How Much Does a Murphy Bed Cost?
What moves the price
Four things, roughly in order: size, the lifting mechanism, the cabinet materials and what is built around the bed. A queen costs more than a twin. Piston mechanisms generally sit in mid-range and premium beds. Solid wood costs more than laminate over MDF. And a desk, sofa or side cabinets can add more than the size jump does.
The cheap path: build the cabinet yourself
Hardware kits sell you the mechanism and plans. You buy lumber locally and build the cabinet. Kit prices are in the table below, and the DIY guide walks the build. If you want the savings without the sawdust, freestanding cabinet beds are the middle option: real furniture, no wall anchoring, typically less than a comparable wall bed from the same tier.
Every price we track
Swipe sideways to see every spec →
Specs read from manufacturer pages. Each bed's page lists its source and check date. “—” means not yet sourced, never guessed.
Frequently asked questions
Why are murphy beds so expensive?
You are paying for a lifting mechanism engineered to hold a mattress safely for thousands of cycles, plus a cabinet built to hide it. The mechanism is the cost floor. That is also why DIY kits are cheaper: you supply the cabinet labor and lumber yourself.
Is a murphy bed cheaper than a sofa bed?
Usually no. A decent sofa bed costs less up front. The murphy bed buys you a real mattress and a real nightly sleep, which is why it wins for rooms used as bedrooms more than a few nights a month.
What does installation add to the cost?
Most beds we track are designed for self-assembly, and the assembly time row on each bed page shows the manufacturer estimate where published. Wall-mounted models need secure anchoring into studs. If you hire that out, the labor is priced locally and is not a number we can verify, so we do not publish one.