Advantages
Revitalize aging mattress
A topper can often revitalize an aging bed for a few months to even years. Most topper owners in our research were surprised at the difference their topper made to their bed and quality of sleep. (See owner data for more information.)

If you are on a budget, a mattress topper can be a smart investment since new mattresses today often cost around $1,000 or well over. A topper can provide many of the advantages of a new mattress for a fraction of the cost.

Different firmness for same mattress
If two people sleep on the same bed and have different firmness preferences, a topper can be added to one side of the bed to, in effect, provide different firmness levels for each side. This avoids having two people sleep in separate beds or buy a bed with adjustable firmness for each side, such as what is offered by airbeds like Sleep Number.

Try before you buy
A topper allows you to try out bedding material (memory foam, latex, etc) to see if you may like an entire bed made from the topper material. Also, because of the low cost of many toppers, there's less risk and hassle if you don't like a topper than if you don't like a new mattress.

In addition, sleeping on a topper made of material you might buy in an entire mattress let's you ease the transition from your current bed to the new one.


Disadvantages
Improper fit
A significant number of owners in our research found it difficult to fit the topper properly to their mattress. For example, buying a queen size topper did not necessarily ensure that it would properly fit the dimensions of their queen size bed.

Sliding around
Since the topper is not an integrated part of the mattress, it can move around independently of the bed at least somewhat, even if well secured.

Limited effectiveness
While a topper can improve many aging mattresses, it is not a miracle worker. If your mattress is in really bad shape with serious sink holes, dramatic sagging and popping springs, the topper will be of only limited help.