Our evaluations and opinions are not influenced by our advertising relationships, but we may earn a commission from our partners’ links. This content is created by TIME Stamped, under TIME’s direction and produced in accordance with TIME’s editorial guidelines and overseen by TIME’s editorial staff. Learn more about it.
Getting into bed and burrowing under the covers is one of life’s daily delights, especially when you’ve found the perfect comforter for you. Finding the right comforter can make the difference between a restful night’s sleep and one that is disrupted by temperature dysregulation, rough materials or bunched-up fill. Of course, every sleeper is different and their preferences and sleep conditions will impact what choice they make. Local weather will also affect whether you want to buy a warmer, cooler or all-season comforter—or buy two to swap out during the year.
As a general rule, the ideal comforter will be heavyweight enough to keep you warm and comfortable, while being lightweight enough to prevent sweating. It should be soft to the touch with balanced fill throughout the shape. The fill itself could be made of down, goose down, or a down alternative like bamboo or microfiber—each material has its own benefits and characteristics. To help you find a comforter that will guarantee a good night’s sleep, I’ve put together this guide on the best comforters for every kind of sleeper.
Putting together a full bedroom setup can get expensive, especially if you’re also shopping for the best mattress at the same time. The good news is that you don’t need to spend a fortune to find a comforter that delivers the warmth and coziness you need: The Linenspa All-Season Down Alternative Comforter starts at just $30. The comforter comes in an impressive selection of sizes, with dedicated Twin XL, Full and California King options and even two “oversized” versions for sleepers who love to be wrapped up in extra material. The microfiber cover ensures a soft feel that doesn’t need a duvet cover and I appreciate that there are several colorways to choose from, in case you don’t want to be stuck with plain white. While this is a thinner comforter than some of the other options on our list, this makes it a great choice for hot sleepers year-round.
The Linenspa All-Season Down Alternative Comforter offers great value in a colorful range of sizes and is a great choice for hot sleepers who want a thinner blanket year-round.
Brooklinen knows what it's doing when it comes to bedding (they made our list of the best places to buy bedding, after all) and the Down Comforter is no exception. Available in three weights (lightweight, all-season, ultra-warm), every comforter uses a baffle box construction to keep fill evenly dispersed throughout the cotton sateen shell. The all-season option weighs less than some of the other down options on this list while still offering a really plush, luxurious experience. I love that the down fill creates a cloud-like feeling without overheating the sleeper—a common problem with these thicker comforters. The down is also all sourced from Hutterite Farms in Canada, so sleepers can rest easy that the material has been responsibly sourced. The Brooklinen comforter comes in the main three sizing options and is only available in white, but does feature loops in each corner in case you want to use a more colorful cover.
The Brooklinen Down Comforter is one of the most accessible ways to sleep under high-quality down, perfectly balancing weight and coziness for a warm but not hot night’s rest.
There are many reasons why someone might prefer to go with a down alternative, whether it’s about allergies, animal rights, ease of cleaning or just the feel. With Saatva’s All-Year Down Alternative Comforter, you get all the luxury and softness of a down comforter but with the added benefit of sustainably sourced, moisture-wicking lyocell. This makes it a great choice for anyone who overheats with down or who prefers a cooler yet soft feel. Saatva is committed to environmentally friendly initiatives, as shown through the lyocell and the cotton percale shell that is certified by Fair Trade. The absence of down also makes this easier to clean at home, with the comforter being approved for machine washing. Despite this comforter not having down fill, it’s still quite expensive which may turn off some shoppers. However, I think that the high quality fabrics and expert construction make this worthy of a price tag similar to our down options.
The Saatva All-Year Down Alternative Comforter is environmentally friendly and hypoallergenic, making it a great choice for sustainably-minded sleepers who still want a little luxury.
