The research
- Why you should trust us
- How we picked and tested
- Best overall: Lovesac MovieSac
- Best oversize bean bag: Lovesac The BigOne
- Best for outdoors: Fatboy Original Outdoor Bean Bag Chair
- Best for teens and kids: Cordaroys Convertible Bean Bag
- Best for small spaces: Pottery Barn Teen Sherpa Ivory Bean Bag Chair
- Best budget bean bag: Ultimate Sack 4000
- What to look forward to
- The competition
Why you should trust us
I’m a writer covering home and decor. When I’m not poring over specs or wielding a screwdriver, I’m visiting furniture and home-goods stores and showrooms. My lounging-about coverage includes a guide to the best sofa sleepers, a piece on a cooling mattress pad, and an ode to a luxe hangout for cats. I also write our Lego guides (including this one on sets for adults and this one about flowers and plants), which help me appreciate how childhood memories can enrich our adult lives.
Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I’m never made aware of any business implications of our editorial recommendations, and I follow all of our editorial standards.
How we picked and tested
The basics of bean bag construction are largely the same: A bean bag consists of a cover — made of fabric or sometimes real or fake leather — that encases an insert. This insert is stuffed with either expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads or shredded foam. When a bean bag is done right, the beads provide a smoother experience as you move and adjust, whereas foam tends to feel a bit chunkier yet adds a stronger sense of buoyancy.
EPS beads are made from tiny plastic resin spheres that expand when exposed to heat and steam; this is the same material used to create packing foam. These beads have been used as bean bag stuffing since the category’s debut, the Sacco Bean Bag, which was invented in 1968 by three Italians designers and is still available today. When it comes to EPS beads, we quickly learned that two factors separate the good from the bad: the amount of beads used and their size. Our least favorite bag had thick beads, about half the size of a marble, and you could distinctly feel each one under the cover. By contrast, the most comfortable bags had beads that were tiny and created a more uniform, yet malleable, surface.
Some bags held so few beads that we sank right through them, while others were so overstuffed that our weight barely made a dent. The larger beads we encountered had an awful smell, sort of a wet-dog-soaked-in-formaldehyde stench that refused to go away.
With a couple of exceptions, the bags we tested were around 4 feet wide. This is a decent middle ground to fit either an adult or a child/teen, and bags of this size don’t take up too much floorspace but still feel luxurious.
We also prioritized the following:
- an easy-to-wash cover
- a wide selection of color and/or fabric styles to choose from
- brands that offer a range of sizes to accommodate different spaces and body types
After paring our list down to 17 models, we called 10 in to test. The process included unpacking, fluffing, and then lounging in each bean bag chair. I sat in them while working on my laptop, and I paid close attention to how the covers felt against my skin and how the filling felt beneath my body. Over four weeks, we noted how the foam options held their shape with increased compression and whether the stitching held strong.
We also got opinions from about 25 Wirecutter writers and editors, who offered their thoughts on the bean bags during a company gathering. We caught several staffers working from the bags in the weeks that followed, and we paid attention to the bags people gravitated toward the most. More than two dozen kids also weighed in during our annual Take Your Kids to Work Day. Ultimately, we ended up with six picks.
Best overall: Lovesac MovieSac
Top pick
Why it’s great: Of the five size options offered by Lovesac, the MovieSac hits a sweet spot. It’s large enough to feel extra luxurious but not so big that it overpowers. When the cover is properly positioned (with the small flap right where your back would land as you sit; see the photo above), it forms a slight indentation on the top and toward the front. So it looks more like a proper seat than a massive fur ball. For its filler, Lovesac uses a proprietary blend of three foams with different densities; the company told us this blend absorbs body weight evenly and resists permanent compression. We’ve found the former assertion to be true, and so far it always puffs back up nicely.
