If you're reading this, one of two things is true:

  • You snore, your partner has finally lost patience, and you've been told you need to do something
  • You don't snore, but your partner does, and you're plotting

Either way — here's the honest, ranked guide to every snoring solution, from cheapest to most expensive. We sell some of these. We'll tell you which work, which don't, and which are a waste of money even though we'd theoretically benefit from you trying them.

First: figure out why you're snoring

Not all snoring is the same problem, and the wrong fix won't help. The three main causes:

  1. Mouth breathing. Mouth falls open at night, tongue falls back, airway partially blocks. Snoring is mild-to-moderate. Volume varies.
  2. Nasal congestion or deviated septum. You can't breathe through your nose, so you mouth-breathe by necessity. Often worse in cold seasons.
  3. Sleep apnea. Your airway repeatedly fully collapses during sleep. Loud, persistent snoring with gasping or pauses. Medical condition. Don't ignore it.

Categories 1 and 2 respond well to over-the-counter fixes. Category 3 needs a doctor — keep reading for the signs.

The honest ranking — from cheapest to most expensive

1. Sleeping on your side ($0)

Position matters. Back-sleeping makes snoring worse for most people because gravity pulls the tongue and soft palate down to block the airway. Side-sleeping (especially left side) helps.

The trick: most back-sleepers don't stay on their side. The fix used to be sewing a tennis ball into the back of a t-shirt (yes, really). Now there are wedge pillows and positional trainers, but honestly — just retrain yourself with a body pillow.

Verdict: Free, effective for about 50% of mild snorers. Try this first.

2. Mouth tape ($25/month, refillable)

If position changes don't work — try tape. We covered this in detail in our mouth breathing article, so the short version:

If your snoring is caused by mouth breathing, tape closes your mouth, your tongue stays where it should be, and the snoring stops or dramatically reduces. Works for ~60-70% of mouth-breathing snorers based on our customer feedback.

Won't work if you're congested or have apnea.

Verdict: The single highest-ROI thing for most snorers. Try ours: GeoSleep Mouth Tape.

3. Nasal dilators or strips ($10-40)

If you can't breathe through your nose, you can't nose-breathe. A nasal dilator (or Breathe Right-style strip) widens your nostrils mechanically.

Reusable silicone dilators ($40 for a starter kit + a few hundred tabs over the year) beat disposable strips ($1/night ongoing) on cost over 6+ months. They also stick better for side sleepers.

Best combined with mouth tape — fix the nose, then close the mouth.

Verdict: Essential if you're a congestion-driven snorer. Ours: GeoSleep Nasal Dilator.

4. Saline nasal rinses ($20-30)

NeilMed sinus rinses or similar — pour saline through your nose to clear congestion. Helpful for allergy-driven snoring. Used nightly during peak allergy seasons.

Verdict: Cheap, helpful if allergies are your trigger. Not a snoring product per se, but a useful adjunct.

5. Anti-snore pillows ($50-150)

Wedge-shaped or contoured pillows designed to keep your head elevated and your jaw forward. Real, modest effect for mild snorers — about 20-30% reduction in snoring volume in product testing.

Verdict: Worth it if you've tried tape + dilators and want incremental help. Skip if you haven't tried the basics.

6. Mouthpieces / mandibular advancement devices ($100-300)

The next-level fix. A dental device that pulls your lower jaw forward, opening up your airway. Brands like SnoreRx, ZQuiet, VitalSleep — the Amazon-tier ones run $70-150. Custom-fitted ones from your dentist run $300-1,500.

These work well for snoring caused by soft-palate / tongue collapse — typically more severe snoring than pure mouth breathing. They can also help mild-to-moderate sleep apnea (with doctor supervision).

Downsides: take 1-2 weeks to get used to, sometimes cause jaw soreness, need replacing every 1-2 years.

Verdict: Big effort, big result for the right person. Try mouth tape first — if that doesn't work and you don't have apnea, the mouthpiece is your next move.

7. Sleep apnea testing + CPAP ($500-2,000)

This is where things get medical, not consumer.

If your snoring is loud (heard through walls), persistent, accompanied by gasping or pauses in breathing, or you wake up exhausted no matter how much you sleep — you likely have sleep apnea. The home sleep test costs $200-500 (sometimes covered by insurance). The CPAP machine that treats it costs $500-2,000 (usually covered by insurance with a sleep study).

Apnea is associated with serious cardiovascular risk if untreated. We cannot say this strongly enough: do not power through severe snoring with consumer products. Get tested.

Verdict: Not optional if you have apnea symptoms. Insurance-covered in most cases.

8. Surgery — pharyngoplasty, septoplasty, etc. ($2,000-15,000)

Last resort. For severe structural issues — deviated septum that won't respond to dilators, enlarged tonsils, soft palate that's literally too long — surgery is sometimes the right answer. Discussed with an ENT surgeon.

Success rates vary widely. Recovery is real. Don't get here without trying everything else first.

Verdict: Necessary for some, last-resort for everyone.

The "what to actually do" flowchart

Walking it through:

  1. Try side-sleeping for two weeks. If snoring resolves, done.
  2. If not, try mouth tape for two weeks. ($25.) Resolves? Done.
  3. If not, add a nasal dilator. ($40 starter.) Two more weeks. Resolves? Done.
  4. If not, OR if any of the apnea signs (gasping, loud snoring, daytime exhaustion) are present — see a sleep doctor. Skip the $300 mouthpiece on Amazon and go get tested.
  5. If tested and not apnea, but still snoring — try a mandibular advancement device.
  6. If everything else fails — ENT consult, surgery options.

Most people stop at step 2 or 3.

What we'd buy if we were starting over

Mouth tape + nasal dilator + a body pillow. That's it. $65 total. Two weeks of testing. If it doesn't work, you've eliminated the easiest causes and you now know it's time for a sleep study.

That's also, not coincidentally, our Wind-Down Kit minus the glasses, on a $49/mo subscription with the mask included.

If you've been ignoring this for years because your partner stopped complaining — they didn't stop being kept up. They stopped expecting it to change. Worth $25 to find out.