The Best Platform Bed Frames Under $600

Gregory Han is a writer who has covered home decor for a multitude of design-focused outlets, including Apartment Therapy, Design Milk, and Dwell—where he helped readers turn houses into homes. Before that he worked as an industrial designer for children’s toys and furniture. For Wirecutter, he has tested and recommended everything from desk lamps and floor lamps to patio furniture and alarm clocks.

Joshua Lyon is a writer covering home and decor. He’s constantly scouting home goods and furniture stores and showrooms, and his bedroom-related guides include nightstands, bedside lamps, bed frames, and an incredibly effective cooling and heating mattress pad.

Top pick

A sturdy hardwood frame you can paint or stain

KD Frames Nomad Platform Bed

This hardwood platform bed can support up to 600 pounds, and it’s the only bed we recommend that allows for custom staining or finishing.

$299 from Amazon
(queen)

Why it’s great

It won’t wiggle or wobble when you settle into bed. The popular KD Frames Nomad Platform Bed features two sets of slats that form something akin to a rib cage, and none of the other frames we tested offered this weight-bearing design. With 16 beefy, 2-by-1-inch hardwood planks on each side, it can hold up to 600 pounds. Between each slat there’s just a small, 2.8-inch gap, which contributes to the bed’s strength. Add up those specifications, and you have a 68-pound platform bed frame that one tester said could withstand “energetic jump-ons and 190-pound body slams” with confident indifference.

You can customize it by staining the wood. The Nomad is a great choice for DIY enthusiasts who want a customized look. The blond wood is nice on its own, but it also takes stain or paint well, giving you the option of personalizing your frame. The straightforward silhouette also lends itself to whatever creative design you may come up with. Without any treatment, the frame over time will patina slightly in direct sunlight.

It has plenty of room for storage underneath. This bed frame is taller than any other frame we recommend: It’s 15 inches high, with 11.5 inches of clearance. This means you’ll have a little more storage space underneath it than with other beds we recommend here, and KD Frames also sells a replacement set of 18-inch legs (about $30), which raise the clearance to 14.5 inches. At either height, you get plenty of room for storage bins, which is a perk for anyone looking to take advantage of space under the bed.

For matching under-bed storage, KD Frames sells rolling drawers that are outfitted with wheels for smooth and easy access (and they work with the Nomad). If you regularly host guests and sometimes need room for one more, a Roll-Away Trundle Bed twin frame adds a hideaway bed underneath.

One of our long-term testers reports that the bed is holding up perfectly after several years of use, and she especially appreciates that because it has only four legs, sliding the under-bed storage in and out is easy.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The bare wood of this model is susceptible to nicks, cuts, pen marks, cat claws, and other household agents of destruction.
• We’ve found this frame’s availability to be somewhat inconsistent, but the company has always been communicative and honest about timing, which is why we’ll continue to recommend this bed.
• The Nomad is made of heavier hardwood, so it requires more effort to assemble than some lighter-weight softwood or veneer beds we tried in this price category. It also ships with a lot of pieces, so although the instructions were clearly laid out and assembly was straightforward, there were dozens more slats, sides, and pieces of hardware to keep track of in comparison with our other picks.

Top pick

Lightweight and easy to build

Nectar Bamboo Platform Bed Frame

With its joinery attachment construction, this platform bed assembles faster than any other pick on our list. The slats aren’t as thick, but they withstood plenty of jumping.

$499 from Nectar

Why it’s great

Assembly is easier and faster than with any of our other picks. Thanks to its joinery construction, we built the solid wood Nectar Bamboo Platform Bed Frame in less than 10 minutes, after unpacking the pieces, working solo with a mildly injured arm. You just slide the interlocking pieces together, unfurl the 16 pine slats (which are secured in place by hook-and-latch strips), and you’re done. This frame is a practical choice if you change addresses often.

The center legs are designed for extra support. Until we put a mattress on the frame, we were concerned when we noticed the center legs didn’t reach all the way to the ground, but it turns out this design is intentional. A company rep explained that the bed frame’s main support comes from the four corner legs, with the center legs providing reinforcement when additional weight is applied. So when you lie on the bed, the frame flexes slightly and allows the center support to engage. They claim this flexibility helps extend the life of the bed frame. This slight initial gap between the leg and the ground also allows the bed to naturally adjust to uneven floors, which could cause wobbling.

