In today’s post we are going to compare two of the biggest and most popular mattress manufacturers, Purple and Casper, and their most selling and signature models, the original Purple bed and the Casper mattress.
The bed market is enormous, and the industry is continuously developing innovative products, hence it is so hard to settle and choose just one model. That is why in today’s post we are going to compare two of the biggest and most popular mattress manufacturers, Purple and Casper, and to see what are their pros and cons, price ranges, construction, etc. Both companies sell more than just one model of mattresses, but in today’s comparison, we are going to focus on their most selling and signature models, the original Purple bed and the Casper mattress.
Both companies are relatively young and founded in this decade, however, due to their high-quality products they quickly gained the trust of customers, and the doors of many American bedrooms opened to them.
Mattress construction is more complicated than you can assume, multiple layers of different density and thickness have to be incorporated and layered out in a way to provide the best possible experience for sleepers. Let’s take a closer look at what is inside of the Purple and Casper models.
Underneath the grid made of a gel-like material, Purple mattress has placed multiple layers. The mattress comes rolled up in a bag with a white cover made from a blend of materials such as viscose, lycra, and polyester.
The base layer is a 4 inches thick polyfoam foundation, dense enough to provide optimal structural support and to carry other layers. Above it is a second, transitional layer of a 3.25 inches thick and comfort poly foam. On top of it is the third and final layer, which represents the key selling ingredient of Purple products, and that is their unique and signature smart comfort grid layer. This grid layer is made out of hyper-elastic poly foam, temperature neutral and 2 inches thick, the cells easily bend and buckle under the pressure to provide proper support and stress relief.
Casper mattress is made out of foam, and it comes compressed in a box. Its thick polyester cover is white with grey sides, and the bed is 10 inches tall.
The base layer consists out of 4 inches thick piece of dense and durable poly foam for support, on top of which is the second layer for zoned support. This layer has a different density in different areas for an overall better sleeping experience, firmer foam is placed around the central area, where the hips are usually placed, and the softer one is in the areas where shoulders and legs rest for better pressure relief. The next layer is a 1.5 inches thick memory foam which also contributes to pressure relief, and the final top layer is also 1.5 inches thick foam, but designed with opened cells for enhanced heat regulation.
Like all other manufacturers, Casper and Purple produce their models in all available sizes to suit the needs of every sleeper. In the chart below you will find prices for each size of both models. Please keep in mind that the prices may change over time, and also that Purple mattress is not available in regular twin size. For more information about the different dimensions, check our mattress size chart.
| Sizes: | Twin | Twin XL | Full | Queen | King | California king |
| Purple | / | 699$ | 899$ | 999$ | 1299$ | 1299$ |
| Casper | 695$ | 745$ | 1095$ | 1195$ | 1495$ | 1495$ |
You could notice that the Casper is slightly more expensive than the Purple, but they are in a similar price range. Both companies often offer discount coupons and promo deals, so if you do your research first, you can get a pretty good deal and save some money. When you compare their prices with the rest of the bed industry, you will notice that the cost is reasonable for the value and quality they have to offer. These companies are leading in the online mattress industry, and most of the customers are very satisfied with both of them.
Both models offer high quality and comfort, but can they suit everyone’s needs or there are some differences and preferences?
In the chart below are the main features of both models summed up to compare them easily and see which one should suit your needs best.
| Features | Purple | Casper |
| Height | 9.5 inches | 10 inches |
| Firmness | 6 out of 10 | 6 out of 10 |
| Support | great | great |
| Warranty | 10 years | 10 years |
| Free trial period | 100 nights | 100 nights |
| Delivery fee | free | free |
| White glove delivery | available at additional cost | no |
| Old mattress removal | only with white glove delivery | no |
| Edge support | good | great |
| Certification | CertiPUR-US | CertiPUR-US |
One of the essential things in the search for the ideal model is finding the right firmness level. If the mattress is too firm or too soft, you are going to struggle with falling asleep, and you will spend many sleepless nights turning around, changing sleep positions, until you finally give up and start searching for a new bed.
It is hard to define firmness since what is soft to one person, can be firm for another one. Firmness is a very subjective category, and there is not a level that will be comfortable for every sleeper. This is why companies use a 1 to 10 scale to describe the bed firmness. Very few models are produced as a 1 or 10 since those extremes do not fit the needs of many people, the vast majority of beds is nowadays produced in the range from 5 to 7, which is defined as medium firm and it is optimal for most sleepers.
