Murphy Beds / Roundup

Murphy Bed Alternatives

A wall bed is the right answer when you have a blank wall, the ceiling for it, and a landlord who does not mind. Take any one of those away and something else wins.

The short answer

The closest substitute is the AFI Westfield twin XL chest: a freestanding sideboard that lifts into a twin XL bed, with the mattress included and an 800 lb stated capacity, and nothing drilled into a wall. If you need a queen and still cannot drill, the Night & Day Murphy Cube is a queen inside a hardwood credenza that bolts to nothing. The budget pick is a MAXYOYO roll-up floor futon - 13 lb, 4 inches thick, and when it is away it has no footprint at all.

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At a glance

Quick picks: what to buy instead

Tap any row to jump to the full write-up. Scores are our own, from the rubric on how we choose — not customer ratings. They score each product across the whole site, so the order here reflects how well a pick answers this page’s question, which is not always the same as the highest score.

#	Product	Best for	Score	Price
01	AFI Westfield Twin XL Murphy Bed Chest with 6 in. Folding Mattress A freestanding chest that is a sideboard at 24.41 in. deep and a twin XL bed at 79.3 in., with the mattress in the box and an 800 lb capacity behind it — nothing is drilled into a wall.	Renters and anyone who will not drill	8.5	$570.35 · View on Amazon $912.54 37% off #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026
02	Night & Day Furniture Murphy Cube Cabinet Bed (Queen) A queen bed inside a solid hardwood credenza that bolts to nothing. Closed it is 26.4 inches deep and about ten square feet of floor, and the mattress is in the box.	Renters who want a queen and cannot drill	8.6	$1,897.00 · View on Amazon #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026
03	ONBRILL Twin Daybed with Pop-Up Trundle and Storage Drawers An 880 lb published capacity on thickened metal bars and ten legs — by a distance the strongest frame of anything that claims to convert to a king.	Two adults, and the capacity to prove it	8.4	$249.99 · View on Amazon #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026
04	Serta Rane Convertible Sofa Bed (66.1") At 66 inches wide and 33 inches deep it is one of the genuinely small convertibles, on a solid hardwood frame rather than particleboard.	The smallest rooms	8.2	$206.99 · View on Amazon #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026
05	Milliard 6-Inch Tri-Fold Memory Foam Mattress (Twin XL) The one that goes in a closet: 78 by 38 inches flat, six inches of memory foam over a support base, and it folds into roughly a third of that in seconds.	Storing a guest bed in a closet	7.8	$214.99 · View on Amazon #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026
06	MAXYOYO Japanese Floor Futon Mattress, 4 in. (Full) Four inches, 13 lb, and it rolls up into the storage bag it ships in. The smallest-footprint guest bed there is, because when it is away it has no footprint at all.	Occasional guests with nowhere to put a bed	7.4	$74.99 · View on Amazon $99.99 25% off #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

How we picked

Each pick here replaces a different thing a Murphy bed does, and the ranking runs from closest substitute to furthest. A wall bed gives you a proper mattress at proper height in a room that is empty all day, at the cost of a wall fixing, a tall ceiling and a landlord conversation. So we ranked on which of those costs each alternative removes while keeping the most of the benefit. We have not slept on or installed any of these. Every figure comes from the maker's own live listing on the date in its spec block, and prices carry their own date from the daily price check.

01Top pickRenters and anyone who will not drill

AFI Westfield Twin XL Murphy Bed Chest with 6 in. Folding Mattress

AFI

A freestanding chest that is a sideboard at 24.41 in. deep and a twin XL bed at 79.3 in., with the mattress in the box and an 800 lb capacity behind it — nothing is drilled into a wall.

What it's bad at

The included mattress is 6 in. with a hinge across the middle, which is a guest surface rather than a nightly bed, and it is the only mattress the cabinet takes. It is also the most expensive bracket on this page and 106 lb to position.