There’s a headboard, for an additional cost. We tested the Nectar Bamboo Platform Bed Frame with a matching Headboard. It’s an extra purchase that’s simple to attach, but it adds an additional $200 to $300 to the price, depending on the finish you select. (And at $600 for the queen frame in natural, this is already our most expensive pick.) We appreciated the two dense foam blocks affixed to the headboard’s back (out of view), which help protect your walls against any particularly active bed activities.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• The branding is a bit confusing. Boxes will arrive labeled as Resident Home, which is Nectar’s parent company, and it sells this exact same bamboo frame through a couple of its other brands. Awara calls it the Japanese Joinery Bamboo Bed Frame, while DreamCloud shares the same name as Nectar, the Bamboo Platform Bed Frame. Ultimately this is a good thing—if the bed is sold out at one company, you can try another. As of this publishing, all brands were out of stock of the natural bamboo finish, but a company rep assured us it was restocking them soon.
• While jumping on the bed, we could hear the hook-and-loop strips that keep the slats in place scritch-scratching a bit. And at just half an inch thick, these were the thinnest slats of all our picks (though they’re the same slat thickness on the beds we use for all of our in-office mattress testing). We worried about cracking, but everything held firm while we were putting the bed through extreme measures, and it’s rated to support 800 pounds. Normal tossing and turning didn’t produce the same scratching sounds.

Top pick

A stylish, not-too-heavy platform bed

Zinus Moiz Wood Platform Bed Frame (standard)

This simple, stylish, and ultra-sturdy platform bed frame comes with all of the necessary tools to build, but we’ve found that its stock can be unreliable.

$161 from Amazon

$169 from The Home Depot

$189 from Walmart

Why it’s great

It’s easy to assemble and disassemble. The Zinus Moiz Wood Platform Bed Frame is engineered with easy assembly in mind, despite its many parts. Although the Moiz frame has more of them to join together than other models we tested, identifying stickers are affixed to each major piece. The step-by-step instructions are straightforward, and easy to follow, a rarity with most DIY furniture. Unpacking and assembling the Moiz bed took us 40 minutes, and we were pleasantly surprised by several small details not always found at this price, such as individually sealed packaging for the hardware, the inclusion of extra parts, and a ratchet wrench.

It comes in two different looks. Zinus makes two versions of this bed: standard and deluxe. They’re nearly identical in design, but the standard model has narrower rails (3.5 inches, versus the deluxe’s 5.75 inches) and is slightly cheaper. We opted to test the deluxe version, but we think most people will be just as happy with the standard model. Either frame is light enough for one person to move (the queen-size standard Moiz weighs 58 pounds, and the deluxe version weighs 65 pounds).

It’s lightweight and sturdy. Despite its light weight, the Moiz bed frame is plenty sturdy. It sits atop thick, 8-inch-long legs, which lift the bed frame to a height of 14 inches, and it includes a steel center rail with three legs to add stability in the middle. The support slats are laid out with 3 inches between pieces, which is within the range we like to see. Velcro strips keep the slats securely attached to the frame’s side rails.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

• One of the Velcro strips designed to hold the slats in place arrived twisted and stapled incorrectly. This didn’t hinder performance, but our testers, when leaping into bed, heard a small crinkling sound caused by the strips of Velcro shifting.
• At this price it’s not surprising that the frame is veneer, rather than made from solid wood. Although the veneer grain is consistent, smooth, and matte, the Moiz bed is susceptible to dings and scratches over time.
• Another observation we’ve heard is that when you’re making the bed, the mattress can slide over the frame.

A platform bed frame should be compatible with most foam, hybrid, and innerspring mattresses. But even a cursory search online produces a dizzying number of lookalike options, many constructed with cheap softwoods or insufficiently spaced slats prone to squeaking and creaking or even letting the mattress sag over time.

