The list in brief
1. Best for most people
2. Best budget
3. Best robot vacuum + mop
4. Best for pet hair
6. Best for big homes
7. Another top vac-mop
How to choose
How we tested
Investing in one of the best robot vacuum cleaners can save you a huge amount of time and effort. They're designed to run around your home, using sensors to make sure they cover the whole floor area. They are perfect for regular, low-level cleaning, and because most can be programmed remotely, you can set them to run when you're out of the house, for minimal disruption and inconvenience. Increasingly, we're seeing models that mop as well as as vacuum, for a more versatile clean.
While there are some robovacs in our best vacuum cleaner guide, these are rather different to your regular, person-powered vacuum. For one, they're typically more expensive (although there are good deals to be had), and tend to offer a little less suction power compared regular vacuums. Some can struggle with corners and getting close to the edges of rooms, and, although their capabilities are growing, they still can't cope with stairs. If you need something for tricky spaces and multi-level homes, you're better off consulting our best cordless vacuum cleaner guide.
We test robot vacuum cleaners in real homes, assessing not just how well they clean, but how easy they are set up and operate, and whether there are any little niggles that'll become annoying. That means we can say with confidence: these are the best robot vacuum cleaners you can buy today.
Best robot vacuum cleaners: quick List
Best for most people
This works with the key smart speakers, and comes with an easy-to-use app and superb obstacle detection. We found that it vacuumed and mopped better than its rivals.
Best budget option
If you're looking for a robot vacuum on a budget, this is has a reasonable price and is often discounted. You’ll be hard pushed to find a rival that's such good value for money.
Best mop-vac combo
Lots of robovacs have a mop function, but it can be an afterthought. This Ecovacs model is the best 2-in-1 robot vacuum and mop, with impressive hot water cleaning capabilities.
Best for pet hair
With the impressive mapping tech and smart assistant integration, as well as a useful self-empty feature, the Roomba i7+ is perfect for picking up after hairy pets.
Best for big homes
TP-Link's Tapo RV30 Plus vacuums, mops and empties itself into one of the largest dust bags of any robovac brand. Its vacuum is better than its mop but it's still a great and quiet device.
Best for hard floors
The Clean X9 Pro has excellent mopping, intelligent mapping with an easy-to-use app, and a base station that cleans the mop pads between uses. The vacuuming isn't so good, making it best suited to homes with hard floors.
The best robot vacuum for most people
The Roomba Combo J7 Plus comes with something iRobot calls the P.O.O.P. promise. It's short for Pet Owner Official Promise and it means that if this Roomba robot encounters pet waste and doesn't avoid it, they'll replace your entire robot.
It shouldn't come to that, however, because this iRobot has very effective obstacle detection and avoidance. We found that it vacuumed very well and mopped much better than many combination models, but we did have some problems with dry spillages such as oats: with those, the brush attachment threw them around rather than brushing them. up.
The Roomba works with all the key smart speakers and its app is both intelligent and easy to use. It maps your floorplan and enables you to create specific cleaning zones, and it's constantly checking and learning: it'll send you a notification if it thinks a particular space needs more attention.
The Roomba is mainly very quiet but the self-emptying feature is a loud 90dB, albeit only for ten to thirty seconds. And that's our only real niggle about an otherwise excellent robot vacuum and mopper; it's not the cheapest, though, so it's worth looking out for special offers and discounts.
Read our full iRobot Roomba Combo J7 plus review
The best budget robot vacuum
If you're looking for a robot vacuum on a budget, the Eufy 11S is worth considering. At list price, it costs $229.99, which is significantly less than any other robovac on our list. Unfortunately, at time of writing it doesn't seem to be available in the UK any more.
Despite the very low price, we were impressed with the performance here. In our tests, the Eufy picked up dry oats from a medium-pile carpet and a hard floor with ease, as well as making quick work of a finer dust made from flour and cookies on a hard floor. The shallow profile means it has no problems cleaning under furniture with low clearance. Like many robot vacuums, however, the Eufy isn't quite so impressive on carpets.
The main difference between this Eufy and pricier robots – including ones from the same brand – is in the software. There's no app control or integration with smart speakers, and it doesn't take the same logical path around the home when cleaning as other more expensive Eufy models do. Sometimes it’ll go in straight lines and sometimes seek out the edges of a room, and on occasion, it’ll travel in circles, which means it may take slightly longer to clean the whole room or floor. We also found that it wasn't always great at moving around objects such as deep-pile rugs, piano pedals, and pet food bowls.
If you're looking for the ultimate in AI-powered cleaning this Eufy isn't it. But if you want a cheap, cheerful and pretty effective robot vacuum, it's hard to beat at this price.
Read our full Eufy RoboVac 11s review
The best robot vacuum and mop combo
Although plenty of our robot vacuum picks have a mop function, the Ecovacs DEEBOT T20 is our top pick if great vacuuming and great mopping is your priority. The USP here is that the DEEBOT T20 offers hot water mop pad washing – the mopping pads apply downward pressure and spin, meaning they'll actually scrub the floors clean. In our tests, we found this function very effective.