Our score — 8.5 / 10

Footprint9

Mattress6

Mechanism8

Renter fit10

Value7

$570.35 · View on Amazon

$912.54 37% off

#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Specifications

Folded footprint: 41.61 in. W x 24.41 in. D x 33.23 in. H closed — a sideboard
Open footprint: 41.61 in. W x 79.3 in. D x 33.23 in. H
Clearance in front: 54.9 in. of extra floor by subtraction — 79.3 in. open minus 24.41 in. closed, both published by AFI. No walkway figure is given; the ADA's 36 in. clear route is a sane floor to add on top.
Doorway minimum: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Sleep surface: Twin XL. AFI publishes the open cabinet at 79.3 in. deep rather than a mattress figure; a twin XL mattress is 38 x 80 in.
Mattress: Included — 6 in. folding mattress: 1 in. of aerated foam, 2 in. of cooling gel foam, 3 in. of resilient support foam.
Fold mechanism: Manual lift out of a freestanding chest; no wall fixing
Weight capacity: 800 lb — the highest figure on this page
Assembly: Required. 106.4 lb. Solid wood and veneer construction. 1-year limited manufacturer warranty.
Renter-safe?: Yes — freestanding cabinet, nothing is drilled into a wall
Price: $570.35 · View on Amazon
$912.54 37% off
#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Source: Amazon.com product listing, read via the Amazon Creators API, recorded 28 Oct 2026. Any field the listing does not state is marked as such rather than estimated.

02Renters who want a queen and cannot drill

Night & Day Furniture Murphy Cube Cabinet Bed (Queen)

Night & Day Furniture

A queen bed inside a solid hardwood credenza that bolts to nothing. Closed it is 26.4 inches deep and about ten square feet of floor, and the mattress is in the box.

What it's bad at

172 lb assembled and it does not come apart again. Getting it into a third-floor walk-up is the whole problem with this category.

Our score — 8.6 / 10

Footprint8

Mattress8

Mechanism9

Renter fit10

Value7

$1,897.00 · View on Amazon

#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Specifications

Folded footprint: 64.1 in. W x 26.4 in. D x 36.6 in. H — about 10 sq ft of floor
Open footprint: 64.1 in. W x 80.3 in. D x 25.7 in. H
Clearance in front: Gains 53.9 in. of depth when opened (26.4 in. to 80.3 in.). No walkway figure stated by the manufacturer.
Doorway minimum: Arrives flat packed, so any standard doorway
Sleep surface: 80.3 in. long; a queen sleeping surface per the manufacturer
Mattress: Included cabinet-bed-specific 6 in. tri-fold gel memory foam mattress
Fold mechanism: Front panel folds down, mattress tri-folds out on a sliding platform
Weight capacity: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Assembly: Flat packed, ready to assemble, with instructions and video links. 172 lb. 10-year cabinet warranty, 3-year mattress warranty.
Renter-safe?: Yes — freestanding, explicitly does not need anchoring to a wall
Price: $1,897.00 · View on Amazon
#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Source: Amazon.com product listing, read via the Amazon Creators API, recorded 16 Oct 2026. Any field the listing does not state is marked as such rather than estimated.

04The smallest rooms

Serta Rane Convertible Sofa Bed (66.1")

Serta

At 66 inches wide and 33 inches deep it is one of the genuinely small convertibles, on a solid hardwood frame rather than particleboard.

What it's bad at

The listing calls it a twin-size guest bed and publishes no open bed dimensions, so the one figure that decides whether it fits is missing. The warranty is a single year.

Our score — 8.2 / 10

Footprint10

Mattress6

Mechanism8

Renter fit10

Value7

$206.99 · View on Amazon

#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Specifications

Folded footprint: 66.1 in. W x 33.1 in. D x 29.5 in. H
Open footprint: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Clearance in front: Cannot be calculated — Serta publishes no open depth for this model. Budget the 33.1 in. it already occupies plus the backrest travel, and confirm with the seller.
Doorway minimum: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Sleep surface: Described on the listing as a twin-size guest bed. No dimensions published.
Mattress: High-density foam over a solid hardwood frame. Depth not stated separately.
Fold mechanism: Three-position convertible back (sofa, lounger, bed) with FingerGuard pinch-point protection
Weight capacity: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Assembly: Required. 55 lb. Chrome metal legs. 1-year limited manufacturer's warranty.
Renter-safe?: Yes — freestanding
Price: $206.99 · View on Amazon
#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Source: Amazon.com product listing, read via the Amazon Creators API, recorded 16 Oct 2026. Any field the listing does not state is marked as such rather than estimated.

