Serta is one of the biggest names in sleep and while they have been making mattresses in the US for over 90 years, they have also been making competitive pillows for decades. Serta now has a modern gel-based memory foam pillow, a type of pillow that is gaining a lot of popularity for its comfort of memory foam but also addressing memory foam’s known heat-trapping tendencies. While this pillow has a solid memory foam core, it also has a series of holes that should help with airflow and further improve heat-trapping issues. The cover is interesting on the Gel Memory Foam Pillow and it’s clear it was designed for sleep on one side and not the other. The sleeping side has a deeply textured surface that looks and feels extremely comfortable while the other side of the cover is a very thin porous material. We suspect this would help dissipate heat from the bottom of the pillow very well and is an interesting idea we don’t often see. Usually, both sides of the cover are the same. We should also mention that you’ll need to pay attention to which side of the pillow you sleep on. That's the Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow at a high level, let's dive into the details and see how it performs.

We are all incredibly different when it comes to our sleep, from differences in our bodies, preferences, and sleep habits, so we find it is rare to find one-size-fits-all products when it comes to pillows, mattresses, bedding, etc… We believe that real data is often missing from sleep reviews and recommendations and we’re trying to change that with our reviews.

Our process for reviewing pillows is a simple and objective one. Due to the fact that our bodies and sleeping positions are all highly unique, we believe that measuring the pillow firmness and support in the real world is the best way for us to make recommendations to our readers. We take a series of measurements on the support of each pillow we review in person using a simulation we developed to replicate real sleeping situations for a typical male and female head weights. These measurements allow us to quantify how a pillow will support your neck and head and ultimately contribute to or detract from a good night's sleep.

When formulating our sleep product recommendations one component is consistent and that is obtaining neutral spine alignment. It is widely agreed that when our bodies rest in a neutral spine alignment, the risk for joint or muscle pain risk is reduced and you often can achieve better sleep as a result.

The Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow is noticeably firm compared to other pillows we reviewed and it is not the “middle of the road” firmness it’s marketed as. However, firm pillows like this often retain their thickness when in use which is typically great for side sleeping. Sometimes pillows like this can be overly hard and unresponsive but the Serta seems to find a good middle ground of being firm but not stiff and the data shows this. In this case, the Gel Memory Foam Pillow from Serta measured in at 2.6" of support for our average female sleeper simulation (10 lb) and 2.13" for our average male sleeper simulation (11 lb). The Gel Memory Foam Pillow scored really well when it came to responsiveness. Just the 1 lb difference between our two tests resulted in a 20% difference in pillow height when in use. This means that you can expect the pillow to provide support to a variety of sleepers without the bottoming out effect where all sleepers big and small get the same level of support (which is not good).

Side Sleepers - The Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow measuring in at 2.6" to 2.13" of support when in use makes it an interesting middle-ground for side sleeping. 2.13" is not enough for a typical male sleeper of average or above-average height and or weight but on the other hand, 2.6" of support is fairly reasonable for an average or below average size female side sleeper. Overall we like the Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow for smaller stature side sleepers and would steer you away from it for larger side sleepers.

Back Sleepers - What makes the Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow not ideal for large side sleepers makes it a great choice for larger back sleepers. It's a super comfortable pillow that provides 2.1” of support when in use by an average male sleeper which is great for back sleeping. In the same vein, it’s not great for smaller back sleepers because of the 2.6” of support we recorded. Most back sleepers, big or small, only need ~2” of height from their pillow.

Combination Sleepers (back/side/stomach) - The data suggests that if you're an average or male or larger you should be able to use the Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow for combination back and stomach sleeping but avoid side sleeping. If you’re a smaller person you could possibly get away with combination side and back/stomach sleeping since this pillow lands right in the middle of our recommendation range for back and side sleeping for smaller sleepers.

Shop The Serta Pillow on Kohls.com

Using our testing process, we took the following measurements from the Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow. These measurements in combination with average male and female anatomy benchmarks and the needs of each sleeping position help us arrive at our recommendations.

StartSleeping Measurements:

Size and Pricing obtained from Kohls.com and our pillow sample on 1-23-2022

The Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow is made mainly out of a solid gel-infused memory foam core with holes for venting and a polyester-based cover. The foam core is CertiPur certified. This means the material is certified by CertiPUR-US, an industry group that independently evaluates and certifies materials used in pillows, mattresses, and other sleep products to be low in volatile organic compounds and free of other harmful (but non-regulated) substances like PBDE (​​Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers). This certification is always something we look for when reviewing pillows.

Trial - While almost all mattress brands offer a trial on their mattresses, Serta doesn’t appear to be offering a trial on their pillows. However, their return policy is exceptionally long at 120 days and effectively is the same as many other trial periods offered by sleep brands. If at any time within the 120 days you’re not happy you can initiate a return and Serta will send you a pre-paid FedEx label. This means that you could buy this pillow, sleep on it for 120 nights then return it for a full refund with return shipping covered. Where many mattress brands dilute their trial/return policy offering for their pillows Serta is different.

Warranty - Serta offers a solid warranty on this pillow of 5 years. The language of the warranty states that if the pillow fails to hold up to normal wear for a full five years it will be replaced. This is actually a solid warranty because many other warranties are limited to defects in workmanship (often for only 1 year) where Serta in this case is covering the pillow for up to 5 years of use and if it doesn’t hold up, they’ll replace it.

Customer Service - During our research we chatted with Amerisleep’s chat agents on Amerisleep.com and found them very responsive and knowledgeable, able to answer many questions on subjects not discussed on their product pages or elsewhere on Amerisleep.com. If you need to talk to someone on the phone call 1-800-500-4233 between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM Mountain Standard Time Monday through Friday. You can also reach out using this form

Company -  Serta claims to be America’s #1 brand. Serta is an established brand that has been manufacturing and selling sleep products for 90+ years. This is a company that stands by its products with solid return and warranty terms that are more competitive than all other pillows brands we’ve reviewed at StartSleeping.

Where to Buy - Serta products are available in a lot of online and physical retail stores from Amazon, to Wayfair to Kohls, Bed Bath, and Beyond among others including Serta’s own website. This pillow, in particular, can be purchased on Kohl’s website or on Amazon.

Overall we really like the Serta Gel Memory Foam Pillow. It provides adequate support for two large groups of sleepers. Smaller side sleepers and larger back sleepers will love this pillow while smaller combination sleepers will also find good comfort and support. We also like how responsive it is to different sleeper sizes (as shown in our test data) While its high price relative to other options reduces its value compared to other pillows we’ve reviewed, you can buy this pillow truly risk-free due to the generous return policy, and paid return shipping.

Shop The Serta Pillow on Kohls.com