Goose down is known for being especially soft, fluffy, and insulating, making it great for cozier bedding—and that’s exactly what the Quince Luxe Goose Down Comforter delivers. It also manages to do this at a comparatively affordable price, thanks to Quince’s factory-to-consumer model. While many down comforters are especially thick and plush, making them ideal for cold weather but not necessarily a year-round option, this comforter is a little thinner and even available in a lightweight style for a more temperate feel. The down is responsibly sourced and has a fill power of 700 for a substantive yet soft feel. While some shoppers may prefer a thicker, more plush comforter, this Quince product is a great choice for anyone who wants to cuddle up under goose down in every season. Shopping tip: Quince also made our lists for the best percale sheets and the best organic sheets.
The Quince Luxe Goose Down Comforter is a great mid-weight option for anyone who wants the luxury and fluffiness of down in a year-round package.
There’s a time and a place for a light top sheet and nothing else, and then there’s the L.L. Bean Permabaffle Box Goose Down Comforter. This is the ultimate in cozy comfort, ideal for cold climates and the winter months. The Permabaffle box construction takes the popular stitched style and adds a patented gate system to keep fill even more securely in place. On top of this, L.L. Bean has concentrated the goose down in the center of the comforter as that’s where it’s most likely to cover your sleeping body. It’s these small details that add up to a really insulating, fluffy comforter that will keep you warm on even the coldest nights. The goose down is responsibly sourced and hypoallergenic—a rarity in the down space—and so this luxury fill does come at a price. However, this will feel like a worthy investment for anyone who regularly faces low temperatures and knows the pain of a too-flimsy blanket. If you’re looking for maximum coziness, pair them with L.L. Bean’s flannel sheets, which made our list for the best flannel sheets.
Cold-weather sleepers will delight in L.L. Bean’s Goose Down Comforter, the ultimate choice for winter nights thanks to its luxuriously thick construction and cozy insulation.
While most, if not all, of the down comforters on this list have been certified to have responsibly sourced down, it can be challenging to fully verify these claims. RSD-certified products should always be trackable, but this is not often the case in practice. With the Feathered Friends Bavarian 700 Down Comforter, sleepers can be fully reassured that the down has come from an ethically-sourced farm thanks to its dedicated internal tracking system. Every customer is given a tracking number at purchase that can be used to find their specific comforter’s down source and I love that the company goes this extra mile to meet high ethical standards. On top of this, the comforter itself is deliciously soft, fluffy and somehow lightweight, so there’s no risk of overheating at night. Feathered Friends offers a wide range of size options and a “lifetime of product” warranty against defects in workmanship and materials so, although this is the most expensive option on the list, it’s an investment that should last you years and years.
The Feathered Friends Bavarian Down 700 Comforter is the most reliably ethical choice for down lovers, who will be rewarded with ultimate lightweight luxury if they make the investment.
Depending where you live, it can be challenging to find a comforter that is as suitable for a summer night as a winter one. Fortunately, there’s the Luxome ClimaSense Comforter and it is a great choice for anyone who prizes temperature regulation and wants to invest in one truly all-season product. This comforter is designed to be ultra-breathable, with Luxome claiming that it has twice as much airflow as other options in the market. It also features trademark 37.5 Technology, which helps to maintain a microclimate through the night. This allows both hot and cold sleepers to rest well, no matter the weather outside. The larger shape and drape ensures that the comforter will cover even deep-pocket mattresses and the lofty fill is fluffy without bringing the extra warmth of some of the other, thicker options on this list. The fill is polyester and hypoallergenic and the cover has met European standards for being skin friendly. The comforter does require spot or dry cleaning only, but I figure this is less work than swapping out a new product every six months!
The Luxome ClimaSense Comforter helps sleepers maintain their own microclimate every night of the year, whether they run cold or hot, thanks to special technology.
Some sleepers don’t need a lot of extra warmth during the night, but still want the coziness and comfort of an additional layer. For those people, I recommend the Slumber Cloud Lightweight Comforter as a perfect light option that provides softness without excessive heat. It achieves this through its patented ClimaDry by Outlast fiberfill, a hypoallergenic fill engineered by NASA that mimics the fluffiness of down while promoting heat and moisture regulation. A 100% cotton cover promotes further breathability, so sleepers can stay cool while still burrowing deep into their blankets. While Slumber Cloud does offer an “ultra cool” comforter for the hottest of sleepers, I like this lightweight option as a year-round choice that still offers a little bit of warmth against surprising dips in temperature. It’s especially great for couples who sleep at different temperatures or women experiencing menopause.
