The best cheap robot vacuums are a great alternative to the high-end models packed with features that'll significantly lighten your wallet. These budget-friendly options keep the basics intact, so you get good cleaning performance and the convenience of a robot cleaner.
We tested a wide range of robot vacuums to find value cleaners that punch well above their weight in performance for the low price. We put each machine through separate lab tests on both hard floors and carpet to earn a cleaning score.
Our overall winner was the iLife V3s Pro that came tops for excellent hardwood cleaning and pet hair removal. Or if you want a smart vac, the iRobot Roomba Combo J5+ is an budget mop and vacuum with impressive mapping and voice command.
Here are our best cheap robot vacuum picks that will leave your floors spotless.
The quick list
Affordable, effective, and simple to use, the Life V3s Pro is the best cheap robot vacuum for most people. It collected 99.5% of pet hair in our tests and achieved an overall cleaning score of 97%. This robot vacuum utilizes a 3-inch opening rather than a typical brush bar in order to collect more debris at one time. It excels on hardwood floors but is capable on carpets, too. The remote control included in the box makes it easy to send the bot out with a press of a button, so you don’t need to worry about Wi-Fi connectivity.
This Roomba model is a great-value hybrid robot vacuum, capable of cleaning up a variety of home debris and giving it a quick wet clean to remove surface level dirt. We were impressed with it's effectiveness, but also it's integration with the iRobot app for mapping, scheduling and voice-based controls.
Roomba's cheapest robot vacuum still provides some premium features. Its automatic dirt detection more thoroughly cleans the rooms that need it, while the iRobot app will make seasonal recommendations to fight off pollen or dirt. In addition to advanced scheduling and remote controls, this bot also features Wi-Fi connectivity and voice control via Alexa or Google Assistant. It scored 89.7% for its cleaning performance.
The best cheap robot vacuums you can buy today
Best cheap robot vacuum overall
The iLife V3s Pro has been around for many years, but it's effective mix of affordability and performance has kept it at the top of the best cheap robot vacuums despite the more recent and feature-packed competition.
The V3s Pro performs especially well on bare surfaces, such as hardwood floors and tile, but works well on thinner rugs, too. Unlike most robot vacuums we’ve seen, the V3s Pro collects debris using a powerful 3-inch wide suction opening instead of a brush roll. This is why it's also one of the best robot vacuums for pet hair.
You can't control this bump-and-clean robot vacuum from your smart phone or speaker since it doesn't have an app for a Wi-Fi connection. The only way to control it is while you're home via the included IR remote or onboard buttons. This is ideal if you’re skittish about internet-connected home devices and security.
The random cleaning pattern of the V3s Pro means it might miss a few tighter spots like around the legs of a chair or table. However, if you’re willing to keep an eye on this bot while it’s cleaning, the iLife V3s Pro is an incredible value that will keep your floors both debris and fur-free.
- Read our full iLife V3s Pro review
Best smart cheap robot vacuum
The iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ is a reworked version of the more expensive iRobot Roomba j7+. Both are hybrid robot vacuums (so they vacuum and mop) but the main difference between them is that the j7+ automatically retracts the mopping arm if it detects carpet — the j5+ does not.
Instead, if you want the j5+ to switch between tasks, you need to manually switch the dustbin and mop bin. It's not the most time-consuming task, but it's one of the small tradeoffs you make when looking at cheap robot vacuums.
But it does have a self-emptying base, and it plays well with iRobot's companion app, so you can schedule cleans, create maps and draw no-go zones. Plus, we gave the robot vacuum's voice-based controls a try and they worked perfectly every time.
The most important aspect though is how it cleans, and it performs admirably for the price. It vacuums well and deals with a variety of debris with relative ease, although it wasn't quite as effective with pet hair on hard wood floor.
However, it is worth keeping in mind that this isn't a full mopping robot vacuum. It won't spray solution or cleaning materials, but instead uses a wet pad to remove surface level dirt. But for the money, this is an excellent option.
- Read our full iRobot Roomba Combo j5+ review
Best cheap robot vacuum for automation
iRobot's Roomba 675 serves as the company’s entry-level robot vacuum but offers many of the same smart features as the best Roombas. This budget bump-and-clean model can controlled even while you're away from home thanks to its Wi-Fi connectivity.
The iRobot Home app gives this budget vacuum advanced automation features. These include geofencing which triggers vacuum runs when you leave your house and seasonal cleaning recommendations.
Though it doesn’t follow a predictable serpentine cleaning pattern, we did observe it methodically making its way along baseboards and around chair legs, and we were pretty pleased with its automatic dirt detection.
When the robot vacuum decides an area has excessive dirt or debris, it’ll spin around and clean that section more thoroughly with more passes. Roomba's budget bot also proved to be a capable performer in our lab tests, where it earned an overall average pickup score of 89.7.
The Roomba 675’s one weak spot was pet hair pickup, so if you’ve got furry friends, the iLife V3s Pro is the better option. If you can’t find it, check out its replacement, the Roomba 694, which offers nearly identical performance but lacks a carrying handle.
