Cheapest robot vacuum buying guide: six checks before you pay the lowest price

What are the cheapest robot vacuums today?

These are the ten cheapest models on sale today at a shop that delivers to you, delivery included, each with its place in our ranking or a note that no test has ranked it:

Every model from the cheapest up, with the cheapest of each station type, is on our page of the cheapest robot vacuums. The list changes every day with the prices, so the names above can differ tomorrow.

How much does a station add to the price?

Most of what a robot vacuum costs is its station. A robot with only a charging dock is the cheapest, an auto-empty station that sucks the dustbin empty costs more, and an all-in-one station that also washes and dries the mop costs the most. This is how the prices lie today:

A station saves work, not dirt: the robot itself cleans no better for it. If you do not mind emptying a small dustbin after every run, the cheapest type is the one to start from. What each type costs, and why, is in our guide to what a robot vacuum costs.

What do you give up on a cheap robot vacuum?

The lowest prices buy the same basic job, sucking up dust and crumbs, with less around it. These are the five things a cheap robot most often leaves out:

• Navigation by laser or camera. A cheap robot often drives by a gyroscope or at random, so it cannot clean one room alone, misses spots and takes longer.
• A station. Without one you empty the dustbin by hand, often after every run.
• Obstacle avoidance. A robot that only bumps into things gets caught on cables, socks and the fringes of a rug.
• A mop that lifts or washes itself. A cheap mop is a damp cloth that drags over the rug as well.
• An app with maps and no-go zones. Without them you cannot keep the robot away from the pet bowls or out of one room.

Six checks before you buy a cheap robot vacuum

1. Does it map your home? A robot with lidar or a camera cleans in straight lanes, room by room, and goes back to where it stopped. Look for lidar or laser navigation in the specs.
2. Is it in our ranking? A model in our ranking has been measured by test labs. A model outside it may be fine, but nobody has checked.
3. What is the main brush made of? A rubber or anti-tangle brush keeps hair from winding around it, which matters with pets or long hair.
4. Will it fit and get over your thresholds? Check its height against your sofa and bed, and the threshold it climbs against your doorways.
5. Can you buy parts? Brushes, filters and above all a new battery should be sold separately, or the robot ends with its first worn part.
6. Is the price real? A struck-through price is often no discount. Our deals page shows only prices below what the same shop asked in the 30 days before.

Not sure what you need? Our advisor turns a few answers about your home into a shortlist, and the buying guide goes through the seven questions that decide which robot fits.

When is the cheapest robot vacuum enough?

A cheap robot vacuum is enough for a small flat or a few rooms with hard floors, few rugs and little on the floor, run every day to keep the dust down between proper cleans. In that home a robot without a station, ideally with lidar, does most of what a dearer one does.

It is not enough with a lot of carpet, pets that shed, long hair, many cables on the floor or rooms over several floors. There a robot with lidar, a rubber brush and an auto-empty station saves more than it costs. Our budget pages show the best model under each amount, so you can see what a little more buys.

How do you pay the lowest price?

Compare the delivered price, not the sticker. We read every shop we follow each day and show the lowest price at any shop that delivers to you, delivery included. A shop abroad counts too, its delivery estimated and marked with a *.

Then look at the price history on the model’s own page. A price that is the lowest of the past 90 days is a good moment to buy. One that has stayed the same for months is unlikely to drop tomorrow, and a big “was” price is no reason to hurry.