An unfortunate side-effect is that the process creates a lot of dirty water, and the tanks will need regular emptying. However, if you live in a home with lots of hard floors, it might well be worth it. We found it fairly quiet to run, and were also impressed with the mapping and obstacle avoidance. However, like most robot vacuums, the edge cleaning could be improved.
The self-empty charging base includes two 4-liter tanks for clean and dirty water, which are used not only for mopping but also for cleaning the mop pads. As a result, it's pretty bulky, at 22.5 inches tall (57cm) and 17 inches wide (43cm), so not one for small homes.
Read our full Ecovacs DEEBOT T20 Omni review
The best robot vacuum for pet hair
As much as we love our four-legged pals, we don't love cleaning up their hair or the mess they make. So we really like this Roomba, which excels at cleaning up after your pets. It boasts advanced mapping technology and Alexa and Google Assistant integration, and has a self-empty base, which means you're barely required to lift a finger.
The high-capacity dust bags typically need replacing every 30 days (which does represent a quite annoying ongoing cost). If you're on a tight budget, you can buy it without the self-emptying base (that version is the i7 without the plus), but we wouldn't recommend cutting that corner if you have hairy or shaggy dogs: the reason we think this is such a good choice for pet owners is because its automatic emptying solves one of the big problems of vacuuming up after pets, which is the sheer amount of hair they manage to shed.
This writer's greyhound isn't exactly hairy, yet somehow she seems to shed her own body weight in fur every couple of days, so we're constantly vacuuming it up and traipsing to the bin. This Roomba does that for you. The use of bags also helps reduce the presence of dog dander and other potential irritants, which is handy if anyone in the household suffers from allergies. (We have a separate, dedicated guide to the best robot vacuums for pet hair, if that's your priority.)
This Roomba doesn't quite match the suction power of its more expensive siblings, and in our tests we found that we tended to get the best results when we activated the dual-pass feature, which retraces its steps to vacuum an area twice. That's particularly handy for pet hair, which can be tricky to catch in a single sweep. At around 65dB it's nice and quiet, although the self-emptying system is much louder at around 82dB for the 10 to 30 seconds it takes to complete.
The i7 doesn't seem to be part of the current US line, although it's still available from third party retailers at time of writing.
Read our full iRobot Roomba i7+ review
The best robot vacuum cleaner for big homes
The Tapo RV30 Plus can vacuum, mop and then self-empty its dustbin into one of the biggest dust bags that we've seen in any robot vacuum cleaner brand. That means it needs replacing less frequently, which could save you money in the long run.
Paired with the Tapo app, this is a pretty accomplished robot vacuum, especially thanks to features like no-mop zones to customized cleaning routines. These mean that if you have mixed floor types, the RV30 can be instructed to avoid certain zones if the mop plate is still attached. You can vacuum a space up to three times, meaning you will have a clean floor when it’s done.
Mopping is good rather than great: there’s no agitation here like there is with some other robot vacuum cleaners. But overall it's an impressive package and that large capacity makes it particularly well suited to bigger homes. However, at time of writing it didn't seem to be available in the US.
Read our full TP-Link Tapo RV30 Plus review
Another top robot vacuum and mop
The Eufy Clean X9 Pro is another excellent 2-in-1 vacuum and mop. On test, we found its mopping ability especially impressive – it was able to pick up all sorts of sticky messes on our reviewer's floors, and its self-cleaning base station washes and dries the mopping pads so that they’re cleaning your floors instead of spreading messes around.
We'd recommend this robot vacuum more to those with hard floors, because the vacuum function is good but not amazing. It copes fine with light debris, but can't handle larger messes. Perplexingly, it doesn’t self-empty so you’ll have to take care of the dustbin from time to time, too. The app is easy and intuitive to use, there's voice assistant support, and intelligent mapping means you can easily send it to certain rooms or zones to clean.
Read our full Eufy Clean X9 Pro review
How to choose the best robot vacuum for you
There are several things to think about when you want to find the best robot vacuum cleaner for you.
As well as deciding whether you want a robovac that just vacuums or one that mops, it’s also important to consider battery life, as nobody wants a robot vacuum that runs out of power halfway through cleaning your home. If you have a lot of floor space to clean, look for robot vacuums that have large dust canisters or those that empty their dust bins, meaning it really can be left to clean your floors unaided.
Some robot vacuums take a methodical path across your floors, ensuring the vacuuming process is quick and efficient. However, these tend to be more expensive than robot vacuums that employ a random route when cleaning your floors.
Also, look for a smart mapping feature that ensures the robot vacuum learns the layout of your home and can clean specific rooms or areas at the touch of a button, and those that allow you to set no-go areas that the robot vacuum won’t even attempt to clean - ideal if you have teenagers, which leave their clothes all over their bedroom floor.
