Best Bed Pillows: Down, Down Alternative and Latex

This is the traditional feather pillow: goose feathers and down in a cotton shell woven tightly enough to be down-proof without a coating. Feathers give support, which is why Pacific Coast pitches this medium-firm version at back and side sleepers. The fill is certified to the Responsible Down Standard and OEKO-TEX Standard 100, and the brand sells it on Amazon.

Feathers need to be plumped. Expect to shake it out each morning, and to feel the occasional quill through the fabric. In return it breathes better than foam, molds to the head, and costs a fraction of the designer pillows.

Skip it if you want a soft, sinking down pillow; this is firmer and heavier than that. Skip it too if feathers poking through will bother you.

The catch. Feather-heavy fill is firmer and noisier than down, and the listing does not publish the down percentage.

Casper's Original Pillow uses a pillow-in-pillow construction: a supportive inner pillow sits inside a softer outer one, both filled with down alternative fiber. The idea is that the outside feels soft while the inside holds the head up, and it works for more sleeping positions than a single-chamber synthetic pillow.

The cover is 100% cotton percale, and the whole pillow is machine washable. It is medium-soft with a medium loft, which suits back sleepers and many stomach sleepers. Amazon sells it directly.

Synthetic fill is the least durable pillow material, so expect to replace it sooner than down or latex. Skip it if you are a side sleeper with broad shoulders who needs a tall, firm pillow.

The catch. Synthetic fill flattens sooner than down or latex, and the loft may be too low for side sleepers.

Avocado fills this pillow with shredded GOLS-certified organic Dunlop latex and GOTS-certified organic kapok fiber, inside an organic cotton cover with a zipper. Avocado's own tag lists the fill as 70% latex and 30% kapok by weight, and says it is made in California with domestic and imported material.

The zipper is the point. Latex pillows are often too high out of the box, and here you remove fill until the loft suits you. Avocado includes an extra fill pack for those who want it higher. The feel is springy and substantial, more like latex than down, and it holds its shape far longer than synthetic fiber.

Wash only the cover; the fill is not machine washable. Skip it if you want the soft, sinking feel of down. It will not give you that at any loft.

The catch. Heavy and springy rather than soft, and the fill cannot be washed, only the cover.

Side sleepers need a pillow that stays tall under the weight of the head, which is where soft down pillows fail. Brooklinen's Firm pillow uses a dual-core build that blends down clusters and feathers for more support. The fill is Canadian duck down, certified to the DOWNMARK standard, and the pillow is made in Canada.

The shell is long-staple cotton sateen, quiet and smooth, and the pillow is slightly oversized so it fills a pillowcase or sham to the corners. Every component is certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100.

Skip it if you sleep on your back or stomach; it will push your head too far forward. Brooklinen sells a Plush version for stomach sleepers.

The catch. Firm means firm: too tall for most back and stomach sleepers, and it costs more than Coyuchi's medium pillow.

Boll & Branch's Down Chamber Pillow puts a feather and down inner chamber inside an outer layer of down. The Medium version sits between the all-down Soft and the Firm, with enough support for back sleepers and most side sleepers. The down and feathers come from U.S. farms, are triple washed, and are certified to the IDFL Down Standard, which traces them to the parent farm. The pillow is filled and finished in the United States.

The shell is certified organic long-staple cotton, woven tightly enough to be down-proof without chemical finishes. Boll & Branch says to machine wash it alone in cold water once a season and tumble dry on low with wool dryer balls, which may take a few cycles.

It is the most expensive pillow here. Skip it unless the traceable down matters to you; Coyuchi's chambered design does much the same for less.

The catch. About $360 for a pair, and the maker does not publish a fill power.