Until recently, robot vacuums were out of reach for the average consumer, especially compared to more affordable traditional models. However, the selection of budget-friendly options has grown substantially in the past few years, so there's no shortage of relatively affordable robot vacuums with differing feature sets and designs to better suit your cleaning needs. Not every robot vacuum is made equal, of course. While many cheaper models struggle with clearing bulky material or dealing with messes on carpets, others can provide fair performance overall.
We've tested over 80 robot vacuums, and below are our recommendations for the best cheap robot vacuums. These picks are selected based on their price, performance, and feature set. If you don't have a lot of carpeting or rugs, you can also try the best robot vacuums for hardwood floors. Otherwise, you'll find more options among the best robot vacuums we've tested, period. Or, if you're also considering a vacuum of the non-robot variety, try the best budget and cheap vacuum cleaners overall.
Quick Look
Our robot vacuum recommendations come from our independent testing of more than 80 different models. We purchase every robot vacuum we test, with no cherry-picked units or data. Every robot vacuum goes through the same suite of tests that covers everything from user maintenance to obstacle avoidance. Our testers and writers validate the results to ensure you can easily compare each model side by side, and we keep the products in our lab so we can continuously go back and retest them against the newest models.
Check out our How We Test Robot Vacuums article to learn more about our purchasing, testing, and writing procedures.
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Best Budget Robot Vacuum
Multi-Surface Household5.6Debris Pickup: Hard Floor7.5Debris Pickup: Carpet6.7Obstacle Avoidance2.0See all our test resultsStains1.0The best budget robot vacuum we've tested is the Wyze Robot Vacuum. It has a LIDAR mapping sensor, allowing for quick and precise room mapping, even in the dark. It does a considerably better job than our other picks when making its way around obstacles like tables or chairs. It also has a long maximum battery life of over two hours, though recharging takes quite a while. You can use its companion app to set up virtual boundary lines and schedule cleaning sessions for specific rooms using the coverage map.
It delivers good performance on bare floors and easily clears away pet hair on most surfaces. Unfortunately, its dirt compartment is tiny and needs regular emptying, and it isn't compatible with a self-emptying dock. One feature it's missing compared to some pricier models, like the Dreame L10s Ultra below, is an automatic suction power adjustment feature, so you'll need to adjust that manually on some surfaces. However, it won't be too big of a concern if you mostly have bare floors. Note that this robot vacuum seems to be discontinued, but it's still available at one major retailer. You may have difficulty finding one, depending on your location.
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Best Budget Robot Vacuum With Dock
Multi-Surface Household5.8Debris Pickup: Hard Floor7.5Debris Pickup: Carpet5.8Station Maintenance Capabilities5.7Obstacle Avoidance2.6See all our test resultsStains1.0The Shark Matrix Robot RV2310AE is a good option if you want a budget robot vacuum with a self-empty dock. While this vacuum is often sold for $299, its price can fluctuate; it's best to wait if you see it available for more than this, as the price can certainly come down again. On the other hand, it occasionally receives a deep discount below $200, and it's a steal at that price point. Like our top pick, the Wyze Robot Vacuum, the Shark boasts a LIDAR mapping sensor, allowing for comprehensive overall capability. It stores a map of your home, which you can use to set up virtual boundary lines for areas you don't want it to enter or to send it to specific rooms within your home. It's worth noting that the SharkClean app isn't exactly the best; it has a clunky interface and slow input registration.
The Shark also features a hazard recognition system, which allows it to react to hazards and maneuver around them in real-time, as long as they're 4.5 inches tall or higher. Note that it can only use its top-mounted LIDAR sensor to 'see' obstacles. Unfortunately, this system is prone to false positives, frequently identifying benign items like table or chair legs as hazards not to approach, leading to inconsistent room coverage. On the upside, the Shark outperforms most cheap robot vacuums on most surface types, delivering good overall debris pickup on hard floors and carpeting.
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Best Budget Robot Vacuum With Mopping
Multi-Surface Household6.8Debris Pickup: Hard Floor7.5Debris Pickup: Carpet5.6Station Maintenance Capabilities8.0Obstacle Avoidance8.2See all our test resultsStains7.0The Dreame L10s Ultra is the best budget robot vacuum with mopping capability. This once high-end model has been around for a while; it regularly goes on sale for around $350, and occasionally even cheaper. It uses twin rotating mop pads like many more expensive robot vacuums and delivers decent mopping performance. Like the Shark Matrix Robot RV2310AE, it also comes with a dock; this one is loaded with additional features for its mopping system that help take care of day-to-day maintenance. It has self-emptying capability, fills the mop water tank in the robot vacuum, empties the dirty water, washes the mops in cold water, and dries with hot air. In the robot vacuum, there's an impressive obstacle avoidance system. Dreame also has a much more full-featured app versus the basic SharkClean app.
Its hard floor pickup performance is about the same as the Wyze Robot Vacuum, but it's worse on carpet. If you have a lot of hard floors to clean and mop and very little carpet, and if you'd also like great obstacle avoidance, the extra cost of the Dreame is easy to justify.
Notable Mentions
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Shark IQ 2-in-1 UR2410WD:
The Shark IQ 2-in-1 UR2410WD is the lowest-priced mopping robot vacuum on the market, but its performance is fairly poor in most tasks compared to the Dreame L10s Ultra. Its simple charging-only dock has no self-emptying, mop tank filling, or cleaning capabilities either.
See our review -
eufy E20:
The 3-in-1 eufy E20 offers better debris pickup than the Dreame L10s Ultra. Its price fluctuates, but it's worth considering if you can find it on sale for less than the Dreame. Unfortunately, it doesn't have any mopping capability, and its somewhat gimmicky stick or handheld vacuum conversion ability might not be that useful if you already have a decent stick or handheld vacuum.
See our review
Recent Updates
Nov 17, 2025:
We modified the structure of this article due to increasing prices at the low end of the robot vacuum market. As a result, we replaced the eufy L60 with the Dreame L10s Ultra due to availability, and removed the SwitchBot K10+ and iRobot Roomba 694 for the same reason. We added the eufy E20 as a Notable Mention.
Jul 02, 2025:
We altered the table to show robot vacuums tested under the new test bench 1.0. We added the SwitchBot K10+ as a Notable Mention and made some minor text changes.
Mar 13, 2025:
We removed the Notable Mention eufy RoboVac G30 due to availability and replaced it with the Shark IQ 2-in-1. We added the Roborock Q7 Max as an alternative to the eufy L60. We also made some minor text changes.
Dec 03, 2024:
We've verified that our picks are available and represent the best choices. We've also made small edits for clarity.
Sep 24, 2024: We've overhauled this article, replacing our recommendation for 'Best Budget Robot Vacuum' with the Wyze Robot Vacuum and the 'Best Robot Vacuum Under $300' with the eufy L60 based on changes in pricing. We've also made small edits for clarity and concision.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best budget robot vacuums for most people. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.
If you'd like to do the work of choosing yourself, here's the list of all our robot vacuum reviews priced under $300. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no vacuum is perfect for every use, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.