- Read our full iRobot Roomba 675 review
Best hybrid cheap robot vacuum
The iLife V5s Pro is an impressive hybrid robot vacuum that can mop floor and rid your home of pet hair. It has a water tank and microfiber pad for light floor mopping, so don't expect it to remove layers of dirt on each outing.
What we really liked about this cheap robot vacuum is how it excels at quietly picking up after furry family members. It’s a no-frills bump-and-clean bot that works by bouncing off walls and other obstacles, but we found that it did so gently, slowing down just before impact. In our lab tests, the V5s Pro earned high marks, averaging 99.1 on our cereal test and 97.3 on our pet hair test.
Unlike some more expensive hybrids, you can’t vacuum and mop simultaneously. Instead, you have to switch out the dustbin for a water reservoir and snap on a microfiber pad to the robot’s underside by hand.
While the V5s Pro’s mopping ability won’t have you tossing your manual mop in the trash, its water-only cleaning is just enough to make the floors look presentable before company arrives.
- Read our full iLife V5s Pro review
Best cheap robot vacuum with self-empty base
Shark's IQ robot vacuum comes with an auto-emptying charging dock so you won't even know it's there. From the Shark app you can name rooms, set invisible boundaries, and schedule cleaning times.
Our tester timed it to clean while away from home and only dealt with it to empty out its bagless dust bin every other month. Of course, you can always send it out to specific areas as needed through the app or with your smart home assistant. The command "Alexa, tell Shark to clean my kitchen" proved to be helpful for our messy cook of a tester.
During tested, we were impressed with its accurate room mapping and thorough row cleaning pattern with some of the highest scores for pet hair and kitty litter. Shark's strong suction power accurately pulled debris out from hard-to-reach spaces and didn't struggle with the most granular material types like kitty litter.
Even when it blew over some cat fur over in an initial pass, the machine made sure to nab it as it made its way down nearby rows. Once it finishes cleaning, the IQ backs itself into its bagless base and connects to a hose that sucks out and stores all of the debris for up to 45 days of passive cleaning.
- Read our full Shark IQ review
How we test the best cheap robot vacuums
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
All of the robot vacuums we review are subjected to both our lab tests and in-home, real world use over several days. The test results, user experience, price, and features relative to competing models weigh into our overall rating.
Our lab tests are three separate tests run twice – once on hardwood and once on low pile carpet. In a 5-foot-by-5-foot area, we measure how effective each vacuum is at picking up 2 grams of dog hair, 20 grams of kitty litter, and 20 grams of Cheerios cereal.
As long as the dog hair is collected by some part of the robot vacuum, such as the side brush or main brush roll, it’s counted. Older models were subject to the same tests, but in a larger 15-foot-by-15-foot area.
Real world testing isn’t as rigid as our lab tests, though we test all of the features in each vacuum. Most commonly, this includes mapping out the first floor of the reviewer’s home and evaluating it for accuracy. This also includes how easy or hard it is to make map adjustments, such as room divisions and drawing no-go zones. We also look at the dustbin: Is it hard to access? How much force is needed to open the dustbin? Does dust go flying everywhere? How easy is it to clean the brush roll, side brush, and wheels?
Household terrain is also considered. Does the robot vacuum get caught up on small rugs? Is it able to cross a common threshold? Does it get stuck in a maze of dining room chairs? How about under the couch? These are just some of the questions we answer when evaluating each robot vacuum.
How to choose the best cheap robot vacuum
Robot vacuums start from as little as $100, but can go as high as over $1,500, so prices really do vary depending on the included features. Once you’ve got a budget in mind, you need to consider exactly what you need from your robot vacuum.
You should first take account of the predominant floor type in your home — is your home wall-to-wall carpets or is it mostly hard floors? Next think about pets — will your robot have to deal with shedding and potential obstacles such as pet poop? Some of the entry-level models don’t feature obstacle detection, which is important if you face this problem!
You should also think about connectivity. Would you rather program the robot vacuum on-board, via a remote, or using your smartphone or voice control? Wi-Fi connected robot vacuum cleaners are more affordable these days, but they’re still the more expensive option compared to non-connected models.
Finally, whichever robot vacuum you choose, remember that it’s going to need occasional maintenance. This means emptying the dustbin after each cycle, and cleaning as well as replacing the filter when necessary. If the brush bar becomes wrapped in hair or fur, that will need cutting free as well. Here are robot vacuum tips and tricks for keeping your home clean.
Bear in mind that self-emptying bases, which have become more commonplace as of late, will likely be off the table if you're shopping on a budget. You need to be prepared to spend $350+ to get one of these.
FAQs
Why are some robot vacuums so cheap?
While you can find some bad cheap robot vacuums, the main reason that the best cheap robot vacuums are available at a reasonable price is that they focus on the basics, and not the additional smart features you find on premium models.
This means you typically won't find self-emptying bases, live streaming, or AI analysis on budget models, but if you don't need these kind of features, then you can pick up a cheap robot vacuum to keep your house clean without breaking the bank.
Depending on the model and brand you land on, you do still get access to app-based controls, no-go zones and mapping. Plus, several will return to their charging bases automatically. But when we test a cheap robot vacuum, the main thing we look out for is performance; if it does the cleaning job well, that's the most important aspect.
