The best anti-snore pillows of 2024 for easier breathing and better sleep

Pillows that stop snoring are a relatively new phenomenon but the market is growing quickly in a country where 45 per cent of adults snore occasionally and 25 per cent are chronic snorers. Not only can snoring develop into potentially serious sleep apnoea, but people who sleep next to snorers will lose up to an hour of sleep per night. This makes it all the more important to find the best anti-snore pillow.

First, a definition. What is snoring? “When your airway narrows, it causes air to move more quickly, which vibrates the soft tissues,” explains Michael Breus PhD, Founder of The Sleep Doctor. “There are three common causes of this narrowing. 

“The first is simply that your muscles relax in sleep. Gravity moves all the tissue backward a few millimetres, including the tongue and any adipose tissue around the neck, which narrows your airway. The second cause of narrowed airways is any level of nasal congestion. Thirdly, alcohol is a vasodilator so it too can narrow the airway.”

Unfortunately there may be a fourth factor: the pillow you sleep on. “If you sleep on your back and your pillow is overstuffed,” Dr Breus says, “it will push your head forward and narrow your airway. This can also happen with side sleepers to some extent. Meanwhile pillows with allergens like feathers can cause congestion, which will once again narrow the airway.”

Anti-snore pillows from well known brands like Silentnight as well as challengers like Levitex are designed in various ways to open up those airways. As The Telegraph’s lifestyle reviews editor I’ve been reviewing pillows for years and as a snorer, I’ve been painfully aware of which helped and which didn’t. So I thought it would be a good idea to compile a list of the best pillows for snoring. You can read my full reviews below, followed by some more advice from Dr Breus. But if you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick look at my top five:

Which is the best anti-snoring pillow in 2024? At a glance

• Best overall – Levitex Pillow
• Best value – Silentnight Anti-Snore Pillow
• Best anti-snoring pillow for back sleepers – Putnams bed wedge
• Best budget anti-snoring pillow – Slumberdown Anti-Snore Medium Pillow
• Best pillow for sleep apnoea – Nitetronic Z6 Smart Pillow

How to choose the best anti-snore pillow

“Wedges seem to work best for back sleepers,” says Dr Breus, “while contoured pillows work well for side sleepers. Some have zippers allowing you to take out filling or add more, so that you get the right ‘loft’ or height for you. 

“You should be looking for a pillow that keeps the head in a neutral position, with your nose in line with the centre of your chest and no bend in your neck.” For more on sleep positions, see the FAQ section at the bottom of this article.

How I tested snore-preventing pillows

I slept on each pillow for at least three nights. The less I woke myself by snoring and, more importantly, the less I woke my wife, the better I rated them. I tested a variety of fill-types but found that the most effective snore-preventing pillows had at least a core of foam for stability (not memory foam, interestingly), with other materials such as hollowfibre adding comfort. 

Not all anti-snore pillows are suitable for back-sleepers, so I made a note of that. And, because what works for me may not work for you, I noted which manufacturers offer free trials or guarantees. By the way, if you’re looking to improve the quality of your sleep, you should also read our main guide to the best pillows as well as guides to the best mattresses, the best mattresses for back pain and the best earplugs for a restful night’s sleep. 

Best anti-snore pillow

1. Levitex Pillow

£75, Levitex

Best overall, 9 out of 10

We like: comes in four different heights to match your body shape

We don’t like: might be too firm for some people

• Fill type: ‘Levitex’ foam
• Firmness: firm
• Sizes available: small (60x40cm) in four thicknesses – 8cm, 10cm, 12cm or 14cm
• All thicknesses are suitable for side sleepers, while 8cm and 10cm thicknesses also suitable for back sleepers

This was the second pillow I tested, but I kept coming back to it in between all the other tests and it is now my permanent pillow. The reason? Very simply, my wife says I don’t snore at all when I use the Levitex. All the others improved my snoring, but none other eliminated it altogether.

Levitex is marketed as a ‘sleep posture pillow’, meaning that it lessens tension in the neck and shoulders, reduces back pain, improves digestion and circulation and even increases core strength and lung capacity. Sounds like hyperbole, but the designers have credentials: Dr Ilan Lieberman is a clinical back pain specialist, while James Leinhardt worked for years at reducing discomfort for bedridden patients.

It’s heavy, as memory foam pillows tend to be, but it’s not actually memory foam. ‘Levitex foam’ is designed to be soft and yielding under light pressure, but firmer under high pressure. I can only describe it as though my head is floating.

