No. Ear tips are not universal, and the reason trips up almost everyone: there are two separate fit questions, not one. Tip size (S, M, L) is about your ear. Tip mount, meaning the nozzle diameter and how the tip attaches, is about the earbud. A tip can be exactly the right size for your ear and still be wrong for your pair. Apple states it plainly in its own AirPods user guide: "Ear tips are not interchangeable between models." Before you buy replacement tips, you need to match the mount first and the size second.
I want to be clear about what this page is and is not. It is about whether a given tip physically fits a given pair of earbuds. It is not a guide to picking your size, and it is not a foam-versus-silicone argument about which sounds or feels better. Those are ear questions, and SoundGuys covers the sizing and material trade-offs in detail. This page is the compatibility half.
Sources here were read on August 24, 2026, and every specification is linked to the maker that published it. I have not heard, worn or measured any of the products named. Where nobody publishes a number, I say so rather than guess.
The two dimensions people mix up
Almost every argument about ear tips collapses once you split these apart.
| Tip size | Nozzle fit | |
|---|---|---|
| What it describes | How wide the tip is where it sits in your ear canal | How the tip attaches to the earbud |
| Whose measurement | Yours | The manufacturer's |
| Written as | XS, S, M, L, sometimes XXS or LL | A bore diameter in millimeters, or a proprietary mount |
| How you fix a mismatch | Try another size in the box | Buy tips made for that model, or you cannot fix it |
| Who publishes it | Everyone, on the box | Almost nobody, on consumer earbuds |
That bottom row is the whole problem. Sony's help guide for the WF-1000XM6, for example, lists four supplied sizes and color codes them: XS in red, S in orange, M in green and L in light blue, with the medium pair attached out of the box. That is useful, and it tells you nothing about whether a third-party tip will grip the same nozzle.
Third-party tip makers do publish the number, because they have to. Bloom Audio's SpinFit buying guide lists bore sizes model by model: 2mm for the CP800, 4mm for the CP100, 4.5mm for the CP145, 5.5mm for the CP155. That is a spread of nearly three millimeters inside a single brand's catalog. A tip line does not need that many variants unless the nozzles they attach to genuinely differ that much.
When an ear tip fits your earbuds and still fails
This is the part the "no, they are not universal" answers skip. Physical attachment is the floor, not the finish line. There are three ways past it.
1. It comes off
A tip that grips loosely can stay on the earbud in your hand and separate when you pull the earbud out of your ear. Sony's instructions for the WF-1000XM6 give a check for this: twist the tip to one side and confirm the stem of the tip completely covers the sound conduit on the headset. Sony also carries a plain warning that damaged tips, or parts of them, "may remain in your ear and cause injury or illness". That is the manufacturer's own language, and it is the reason a tip that is merely close enough is not good enough.
2. It breaks the seal
Sealed earbuds depend on the tip closing the canal. Where a tip is slightly undersized for the nozzle it sits on, it can sit skewed or leave the sound conduit partly uncovered. Sony's guidance for its recent models is to push the tip firmly onto the sound conduit and not to attach it in a loose or skewed manner. On earbuds with active noise cancellation, a broken seal usually shows up as the noise cancellation feeling weaker rather than as an obvious rattle, which is why people blame the earbuds instead of the tip.
3. The earbuds will not seat in the charging case
This is the failure almost nobody writes about, and it is the one that actually sends replacement tips back. True wireless earbuds have to sit in a molded well in the case, with contacts touching. Add a few tenths of a millimeter of tip wall, or a foam tip that expands after it has been in your ear, and the earbud sits high in the well.
Sony describes the consequence directly in its charging troubleshooting: "Make sure the headset units are stored securely in the supplied charging case. If the headset units are floating in the charging case, the headset units may not be charged." The buds look like they are in the case. The lid may even close. They come out flat the next morning.
Tip makers know it. Comply markets its AirPods Pro tips as "Made To Fit in Charging Case Without Interfering with Charging", which is only worth advertising because the opposite exists. In Comply's own FAQ the company says its memory foam expands after being worn and that "a slight squish of the tips as you put them into the charging case should allow the case to close and charging to occur without issue", noting it happens more with larger sizes. Bloom Audio's SpinFit guide is blunter about one of the true wireless models in that range, the Omni, warning that some charging cases may not be compatible with it.
So the real compatibility test has three parts, not one: does it mount, does it seal, and does the bud still dock. A product listing that only answers the first is answering a third of the question.
Friction fit or locking mount: how to tell which you have
Two different attachment designs are on sale, and the difference decides whether third-party tips are even a possibility.
Friction fit. The earbud has a protruding nozzle, sometimes called a sound conduit or sound output tube. The tip is a sleeve that stretches over it and stays by grip alone. Sony's models work this way, which is why the instructions talk about pushing the tip onto the sound conduit and checking the stem covers it. Friction-fit nozzles are the ones where a third-party tip has a chance, provided the bore matches.
