Aylio makes exactly two cushions, and each clears a different point of contact — one the tailbone, the other the two sit bones just forward of it. So the choice between them comes down to where you hurt.
The five-second version
Where does it hurt?
Tailbone territory. The coccyx cushion’s U-cutout takes the seat away from that one midline point, and your sit-bone width plays no part in whether it fits. How the coccyx cushion works · See it on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
Sit-bone territory. The Socket Seat’s two openings, 6″ apart, take the seat away from both bones — if your spacing lands in its range, which takes a minute to check. Check your fit · See it on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
Start with whichever hurts first when you sit down. Each cushion clears one of the two, and the rule for choosing is just below in when both spots hurt.
Neither shape reaches that. A chair does not press on the side of the hip, and a deep one-sided ache in the cheek points elsewhere too — see hip bursitis and piriformis before buying foam of any shape.
Sit down and point at the pain. One spot, on the midline — that is tailbone territory, and you want the coccyx cushion (opens in a new tab). Two spots, left and right, under the bones that press into a hard bench — that is sit-bone territory, and you want the Socket Seat. If you are not sure which description fits, tailbone pain vs sit-bone pain walks through telling them apart properly.
What each one removes
Both cushions work on the same principle — remove material where you do not want contact, keep firm support where you do — and they aim it at different anatomy.
The coccyx cushion cuts a U-shaped channel out of the rear edge. The tailbone hangs over that gap and touches nothing, while the sit bones and thighs stay fully supported on the foam. Sit-bone spacing plays no part in how it fits, which is why it has no measurement step. The coccyx cushion page covers the shape in detail.
The Socket Seat does the reverse: two contoured openings, each 3.5″ wide with centers 6″ apart and 2.5″ of foam bridging them, suspend the sit bones over open space — plus a groove at the rear that keeps the tailbone clear as a secondary benefit. Because the openings are fixed, it fits a measurable range of bodies: run the 60-second fit check before buying this one.
| Coccyx cushion | Socket Seat | |
|---|---|---|
| Unloads | The tailbone (midline, rear) | The two sit bones |
| How | U-channel at the rear edge — nothing touches the coccyx | Twin openings under the sit bones, rear tailbone groove |
| Fit requirement | No measurement step — sit-bone spacing is irrelevant to a midline channel | Sit-bone width roughly 3.6″–6.7″ — check yours |
| Feel | Firm foam | Firm high-density foam, expect a few days’ adjustment period |
| Track record | 14,000+ Amazon ratings | 4.3 stars across 4,500+ Amazon ratings |
When both spots hurt
Go by the primary complaint. If the sit bones are the main event and the tailbone is a secondary irritation, the Socket Seat covers both — the rear groove exists for exactly that case. If the tailbone is the real problem and the sit bones are merely tired of hard chairs, the coccyx cushion is the better-shaped tool: its full bed of foam under the sit bones is a feature there, not a compromise.
What we would steer you away from is buying either one for the other one’s job. Twin openings do nothing extra for a midline problem, and a rear channel does nothing for two points that sit well forward of it. The shapes are honest about their jobs; the buyer has to be too.
Tailbone-first
The U-cutout coccyx cushion — the tailbone touches nothing. 14,000+ Amazon ratings.
Sit-bones-first
The Socket Seat — twin openings, tailbone groove, 100-day trial. Run the fit check first. 4.3 stars across 4,500+ Amazon ratings.