All Lovesac chairs come vacuum-sealed in a large, reusable tote, and it takes a day or two for the insert to completely expand (like a foam mattress). Using the chair as a punching bag speeds up the process (and it doubles as an aggression outlet). If you want to return the bag or place it in storage, you can re-shrink the insert inside the large plastic bag and tote that it came in. If you saved your original tote but not the plastic bag, look for a bag that’s around 60 gallons. You can also buy a shrink kit (usually $65), if you’ve tossed both the tote and the plastic bag. (Lovesac will send you one for free if you’re within the 60-day trial period.) Just use a regular vacuum-cleaner hose to suck the air out after you’ve removed the cover. The time this takes varies, depending on the strength of your vacuum cleaner, but expect it to be around 10 minutes (or less if you’re using a wet/dry vac).
You can order up to five fabric swatches before making your decision, and considering this chair’s cost, we highly recommend doing so, or you can visit one of its retail locations. We tested the Chinchilla Dense Phur, and we found the texture to be thick and soft, with no visible shedding.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The MovieSac’s price is almost a dealbreaker. The chenille fabric option is the cheapest combination of an insert plus cover, and that one currently starts at around $600.
Dimensions: 4 by 3.7 feet (width by height)
Weight: 45 pounds
Cover options: over 150 color, pattern, and fabric combinations
Filler: shredded recycled foam
Return policy and warranty: There’s a 60-day trial period, and there’s a lifetime warranty (if you buy the bean bag directly from the company).
Best oversize bean bag: Lovesac The BigOne
Top pick
Why it’s great: First, our apologies to readers who live in smaller homes, since Lovesac’s The BigOne works only in gigantic rooms. If you don’t mind spending a lot more, this is a tempting purchase, but you also need to be realistic about your space. Even plopped in our roughly 825-square-foot testing basement, this chair looked enormous (and it infringed upon our appliance team’s vacuum-testing area).
That said, this chair is terrific as a soft landing pad for flying leaps and a cozy cloud for snuggling. The website’s size illustration shows two adults and two children fitting on it, but of course that all depends on a person’s size. We think two adults or one adult and a kid or two, max, would be more realistic. We tested the vintage blue rained chenille, and we found it to be pleasantly soft yet durable enough to withstand being dragged across our concrete floor.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: A company rep was candid about The BigOne being Lovesac’s most-often-returned option, largely (heh) due to how giant it is. Don’t let your eyes get bigger than your available square footage — or your wallet, for that matter. The cheapest combination of insert and cover (the chenille we tested) starts at just over $900.
Muscle strength is also necessary. When this chair arrived, I had to curve my body inside the partially unrolled vacuum-sealed insert and push with my feet to unfurl it, and it took three Wirecutter staffers to ferry it from the testing space to the photo studio.
Dimensions: 6 by 4.1 feet (width by height)
Weight: 95 pounds
Cover options: over 150 color, pattern, and fabric combinations
Filler: shredded recycled foam
Return policy and warranty: There’s a 60-day trial period, and there’s a lifetime warranty (if you buy the bean bag directly from the company).
Best for outdoors: Fatboy Original Outdoor Bean Bag Chair
Top pick
Why it’s great: We tested the Fatboy Original Bean Bag Chair (intended for use indoors) and the Original Outdoor Bean Bag Chair, and we much preferred the latter. Despite its name, the Outdoor bag is just as comfortable in the living room as it is on the patio. All of our testers, including adults and children, found the thick, heavy nylon cover of the indoor version (the Original) to be uncomfortably stiff. By contrast, the outdoor cover is more of a soft, canvas-like texture, and it repels dirt and water; it’s made from olefin (a fabric used on many weather-protected products, including outdoor couches and patio umbrellas).
