Avocado Mattress vs. the Competition: Who Wins?

Committing to the right mattress can be a struggle, especially if you’re looking for one that is easy on the environment. In recent years, the sleep industry has shifted towards sustainability with more organic mattress options than ever before.

One popular brand is Avocado. These bed-in-a-box mattresses are non-toxic, eco-friendly, and boast a transparent supply chain that lets you know precisely what you’re sleeping on.

But, are their benefits all market-speak, or do Avocado mattresses stand out from its competitors? Let’s look closer at what you’ll get with an Avocado mattress and how they compare to six other brands: Plushbeds, Sattva, Casper, My Green Mattress, and Purple.

Before we dive into the details, here are some key certification terms related to mattresses you should understand:

• GOTS Certified (Global Organic Textile Standard): The worldwide textile processing standard for organic fibers.It guarantees a product consists of at least 70% certified organic fibers.
• GOLS Certified (Global Organic Latex Standard): Guarantees that a product contains latex that is at least 95% certified organic raw material.
• GREENGUARD Gold Certified: Guarantees that a product has been tested for over 10,000 compounds, including VOC emissions, and meets strict standards for indoor air quality.
• STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®: Textile products that earn this label are guaranteed to have been tested for harmful compounds (both regulated and non-regulated) and found to be safe.
• MADE SAFE^®: A non-toxic guarantee for everyday use products that ensures they don’t contain compounds suspected to harm human health.
• Certified B Corp: This certification is awarded to businesses that clearly balance profit and social and environmental accountability.  

Learn more about important mattress certifications here.

About Avocado Mattresses

As we covered in our review of the brand, Avocado mattresses are gaining acclaim for their eco-friendly construction and materials. The company began in 2016 when the four cofounders (Jeff D’Andrea, Dan D’Andrea, Jay Decker, and Mark Abrials) wanted more options for affordable, non-toxic mattresses for children. Since then, Avocado has expanded its lineup to adult-size mattresses that range from $899-$2,399, depending on the size and model.

Each mattress is handmade in the company’s GOTS-certified factory in Los Angeles, and each finished product fulfills the requirements of the USDA’s National Organic Program regarding its organic wool, cotton, latex, and other materials.  

The mattresses are also guaranteed to be free of VOCs like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. While all Avocado mattresses contain certified organic materials, the brand also offers a wool-free vegan option that is approved by PETA and certified by Vegan Action.

Avocado went carbon negative in 2020, meaning that the company offsets more carbon than it generates. Each factory, office, and other facility building runs on power from Arcadia Power, a wind and solar power company. As such, it claims to be the first mattress brand to achieve net-zero emission standards.

As with many direct-to-consumer mattress brands, Avocado mattresses are shipped compressed in boxes and may take several days to reinflate to full size after delivery. Once you make a purchase, Avocado offers an impressive one-year trials and 25-year warranty policies. This means you can test out your bed risk-free for a full year, during which you can request a full refund.

Next up, we’ll compare Avocado Mattresses to five other brands that make similar claims about their human health and environmental benefits.  

Avocado Mattress vs. Plushbeds Botanical Bliss

As we shared in our full review, PlushBeds is a mid-range mattress brand for those looking for a quality mattress. The company’s Botanical Bliss model also earns a reputation for being eco-friendly, though it’s not certified vegan like the Natural Bliss.

PlushBeds began in 2008 and currently operates within a certified organic manufacturing facility in California. Similar to Avocado, each mattress arrives compressed in a box and is handcrafted in the USA from GOTS-certified cotton and wool. It also includes several other certifications, including the following:

• Eco-Institut Certified: Guarantees that a product has been tested for emissions and toxicity and meets strict safety and environmental requirements.
• Control Union Certified: Guarantees a product fulfills the requirements of any relevant certifications and inspections. In this instance, the mattresses are approved for sustainability.
• Forest Stewardship Council Certified: Designates that the wood used was harvested from responsibly managed forests.
• EcoWool: This wool comes from sheep on ranches in the Pacific Northwest and designates that it was raised in alignment with sustainability practices and free from exposure to chemical pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, and hormones (note: EcoWool is not certified organic).
• Sustainable Furnishings Council: Membership indicates that a company is taking immediate steps to minimize its carbon emissions, reduce waste and pollution, and source renewable materials when possible.  
•  TerraPass carbon neutral: Allows businesses to purchase carbon offsets to reduce their share of emissions and shrink their carbon footprint.
•  A+ Better Business Bureau (BBB): Indicates that a company has an excellent track record with customers and consistently meets their needs.

