updated May 2023

Dreamfoam Essential vs Nectar Mattress Comparison
Need help deciding if the Dreamfoam Essential or Nectar mattress is right for you? Learn everything you need to know to make the right decision in our Dreamfoam vs Nectar mattress comparison.
If you love the feel of a quality memory foam mattress but are on a budget, you’re in the right place. The Dreamfoam Essential and Nectar Mattress are two highly rated bed-in-a-box memory foam mattresses. Read on to see how they compare to one another.
Dreamfoam and Nectar Overview
Customer Rating
MA Score
Summary
Firmness
Type
Trial Period
Warranty
Customer Rating
MA Score
8.5/10
Summary
A mattress comes in multiple firmness options and is an affordable choice for mitigating back pain
Firmness
Medium-Soft to Firm
Type
Memory Foam
Trial Period
120 days
Warranty
10-year limited warranty
Customer Rating
MA Score
8.7/10
Summary
Affordable quality mattress with excellent trial period
Firmness
Medium-firm: 5.5-6/10
Type
Gel memory foam
Trial Period
365 days
Warranty
Lifetime warranty as long as you own the mattress


Dreamfoam Essential
Nectar
Customer Rating
MA Score
8.5/10
8.7/10
Summary
A mattress comes in multiple firmness options and is an affordable choice for mitigating back pain
Affordable quality mattress with excellent trial period
Firmness
Medium-Soft to Firm
Medium-firm: 5.5-6/10
Type
Memory Foam
Gel memory foam
Trial Period
120 days
365 days
Warranty
10-year limited warranty
Lifetime warranty as long as you own the mattress
Dreamfoam Essential vs Nectar: Top Similarities
- Feel: If you love a typical memory foam mattress feel, Dreamfoam and Nectar are excellent options. Both beds give you a close cradling sensation, often described as sleeping “in” the mattress instead of “on” it.
- Excellent Values: Both Dreamfoam and Nectar offer affordable memory foam beds. If you’re on a tight budget, the Dreamfoam Essential is less expensive than the Nectar mattress.
- Sub-Par Cooling: Neither mattress is the best choice for hot sleepers. With all-foam designs, these beds don’t provide the airflow and cooling you get with a hybrid or innerspring mattress.
- Suitable for Side Sleepers: The Dreamfoam Essential and the Nectar each earned a high score for pressure relief, suggesting they’re great for side sleepers. Both beds gently cradle and support your shoulders and hips, minimizing pain in these areas.
Dreamfoam Essential vs Nectar: Top Differences
- Trial Period: Nectar gives you a full 365 nights to try out your new mattress, while Dreamfoam provides 120 nights. So if you need longer to decide whether a bed is the right fit, Nectar is a better choice.
- Spine Alignment: Posture matters both day and night, and the Dreamfoam Essential does an exceptional job with lumbar support. While the Nectar mattress didn’t score horribly in this category, spline alignment isn’t among its strongest suits.
- Firmness Options: Most sleepers prefer a medium-firm mattress, which is the Nectar’s firmness level. If you like a softer or firmer mattress, the Dreamfoam Essential has five different comfort levels to choose from.

Dreamfoam Essential Mattress Review Highlights
- Great Value: The Dreamfoam Essential boasts a lower-than-average price for its quality. The excellent value is thanks to the efforts of Dreamfoam’s parent company—Brooklyn Bedding—in keeping all steps of production and sales in-house.
- Available in Various Firmness Levels:Because the Dreamfoam Essential comes in five thickness options, you can choose between five firmness levels that span from medium-soft to firm.
- Good for Back Pain: Spine alignment and pressure relief are important if you suffer from back pain; the Dreamfoam Essential scored well in both of these tests in our Mattress Advisor lab.
- Available in RV and Short Sizes:In addition to five thickness options, the Dreamfoam Essential comes in various RV sizes and “short” sizes, like short full and short queen. This is great for anyone trying to fit a bed in a strangely shaped or small space.
- Other Options: Brooklyn Bedding offers three other Dreamfoam mattresses: Dreamfoam Copper, Dreamfoam Latex, and Dreamfoam Hybrid.