Both models, Purple and Casper, fall into this category of medium firm models, and they are both considered to be a 6 on a 1 to 10 scale, however, some sleepers report that Casper feels slightly firmer than the Purple mattress, but they are overall very similar in terms of firmness.
Casper has its zoned support layer which is why the firmness of this bed is not even in all its areas, and the center is more firm so that it can provide extra support for sleepers who weight more, and also to hold hips and control the spine alignment.
Purple’s firmness is more subjective, and it depends more on sleepers weight and preferred sleep position. It will feel firmer to stomach and back sleepers because the grid collapses when body weight is not evenly spread out. Due to this, side sleepers find the bed softer.
There are two main reasons why some sleepers experience overheating during the night. Firstly, if the body sinks too deeply into the mattress, there will be no space around it for the air to flow and cool it down, and secondly, most beds produced and sold nowadays contain foam which has been notorious for its heat retaining feature.
Even though Casper is an all-foam mattress, the company used open cell foam design to enhance the sleep experience, and most sleepers did not report overheating after a night on a Casper. However, if you are searching for the ultimate winner in this category, that is undoubtedly Purple mattress with its grid design and materials that are temperature neutral and do not retain heat.
The level of responsiveness refers to how well a bed can adjust its support to the different parts of the sleeper’s body. A bed with excellent responsiveness can modify its level of cushioning based on the pressure of particular body parts, and it is an essential feature for proper spinal alignment.
Both Purple and Casper provide a responsive sleeping surface, but they achieve it in different ways. Casper has its top two layers made out of memory foam and proprietary polyfoam in charge of responsiveness, and these layers will contour the body without being too plushy. The Purple mattress uses smart comfort grid which compresses proportionally to the amount of applied weight. It will provide a bit less contouring than the Casper, but it will still tailor it’s cushioning and be supportive enough for the neck and spine.
Casper has a 1 inch thicker comfort layer than the Purple mattress, and that is why it is more suitable for sleepers who are overweight.
The top hyper-elastic layer of Purple mattress will bounce back to its original shape very quickly, which is why this is a highly resilient model, and it is easy to move around its top. Casper also has some bounce, but it will not regain its shape as quickly as Purple.
Both models will have some off-gassing and smell after you unbox them, but it should go away after a few hours or days, just give them some time to breathe in a ventilated room. In either case, there is no need to worry because that small is not harmful.
If you are a sleeper looking for an enhanced cooling system, this is the model you should try. The grid out of hyper-elastic polymer is probably the most innovative thing in the sleep industry and one of the best heat regulation solutions out there. It increases the airflow significantly without retaining any heat. The Purple mattress is great especially for side and back sleepers, and those who weigh over 130 pounds, its highly breathable grid is the reason why this bed sleeps cooler and hence it is an excellent choice for those who tend to sleep hot.
The design and materials that Purple uses offer a completely different feel and experience, so if you are over the foam and spring beds, this is something totally different and worth trying out, and it comes with a lower price point than Casper. Purple mattress may not suit couples who have different preferences when it comes to firmness and those who are on a budget.
Apart from the Purple mattress, we also recommend trying out the New Purple mattress and the Purple pillow with additional sleep-enhancing features.
Casper is a somewhat universal model that can suit the needs of the majority of sleepers, it is excellent for couples, different weight groups, and sleep positions (side, stomach, back, combined), and you won’t make a mistake with this mattress. The foam layers provide a well-known and somewhat traditional feel of the bed, which is great for sleepers who are used to this feeling and do not want to experiment too much with collapsible grid design. It offers decent motion isolation and solid edge support which is excellent for couples. Strategically layered memory foam will provide an exceptional level of pressure relieve which makes it suitable for all sleepers with acute and chronic aches in their neck or back. Unlike the Purple mattress, Casper offers the regular twin size. If you are looking for a more firm feel or you tend to sleep hot, you should skip Casper because its construction of triple-layer memory foam will eventually retain some heat.
She would be a morning person if mornings started at noon. Art historian, taurus, coffee lover, traveler, F1 fan who hates to drive, and well experienced insomniac with one life goal, to sleep like a coala for up to 20 hours per day.
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