You only get one pair of ears, so it’s a good idea to look after them—and a good set of earplugs can come in handy in all kinds of situations. A proper set is a much better solution for blocking out noise during the night than a pillow over the head and is more comfortable than headphones. What you’re looking for in earplugs really depends on what you want them to do. When you’re sleeping, for example, comfort is paramount. Plus, you need an indiscriminate approach to blocking out snores, traffic noise, or a car alarm down the street.
If you’re watching a band play live, though, you want to maintain as much fidelity as possible and just cut out the frequencies that might be harmful to your hearing. The average concert pumps out about 100 decibels, but if you’ve ever seen My Bloody Valentine you’ll know some bands seem to have a personal vendetta against your ears—and continuous exposure to sounds over 85 dB can cause permanent damage to your hearing. That means it’s not possible to pick out one pair of earplugs that’ll work in every situation. Instead, we’ve picked several that satisfy different needs.
Our current top picks, the Loop Quiet and Earpeace Pro, are both excellent passive pairs of earplugs with slightly different purposes. The Loop Quiet are great for sleep, because they aim to entirely block out the outside world, while the Earpeace Pro are designed to evenly lower the sound of the world around you for when you’re in loud environments but still want to hear.
Be sure to check out our other buying guides, like the Best Sleep Gadgets, Best Wireless Earbuds, Best Wireless Headphones, and Gifts for People Who Need a Good Night’s Sleep.
Updated April 2025: We added the GOB mycelium earplugs, Ozlo Sleepbuds, Soundcore by Anker A20, QuietOn 4, and Apple AirPods Pro.
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Photograph: Loop
Best for Sleep
Loop Quiet
There are no prizes for guessing where Loop earplugs got their name from—but the circular design is a long way from being purely aesthetic. The Loop Quiet look almost identical to Loop’s similar Experience earplugs, but there are two crucial differences: With no acoustic filter, they’re capable of blocking out more noise—27 dB rather than 18—and they’re made entirely from soft silicone, including the round protrusion that sits almost at right angles to the interchangeable tip. That means they fit right inside the concha of your ear, entirely flush with your head, so when you lie on your side there is very little force applied to the earplug and also less chance of inadvertently knocking them loose. That makes the Loop Quiet the most comfortable earplugs for sleeping.
The loop itself is made of silicone, but it’s still rigid enough that putting the earplugs in or taking them out is easy. They feel nice and snug when in situ without giving you that bunged-up feeling that comes with some pairs. You get four different-sized sets of ear tips (though actually changing the ear tips can be a pain), and the whole thing is washable in warm water. They even come in six colors, so you can match them to your bedsheets.
There is a newer pair called the Quiet 2 which feature a smaller shape and allegedly more comfortable fit. We’ve kept the original Quiet as our top pick until we test those, but they’re like a good option, especially for folks with smaller ears.
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Photograph: EarPeace
Best for Concerts
NPR Music x Earpeace Pro
I recently went to see my wife’s favorite band, and the opener was a doom-metal duo with full stacks of amplifiers. I grabbed some foam earplugs from the bar, but I’d have fared much better if I’d had the Earpeace Music Pros on my keychain.
These NPR-backed earplugs fit perfectly in my ears and come with a small aluminum carrying case. They’re super comfortable and can pull a solid 13 decibels from noisy signals—often the difference between some hearing damage and none—in a way that doesn’t suck all the high end out of the sound. Don’t just take my word for it. Legendary NPR music critic Bob Boilen says he has worn his at thousands of shows.