The Slumber Cloud Lightweight Comforter provides just the right amount of coziness for anyone who sleeps hot or lives in hot weather, but still enjoys a soft layer year-round.
Eco-conscious shoppers are increasingly looking for more sustainable fibers and bamboo has become a go-to choice, thanks to its fast-growing nature and low water consumption. Cozy Earth has taken this raw material and turned it into a truly luxurious comforter that balances sustainability with sateen softness. The bamboo viscose fill is naturally temperature-regulating and moisture-wicking so warm sleepers can rest easily and the fiber’s sateen cover creates a really silky finish against the skin. There’s even the option to customize the fill level to “standard” or “extra,” depending on the level of plushness you prefer. This makes the Cozy Earth Bamboo Comforter a reliable choice year round, but you will need to pay a premium for this natural fiber. Fortunately, it’s not high-maintenance; this comforter is fully machine washable and comes with a ten-year warranty. If you do like the feel, Cozy Earth also made our list for the best bamboo sheets.
Bamboo lovers will appreciate Cozy Earth’s Bamboo Comforter for its sustainable fibers, silky-soft sateen cover and natural temperature regulation.
The softness of a comforter depends on two things: the plushness of the fill and the choice of cover fabric. The Snowe Down Alternative Comforter uses a 100% hypoallergenic microfiber that mimics the clusters of duck or goose down but in synthetic, animal-free form. This ensures a thick, plush feel even with a synthetic fabric. Then there’s the quilted cotton sateen cover for added softness against the skin. The baffle box design ensures that the fill stays distributed evenly throughout the comforter and that plushness is consistent. Snowe’s comforter is a great choice for anyone who loves the softness of down but prefers a lighter, hypoallergenic layer at night. It’s particularly good for hot sleepers and comes in a dedicated lightweight variety as well as an all-season style.
The Snowe Down Alternative Comforter takes the plushness of down and reinterprets it with super-soft microfiber for a lightweight yet silky feel, great for warm sleepers.
Hot sleepers will know that sometimes, even if you sleep in a cold climate, you can still be prone to overheating if you don’t have the right layer over you as you sleep. While you could opt for a thin blanket that feels less luxurious, I’d recommend a cooling comforter like the Layla Down Alternative Comforter, to get the best of both worlds. Layla’s offering features a 100% cotton cover for natural breathability and hypoallergenic Cluster-Loft fill that echoes the soft coziness of duck or goose down but without the extra insulation. It has also reinvented the traditional baffle box shape with a hexagonal design, to reduce the chance of fill clumping in the corners—plus, it looks stylish. The 10 oz fill weight makes this a solid year-round option for hot sleepers, without compromising on comfort.
The Layla Down Alternative Comforter is a great option for anyone wanting to stay cool at night but without giving up the soft coziness of a thicker layer.
The environment is an increasing concern for many consumers and corporations alike, and Buffy is one of the companies leading the charge in sustainability efforts. Its Cloud Comforter upcycles up to 70 plastic bottles, depending on product size, into fill that has been certified by the Global Recycled Standard. Not only is this fill sustainable but it is also surprisingly plush, breathable and fluffy for something that came from plastic. This makes it great for year-round use and temperate climates, although it may not stand up to colder climes. For the cover, Buffy uses lyocell sateen made from eucalyptus, a plant that is valued by the environmentally-conscious for needing 1/10 of the water to grow as a cotton plant. The result is a silken, breathable shell that feels indulgent against the skin despite being so good for the planet. It’s not just about the fabrics; Buffy uses a proprietary stitching pattern to keep fill distributed evenly across the comforter. While the warranty period is short, I’m confident you won’t need to use it with this high-quality product.
