Home » Pillow Reviews » Purple Cloud Pillow Review

Purple is not only a delightful color, but the name of a mattress and bedding brand behind some of the most interesting and high-tech sleep products out there. If you’ve heard of Purple, you’ve probably seen their Purple mattress , with its hyper-elastic polymer grid that gives the sleeper a floating sensation. But today, we’ll be talking about another offering from Purple: the Purple Cloud pillow .

The Purple Cloud is a down-alternative pillow that comes at a super affordable price. Could the Purple Cloud be the perfect pillow for you? You’ll just have to keep reading to find out!

Just want the highlights? Skip to the end for my review summary.

The Purple Cloud pillow is a down alternative pillow filled with gel fibers coated in silicone.

Pillows are rarely “one size fits all” — every person has different needs from their pillow based on sleeping position , size, and personal preferences. So here’s a quick rundown of who I do and don’t recommend the Purple Cloud for.

Feel is one of the most important aspects of a pillow. After all, if you don’t like how your pillow feels and if it’s not maintaining your spinal alignment, you aren’t going to want to sleep on it night after night. I personally tested this pillow, so I’ll give you an idea of what it feels like, but keep in mind that feel is subjective, so you may have a different experience than I did.

When considering firmness, the key is to keep your sleeping position in mind. In order to maintain spinal alignment, side sleepers should aim for a firmer feel, back sleepers should aim for a medium feel, and stomach sleepers should aim for a softer feel. There’s some room for variation here based on personal preference — for example, I tend to like my pillow’s loft a little lower than average, even though I’m a back sleeper .

Overall, I thought that the Purple Cloud had a medium firmness. It’s soft enough for your head to sink into the pillow quite a bit, but you won’t sink completely through. This is where the difference between a traditional down pillow and the down alternative really shows up. The gel fibers used in the Purple Cloud keep your head and neck elevated just a bit.

The other big factor in a pillow’s feel is the loft, or the height of the pillow. Again, each sleeping position has a rule of thumb: side sleepers should go for a higher loft, back sleepers need a medium loft, and stomach sleepers do best with a low loft.  The Purple Cloud’s loft is 6 inches, which is on the higher side.

Now let’s go over my experience with the Purple Cloud in different positions.

Side — While side sleepers generally do best with a firmer feel, I think the medium firmness and high loft of the Purple Cloud work great for lying on your side. I found this to be the most comfortable position while trying out the Purple Cloud — my head and neck felt supported and in alignment with my spine, and I loved the soft contouring.

Back — Now for back sleepers , the firmness is right with the Purple Cloud, but I think the loft is too high. Some folks with larger frames than me may like this higher loft, but for most back sleepers , I think this higher loft could cause some neck craning. 

Stomach — The Purple Cloud is not a great pick for stomach sleepers. The loft is way too high to comfortably lie on your stomach. I immediately felt my neck craning when I tested the Purple Cloud stomach-sleeping-style and overall, it was pretty uncomfortable.

Under the Arm — I think the Purple Cloud is a solid choice to sleep with under your arm, as it’s squishy and puffy enough to hug cozily. 

Between the Legs — I don’t think the Purple Cloud is the best choice for sleeping with between your legs, as the loft is quite high. Too high of a loft could put your hips out of alignment.

So what is this pillow made of? Let’s take a look. 

First, I’ll note that the Purple Cloud comes in a standard size and king size — I tested the standard for this review. Additionally, the Purple Cloud’s materials are CleanAir GOLD certified to be nontoxic.

Cover: The Purple Cloud’s cover is made from 100% cotton with a 300-thread count. The cotton used is certified by the Better Cotton Initiative, an international organization that seeks to improve quality, sustainability, and working conditions for cotton production.

Fill: The fill in this pillow is 100% gel fiber, which is a synthetic fabric that mimics the feeling of down. Each of the gel fibers are coated with silicone, which Purple says prevents the pillow from going flat or requiring constant fluffing , as well as making the fill hypoallergenic .

If you tend to run hot at night, you want to be sure your pillow isn’t contributing to overheating. I think the Purple Cloud is going to be a decent option for hot sleepers, as the gel fiber fill should keep things airflow-friendly . The cotton cover is also breathable, which will keep hot air from being trapped. 

When I was testing the Purple Cloud, I didn’t notice it sleeping exceptionally cool , like some of our best cooling pillows , but I also didn’t notice it trapping any heat. Overall, I’d say the Purple Cloud is a good temperature neutral choice.

To keep things extra cool, take a look at our best cooling sheets , best cooling mattress toppers , and our best cooling blankets .

Curious how much the Purple Cloud pillow costs? Here are the prices, broken down by size. 

Prices listed will be before discount or offer for each size, but be sure to use our Purple coupon to get the best price.

The Purple Cloud pillow is a down alternative pillow filled with gel fibers coated in silicone.

After testing out the Purple Cloud, I think it’s a fantastic pillow for side sleepers. The higher loft is great for keeping side sleepers ’ head and neck aligned with their spine. And even though it’s soft enough for you to sink into the pillow, the silicone-coated gel fibers keep you elevated and prevent the pillow from going flat, providing lots of neck support — which is key for preventing neck pain in side sleepers .

I also love that the Purple Cloud pillow is entirely machine washable. Purple even says that washing your Purple Cloud is a great way to fluff it. Combine machine washability with hypoallergenic materials and the Purple Cloud is also a great choice for people with allergies.

However, I didn’t love the Purple Cloud for back sleeping and I certainly don’t recommend it for stomach sleepers . If you’re looking for a better option, I’d take a peek at our best pillows for back sleepers and our best pillows for stomach sleepers .

Purple ships for free within the contiguous United States. Customers in Hawaii and Alaska will have to pay an additional shipping fee.

Yes, Purple offers a 100-night trial period with the Purple Cloud pillow. That means you can test the Purple Cloud out for 100 nights at home and if you decide it's not the right pillow for you, you can return it within the trial period for a full refund.

It does — the Purple Cloud comes with a 1-year warranty.

Yes, it is. The entire Purple Cloud pillow is machine washable. Purple advises to wash warm on a delicate cycle and tumble dry on a low heat, delicate cycle.

The Purple Cloud pillow is a down alternative pillow filled with gel fibers coated in silicone.

We’ve covered a lot about the Purple Cloud, so let’s compare it to some other pillows. Here, I’ll put the Purple Cloud head-to-head with two other pillows from Purple, as well as a pillow from competitor brand Tempur-Pedic .

Built with contouring hyper-elastic polymer, the Purple pillow is fantastic for those in need of pressure relief. 

The Purple Harmony is great for any position sleeper and is extremely breathable to help you sleep cool through the night!

The TEMPUR-Cloud pillow provides the great body contouring memory foam feel that Tempur-Pedic is known for and is a great choice for the back sleepers out there!

Finally, here are my star ratings for the Purple Cloud pillow . 

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