A key point of difference is the choice of four different thicknesses. There’s a detailed guide to them on the website and they offer help on the phone. I chose 12cm to suit my height and build, but the range goes from 8cm for smaller people, with less of a gap between their ear and the tip of their shoulder, to 14cm for (frankly) giants. Back sleepers are advised to choose thinner Levitex pillows than side sleepers.

Since there are various causes of snoring and various sleeping positions, I can’t promise the Levitex would work for everybody. Its austere appearance won’t make your bedroom any more romantic, either. But for me, this is the snore-stopper to beat.

[PS The Levitex was also tested by reviewers Fran and Tina in our guide to the best pillows for neck pain. They placed it about halfway up the table, finding its floaty support effective in reducing pain, despite it lacking the contoured features of many cervical pillows.

2. Silentnight Anti-Snore Pillow

£17, Silentnight

Best value, 8/10

We like: soft and light – the ‘vanilla’ choice

We don’t like: more of a gentle aid than an all-out fix

• Suitable for back and side sleepers
• Fill type: foam core, hollowfibre fill
• Firmness level: medium soft
• Sizes available: standard
• 2 year guarantee

The Silentnight was the first anti-snore pillow I tried. At the time I wrote: “I’ve spent half my life in search of a pillow that’ll stop me snoring. Who knew the holy grail would be an £18 pillow from Silentnight?”

Although I now think the Levitex outclasses it, there’s still a lot to like about the Silentnight. It has a gently S-shaped foam core designed to open your airways. You can’t really feel it by hand through the fluffy synthetic fibre fill, so there’s nothing outwardly orthopaedic about the pillow (meaning it looks better on the bed). For me it worked straight away: no snoring for several days. It was comfy too, and can be machine washed.

In the end it was not a magic bullet. It couldn’t stop me snoring when I had a cold, and there will be people for whom it doesn’t work at all (it’s best for people of average build). But at under £20, I’d advise any snorer to at least give it a go.

3. Slumberdown Anti Snore Medium Pillow

£15, Amazon

Best budget anti-snore pillow, 8/10

We like: super cheap, good to keep as a backup

We don’t like: can only be cleaned with a damp sponge

• Suitable for back and side sleepers
• Fill type: polyurethane foam core, polyester hollowfibre fill, cotton cover
• Firmness: medium
• Sizes available: standard

Slumberdown’s soft, light, anti-snore pillow has what they call a “unique S-shaped polyurethane foam core to encourage better breathing” – but unique is not quite the right word. You’ll find exactly the same feature in the Silentnight above and the Kally below.

I’m including all three because any of these entry-level anti-snore pillows is worth taking a 20-quid punt on. The foam core gently coaxes the airways open and, as long as you position your head in the hollow of the S, you should get some reduction in snoring. If you’re a back-sleeper, they’re a better choice than the firmer pillows (which may push your chin into your chest). And there are small differences between the three.

The cheap-as-chips Slumberdown is slightly firmer (although still medium) than the other two and a tiny bit thicker, making it a marginally better choice for taller or larger people who like their head to be higher. But the difference is slight.

4. Kally Anti-Snore Pillow

Currently £22.97, Kally Sleep

Best hypoallergenic anti-snore pillow, 8/10

We like: anti-allergy treated fibres protect against bacteria

We don’t like: more expensive than the similar Silentnight and Slumberdown

• Suitable for back and side sleepers
• Fill type: hollowfibre with shaped foam core, polycotton cover
• Firmness: medium
• Sizes available: standard
• 14 night sleep trial

The S shaped foam core in the Kally is more discernible than in the two pillows above, because the foam is a tad firmer and its curves seem a little more pronounced. When you settle down to sleep, you can feel it guiding your head and airways into a more breathable alignment. 

The main justification for the slightly higher price compared to the Silentnight and Slumberdown is the polycotton cover, which feels smoother and will be more durable than pure cotton, but again the differences are slight. All three pillows will begin to lose their shape over time as the hollowfibre filling moves around. Kally advise you to regularly fluff and plump it by hand. 

My wife informs me that I did snore once or twice on the Kally – but more softly. Not quite full marks, then, but an easily-afforded step in the right direction.

5. Dusk firm duck feather and down pillow

Currently £40, Dusk

Best feather anti-snore pillow 

We like: much more cossetting than foam or fibre

We don’t like: takes a bit of plumping to get the height right

• Suitable to all sleep styles
• Fill type: 90% duck feather, 10% duck down
• Firmness: medium firm
• Sizes available: standard and super king

Lots of us don’t like sleeping on memory foam or synthetic fluff fillings. For some, a proper night’s sleep starts with your head sinking into a big fluffy drift of feathers. You might think that would be incompatible with the snorer’s need for neck-support, but Dusk have squared the circle by creating a firm feather pillow.