Fatboy uses EPS beads for filler and describes it as “virgin.” This just means the filler isn’t made from recycled material, which can be more expensive to produce. (That said, Fatboy also told us it is “actively transitioning to more sustainable filling alternatives.”) Fatboy also makes all types of bean bag–style seating, from rockers to pool floats. I’ve tried the float, known as the Floatzac, and am a huge fan of its ability to keep you buoyant, almost entirely elevated above water.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: Due to this bean bag’s rectangular shape, getting comfy involves a bit of a learning curve. You have to lift it by the top corners and drop it down, and then you sit on the bottom third. This ensures there are enough beads to make a comfortable seat and enough behind you for back support. If you sit down on this chair without fluffing it first, your bottom will likely hit the ground.
If you’re shopping for a bag with a fluffy surface, the Fatboy chair isn’t for you. The covers for the indoor models come in nylon, recycled velvet, and terry cloth only, and this bag came in dead last with our kid testers. It just couldn’t compete with the snuggly faux fur on many of our other models.
Dimensions: 4.5 by 5.9 feet (width by length)
Weight: 13.5 pounds
Cover options: 12 colors, all in olefin fabric (except the red, in Sunbrella)
Filler: EPS beads
Return policy and warranty: Returns are accepted within seven days of receipt; there’s a one-year manufacturer defect warranty.
Best for teens and kids: Cordaroys Convertible Bean Bag
Top pick
Why it’s great: The genius of the Cordaroys Convertible Bean Bag is that it’s two loungers in one. Instead of having the standard spherical innards, this chair is actually a folded-in-half mattress stuffed with shredded foam. When you remove the cover, you’ve got a guest bed that’s perfect for children’s sleepovers, and it’s even a decent bed for unfussy adult visitors. We tested the queen-size-mattress version, and we were pleasantly surprised by how relatively comfortable and supportive both the bag and mattress pad were.
To keep this chair’s proper form as a bean bag, you fit the cover over and around the folded mattress (rather than stuffing it back in willy-nilly, which results in a lumpy seat). The company claims its shredded foam is “hypoallergenic,” and while we can’t confirm that detail, Cordaroys is up to date on its CertiPUR-US certification status, as of 2025.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: We initially tested a faux-fur cover in white-with-brown-spots, and the bovine pattern was a huge hit with kids and adults alike. However, during our initial unboxing and testing, we noticed a lot of flyaway strands. We ran the cover through the washer and dryer, and it shed a shocking amount of strands, so we hoped the issue was solved. But it continued to shed, and even after a second cleaning, the cover released puffs of flyaway fur whenever we sat on it. So we ordered a corduroy cover for the chair instead, and we loved its soft, textural surface, with ridges about three times as thick as what you’d find on a pair of corduroy pants.
That said, during our testing by kids, one staffer’s daughter fell in love with the cow version, and the family will be long-term testing it. (“We have a gazillion vacuums going due to our dog and allergies, so I think some shedding is probably fine,” her mom said.) We’ll see if the strands calm down, and we’ll report back when we update this guide.
Dimensions: chair, 48 by 48 inches (width by height); bed, 60 by 80 inches (width by length)
Weight: 29 pounds
Cover options: 13 fabrics; 18 colors and patterns
Filler: foam
Return policy and warranty: Returns are accepted within 30 days of receipt (but you pay for shipping); it comes with a lifetime warranty.
Best for small spaces: Pottery Barn Teen Sherpa Ivory Bean Bag Chair
Top pick
Why it’s great: The smallest bean bag we tested was the large version of the Pottery Barn Teen Sherpa Ivory Bean Bag Chair (just under 3.5 feet wide). Some of the other bags we tested, which came in under 4 feet, had too many or too few EPS beads, so we were either perched uncomfortably on top or sank right to the floor. Pottery Barn Teen’s bag was just right, with a seat that was deep enough for lounging and supported the lower back. So for an adult, this bag serves as more of a squishy, form-fitting chair than something to curl up in, but it’s still a fun alternative to a bed or a regular chair when you’re reading or watching a movie.