Locking or lipped mount. The earbud has a recess, a lip or a bayonet, and the tip clicks into it. Apple's AirPods Pro are the well-known example: the guide says to "push the ear tip on from the base until you feel and hear it click into place" and to pull it straight out with steady pressure to remove it. SoundGuys describes the mechanism as a recessed ring around each driver unit that the tip clicks into, with the tip itself serving as the nozzle. A generic sleeve has nothing to grip on a mount like that.
Two-part fit systems. Some models split the job in two. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Fit Kit is sold as "Eartips (size S, M, L) and stability bands (size 1, 2, 3)", so the seal and the retention are separate parts in separate sizes. If your buds use a system like that, replacing only the tip changes only half of the fit.
Here is the quick check with the earbuds in your hand. Look at the business end. If you can see a tube standing proud of the body with the tip stretched over it, that is friction fit. If the tip appears to be the nozzle, or you had to feel a click when you seated it, that is a locking mount, and you buy tips made for that exact model or you buy nothing.
The same size letter does not mean the same tip
Two tips both marked M can differ in bore diameter, wall thickness, stem length and how much they expand. That matters for compatibility, not just comfort. A foam tip and a silicone tip at the same nominal size are not drop-in substitutes for each other on the same nozzle: the foam version has to hold on a stem that a stretched silicone sleeve grips differently, and it changes how the bud sits in the case, as above.
Comply's own advice is to start with the same size Comply tip as the stock silicone tip you already use, which is a tacit admission that the letters are a starting point rather than a standard. The company says it maintains a searchable tip finder covering, in its words, over 2,000 compatible devices, and invites people to submit a device request if theirs is missing. A catalog that big and that model-specific is what "not universal" looks like in practice.
The sharpest illustration is a single product line across one generation gap. Comply's memory foam tips for AirPods Pro state compatibility with generation 1 and 2, and the page carries an explicit notice that they are not compatible with AirPods Pro 3, pointing to a separate product instead. Same brand, same product family, one generation apart, different tip.
What I could not source, and it matters
Apple, Sony and Bose all publish tip sizes and fitting instructions. I could not find a published nozzle diameter in millimeters for any of their consumer earbuds in their own documentation, which is why the practical route is to shop by model name rather than by measurement. If you own calipers you can measure your own nozzle, but you are then matching your number against a tip maker's number, with no manufacturer figure to check either against.
I also found no statement from any of those makers telling buyers whether third-party tips will still allow the case to close. The only parties addressing that are the tip makers themselves, and they are describing their own products.
Before you buy replacement tips, check these five things
- Find the mount type. A protruding nozzle means friction fit. A click-in tip, or a tip that acts as the nozzle, means a proprietary mount, so buy model-specific.
- Shop by exact model and generation, never by brand family. Generation gaps break compatibility inside the same product line.
- Check the case explicitly. If the listing does not say the tips work with your charging case, treat that as unanswered.
- Match your current size as the starting point, then adjust. The letters are not a cross-brand standard.
- Confirm the seller lists your model by name. An unlisted model on a maker's compatibility finder is a no, not a maybe.
FAQ
Do AirPods Pro ear tips fit all AirPods Pro generations?
No. Apple's user guide states that ear tips are not interchangeable between models. As a third-party example, Comply lists its memory foam tips as compatible with AirPods Pro generation 1 and 2 and carries an explicit notice that they are not compatible with AirPods Pro 3.
Can I put foam tips on any earbuds that came with silicone ones?
Only where the foam tip maker lists your exact model. Foam and silicone tips at the same nominal size are built differently around the nozzle, and foam expands after wear, which is why Comply's FAQ discusses tips needing a squeeze to let a charging case close.
Why will my charging case not close, or not charge, since I changed tips?
Because the earbud is probably sitting high in its well rather than fully seated. Sony's own troubleshooting says that if the headset units are floating in the charging case, they may not charge. Refit the tip fully, and if the bud still sits proud, the tips are wrong for that case.
Are S, M and L the same across brands?
No. There is no cross-brand size standard, and supplied ranges differ: Sony's WF-1000XM6 ships XS to L with color coding, while other lines offer a different spread. Comply advises starting with the same size as your stock tips rather than assuming a letter transfers.
How do I know if my earbuds use a locking tip mount?
Look at the nozzle. If a tube stands proud of the body and the tip stretches over it, it is friction fit. If the tip clicks on, or the tip itself forms the nozzle, the mount is proprietary and only tips made for that model will work.
Sources checked August 24, 2026: Apple AirPods user guide, Sony WF-1000XM6 and WF-1000XM5 help guides, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds Fit Kit product page, Comply Foam product and FAQ pages, Bloom Audio's SpinFit guide, SoundGuys. No product named on this page has been heard, worn or measured by this site.