05Storing a guest bed in a closet

Milliard 6-Inch Tri-Fold Memory Foam Mattress (Twin XL)

Milliard

The one that goes in a closet: 78 by 38 inches flat, six inches of memory foam over a support base, and it folds into roughly a third of that in seconds.

What it's bad at

The two fold lines are findable through the foam if you sleep on your side, and Milliard publishes no weight capacity and no folded dimensions for this size.

Our score — 7.8 / 10

Footprint10

Mattress7

Mechanism8

Renter fit10

Value6

$214.99 · View on Amazon

#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Specifications

Folded footprint: Folded dimensions not stated by the manufacturer
Open footprint: 78 in. L x 38 in. W x 6 in. H flat
Clearance in front: Not applicable — floor mattress.
Doorway minimum: Folds in seconds for transport, so any standard doorway
Sleep surface: 78 x 38 in. — twin XL, full twin width and four inches longer
Mattress: 6 in.; high-density memory foam with a removable machine-washable cover
Fold mechanism: Tri-fold
Weight capacity: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Assembly: None. Also sold in Twin, Full and Queen.
Renter-safe?: Yes
Price: $214.99 · View on Amazon
#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Source: Amazon.com product listing, read via the Amazon Creators API, recorded 16 Oct 2026. Any field the listing does not state is marked as such rather than estimated.

06Occasional guests with nowhere to put a bed

MAXYOYO Japanese Floor Futon Mattress, 4 in. (Full)

MAXYOYO

Four inches, 13 lb, and it rolls up into the storage bag it ships in. The smallest-footprint guest bed there is, because when it is away it has no footprint at all.

What it's bad at

Four inches on a hard floor is four inches. Side sleepers will feel it, and MAXYOYO is explicit that it has to be aired in the sun or it holds moisture.

Our score — 7.4 / 10

Footprint10

Mattress5

Mechanism8

Renter fit10

Value9

$74.99 · View on Amazon

$99.99 25% off

#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Specifications

Folded footprint: Rolls up into the supplied storage bag; rolled dimensions not stated
Open footprint: 80 in. L x 54 in. W x 4 in. H (full)
Clearance in front: Not applicable — floor mattress.
Doorway minimum: Rolled, passes any doorway
Sleep surface: 54 x 80 in. — standard full width, standard length
Mattress: 4 in. quilted; polyester top and bottom layers over a high-density base support foam. Also sold in Twin, Queen and King.
Fold mechanism: Roll-up / fold
Weight capacity: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Assembly: None. 13 lb. Ships compressed — allow 2 to 3 days to recover full loft. Dustproof cover, bandage pair and storage bag included.
Renter-safe?: Yes
Price: $74.99 · View on Amazon
$99.99 25% off
#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Source: Amazon.com product listing, read via the Amazon Creators API, recorded 16 Oct 2026. Any field the listing does not state is marked as such rather than estimated.

A Murphy bed asks for three things: a blank wall, about seven and a half feet of clear height, and permission to drill into the structure. If you have all three, it is an excellent purchase and the roundup is over here. If you are missing one, there is almost always something better than a wall bed with the brackets left in the box.

The closest substitute is the AFI Westfield twin XL chest. Closed it is a sideboard 24.41 inches deep; open it is a twin XL bed 79.3 inches deep — both figures published, which is more than most actual wall beds manage. The mattress is in the box, the stated capacity is 800 lb, and nothing goes into a wall. The budget pick is a MAXYOYO roll-up floor futon: 13 pounds, four inches thick, and when it is away it has no footprint at all.

What follows is organized by which constraint you are escaping rather than by product type, because that is the decision you are actually making. Nothing on this page disparages wall beds — three of these picks are cabinet beds, which are wall beds that gave up the wall.

If you cannot drill: a cabinet bed

This is the commonest reason people go looking for an alternative, and it has a direct answer. A cabinet bed is the same idea as a wall bed with the mechanism inside a freestanding box. You lose about ten inches of closed depth. You keep the real mattress, the real height and the empty floor, and you take it with you when the lease ends.

