Leesa vs. Cocoon Mattress Comparison 2023 : Which Is Better?

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You might not think of Sealy when you think of turning the mattress world upside down. In fact, Sealy might bring up visions of endless mattress salespeople and sterile showrooms, but hear us out. Sealy might be on to something with the Cocoon.

On the other side of this match-up is Leesa, a new mattress upstart that began after the founder bought a mattress he thought would change his life… and hated it. He started his bed-in-a-box company with one thing in mind – to make the best mattress he could at a better price and business model.

Do you go with the established brand trying to break out of a mold or do you go with the new guy in town? Let’s break it all down in our Leesa versus Cocoon review.

About the Brands

Let’s get a few things straight before we start.

Leesa Recap Full Review

Why to like

• a proprietary foam, Avena, keeps you cooler at night
• the company is involved in many social initiatives
• very affordable in both memory foam and hybrid options
• has excellent protection against motion transfer
• good combination support

Why to doubt

• the smell is pretty strong right out of the bag
• heavy sleepers might find the beds too firm
• no choices in firmness options

Cocoon Recap Full Review

Why to like

• two different options, soft and firm
• innovative mattress from an established brand
• Cocoon Chill option keeps you seriously cool. It’s weirdly cool.
• no minimum sleep nights before you can initiate a return
• plenty of showroom options

Why to doubt

• very little bounce
• temperature regulation is only with the Chill option. The regular is nothing special.
• heavier sleepers are out of luck

Leesa and Cocoon Comparison

There are a few similarities between the companies despite very different backgrounds. Let’s take a look at some of the things they have in common and where their differences are.

How are Leesa and Cocoon similar?

They do have a few things in common, mostly in the areas of logistics and mattress “philosophy” if you will.

Contour and Support

Traditional innerspring mattresses were terrible about making your body conform to them instead of giving you support. Sure, they’d keep your back straight but only if you slept one particular way. If you were a side sleeper, you probably woke up with pinched shoulders and hate in your heart.

Memory foam tried to solve that problem by contouring to your body, but it went too far and felt like weird mud. New memory foam and hybrid mattresses use the contour/support method to solve both of these problems at once.

Both companies use a top layer of contouring foam to keep you cool and to allow your curves to sink into the mattress. To avoid that weird dead foam feeling, they use a denser support foam underneath, or in the Leesa hybrid case micro-coils, to keep your spine aligned and to push back a little, so you get a tiny bit of bounce.

Motion Transfer

You know how your pet gets up in the middle of the night to turn in circles and scratch behind their ears a million times? If your mattress reduces motion transfer, you might get to sleep through it.

Both Leesa and Cocoon offer excellent protection against motion transfer. The winner, by far, is the Cocoon soft version, but even the bouncier Leesa hybrid, the Sapira, is still going to keep all that tossing around to a minimum.

Temperature Regulation

Leesa uses a proprietary foam called “Avena” that uses a latex blend to keep you cooler than the average memory foam. It works well, and Leesa is one of the coolest beds on the market.

One of the coolest, that is, until we got to the Cocoon Chill. It uses a material that’s so good at keeping you cool that it almost feels wet to the touch. Even after laying on it for a while, it never really takes on your body temperature.

It’s a welcome change from some memory foam mattresses that reflect your heat back to you as you sink into the foam or that hold heat deep in the core of the mattress.

Accessories

Both companies offer accessories meant to complement the mattress. You can purchase foundations and pillows that match the bed. They are similar in price although Leesa is a shade more expensive.

Cost and Shipping

There are some differences, but overall the prices are pretty comparable. Basic models of the Cocoon and Leesa are within $150 of each other with both California king options under $1200. The Cocoon Chill also hits that $1200-and-under mark.

The only outlier is the Sapira, the hybrid model from Leesa.

Shipping is free to the US for both companies. Your mattress should ship in one or two days for both.

Financing

If the full price of the mattress is out of your reach, both companies offer financing options directly through their website. You can check out as usual, and the payments are outlined as you’re selecting the options. Payments are usually less than $100 per month.

Trial Period and Warranty

Both companies offer a 100-night trial period. It takes some time to get used to a mattress, so this allows you to figure out if you’re getting improved sleep as your body adjusts to the feel of the bed.

They both offer a 10-year warranty for defects and limited warranty for wear and tear. Fees and shipping are determined by the circumstances and at the company’s discretion.

Manufacturing and Customer Service

Both companies manufacture their mattresses in the United States, so if it’s important to you that you support companies that utilize America labor, these check out.

Both also appear to have customer service agents that are located in the US as well, so hopefully, you won’t end up with a complaint after you call with a complaint.

How are Leesa and Cocoon different?

Aside from their reputation, one of the biggest things that divides Leesa and Cocoon is the actual construction of their mattresses.

Mattress Styles

With Leesa, you get two very different types of mattress, but the same firmness.