This is noticeably heavier than I was expecting, so the secret seems to be simply putting lots more feathers in. Your head sinks in slowly, which is what you look for in a feather pillow, but stops an inch or so down, held up by the sheer volume of duck fluff. It’s 10 per cent down, making it feel luxurious – but the other 90 percent are a bit stouter, to create that support.

It’s good to know there’s an anti-snore pillow in a traditional, luxurious style (the percale cover is lovely), but I had to flip and plump it several times in the night to keep my head at the right angle. I had to work for my snore-free night. 

Many snorers will think that’s a price worth paying for feathery luxury. But I’m long since converted to foam and probably won’t switch back permanently.

6. Putnams British Wool Contour Pillow

£43.19, Putnams

Best height adjustable anti-snoring pillow, 8/10

We like: you can add or subtract wool to fine-tune the thickness

We don’t like: it’s not a great looker

• Suitable for side and back sleepers
• Fill type: British wool
• Firmness: medium
• Sizes: small (50cm x 33cm)
• 1 year guarantee

This one has more of an orthopaedic look. It’s the first of two products I tried from Putnams, a Devon company that’s been supplying bedware to the NHS for over 40 years. They’re more functional than decorative.

Here, the dip in the middle cradles your head, stops your chin from squishing down into your chest and creates that straight line between your nose and lungs recommended by Dr Breus. One ‘bump’ is slightly higher than the other, depending on how much of a lift you need, and you can unzip it to add more wool or take it away until you get exactly the right fit for your head and shoulder.

It’s much more comfortable than it looks, thanks in part to the soft, smooth Coolmax material it’s covered in. As a filling, wool is good at temperature regulating and is anti-allergenic, but it takes a bit of getting used to if you’ve only ever slept on common-or-garden hollow fibre pillows before.

The Putnams 100 per cent worked for me in terms of preventing snoring, but I did wake up more than usual through the night. I was probably subconsciously noticing the strange shape beneath me and registering that something was not quite right. 

If you’ve tried other pillows and found that nothing worked to stop you snoring, it may be worth spending a few weeks getting used to this. The company clearly know what they’re doing in this area.

7. Putnams bed wedge

From £78.48, Putnams

Best anti snoring pillow for back sleepers, 7/10

We like: helps with acid reflux and blocked sinuses as well as snoring

We don’t like: the hospital ward vibe

• Suitable for back sleepers
• Fill type: choose foam, memory foam or graphite latex
• Firmness: medium or firm depending on fill
• Sizes available: narrow (61cm), single, double, king, superking
• 2 year guarantee

Let’s be honest, this second Putnams product is pretty big and intrusive. At 6in thick at the top end, 2½ft long and at least 2ft wide (the widths go up to 6ft), you will not be cuddling up to your partner with this in the bed. The idea of a bed wedge is to elevate your torso. One main use is  to prevent acid reflux and heartburn, but it works against snoring too, in ways that the other pillows can’t match. 

Reflux itself is linked to snoring, since it can inflame the tissues at the top of the windpipe. Elevation may prevent that and also drain blocked sinuses, another cause of snoring. And anything that prevents the soft tissues of the palate from falling back into the airway will reduce the risk of snoring, as Dr Breus points out.

The bed wedge works best for back sleepers. I’m a side sleeper. I initially tried it with Putnams’ anti-snore pillow, above, thinking that doubling up would be the ultimate solution. But that was way too extreme. I was bent into a banana shape, with my head about a foot off the bed – disastrous for my bad back. (Being middle aged is tough.) 

Used with a normal pillow, it does offer gentle help with snoring. This will make it an excellent choice for people who just can’t get on with firm foam pillows or the various other types reviewed above. As well as standard foam, Putnams offer it in memory foam for better pressure relief (although that does tend to trap the heat) and a graphite latex that’s cool to sleep on, hypoallergenic and anti-dust mite. Each of these costs a bit more.

You can also use bed wedges to elevate swollen feet or ankles. Clearly not a product for romantically inclined young couples, then, but useful to have in your armoury once age starts eroding your sleep quality. Not that Telegraph readers would know anything about that.