The freestanding picks, closed and open

AFI Westfield twin XL chest: 24.41 in. closed; 79.3 in. open; 800 lb; mattress included; 106.4 lb
Night & Day Murphy Cube (queen): 26.4 in. closed; 80.3 in. open; mattress included; 172 lb; 10-year cabinet warranty
Arason Creden-ZzZ (queen): 24 in. closed; 39 in. high top surface; mattress included; 240 lb

Both of the top two publish their closed and open footprints, which almost no wall bed does, so you can plan the room before you buy. Both include a mattress — a 6-inch folding or tri-fold unit rather than a bedroom mattress, which is the honest trade and the one thing a cabinet bed cannot give you.

The format in full, including the drawer-and-credenza versions, is in the best Murphy bed cabinets and the best renter-friendly Murphy beds.

If you have no spare wall: a daybed with a pop-up trundle

A wall bed needs a wall it can own. In a room where every wall already has a window, a door, a radiator or a wardrobe on it, the format simply does not fit — and the thing that does is a daybed.

The reason a pop-up trundle is the pick rather than a plain daybed is that it does the wall bed’s actual job: it sleeps two and takes up the room of one. The trundle rolls out and then lifts level with the daybed, so the two twins make a single surface rather than a bed and a lower bed. The ONBRILL frame publishes a capacity of over 880 lb on thickened metal bars and ten legs, which is the strongest figure of anything in this shape we have found.

What you give up is the empty floor. A daybed is furniture all day — but it is furniture you can sit on, which a closed wall bed is not. The format is ranked in the best daybeds with a trundle and the best daybeds that convert to a king, and the head-to-head is in daybed vs Murphy bed and Murphy bed vs trundle.

If the ceiling is low: a convertible sofa

A vertical wall bed is 70 to 92 inches tall closed. A sloped attic ceiling, a basement bulkhead or a boxed-in pipe can rule out the format entirely, and turning the bed sideways only helps if you have seven feet of uninterrupted wall instead.

The convertible sofa is the answer that does not care about height at all. The Serta Rane is 29.5 inches tall and 66.1 inches wide, on a solid hardwood frame with a three-position back and pinch-point protection on the mechanism. It seats people in the daytime, which is the one thing a closed wall bed never does.

The trade is the sleeping surface. Serta calls it a twin-size guest bed and publishes no open dimensions, which is normal in that category and the reason we rank convertibles on documentation as much as on comfort. If this is the direction, go to the best sleeper sofas for small spaces and Murphy bed vs sleeper sofa, and if the sofa is mostly for sitting, a futon chair bed takes even less room.

If it is the money: a folding or roll-up mattress

A wall bed is one of the most expensive ways to sleep an occasional guest. If guests come four times a year, almost nothing justifies the spend — and the alternative costs a fraction of the cheapest unit on this site.

The Milliard tri-fold is 78 by 38 inches flat with six inches of memory foam, and it folds into roughly a third of that in seconds and goes in a closet. The MAXYOYO floor futon goes further and is the budget pick on this page: four inches, 13 pounds, and it rolls into the storage bag it ships in, so when it is away it has no footprint at all.

Both come with honest limits we would rather state than skip. A tri-fold puts two fold seams under the sleeper, and side sleepers find them. Four inches on a hard floor is four inches, and MAXYOYO is explicit that the mattress has to be aired or it holds moisture. Neither is a nightly bed for an adult. They are ranked properly in the best Japanese floor futons and futon vs air mattress.

The cheapest honest comparison

Before spending on any of this, work out how many nights a year the bed will actually be slept in. Under about ten, a folding mattress in a cupboard is the right purchase and everything else on this page is furniture you are storing. Over about a hundred, buy the best mattress you can and a frame that holds it — which is usually a wall bed or a cabinet bed, not a convertible. The arithmetic is in is a Murphy bed worth it and the guest bed comparison for small spaces.

Which alternative replaces which part

Buy the AFI Westfield twin XL chest if the only thing stopping you is the drilling. It is the closest substitute there is: freestanding, mattress included, 800 lb stated, both footprints published, and a sideboard when it is closed. Accept a 6-inch folding mattress, 106.4 lb, and a 1-year warranty.

