A series of laboratory tests are conducted with circular plate (model footing) rested on surfaces of different foundations. Foundations are configured with unreinforced and reinforced sand (Dr = 80%) of varied thicknesses overlying a wide range of clay subgrades, from very soft (cu = 7 kPa) to stiff (cu = 60 kPa). The ‘reinforced layers’ are comprised of an interface geogrid, geocell, and combinations of geocell–geogrid of different thicknesses. The study observed improved performances of foundations (w.r.t. load bearing capacity and reduction in footing settlements) with increasing reinforcement superiority, such as geocell–geogrid > geocell > geogrid > unreinforced soils. However, the reinforcement benefits are reduced with an increase in clay stiffness and thickness of overlying sand layers. The model tests showed a maximum of about 12 times improvements in bearing capacity with the geocell–geogrid combination, whereas the reduction in footing settlement was found in the range of 60–90%, depending on foundation configurations. The findings have provided an excellent insight to indicate the applicability of different reinforcements in varying combinations and configurations with respect to footing settlement, layer thickness, and the subgrade condition (stiffness).