Saatva vs. Helix: 7 Key Differences

If you’re like most people, you research a lot of mattress brands before making a decision. One of the brands you’ve likely encountered is Helix, a popular mattress in a box option. You may be wondering about the differences between Helix and Saatva.

To answer your questions, below we compare the

Saatva Classic

Saatva Classic

America’s best-selling online luxury innerspring

and Helix Midnight Luxe, two choices for pillow top hybrid innerspring mattresses.

Saatva vs. Helix: key points of comparison

Here are the top seven points of differentiation between Saatva vs. Helix, starting with the biggest difference: how the mattresses are built.

1. Construction

While both the Helix Midnight Luxe and the Saatva Classic are hybrid innerspring mattresses, the similarities pretty much end there. The biggest difference is that the Helix mattress comes folded and rolled up in a 47x16x16-inch shipping box, whereas the Saatva Classic is hand delivered and set up in the room of your choice.

Folding and rolling make a mattress easy to ship, but compressing the materials until they’re flat enough to fit in a box doesn’t do anything good for the mattress.

That’s particularly true when it comes to an innerspring mattress. Coils that can be compressed, folded, and rolled have to be made of thin and flexible wire; thin wire doesn’t provide the same kind of long-lasting support as thicker and more durable wire.

Helix doesn’t disclose the thickness (also called gauge) of the single layer of coils in the Midnight Luxe. Saatva Classic has not one layer of coils but two: a support layer made of heavy 13-gauge steel and a comfort layer of thinner, individually wrapped 14.5-gauge coils that are designed for body contouring and pressure relief.

2. Mattress cover

The key to a cool and comfortable night’s sleep is breathable materials close to the skin. The Helix Midnight Luxe offers two fabric options for the mattress cover: Tencel, which is a type of rayon, and GlacioTex, a 50/50 blend of polyester and polyethylene with high thermal conductivity to dissipate heat. (The GlacioTex option is an upgrade for an additional $199.)

All Saatva mattresses are covered in naturally breathable organic cotton. The Saatva Classic is also treated with Guardin®, a proprietary botanical antimicrobial agent that inhibits the growth of bacteria, mold, and mildew.

3. Mattress firmness

The more comfort options a mattress offers, the easier it is to find the firmness that’s right for you. Helix is available in a single firmness, described as having a medium feel.

The Saatva Classic has three firmness options: Plush Soft (the softest), Luxury Firm (medium-firm), and Firm (you guessed it!).

4. Off-gassing

Because Helix mattresses are shrink-wrapped in a box, they may emit odors when first unwrapped. This off-gassing is caused by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) escaping from foams and other materials. According to the Helix website, it may take as long as a week for the smells to dissipate.

Saatva mattresses are made to order and not boxed, shrink-wrapped, or kept in inventory. Any off-gassing of materials takes place in the factory, not in the customer’s home.

5. Delivery

Both Helix and Saatva offer free delivery; the difference, as we’ve noted, is that the Helix Midnight Luxe comes in a box and the Saatva Classic comes with in-home white glove delivery and old mattress removal included in the price. (It’s worth pointing out here that a queen-size Helix mattress weighs between 90-100 pounds.)

You can pay for in-home delivery of your Helix, which costs $149 for the first item or $199 for multiple items. Removal of your old mattress is a $75 flat fee on top of the in-home delivery cost.

6. Warranty and trial period

Post-purchase service is another area of significant difference between Helix and Saatva. The Helix Midnight Luxe has a 15-year limited warranty and 100-night sleep trial that includes a 30-night break-in period before the mattress is eligible for return. The company offers limited phone support during business hours for customer questions.

The Saatva Classic has a “friends for life” lifetime warranty and a 365-night sleep trial, which means you have a full year from the time of purchase to decide whether it’s right for you. Saatva also has 24/7/365 live customer support via phone, chat, and email.

7. Cost

You might think a luxury mattress, delivered and set up in your home, would be a lot more expensive than a mattress in a box. As of this writing, a queen-size Helix Midnight Luxe with GlacioTex cover costs $1,298. Add in-home delivery and old mattress removal, and you’re up to $1,522.

A queen Saatva Classic, with free delivery and old mattress removal included, costs $1,995 before any discounts or promotions. That’s a difference of $473—a small price to pay for a premium-quality product that’s handcrafted in the US, hand-delivered by our white glove delivery teams, and guaranteed for as long as you own it.

Improve your sleep with Saatva's high-quality hybrid innerspring

Saatva Classic Innerspring Mattress

Our flagship luxury mattress is expertly engineered with coil-on-coil construction for durability, a layer of memory foam for enhanced back support, and a cushiony Euro pillow top for extra comfort.

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Want to see how the Saatva Classic stacks up to other hybrid innerspring mattresses? We’ve put together these comparisons to highlight the differences:

• Saatva vs. Simmons
• Saatva vs. Sealy
• Saatva vs. Stearns & Foster
• Saatva vs. Casper
• Saatva vs. Serta