The cover, insert cover, and beads are all UL Greenguard–certified. For an additional $16, you can get the bag monogrammed with up to three characters in five different fonts (though this voids the return policy). The zipper is lockable and comes with two adorable little keys (to keep very young kids from getting to the insert’s beads).
Flaws but not dealbreakers: We suspected that Wirecutter staffers’ kids would have a discerning eye, yet we were still surprised by just how many of them noted that the white fabric would likely get dirty fast. And while they’re probably right, we haven’t noticed any egregious build-up, even after we dragged the bag around our offices for over a month. Like the rest of our picks’ covers, this one is machine-washable. If you want to avoid white altogether, the bag comes in over two dozen colors and fabrics. We also found that the EPS beads were a bit larger than the ones in most other bags we tested; the larger beads created a slightly more textured surface, but it didn’t bother us.
Dimensions: 41 by 24 inches (width by height)
Weight: 8 pounds
Cover options: 31 fabric, color, and design combinations
Filler: EPS beads
Return policy and warranty: Returns are accepted within 30 days of receipt (void if monogrammed); there is no warranty.
Best budget bean bag: Ultimate Sack 4000
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Budget pick
Why it’s great: We tested the roughly 4-foot-wide Ultimate Sack 4000 after editor Kalee Thompson told us about the 5-foot version (the Ultimate Sack 5000, which appears in our gift guide for tweens). Kalee and her family have been enjoying this chair for over five years, and she said there are no signs of its flattening, despite near-daily use. When we were testing the 4000 model, the chunks of memory foam were a bit stiffer than the fillings of our other picks, but the 4000 chair was still squishy enough to be comfy while holding us aloft. The best thing about the Ultimate Sack, though, is the price: At the time of writing the 4000 was $225, from Ultimate Sack, compared with $600 for the cheapest iteration of a similarly sized MovieSac. (Indeed, Kalee bought the 5000 after her family fell in love with Lovesac’s The BigOne on a trip to the mall, but understandably she balked at the price.) If you order it from Ultimate Sack, you can have a full name embroidered onto the bag (for an additional fee), and all of the available covers are machine-washable.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: Compared with the fillings of our other picks, the Ultimate Sack 4000’s shredded foam is bigger and chunkier, with edges you can distinctly feel through the fabric. The teal polyester cover (the company calls it “suede”) we tested felt cheap to the touch, but it proved durable when we hauled it around the office. Plusher covers are available, for a slight increase in price.
Dimensions: 48 by 28 inches (width by height)
Weight: 40 pounds
Cover options: 17 fabric and color combinations
Filler: foam
Return policy and warranty: Returns are accepted within 15 days of delivery (including for customized bags) from Ultimate Sack; there’s a 10-year limited warranty.
What to look forward to
For our next update, we’ll be evaluating more-structural bean bag seating options, including the Sacco — the original bean bag — as well as the triangular Linen Social bean bag, the Lujo Kyoto Collection bean bag, and the West Elm Modern Lounger.
The competition
At first, the Big Joe Fuf Large Foam Filled Bean Bag Chair had a lot of promise. We liked the terra-cotta color we selected, as well as the soft, thick corduroy cover, and it initially felt nice and cushiony. Within just a couple of days, however, we found ourselves sinking all the way to the floor whenever we sat on it, despite fluffing it up each time.
With its EPS bead filling, the Muji Body Fit Cushion seemed like a great contender, thanks to its chic covers (sold separately) in grown-up colors like mustard. But we should have paid better attention to the name — it really is more of a large cushion. It feels stiff to sit on, but if you prop it up against a surface, like a wall or the front of a sofa, it provides nice, squishy support. Still, a couple of large pillows would work just as well.
Our hunt for an inexpensive bean bag brought us to the Posh Creations Bean Bag Chair, X-Large. It was an immediate dismissal due to the rank stench of its cheap, oversize EPS beads, and its overly stuffed insert provided almost no give, so it felt like sitting on a box.
This article was edited by Joanne Chen and Daniela Gorny.