Buy the Night & Day Murphy Cube if you need a queen and still cannot drill. Solid hardwood, 10-year cabinet warranty, both footprints published, 26.4 inches deep closed. Accept 172 lb that does not come apart again, and a 6-inch tri-fold mattress.

Buy the ONBRILL pop-up trundle daybed if you have no spare wall but you do have a corner. Over 880 lb published, two twins that level into one surface, storage drawers underneath. Accept 47.24 inches of depth with the trundle stowed and no published maximum mattress thickness.

Buy the Serta Rane if the ceiling is low or the room has to seat people in the daytime. 66.1 inches wide, 29.5 tall, solid hardwood frame, pinch-point protection. Accept that Serta publishes no open bed dimensions and no weight capacity, and that the warranty is one year.

Buy the Milliard tri-fold if the guest bed should live in a cupboard. Six inches of memory foam, twin XL length, folds in seconds. Accept two fold seams and no published capacity.

Buy the MAXYOYO floor futon as the budget pick, for guests two or three times a year. 13 lb, rolls into its own bag, no footprint when stored. Accept four inches on a hard floor and a maker who tells you to air it in the sun.

Answers

Common questions

What is the best alternative to a Murphy bed?

A cabinet bed, if the reason you are looking is that you cannot drill. It is the same mechanism inside a freestanding box: you lose about ten inches of closed depth and you keep the real mattress, the real bed height and the empty floor. The AFI Westfield twin XL chest is the closest substitute we cover — mattress included, 800 lb stated, both closed and open footprints published, and nothing fixed to a wall.

Is there a Murphy bed that does not need to be attached to the wall?

Yes, two kinds. Cabinet beds — the Night & Day Murphy Cube and the Arason Creden-ZzZ both state that no bolting to wall or floor is required. And one rotating queen wall bed, the Mjkone, whose maker states no wall mounting is needed. The trade is depth: a freestanding cabinet sits 24 to 26 inches from the wall closed, against 16 to 20 for a bolted wall bed.

What is cheaper than a Murphy bed?

Almost everything. A folding tri-fold mattress or a roll-up floor futon costs a fraction of the cheapest wall bed on this site and stores in a cupboard. A daybed with a pop-up trundle sleeps two adults for well under the wall-bed band and needs no wall fixing. A convertible sofa adds daytime seating, which a closed wall bed does not give you at any price.

Can I have a Murphy bed in a rental?

Sometimes, and almost never without asking. A true wall bed anchors into studs or masonry and several makers specify a professional installer; one requires a solid wall and excludes hollow partitions outright. The reliable route in a rental is a cabinet bed, which bolts to nothing and leaves with you. We cover the lease question properly in our guide on putting a Murphy bed in an apartment.

What can I use instead of a Murphy bed in a low-ceilinged room?

A convertible sofa or a daybed, not a shoehorned wall bed. A vertical wall bed is 70 to 92 inches tall closed, and turning it sideways only helps if you have about seven feet of uninterrupted wall instead. A convertible sofa is under 30 inches tall and does not care about the ceiling at all; a cabinet bed is 33 to 39 inches tall and fits under a sloped ceiling or a stair.

Is a daybed with a trundle as good as a Murphy bed?

For sleeping two people in the room of one, a pop-up trundle does the same job and needs no wall fixing — the strongest frame we cover publishes a capacity over 880 lb, and the trundle lifts level with the daybed so the two twins make one surface. What it cannot do is disappear: a daybed is furniture all day. It is, however, furniture you can sit on.

Sources

Keep reading

Quick picks: what to buy instead

AFI Westfield Twin XL Murphy Bed Chest with 6 in. Folding Mattress

Night & Day Furniture Murphy Cube Cabinet Bed (Queen)

ONBRILL Twin Daybed with Pop-Up Trundle and Storage Drawers

Serta Rane Convertible Sofa Bed (66.1")

Milliard 6-Inch Tri-Fold Memory Foam Mattress (Twin XL)

MAXYOYO Japanese Floor Futon Mattress, 4 in. (Full)

If you cannot drill: a cabinet bed

If you have no spare wall: a daybed with a pop-up trundle

If the ceiling is low: a convertible sofa

If it is the money: a folding or roll-up mattress

Which alternative replaces which part

Common questions

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