Buffy bakes in sustainability to every element of its cloud-like comforter, upcycling plastic bottles into the fill and using eucalyptus lyocell for its shell for a planet-friendly option.
Products for kids can often sacrifice quality in exchange for being fun and young, but that’s not the case with the Garnet Hill Essential Comforter. This comforter uses 100% down in its fill with a 100% cotton percale shell that can stand up to the rough-and-tumble nature of kids, all at an affordable price. Garnet Hill is also one of the only brands we’ve found that plays with color in such a fun way—there are currently 12 different shades to choose from. Tasteful enough to be used by adults, these colors are also vibrant enough to appeal to kids of all ages. Thanks to the down fill, this comforter is warm and cozy but still lightweight enough to be easily washable at home. All in all, this is a great choice for kids who live in all kinds of climates, no matter what their favorite color is.
The Garnet Hill Essential Comforter combines high-quality materials with twelve fun color options for a cozy comforter that’s popular with kids and parents alike.
While everyone has different preferences for their comforters, there are a few key characteristics that all the best products share. I conducted my own research and then compared my findings against industry experts and customer reviews, to make sure there was common ground and consensus before a product made it onto the list. Each comforter was evaluated on its materials, price, certifications (if any), construction and design, warmth, softness, temperature regulation and aesthetic. Then I considered the preferences and needs of different kinds of sleepers, from those who run hot to those who care about the environment to others who prioritize softness. I used those metrics to determine the best comforter in each class, so we could stand behind a list that truly has something for everyone.
There are a few key factors to consider when choosing your ideal comforter.
Picking the right comforter will come down to understanding your sleep preferences and your natural environment. As someone who lives in a northern city with varying temperatures, I’m inclined towards midweight comforters that are designed for use in all seasons; someone who lives in a more extreme climate may commit to a lightweight option to handle the heat or a heavyweight option to protect against the cold. I also run hot during the night so I’m less inclined towards thicker blankets even in the winter and may want to consider a comforter with a more cooling cover feel. Think about your temperature preferences and the weather where you are so you can pick a comforter that will work with these conditions.
You’ll also want to choose the type of fill in your comforter. Down has been prized for years for its softness and “fluffy” feel, but this material can be more expensive—especially when it’s goose down (as opposed to duck down, which has smaller clusters and less fill power). It also may trigger allergies, which is why many people opt for a hypoallergenic down alternative. Some shoppers may not feel comfortable with animal products and may prefer an alternative fill, while others may be satisfied with a responsibly sourced down certification (RSD). Consider all these concerns before making your pick. Shopping tip: Found a fill you like? Consult our lists for the best down pillows and best down alternative pillows to find a coordinating pillow.
Lastly, decide how you want to use your comforter. Comforters can be used on their own or as a duvet insert, so consider if you’ll be placing another layer of fabric around it or if your skin will be touching the comforter shell itself. (Read our guide to duvet vs comforter in case you were curious about the difference.) If you use it without a duvet cover, you’ll want to be sure that the comforter cover has the feel you prefer, whether that’s a silky sateen weave or a crisper percale one. Microfiber is also a popular choice thanks to its softness. We’ve made sure to provide options that fit every kind of preference!
While each comforter has its own care instructions and you should review the details for your specific product, there is some general guidance that applies across the board. Most comforters can be machine washed, as long as it is on a gentle cycle, and dried in the tumble dryer, as long as it is on low. The one challenge may be fitting larger products inside a domestic machine; you may need to drop it off at a commercial vendor or take it to a laundromat. Two of the items on our list require spot cleaning and dry cleaning only, so you may want to reduce the frequency of this by placing the comforters inside an additional duvet cover for greater protection. In general, you want to avoid overwashing your comforter as this can damage the fill over time and create a less plush feel. If in doubt, always check the specific care instructions provided by the brand.
