Last updated: August 2024

Best rollaway & folding beds – top 11

2024 Update – what’s new?

The 2024 update brings new data and new beds. A greater sample and a greater pool of information means we’re covering more of the market and our results are more reliable.

The highlight of this update tie for the runner-up spot between Quictent Cot and the Milliard Premium. These are wo very different beds, both solid in their own way. We tweaked the value for money ratings, so that boosted the Quictent a bit.

We stay committed to finding new ways to make the ratings more accurate – talk to more industry experts and do more testing.

All types and sizes included

With each subsequent update, we adjusted our picks to make the list as well-rounded (based on reader feedback) as possible. In this update, we added a few folding beds that we were analyzing over the past few months but still did not hav eenoiugh data on. This version is the most complete that this guide has ever been.

Not to toot our own horn but it’s fair to say that, whatever the type of foldable / portable beds for adults you’re looking for (including folding cots, which is our latest addition), you’ll find it represented among our picks.

Personally testing and working with featured testers of the beds

We’re personally testing folding beds and send them out to featured testers

The results you’re seeing here are based on first-hand experiences (both in-house and that of featured testers). We aim to test everything we talk about.

Best rollaway bed overall – EconoHome Folding Bed

This guide has seen about two dozen updates so far and things are moving and shaking. This is the first change at the very top since we first published.

It took about 7 months to initially publish our picks and it’s been well over 2 years since then.

We haver a new “king of the hill” in the category.

One main reason for the dominance

As we mentioned, both the formula and the product range are tweaked over time to paint a clearer picture. The tweaks in the statistical analysis are most frequent in the “value for money” category.

So, the explanation for the dominance of EconoHome can be summed up as it being at the sweet spot between price and quality. So, it earns the name.

Simply put, the beds that are similar in quality cost much more and the beds in its price range are sub-par in at least one aspect we rate.

Best cot/fold-away bed for Guests – Giantex heavy-duty collapsible bed

Milliard Premium fold away bed – one of the better portable guest beds

Zinus Resort roll away bed

The main difference between Zinus Resort and other models that made it to the list our picks for the best roll away bed is obvious – it’s the design of the frame and the thickness of the foldable mattress.

The foldable bed frame is more intricate and includes side covers that hide the space under the bed and the mattress is 5 inches thick. Four inches out of five are high-density foam and one in which is memory foam.

Box-spring folding fed – Edward Britz Original

Lucid fold-up bed – most comfortable if you like soft and plush

A combo not many people think of

Our choice here comes from Lucid. It wasn’t a hard decision since the lucid also makes queen-size frames to go with it. As we mentioned, strictly speaking, there are no Queen or Full size rollaway bed that are of the same type we’re analyzing here (fold up).

On top of that, if you get two of these in Twin XL size, you get a King. This combo is a great idea for guest rooms – two nice sofas for the days and a guest bed for 3 adults (76 x 80 inches).

ibed in a box and ibed Corner collapsible

Zinus Premier Traveler folding bed

Folding ottoman beds

If you’re looking for a fold out ottoman bed, our top two choices are the Milliard guest hideaway and the Handy Living sleeper.

If company reputation is a concern, both companies are in good standings. The latter company is well-known for chairs and sectionals (like the Handy Living convert-a-couch).

Bottom line – both folding ottoman beds are top-tier and, ultimately, the choice comes down to personal preference.

On the other hand, the Milliard is slightly bigger when folded into an ottoman.

It’s also worth noting that both have a maximum weight capacity of 300 lbs.

The difference is other aspects, like the material of the cover, sturdiness of the ottoman frame and the cushions are too small to report on.

Portable bed for adults – out top 2 picks

The category of fold up cot beds was is the “youngest” here. We only added it 6 months ago but that doesn’t take away from the reliability of our ratings.

In fact, it was the easiest to work with since we have many featured contributors in the outdoors arena.

Note: based on feedback, we decided to exclude inflatables from this category, if that’s an option for you, you can see our complete guide with top-rated air mattresses here.

Two obvious choices

The process of choosing came down to emailing 16 of them and asking about their experiences with fold up cots over the years. Thirteen of them gave their vote to either the Disc-o-bed or the the Coleman ComfortRest.

Granted, in the emails, we did mention that we’re looking for a cot that would perform well for indoor use, as a folding cot bed. We then proceeded to gather the necessary data to rate the two portable beds.

We ended up with a significant gap in ratings between the top picks and the runner ups.

Disc-o-bed

Coleman ComfortSmart

References – testing and rating

At any moment, you can use the orange button to skip back to the very top of the page.

About our ratings of the fold up beds

As you stressed a few times, we received no free products or testing samples to review. It’s a way of ensuring that the process is fully objective and based on tangible data.

We started out by consulting our panel of experts for the initial picks. The way we see it, this has two upsides.

First of all, it eliminates many sub-par products that would otherwise, to be honest, waste a lot of our time and resources.

