Amazon Basics 1 Inch vs Gaiam Premium Reversible: Which One Should You Buy?

The Amazon Basics 1 Inch lists at $38.40 and the Gaiam Premium Reversible at $39.98. That is $1.58 apart, with the Gaiam slightly dearer, for very different amounts of mat: 25.4 mm of soft NBR foam against 6 mm of PVC with a print on both faces.

They suit different sessions. The foam pad is for time spent on your knees and back. The Gaiam is for standing up, and it adds a lifetime guarantee and a choice of designs.

Anything done low is more comfortable on the inch of foam: tabletop, kneeling lunges, bridges, crunches, long stretches on your back. It spreads the pressure of a kneecap or tailbone over a wide patch and takes the hardness out of tile or a basement slab. At 74 inches, a tall person lying flat stays on it end to end.

Owners agree. The listing shows about 1,700 reviews that mention thickness and about 920 that mention softness, most of them positive, though Amazon pools those with the half-inch version. The Gaiam is fine for floor work on carpet, but GearLab counted poor cushion as a con, and 6 mm of soft PVC under a knee on concrete doesn’t go far.

On one leg, an inch of soft foam keeps giving, more in some spots than others under the sole, and your ankle hunts for level the whole time. Stepping from down dog into a lunge is no better, since the front foot lands on a surface that is still moving. The Amazon listing promises stable, confident poses during yoga, pilates and other floor exercises, and the floor exercises are the believable part.

The Gaiam is soft PVC too. GearLab’s comfort and support score, which covers stability in balance poses as well as cushioning, gave it a 6, so it is no studio slab. It still leaves your foot less than a quarter as much foam to sink into, and for any practice with standing sequences it is the one to use.

In GearLab’s March 2026 roundup the Premium Reversible scored 54 out of 100. Care and cleaning was its best category at 7, and materials got a 5. The testers credited its patterns and the way it lies flat once unrolled, and faulted it for thin padding, a slick surface once wet and ink that can rub off on clothes.

Grip is reported two ways: a 4 in the weighted score, against a 5 for both dry and wet grip in GearLab’s traction table, with nothing to explain the difference. No Amazon Basics mat was in the test, so there is no score to set against it.

Grip is mediocre on both, for different reasons. On the foam pad your palms sink into an inch of material in down dog and plank, so your wrists keep changing angle even when the surface holds. Of about 560 reviews on the Amazon Basics listing that mention grip, slightly more are negative than positive.

The Gaiam’s textured PVC holds dry hands, but it doesn’t absorb sweat, and wet grip is one of the cons GearLab recorded. In a heated room or a sweaty flow, neither mat is a good choice.

The Amazon Basics measures 74″ × 24″ and weighs 4.6 pounds. The Gaiam is 68″ × 24″ at 3.3. Neither is heavy, but the foam pad is bulky. Gaiam asks you to dry the mat flat and store it in a mat bag, and it rolls slim enough for one. An inch of foam won’t go in a mat bag, so it ends up stood in a corner or slid under a bed on its carrying strap.

About that strap: roughly 540 reviews on the listing mention it, and more of them are negative than positive. Amazon’s review summary says some buyers didn’t get one at all, so check the box before the packaging goes out.

Gaiam sells the Reversible in ten designs at last count, each with a different pattern on the two faces and both sides usable. Its own product copy pitches that as picking whichever design suits how you feel that day, and for plenty of buyers that is the appeal. GearLab warns the ink can stain clothing, so keep light leggings off it for a while.

The Amazon Basics 1 Inch comes in aqua, black or rose, and those three colors are the only styling on offer.

Expect a smell from both. The Amazon Basics listing asks for at least 48 hours of airing in a ventilated space, while Gaiam wants two to three days. Neither contains latex. The Amazon listing calls its foam memory foam in one bullet and NBR in another, and we treat it as NBR. Gaiam also warns that long sun exposure fades the Reversible and turns it brittle.

Amazon Basics covers the pad for 1 year. Gaiam advertises a lifetime guarantee without publishing the terms. We’d expect it to cover a mat that fails early rather than one worn soft by use. Gaiam’s own 30-day window is only for gaiam.com orders still unopened and unused. The Amazon Basics listing’s roughly 970 durability mentions split about evenly, and soft NBR takes a permanent set under knees and hands.

Colors on both listings are priced differently, so check the Amazon Basics pad on Amazon and the Gaiam Reversible on Amazon before ordering. Gaiam sells the Reversible direct as well, at gaiam.com.

Buying both costs $78.38 at list, less than a single Manduka PROlite at $112, and that pair makes sense for anyone doing rehab work alongside a standing practice. To spend less, the half-inch Amazon Basics lists at $22.48 and rolls smaller, as our half-inch vs Premium Reversible page shows, and Gaiam’s plain Premium 6mm lists at $29.98 with a 62 from GearLab. We set that one against the inch-thick pad too.

Choose the Amazon Basics 1 Inch for floor work: rehab, core, stretching, anything done on your knees or back, especially on tile or concrete. It is far thicker, six inches longer and slightly cheaper. Plan a spot to store it.

Choose the Gaiam Premium Reversible if you do standing poses and the prints appeal. It is the one you can balance on, it packs into a normal mat bag, and it carries a lifetime guarantee. GearLab rated its grip and cushion weak, so keep your expectations modest.