8. Nitetronic Smart Anti-snore Pillow Z6

Currently £478, Nitetronic

Best pillow for sleep apnoea, 8/10

We like: remarkable technology aims to stop snoring before it happens

We don’t like: the very high price

• Fill type: memory foam
• Support: foam
• Size: small (60cm x 40cm)
• 3-year warranty, 30-day trial

This one is shockingly expensive compared to the others and seems like a drastic escalation in the war against snoring. But it has a more serious purpose than the others, which is to alleviate sleep apnoea – the condition where your airways close completely, temporarily stopping your breathing. Sufferers wake up multiple times at night and feel exhausted on waking. It can lead to high blood pressure and other bad health outcomes.

That’s why a group of researchers in Hamburg developed a pillow that can detect when you start to snore and gently turn your head into a different position. The Nitetronic Z6 has a built-in microphone, head-position sensors and six flexible chambers that inflate and deflate to coax your head to one side or the other. It’s been tested in three German ENT clinics and, while not proven to be a treatment for sleep apnoea, it is thought to reduce mild to moderate cases by about 40 per cent. Time spent snoring is reduced by nearly 70 percent.

(May I take a moment here to note the title of that research paper: “Der effekt eines kissens zur kopflageänderung auf das schnarchen”. Beautiful.)

Now, I’m not an apnoea sufferer but my dad was for many years. The only intervention available at the time was a CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) mask, which was unpleasant to sleep in. Anything that might delay the need for one of those is worth trying. The cost is about the same.

I tried it out, looking for that two-thirds reduction in time spent snoring. It’s relatively easy to set up, although you will need a US-to-UK adaptor plug and you’ll need to download the app, which I always slightly resent. On the plus side, the app acts as a log of how often you snore each night, so you can not only judge whether the NiteTronic is working but whether things like alcohol make you snore more.

It’s completely silent, which surprised me. The controls on the power unit let you adjust how sensitive it is to your snores and how much it intervenes. The intervention is very gentle. You gradually realise you’d be more comfortable if you turned your head in the direction it’s guiding you, roll into that position and go back to sleep. If you wake up at all.

I can’t swear that I got a better night’s sleep. However, my wife did. Usually she has to nudge me with varying degrees of vehemence whenever I start snoring. With the machine doing it, she got the night off. The shape of the pillow itself is well-suited to snore prevention: soft on top but with a firm, stable core.

I wouldn’t say it won me over, but apnoea can be such a misery that it may well be worth taking NiteTronic’s 30-day free trial before shelling out on a CPAP machine. Your doctor will be the one to ask. Me, I’m putting this down as an interesting curio and sticking to my posture-adjusting foam.

FAQ

How can I stop snoring?

“Two-thirds of people would reduce or stop snoring if they stopped laying on their back and laid optimally on their side,” says James Leinhardt, sleep posture expert. 

“You can apply the same principles to your sleeping position as you do to your sitting position at work. You should sit with your head directly above your pelvis, your thighs flat and your knees directly above your feet. If you flip that onto its side, that’s the position you should sleep in. This ‘semi-foetal side lying’ gives you a neutral resting spine, which can improve the quality of sleep. If you’re in a comfortable side-lying position, you won’t roll onto your back – which is when the worst snoring usually happens.”

Why do I snore when I sleep on my back?

“When you lie on your back and your muscles are softened,” James says. “Gravity is compressing the lungs. Meanwhile, your pillow may be pressing your head forward or too far back. Too far forward and you compress your airway. Too far back and you’ll have your mouth wide open, which is a snorefest. 

I’m a side-sleeper. Why do I keep rolling onto my back?

“I suspect that when you’re side-lying you bring one leg over the other so that both knees are touching the bed,” James says. “If you do that, you twist your hips out of alignment and your shoulders along with them, putting pressure on your spine and neck. It feels unstable, which is why your body might want you to roll onto your back. 

“If you place a pillow between your legs (not just between your knees – all the way down from your knees to your ankles), you can stabilise your posture so that your knees, hips and shoulders are all vertically aligned and relaxed. You’ll stay in that position and you’re less likely to snore.”

What is the best material for an anti-snore pillow? 

James believes foam is the best option, since it offers the stability your airways need. “Although down, feather or hollowfibre can be very comfortable and can be pummelled into the right shape to fit your neck and shoulder, in your sleep you’ll move and that stability will disappear.”

What else can I do to stop myself snoring?

There is now a whole industry dedicated to snore-prevention, including courses in diaphragmatic breathing. Some solutions are easier than others, though. “Apart from a new pillow, another simple fix may be to buy a nasal dilator,” says ‘Sleep Doctor’ Michael Breus. “You could try Breathe Right strips, which go across the bridge of the nose, or Mute which goes inside the nostrils. Anything that helps with congestion may reduce snoring.

“The other fix, I’m sorry to say, is to stop drinking alcohol.”

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