Nectar Mattress Review Highlights
- Fantastic for Couples: The Nectar mattress scored well in motion transfer, responsiveness, and edge support—the most important testing categories for couples who share a bed.
- Amazing Trial Period and Warranty: Nectar offers a hard-to-beat trial period and warranty. You get a full 365 nights to try out your mattress. And if you keep it and something goes wrong down the line, your lifetime warranty is there to help.
- Supports Restless Sleepers: If you toss and turn or if you’re a combination sleeper, the Nectar mattress will support your movements by quickly adjusting to your new position. You won’t feel stuck like you might in some memory foam beds.
- Good for Side Sleepers:Side sleepers need a mattress that cradles joints like hips, shoulders, knees, and ankles. With an excellent pressure relief score, the Nectar mattress does just that.
- Other Options: Nectar offers various other mattresses, including the Nectar Premier Mattress, Nectar Premier Hybrid, and Nectar Premier Copper.
Dreamfoam Essential vs Nectar Dimensions
The Dreamfoam Essential is available in a variety of unusual sizes, such as RV sizes, the short full, and the short queen. The Nectar is only available in standard mattress sizes.
Dreamfoam Essential Mattress | Nectar | |
Thickness | 6”–14” | 12” |
Twin | 38” x 75” | 38” x 75” |
Twin XL | 38” x 80” | 38” x 80” |
RV Bunk | 28” x 75”
30” x 75” 30” x 80” 32” x 74” 34” x 75” |
N/A |
Short Full | 48” x 74” | N/A |
Full | 53” x 75” | 54” x 75” |
Full XL | 53” x 80” | N/A |
Short Queen | 60” x 74” | N/A |
Queen | 60” x 80” | 60” x 80” |
Olympic Queen | 66” x 80” | N/A |
RV King | 70” x 74”
70” x 80” 72” x 80” |
N/A |
Short King | 72” x 75” | N/A |
King | 76” x 80” | 76” x 80” |
Split King | N/A | 38” x 80” (X2) |
California King | 72” x 84” | 72” x 84” |
Split California King | 36″ x 84″ (X2) | N/A |
Learn more about mattress sizes.
Dreamfoam Essential vs Nectar Pricing
Both Nectar and Dreamfoam offer high-quality mattresses at affordable prices. Even though Nectar’s prices are higher than Dreamfoam’s, the Nectar Memory Foam is still a great deal—it even earned a spot in our Best Cheap Mattresses of 2023 list.
The Dreamfoam Essential is available at various price points depending on the mattress thickness, with the 6” bed on the lowest end and the 14” option at the highest. Because Brooklyn Bedding, the owner of Dreamfoam, handles all of its operations in-house and passes its savings onto the customer, the Dreamfoam Essential is a fantastic bargain.
Please remember the prices below do not include any promotions, discounts, or exclusive Mattress Advisor deals. Visit our mattress deals page for further information on available promotions.
Dreamfoam Essential Prices | Nectar Prices | |
Twin | $274–$599 | $599* |
Twin XL | $349–$649 | $849 |
Full | $449–$749 | $899 |
Queen | $524–$949 | $1,049 |
King | $699–$1,149 | $1,349 |
California King | $699–$1,149 | $1,349 |
(*We calculated the price of each Nectar mattress without current sales deals. This includes Nectar’s included add-ons, such as pillows, protectors, and sheet sets.)
Compare the Inside of the Mattresses
As gel-infused memory foam mattresses, the Dreamfoam Essential and the Nectar share a lot in common. Check out our layer-by-layer descriptions below to find out what these mattresses share and what sets them apart.

Inside the Dreamfoam Essential Mattress
You can choose between a depth of 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”, or 14” when you purchase a Dreamfoam Essential mattress. Additional depth correlates with more cushion and a softer feel.
A 2” to 3” gel-infused memory foam comfort layer gives the Dreamfoam Essential a traditional memory foam feel. A transition layer of VariFlex polyfoam provides an additional layer of contouring and support in the 12” and 14” models. The mattress finishes with a durable layer of support foam that varies between 4” and 8”. The Dreamfoam Essential uses open-cell foam in all its layers to promote airflow and cooling.
Because of the differences in the depths of the various layers in the Dreamfoam Essential mattress options, the Dreamfoam can have a comfort level anywhere between firm (6”) and soft-medium (14”). The 6” and 8” beds have thin comfort layers and are not great for side sleepers or heavier people.
- Stain-Resistant Top Panel: A stain-repelling top mattress panel protects your bed against accidental spills and splashes.
- Memory Foam Comfort Layer: Cooling-gel-infused memory foam cushions your joints and gently hugs your body.
- Transition Layer: In the 12” and 14” models, a layer of VariFlex transition foam delivers contouring support, which is important for side sleepers.
- Support Layer: High-density polyfoam forms the durable support layer of the Dreamfoam Essential. Varying between 4” and 8”, a thicker support layer offers improved durability and longevity.