We looked for platform bed frames that hit the sweet spot between affordability and durability—with a dash of good looks thrown in—and that we could assemble ourselves with only the tools included in the box. With that in mind, here are features we looked for:

• priced at $600 and under
• supportive slats, spaced no more than 3 inches apart
• a good return policy and warranty (favoring hassle-free, no-fee returns and warranties beyond a standard 30- or 90-day “substantial defect” policy)
• adaptable, modern design

After assembling each bed, we favored models that had these features:

• easy enough for one person to assemble, disassemble, and move
• arrived in boxes that one person could handle comfortably up stairs and through narrow halls and doorways
• easy-to-follow instructions
• all necessary tools included

The “no more than 3 inches apart” slats guideline is particularly important because many mattress manufacturers, including Leesa, Casper, and Purple, won’t honor a warranty claim if your frame doesn’t provide sufficient support. According to Jeff Chapin, co-founder of Casper, the 3-inch spec isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, since the dimensions of the slats themselves—particularly their thickness—matter more to the overall stiffness of the base and support for the mattress. Chapin notes, though, that “3 inches apart” is easier for shoppers to remember than more complex thickness specifications.

Why have slats at all? They permit airflow and help keep mold from growing underneath the mattress—something we discovered firsthand in an unplanned science experiment in college.

If you like IKEA’s aesthetic and convenience:

• IKEA’s Hemnes bed frame is made with solid wood instead of veneer and has a traditional look. The build experience is a familiar IKEA afternoon of screws, bolts, and dowels—and reading the instructions multiple times. This frame doesn’t come with an included slat base, but IKEA lets you add one easily during checkout. We tested the Lönset slat base, the priciest option, and it felt a bit too flexible—the slats are just over 0.25-inch thick, and though they’re tightly placed, at 1.25 inches apart, the net effect was a less firm, flat support for a mattress. Wirecutter staffers who have IKEA bed frames have noted broken or slipped slats in the past.
• The popular IKEA Malm bed is made of veneer and particle board, so it’s more prone to chipping, but we like that it comes in several colors and has a streamlined, neutral look that fits in lots of homes. Several people on staff own (or have owned) this frame and say that it’s an excellent option for the price. We also recommend the Malm Storage Bed in our small-bedroom guide if you’re tight on space.
• The upholstered IKEA Tufjord bed is a bit more expensive, at around $550, but it comes with the slatted base. Like a lot of IKEA furniture, it is also a bit of a pain to put together. In our tests, the polyester fabric felt somewhat cheap, and it didn’t sit quite right along the curves of the frame. But overall, this bed looks nice and feels solid, with no shakiness or squeakiness.

If you want an actually decent cardboard bed (with lots of caveats):

• The cardboard RIAB 2.0 is a good, albeit unusual, option. By far the lightest of any of our bedframe recommendations, it’s surprisingly sturdy: It holds up to 600 pounds, and our testers said they felt supported by it and experienced no sagging. It doesn’t require assembly—you simply unfold it into shape. And you can just as easily fold it back up for storage. We also appreciate that it’s recyclable: Unlike most fast furniture at this price, the RIAB bed is made from 70% post-consumer recycled material, and like other cardboard products, it can be easily recycled when you’re done with it. (By comparison, most other cheap furniture ends up in landfills.) Unfortunately, the bed offers no storage underneath. Not surprisingly, we also found they’re prone to dents and rips; while they didn’t impact the integrity of the structure (at least in the short-term), they definitely affect the aesthetics. (And for the right cat, cardboard makes an ideal scratch post.)

The Mellow 9″ Metal Platform Bed Frame was a previous pick, but after months of testing our experience did not match the thousands of positive reviews this frame received from buyers. Our testers found it to be excessively noisy, despite their making several adjustments and retightening the hardware many times (something we don’t think should be necessary to begin with). Testers said that no matter how many times they adjusted it, a loud crack could be heard anytime they moved around or sat on the frame. It also scratched their hardwood floors.

The metal Ollie Bed Frame from LexMod is affordable, claims to offer good support (with a 1,300-pound weight limit), and has slats that (according to a posted company response to a customer question) measure 3 inches wide and are spaced 3.5 inches apart. But it seemed to be frequently out of stock for online ordering, as did other models we considered from this brand.

The Zinus Justina Quick Snap Standing Mattress Foundation was quite easy to piece together into a handsome-looking upholstered foundation. No tools or hardware are required because each of the frame’s 16 pieces snap into place with the help of a rubber mallet (which is included). But we had to cross this option off our list because of the 6-inch gaps between the 11 support beams. We didn’t notice those wide gaps when our test mattress was on the frame, but Leesa representatives warned us that the wide gaps would void a Leesa warranty because over time the mattress could sink through the gaps and deform.

This article was edited by Daniela Gorny and Joanne Chen.