The Original

The original Leesa uses three layers of different kinds of foam to achieve a better feel than all memory foam. Their proprietary foam, Avena, is the top layer. It’s an egg crate style foam that responds like traditional latex. It’s bouncier and covered in ventilation holes for a cooler night’s sleep. It works so well that it’s one of the coolest mattresses on the market right now.

The second layer is a pressure relieving contouring foam that gives to the curves of your body and allows you to sink into the mattress where you need to. These foams together are much more responsive than traditional memory foam. When you push into the Leesa and release, the imprint disappears very quickly.

The third layer is the base support. It’s very dense foam that keeps the bed’s shape, provides edge support, so you don’t feel like you’re falling off and pushes back against your body to prevent feeling like you’re stuck.

Overall, the mattress is rated at about a seven on a ten-point firmness scale.

The Sapira

The hybrid option could be an excellent choice for sleepers who want the bounce of innerspring but need the contouring of memory foam. It still has the Avena top layer and pressure-relieving second layer, but the support layer is made of pocketed micro coils. They are individually wrapped to reduce motion transfer, but you’ll still have the bounce of a conventional mattress.

It’s still rated at about a six and a half to a seven on the ten point firmness scale.

Cocoon

With the Cocoon, you get an all memory foam mattress, but two different choices in firmness. The top layer of the cocoon is their Perfect Fit memory foam that adapts to the body and provides relief from pressure points and lower lumbar pain. The second layer is an adaptive foam that’s firmer or softer depending on your preference. The final layer is a dense support layer that provides pushback and aligns the spine.

The Cocoon Chill is no different except the covering. It’s a “Phase Change Material” meant to dissipate heat and disperse it away from the body before it can feel gross.

The soft version of this mattress is rated at about four and a half while the firm version is about a seven. It’s going to have a lot more of the traditional memory foam feel, so keep that in mind.

Social Initiatives

Leesa wholeheartedly believes in being part of a community and giving back. It currently donates one mattress for every ten sold, and those donated mattresses go to organizations that work with the homeless and formerly homeless. They also plant a tree for every bed sold.

Leesa values giving back so much that they allow their employees to take part in volunteering as a company and with time off for individual volunteering. The company also runs something called a Dream Gallery that showcases art from homeless, formerly homeless, and disabled populations.

It’s unclear what Sealy’s social initiatives are. Companies frequently engage in progressive work, and there are a few mentions of Sealy giving back. Sealy doesn’t mention anything on their website.

And the Winner Is…

Cocoon! Buy Online Now

Yes really. We’re confident recommending Cocoon as the best choice based on our analysis of critical factors that an average, discerning mattress shopper would care most about.

We love the Cocoon for it’s cooling properties and that it allows us the choice between a soft and a firm mattress. Also, the Chill mattress covering gives us some serious cool temperatures during the night. Every memory foam company there is has been trying to deal with the temperature issues of memory foam, but Cocoon has gotten things right.

Leesa’s mattresses are a welcome change from traditional memory foam, and we do like the idea that someone who loves the feel of their innerspring mattress could have something comparable.

However, we’d much rather get to choose our softness level rather than having a company tell us what the most comfortable mattress we’ve ever slept on should be. Just us.

• Quality – Tie
• Price – Cocoon (by a hair)
• Reputation – Cocoon
• Sleep Trial – Cocoon
• Warranty – Tie
• Customer Support – Tie
• Product Selection – Cocoon

For sleepers with specific needs…

Side Sleepers: Choose Cocoon

Here’s why. The soft version of the Cocoon is perfect for allowing side sleepers to sink further into the mattress and avoid those pesky pain points at the shoulders and hips.

Stomach Sleepers: Choose Cocoon

Here’s why. The firm Cocoon provides plenty of support for the spine and makes sure the body is in the best position it can be for this problematic sleep position.

Back Pain: Choose Cocoon

Here’s why. The firm Cocoon offers excellent lumbar support and keeps the spine in better alignment, releasing pressure from the lower torso. It’s just the right amount of firmness so that you don’t wake up with more pain than you have to.

Heavy People: Choose Neither

Here’s why. We get a bit tired of mattresses not taking into account those on the larger end of the spectrum. Heavier bodies interact with the support layers more than those lighter because the contouring foam doesn’t hold up.

Winkbeds does offer the Plus, a bed that does consider your specific needs.

Couples: Leesa

Here’s why. Leesa’s memory foam is more responsive than the Cocoon while maintaining motion transfer. Unless you prefer the truer memory foam feel, the Leesa might be better for couples and couple activities.

The only exception would be if you sleep ultra-hot. In that case, choose the Cocoon Chill for its outer material.

Conclusion

Sealy has done a great job of reinventing the mattress for the bed-in-a-box world. What you thought you knew about Sealy might not be entirely accurate. The company has seen the writing on the wall and created a mattress that addresses the needs of those looking for the contouring and support of memory foam, but don’t want to have to walk into a showroom to get it.