Inside the Nectar Mattress
The Nectar is a three-layer foam mattress that offers excellent pressure relief and a traditional memory foam hugging feel.
Beneath its breathable cover, the first foam layer is gel-infused memory foam that gently forms to your body’s shape, contouring your hips, shoulders, and glutes. Next, the Nectar mattress’s polyurethane foam transition layer delivers a slight bounce, with a responsiveness that makes switching positions easy. Last, higher-density foam delivers sturdy support in a 7” base layer.
The Nectar offers you the body hug typical of memory foam. However, because of the Nectar’s medium-firm firmness level, the foam may be too firm for sleepers under 130 pounds to get this bed’s full pressure-relieving benefits. Lighter sleepers can feel like they’re sleeping “on” rather than “in” the Nectar mattress’s top layer.
- Cooling Mattress Cover: Heat-absorbent polyurethane fibers draw heat away from your body.
- Gel-Infused Memory Foam Comfort Layer (2”): This gel memory foam has cooling properties, keeping it less warm than traditional memory foam while it contours your body’s joints and curves.
- Responsive Foam Layer (3”): Conventional foam improves responsiveness and support in this layer.
- Stability Base Layer (7”): High-density foam supports all of the layers above, providing stability, support, and durability.
- Shift-Resistant Lower Cover: A polyester bottom cover keeps all of the layers of your Nectar mattress in place, preventing shifting over time.
Compare Testing Scores
In the Mattress Advisor lab, we diligently test across 14 categories to make sure you have all the details you need to make an informed purchase. Check out our head-to-head comparison of the Dreamfoam Essential and the Nectar below. Please note that the scores below are for the 14” Dreamfoam Essential.
Curious about how we reach our Mattress Advisor lab scores? Read more about our review process here.
Dreamfoam Essential | Nectar | |
Shipping | 10 | 9 |
Trial Period | 10 | 10 |
Return Policy | 9 | 8.5 |
Warranty | 9 | 10 |
Set-Up Test | 9.5 | 8 |
Motion Transfer Test | 8.5 | 8.5 |
Edge Support Test | 7.5 | 9 |
Pressure Relief Test | 8.75 | 8.5 |
Spine Alignment Test | 9.5 | 7.5 |
Responsiveness Test | 7.5 | 8.5 |
Cooling Evaluation | 7.25 | 7.5 |
Durability Evaluation | 8 | 8.5 |
Customer Service Score | 9 | 8 |
Social Impact Score | 3 | 9 |
Total Score | 8.5/10 | 8.7/10 |
Spine Alignment
Mattresses with good spine alignment scores keep your spine in a neutral position while you sleep. This is crucial for people with back pain. The Dreamfoam Essential performed very well on this test, receiving a 9.5/10. Since it also received a great pressure relief score, this mattress is a strong choice for older adults, people with arthritis, athletes, and anyone worried about spine health.
While the Nectar did not do as well in this category, it still scored well in pressure relief, making it good for side sleepers—though perhaps not for side sleepers with back problems.
Edge Support
Edge support refers to how well the edges of a mattress handle weight. So if you sit on the edge of your bed and it droops, it has poor edge support.
The Nectar outperformed the Dreamfoam Essential in this category, scoring 9/10. This makes the Nectar better at providing support for older adults who need stability when getting into and out of bed. It’s also important for couples who want to maximize their sleep surface.
Cooling
Even though both Dreamfoam and Nectar infuse the memory foam layers with gel to provide a cool sleep experience, neither mattress performed well in our cooling test.
When you sink into the warm embrace of a memory foam mattress, some of your body heat gets trapped around you. So if you sleep very hot, memory foam may not be the way to go. However, with middle-of-the-road scores of 7.25/10 and 7.5/10 for the Dreamfoam Essential and the Nectar, respectively, these beds are cool enough for the average sleeper.
If you tend to sleep hot, check out our list of the Best Cooling Mattresses for Hot Sleepers.
Bottom Line: Which Is the Best Mattress?
So, which of these two affordable memory foam mattresses is right for you?
We recommend the Dreamfoam Essential over the Nectar for back-pain sufferers, lightweight sleepers, people looking for unusual mattress sizes, and anyone who wants a soft or firm mattress (thanks to the five available firmness levels). The Nectar is the winner for couples, combination sleepers, and people who want a longer trial period.
Both mattresses fall into our budget category, but Dreamfoam offers incredibly low prices on its thinner models. Keep in mind that our Mattress Advisor lab scores are for the 14” version, so categories like pressure relief and durability may vary in the 6”-10” beds in particular.
More Nectar Comparisons
More Dreamfoam Comparisons


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