However, Avocado edges it out regarding its longer sleep trial offer (one year vs. 100 days) and the slightly lower price point.

Avocado Mattress vs. Saatva

Saatva is a luxury brand that offers a range of mattresses made from memory foam, organic cotton, and latex. They provide a comfy sleeping surface with lots of give, and the company boasts you’ll never find their products crammed in small boxes (like Avocado mattresses).

You can choose from a range of firmness options depending on your personal comfort levels, including some with an inner coil structure and others with only CertiPUR-US certified memory foam. This means that the foam is made without heavy metals, ozone depleters, phthalates, formaldehyde, and potential toxic flame retardants.

The company’s Latex Hybrid mattress is 100% organic, while the Classic contains recycled steel coils. Each is covered with an organic cover that is treated with a Saatva-exclusive antimicrobial botanical compound called Guardin®. 

All Saatva mattresses are made in the U.S., and the company claims to source 100% of its foam and 85% of other components from the U.S. as well. However, these materials aren’t GOLS or GOTS certified.  

Avocado Mattress vs. Casper

Considered by many to be the original “bed in a box,” Casper mattresses are award-winning and made in the United States. The brand offers both 100% memory foam and hybrid options with inner coils for additional support. Each mattress contains CertiPUR-US® approved foams, meaning they are guaranteed free of ozone depleters, PBDE flame retardants, heavy metals, and other potentially dangerous compounds. Saying that, Memory foam is a petroleum-based product that isn’t renewable like latex, wool, or cotton.

Casper mattresses start at a slightly lower price point than Avocado ones do, but the brand doesn’t offer as much in terms of environmental sustainability. If GOTS and GOLS certification matters to you, you’re better off with Avocado. However, the company does win points for its in-store recycling program, in which it accepts old sheets, pillows, and other bedding for recycling purposes.

Another potential drawback is that Casper offers a relatively short 100-day sleep trial offer. This might not be enough time to determine if your mattress is one worth keeping.

Avocado Mattress vs. My Green Mattress

My Green Mattress offers a relatively budget-friendly mattress option for those who care about green credentials. Each mattress is crafted with GOLS and GOTS certified materials. The company also boasts a transparent tracking system within the supply chain that can trace each raw material back to the original supplier.  

Each mattress is made in the United States, GREENGUARD Gold certified, and crafted from organic materials. Just be aware you may need to pay an additional $199 for the White Glove Delivery service if you want your mattress professionally set up and your old one removed.

And, while the mattresses have similar certifications as Avocado mattresses, they only include a 120-day sleep trial. Likewise, you’re out of luck if you want a mattress that is certified vegan. Even so, many people may prefer My Green Mattress because they could save hundreds on their purchase compared to Avocado.

Avocado vs. Purple

Purple mattresses stand out from the others in this article due to their patented material—an extra stretchy plastic known as Hyper-Elastic Polymer™. Purple mattress founders and brothers Tony and Terry Pearce first used compounds with similar properties to craft wheelchair cushions, knee braces, and footwear before branching into mattress production.

This polymer is ultra-durable and can stretch to 15 times its resting size before snapping back into shape, meaning that it can cradle your body all night without leaving an imprint when you get up. That’s good news for your pressure points, but this petroleum-based polymer doesn’t mean anything beneficial for the planet. While the mattresses are technically vegan, they contain a minimal amount of natural materials.  

Though they fall under the category of mattresses in a box, Purple Mattresses actually ship in large bags. Just keep in mind that the company is offering a shorter warranty than most of its competitors. Purple mattresses also have one of the worst sleep trials, as you only have 100 days to decide whether you want to keep yours. That’s far short of the full-year Avocado offers its customers.