillow for you. Everyone is different and prefers different sleeping positions. The Easy Breather is one of the best cooling pillows for side sleepers and is ideal for a variety of body shapes. Larger torso with broad shoulders? It provides extra support. Petite frame? Just remove some of the fill.
Its fabric stretches four ways so the inner and outer layers flex and adapt to different body builds easily. It contours to the curves of the head and neck to offer lasting comfort so you can wake up rested and not sore!
The fill material is a mix of foam and polyester—not usually the best choice for a cooling pillow, but it provides great adjustability while keeping heat away. Making adjustments couldn’t be easier. Just open it, form the shape you want, and you’re off to dreamland.
Try it right out of the box before you make adjustments. If you prefer sleeping on your back, just remove about ¼ of the foam fill—same if you’re a stomach sleeper! It breathes well, keeps you cool, and when it’s time to wash it, just throw it in the washing machine.
For travelers – Travelon Cooling Gel Neck Pillow
Most of us have used a neck pillow when traveling and woken up from a nap 30,000 feet in the sky to a stiff neck feeling uncomfortable and unrested. Some of that is just the nature of being in a cramped airplane fuselage, but being stuck in a car or train isn’t much better.
The Travelon Cooling Gel Neck Pillow offers plenty of support for the head, neck, and shoulders. Three customization options let you choose the kind of comfort you want including full, reclining, and side support. It’s the standard U-shape neck pillow shape we all know, but it includes interlocking ends to keep your head, neck, and the pillow itself in place.
Therapeutic gel provides the cooling element with a mix of foam for superior comfort. It’s stylish, affordable, and a great travel accessory. But please…don’t wear pajamas to the airport.
Best budget cooling pillow – Ultra Pain Relief Cooling Pillow
The design of this cooling pillow is unique and offers an innovative hollow, concave contour design that provides the strongest support for the neck muscles and cervical spine.
Each contour zone targets specific pressure points for full support to help reduce or eliminate pain and stiff muscles. Slow rebound memory foam stands up to environmental changes and fits all sleeping styles. It’s height adjustable by adding or removing the memory foam inserts.
Micro-molecular air holes are 99% open and the Q-Max 0.4 Arc-Chill cooling pillowcase lets it breathe, absorb body heat, and reduce skin temperature by at least 41 degrees Fahrenheit!
One of the only downsides is the specific shape won’t appeal to everyone, but the price point definitely will.
Mediflow Memory Foam Water Pillow
$87.00 at Amazon