Secondly, it allows us to be thorough in the analysis

Whenever we can, we buy the products we review. In the interest of full disclosure, this wasn’t the case with roll away beds because we simply didn’t have the resources. So the ratings is so rely heavily on the statistical model we developed years ago and tweaked over time.

Today, the core the analytics remains the same (when we can’t to buy all the beds and test them personally), but it’s tweaked to the specifics of the product. It’s only natural, because the same quality categories don’t apply for all bed types.

Even when we could buy and personally test the fold up beds we review, the analytics would still play a major role in reaching the ratings, simply because nothing beats volume. In other words, what we like is not necessarily what most people will like, no matter how objective try to be.

Bottom line, the larger the data-volume, the more accurate the ratings. It also means that each subsequent update paints a better picture about the quality of the beds.

What it all means applied to rollaway or folding beds

Primarily, it meant clearly defining what qualifies as “high-quality.” With “classic products”, things are not so intricate because there are more variables here.

Speaking in broad terms, all our ratings can be grouped into primary and secondary (by how much of an impact they have on the overall rating).

Just for reference, let’s take a moment here to look at a few.

On-arrival assembly

This is one of the quality categories that’s unique for rollaway beds. It doesn’t qualify as primary because it does this make much of a difference in the long run.

To be clear, but were talking about here is how easy/hard it is to put the bed together once it is on your doorstep (like frame and wheels assembly).

If there are on arrival problems with putting the bed together, those would be accounted for in the “on-arrival issues” along with any defects in the craftsmanship.

Stability

Stability is a primary factor with a few sub-factors. The crucial part is the stability of the bed frame and what qualifies as a sub-factor are ties (if any).

Plainly speaking, it’s meant to describe how well a bed performs in two aspects:

1. Subject feeling of frame stability (beds with a lower rating in this category would feel flimsy)
2. The “pieces” staying in place

Quality of the folding foam mattress

Another primary factor and possibly the most intricate one.

The grade of the foam used in fold up beds will not be as high as that used in classics.

That’s not a minus per se. Here’s why…

If the foam was of the same density and ILD (indentation load deflection) and thickness as that of a classic models, it would be much harder to fold and store the bed.

So, for a good guest bed, you’re aiming for density and ILD that would be at the sweet spot between comfort, support and malleability.

In terms of density, we found the sweet spot here to be around 2.5 lbs. The higher you go, the harder it becomes to collapse the bed away. This lowers the portability.

On this side note, this is one of the reasons we were so impressed with the Edwards original. If you know the manufacturing side of things, you know how hard it is to make portable bed for adults that includes springs.

To simplify it

Everything we said above might sound a bit too much to take in, so let us simplify it by summing it up into two factors of foam quality.

A great way to judge it are the warranty terms – it would make little financial sense for company to offer a long warranty if the foam in their products “breaks” after six months.

So if you don’t want to spend days researching, the shortcut would be looking at the warranty terms for the foam. Making a sturdy yet collapsible bed frame is not as hard as offering high-quality foldable memory foam mattress to go with the frame and base.

Sturdiness of the frame

Initially, we used durability and longevity of the frame as primary factors. That’s not the case anymore because there are too many products with similar frame quality.

Instead, sturdiness is a secondary factor included in all of the following ratings: stability, durability and longevity.

A side note

One of the more common questions we received pertains to the difference between durability and longevity. It’s pretty simple – durability describes the capacity of a bed to take on weight at one moment while longevity describes how well it performs long-term (without developing structural defects).

Customer service and Better Business Bureau rating

This is an important one – it goes beyond prompt replies to emails or return claims. Listing a warranty is one thing how efficient the company is when a customer wants to claim it paints a better picture.

It takes some elbow grease to get to this rating because we basically have to count every experience a customer had and how promptly it was addressed.

As we said, it goes beyond answering an email. To put it simply, what we like to see here is the company address them claims without giving you the runaround or avoiding your return request (if defined in their warranty policy).

To make it more accurate, we always take the time to look into the Better Business Bureau rating of the company that manufactures the foldaway beds we review.

Maintenance

The “ease of maintenance” is pretty self-explanatory. It comes down to a 2 things:

1. whether the bed comes with a cover and, if yes, whether it’s machine-washable and rated for the dryer
2. whether it comes with a bag/sack two-story the whole thing

Even the best folding beds often don’t include a storing bag for storing when not in use. You often have to get one separately.

Do the wheels lock in place?

Wheel-locks are not a must for a good rollaway bed for adults. If the frame is sturdy, the weight of an average adult will be enough to keep the construction stable.

With that said, if you’re an adult but on the lighter side, it’s probably a good idea to consider whether the wheels lock.

Updates policy and questions

We mentioned it at the very beginning, but let’s reirate here – to make sure the information you’re seeing stays relevant at all times, it’s our policy to update the ratings and ranking either when we add 10 % or on quarterly basis.

With any questions or simply comments, drop us a line in the comments – we never take longer than 24 hours to respond.

Stay smart,

The Sleep Studies team