UPDATE: Feb. 14, 2025, 5:00 a.m. EST New flagship robot vacuums from Roborock, Eufy, and more were announced at CES 2025. I'm in the process of getting my hands on them for at-home testing, and will update this guide accordingly.
The best vacuum cleaner setup is subjective, heavily hinging on how badly (or not) you want to do the vacuuming yourself, or if you'd rather a robot do it for you.
But there's one universal factor that can make or break any type of vacuum's usefulness in your home, and that's how likely you are to use it. Hear me out.
Actual cleaning performance plays a huge role in how clean your floors will be, of course. But if that vacuum's a pain to use, you won't feel like using it — whether that's an upright vacuum that's too clunky to get out of the closet or a robot vacuum that gets stuck more often than not.
I've tested a ton of automatic vacuums and upright cordless vacuums, assessing from all of those angles along the way. And I have a handful of recommendations for both. But first, let's unpack which kind might work better in your living arrangement overall.
Should I get an upright or robot vacuum?
I could argue for both sides, considering I think the true dream setup is to have both types of vacuums on hand for different situations. While there are definitely ways to shop strategically and split your budget between one of each, that won't be the most practical choice for every household. If you're only choosing one type of vacuum, consider your main priority when it comes to vacuuming. Is your ideal vacuum cleaner one that automates the most steps to give you as little work as possible, or is it one that does the absolute most meticulous job, even if you still have to do the work?
We also have to consider the drawbacks of each. Trusting a robot vacuum to do this chore comes with the fine print that the robot vacuum is probably going to piss you off sometimes. While I absolutely can't knock the strides that have been made with smart mapping, AI small obstacle avoidance, automatic floor type recognition, and debris level sensors over the past few years, even the latest and greatest robot vacuums are still inanimate objects, not perceptive humans.
The downside of an upright vacuum is that you have to have free time, and spend some of that free time off the couch. Granted, the better at cleaning the cordless vacuum is, the less you'll have to get it out, and the less of a pain it'll be to whip around. And I know I'm not alone in enjoying the rush of manually sweeping with a powerful vacuum.
Should I get a cordless or corded vacuum?
Using a corded vacuum is much more of a process than a cordless one. They're usually bulkier than the traditional cordless stick vacuum, and having to strategize staying near an outlet without getting stuck on furniture is just plain annoying. (Oh, and remember to carve out time to curse out the knots in the cord). In fact, cordless vacuums have gained such traction that most vacuum brands have completely de-centered the corded design — so most corded options you come across now are probably outdated and are no longer so much more powerful than cordless vacuums.
At the end of the day, if you detest getting your vacuum out, you probably won't vacuum too often — and that defeats the purpose of spending your money on a nice, new vacuum in the first place. For that reason, no corded vacuums will be recommended in this list.
After several years of pitting the top robot and stick vacuums against each other in my own home, I've pulled a few of each to create Mashable's ultimate mashup of all of the best vacuum cleaners of 2025.