Frequently asked questions
Are robot vacuums worth it?
Yes. We're not going to pretend that robot vacuums aren't often more expensive than upright or cordless vacuums – but they're often smarter too, and of course part of what you're paying for is the convenience of not having to do the vacuuming yourself or worry about how often you should vacuum. Robot vacuums are an excellent solution for busy people who don’t have time to put the vacuum around. And they also offer a good alternative for those with mobility issues because all you need to do is switch them on. And we know some happy buyers with ADHD who've found their scheduling abilities to be real game changers. With many robot vacuums suitable for programming from your phone, you’ll be able to switch these devices on when you’re out and about and come home to clean floors.
Most robot vacuums cope well with hardwood floors and carpeted areas, but they don't do stairs – so you'll still need something to deal with that if your home isn't on just one level.
How much does a robot vacuum cost?
Robot vacuum cleaners can cost anything from between $200 / £150 for models such as the Eufy RoboVac 11S to well over $1000 / £1000 for models such as the iRobot Roomba S9+.
How much you spend depends on your budget and your must-haves in a robot vacuum cleaner. As a rule of thumb, the more features and functions a robot has, the more expensive it will be. This doesn't mean that the performance you are getting with a robot vacuum will be any less, though.
It's also worth remembering that robot vacuums often feature very heavily during big sales events such as Amazon's Prime Day, Black Friday, the January sales and so on. So it's a very good idea to keep an eye out for deals.
Do robot vacuums work on pet hair?
Like other types of vacuums, many of the best robot vacuums on this list and other models we've tested are effective at collecting pet hair, fine dust, and larger debris from floors.
Designs that offer a Boost or Turbo mode are ideal if you have thick-pile carpets or rugs as they ensure you can temporarily increase the suction power, ensuring no fur remains after cleaning.
The best models to choose are ones that have rubber brushes that are free from bristles, so the pet hair doesn't get trapped around them. Although that's not to say robot vacuums with bristled brush bars aren't as effective at collecting the hair. If you choose one of these, look for a design with a tool to help remove pet (or human) hair that's got tangled to make your life easier.
Can a robot vacuum replace a normal vacuum?
Robot vacuums can offer a very impressive clean, even on thick carpets, making them an excellent alternative to upright or other vacuums. They'll be more convenient too as you can set them to work when you're busy doing other things. In addition, the dust cups on robot vacuums are often smaller than you'd expect to find on a canister or an upright vacuum cleaner.
While robot vacuums don't have crevice tools that work well down the side of your sofa or stairs, these machines usually have small brushes on the outside of their shells. The brushes do an excellent job of getting close to baseboards and ensuring that any crumbs or dirt on hard floors don't escape the vacuum's suction. However, as of yet, they can't clean the stairs.
Read more on this subject by reading can a robot vacuum replace your existing vacuum cleaner?
How do robot vacuums work?
Robot vacuums have a series of brushes on the underside of the machine that work together to collect dirt and dust that they come in contact with. The dirt is then sucked into the dust cup, which is fitted into the vacuum's body. Most are equipped with smaller brushes that extend past the circumference of the vacuum, and the purpose of these is to reach dirt that's settled against baseboards or in awkward places.
More advanced robot vacuums have lasers on the front of the machine and some on the underside of the device too. These lasers detect where furniture, objects, and edges are in your home, helping avoid bumps, and cliff detection prevents the machine from falling down the stairs. Read our article on how do robot vacuums work to find out more.
What is the best robot vacuum?
After reviewing all ten robot vacuum cleaners in this guide, our number one is the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus. Combo means it's also a robot mopper, which makes it great for homes with tiled or other hard floors as well as carpets or rugs.
The Roomba works with all the key smart speakers and its app is both intelligent and easy to use. It maps your floorplan and enables you to create specific cleaning zones, and it's constantly checking and learning: it'll send you a notification if it thinks a particular space needs more attention.
Like its recent Roomba siblings the Combo J7 Plus is usually very quiet but the self-emptying feature is a loud 90dB, albeit only for ten to thirty seconds. But that's our only real niggle about an otherwise excellent robot vacuum and mopper that we think is the best option for most buyers.
How we tested these robot vacuums
To identify the best robot vacuums, we put models from big brands such as Shark, Dyson, and Roomba to the test and smaller names, including Eufy and Roborock. We evaluate the dirt pick-up of each model covering fine dust and cookie crumbs, along with larger particles, including cereal, while also looking at whether its pick-up on edges and crevices is as good as on large surface areas.
As well as assessing how effectively the robot vacuums clean floors, we also compare how easily they maneuver on the carpet and hard floors, as well as whether the robovac takes a logical path around a home or cleans in a random pattern means you could easily miss areas. We also looked for robot vacuums that can learn the layout of your home, meaning they can be dispatched to clean a particular room or space in just a few taps.
We rate each robot vacuum on how easy it was to empty, how loud it was in use, and how long the battery lasted between charges.