Washing your comforter isn’t just about removing any visible stains, but also about protecting the material from body oils and odors, as well as from dust mites. Comforters that are used without a cover should be washed weekly, just as you would wash sheets and pillow cases. You may extend this period by using a duvet cover and washing that more frequently, but even inserts should be cleaned to extend their life and maintain hygiene standards. As such, experts recommend that you wash the comforter 2-3 times a year for a minimum of once every six months. You also want to consider whether you share the comforter with a partner or allow any pets on the bed; this exposure is likely to require greater, more frequent cleaning in order to remove potential allergens, dirt, etc. Finally, be honest with yourself if you suffer from night sweats as this will also increase the frequency with which you’ll want to clean the comforter.
There is no “best” fill material as long as it’s of high quality, as this really comes down to personal preference.
Down has traditionally been a favorite material thanks to its natural insulation and softness, which makes it a great choice for colder weather or anyone who really likes to be swaddled in soft layers. Goose down is a little fluffier than duck down but both are plush, cozy options. Look out for the Responsibly Sourced Down certification to be confident that the material has been ethically sourced.
While there are hypoallergenic down comforters available, many people who are sensitive to allergens or who don’t want to use animal products may opt for a down alternative, such as microfiber. These comforters are soft but often lighter in weight and well suited for hot sleepers or warmer climates. Another benefit is that they tend to be more affordable than down fills, although this is not always the case if the other materials are high quality.
In today’s market, most people use the words duvet and comforter interchangeably. However, the main official difference is that a comforter can be used without a cover whereas a duvet should be used solely as an insert. This may mean that the outer shell of a product labeled as a comforter may be a bit more durable and/or soft on the skin than one labeled as a duvet. Duvet shells may be more prone to staining from body oils or require a more gentle touch, but not necessarily. Duvet inserts are nearly always plain white as they are not designed to be seen, whereas a comforter may come in several colors or patterns.
While a comforter doesn’t require the use of a cover, it is generally recommended to use a cover anyway. This is to help protect the comforter from stains and odors and also because it is more practical; it is much easier to wash a cover in a domestic washing machine than it is to wash the entire comforter. Buying a separate cover also allows you more flexibility and choice in terms of finish and aesthetic, which is particularly useful if you live in a climate with varying temperatures. By combining a midweight comforter with a thicker flannel cover in winter and a lightweight linen cover in the summer, you can make it truly suitable for all seasons. It’s also just fun to change up the look of your bed by swapping out the cover, while keeping the coziness of the comforter inside. Finally, look up whether the brand specifies the use of a cover in its warranty, as not using one may make it ineligible for a future claim.
This varies depending on how well you take care of the comforter, as well as the materials it’s made from. If you follow the care instructions and regularly (but not overly) clean your comforter, then you can expect it to last up to twenty years if it has a down fill and between five to ten years if it has a down alternative. This difference in endurance may make up for the fact that down fill comforters tend to be more expensive; you will likely end up saving money in the long run.
Most people will buy a comforter that matches the rough size of their bed. For instance, a Twin/Twin XL comforter will work on a twin or twin XL bed. This sizing is designed to fall nicely over the mattress and provide sufficient extra fabric to be cozy, without dragging along the ground. However, some people may want something a little larger than their mattress size, for a more luxurious or cozy feel or if you are sharing with another person. In these cases, people might buy a King comforter for a Queen bed, for instance. Lastly, some couples may decide to have split blankets and buy separate Twin-sized comforters, so that each person can have the exact feel and weight that they prefer.
As we’ve seen from our list, comforters can drastically range in price. Our most affordable option starts at $30 for a Twin, while the most expensive caps out at $769 for a King/California King. Most options hover between $200-$350 for a queen-sized comforter.
Pricing depends on several factors, such as the size of the comforter and the choice of materials used. Generally speaking, down fills cost more than down alternatives and sustainably sourced fibers may be more expensive than regular ones. Price doesn’t always directly reflect the quality of an item, as different people like different styles of comforter. Therefore, while budget will of course be a factor in choosing a comforter, I recommend also looking at its characteristics to determine which is the right fit for you.
The information presented here is created by TIME Stamped and overseen by TIME editorial staff. To learn more, see our About Us page.
