Amazon Basics 1 Inch vs IUGA PU Mat: Which One Should You Buy?

The Amazon Basics 1 Inch Extra Thick lists at $38.40 and the IUGA Eco Friendly Non Slip at $66.99, a gap of $28.59. At that price the foam mat already costs more than half as much as the IUGA, so this is a smaller step than the category labels suggest.

What the step buys is a GearLab-tested yoga mat. The IUGA won the Best Value Upgrade award with 75 out of 100, eighth of 19, and GearLab describes it as the move up from a beginner mat for anyone unwilling to pay over $100. The Amazon Basics is 25.4 mm of NBR foam that GearLab has not tested.

The IUGA weighs 2.1 pounds, and GearLab’s scale agreed. The Amazon Basics weighs 4.6. GearLab calls the IUGA one of the lightest non-travel mats it tested and notes it comes with an adjustable carry strap. Amazon owners like that too: 132 of 151 weight mentions in the IUGA’s review summary are positive.

The foam is bulky as well as heavier, since an inch of NBR rolls into a thick cylinder. Its listing includes a carrying strap, but the strap collects 324 negative mentions against 220 positive. If the mat rides in a car or goes to class, the IUGA is the easy one to live with.

The IUGA’s comfort and support score from GearLab is 8. Its review says the cushion guards knees on hard floors yet stays firm for strength and balance work, which is the pairing a yoga class needs.

To score cushion, GearLab loaded a 40-pound cinder block onto each mat over a pen standing in for a bony joint, and its buying guide argues that density counts at least as much as thickness. Nobody has run the Amazon Basics through that.

Five millimeters has limits, though. For long kneeling on tile, a physio routine or core work on concrete, an inch of foam is far softer, and Amazon Basics owners talk about exactly that: joints that stop aching on hard floors, and no bruising after a workout.

Put your weight on one foot and soft NBR sinks more in some spots than others. At a full inch, that means a tree pose or warrior three spent correcting a surface that keeps moving, and plank has the same problem at the wrists.

The IUGA’s firmer cushion is what you want here. Comfort is the most praised aspect in its Amazon summary, 706 positive mentions to 97 negative, and one owner says they can hold poses better and don’t slip. If standing sequences are part of your practice, that alone points to the IUGA.

In GearLab’s wet and dry grip ratings the IUGA gets 8 dry and 7 wet, and its testers say the mat stays grippy when wet. The polyurethane top takes in a little sweat rather than letting it sit under your palms, so it copes with a warm room better than foam can.

Owners are divided on the foam’s grip, with a few more negative mentions than positive in Amazon’s summary, and one calls it not a good yoga mat because it slides. Sweat has nowhere to go on foam, so damp hands only make it worse.

The Amazon Basics was the number two seller in Amazon’s Yoga Mats category the day we looked, and its 4.6 star average covers roughly 70,700 ratings shared with the half inch model. Plenty of readers will have one on the floor already.

If that is you and standing yoga is what feels wrong on it, the IUGA is the kind of step up GearLab had in mind, and the foam does not need to go anywhere. Keep it for stretching and core days. Both list prices together come to $105.39, still well under a single Liforme at $165.

Neither mat has a clean record. Amazon Basics durability mentions run 470 positive to 498 negative, with tears and rips the main complaint. The IUGA’s run 89 to 78, and its summary describes wear within six months for some owners, peeling edges and a deteriorating middle.

GearLab scored the IUGA’s materials 7 out of 10 and thinks they outlast what the price implies, but durability concerns after a few years still makes its cons list. That fits a mat to replace every few years, not keep for a decade.

Coverage differs. Amazon Basics gives a one-year warranty. IUGA offers no warranty, and its 45-day return window leaves the return shipping to you.

Because the IUGA’s top is open-cell, it takes a while to dry, one of the two cons in GearLab’s award writeup, and sweatier yogis may need to clean it more often. Its care score is still 8 out of 10. IUGA calls the mat SGS-certified and odorless, but GearLab reports a strong smell at first.

The Amazon Basics has no natural rubber in it; its listing says it is latex-free and made without the phthalates and heavy metals it names. The IUGA’s rubber base rules it out for a latex allergy. Amazon asks for 48 hours or more of airing before the foam’s first use, and hand washing only.

The Amazon Basics is 74″ × 24″ in Aqua, Black or Rose. The IUGA is 72″ × 26″ in five colorways, and GearLab counts its size among the pros. Look up the Amazon Basics price and the IUGA price before you order, since both listings price each color on its own.

Retrospec makes a similar inch of foam, set against this IUGA in our IUGA vs Solana 1″ page. For half the foam at $22.48, see Amazon Basics 1/2 Inch vs IUGA.

Get the IUGA for yoga that includes standing poses, for sweaty sessions, or for a mat that leaves the house. It is steadier, grips when damp, weighs less than half as much and is 26 inches wide. Budget for a replacement after a few years.

The Amazon Basics 1 Inch is the better buy for kneeling, stretching, physio or core work, or when latex is off the table. It is far softer, costs $28.59 less and carries a one-year warranty.