The 5 Best Budget And Cheap Vacuums - Summer 2024 Reviews

The Eureka Mighty Mite is one of the best budget vacuums we've tested if you want a canister model. It's fairly compact and delivers strong performance across various surfaces, thanks to a relatively potent 12 amp motor. It performs very well on bare floors with its basic straight suction floorhead, and you can retract the head's bristles to clean low- and medium-pile carpeting, though unfortunately, it'll have a bit of a harder time with pet hair trapped within carpet fibers. Performance remains consistent as its dirtbag fills up, so you won't need to swap in a new one too often. While its dirtbag traps most dust particles, it isn't the best choice if you suffer from serious allergies, as some newer variants lack the necessary attachment points to fit an aftermarket HEPA filter and improve its allergen-sealing performance.

The vacuum itself feels reasonably sturdy, if a little cheap, and its remarkably simple design makes it easy to maintain. It's also small enough to easily store in a closet or a nook between furniture. Its wand, made of two hollow plastic tubes, gives you a good amount of added reach, though they can fall apart if you don't wedge them together tightly enough. You'll have to manually roll up its power cord at the end of every cleaning session, too, which is annoying.

The BISSELL PowerForce Helix is the best budget vacuum with an upright design we've tested. This corded upright isn't as compact or maneuverable as the Eureka Mighty Mite, but consider it if you're looking for impressive carpet cleaning performance on the cheap. Unusual for a vacuum at this price bracket, its powered floorhead has five levels of surface type adjustment, so you can easily adapt to a wide range of surface types without the vacuum getting stuck. That said, even at its highest level, it can get a little bogged down on really plush shag carpets, and you'll need to crouch to turn the adjustment dial on its floorhead. It has a large dirt compartment that doesn't need frequent emptying. If you want an upright with an even larger dustbin, the Dirt Devil Endura Max is a good alternative, albeit with worse overall performance.

Despite the BISSELL's relatively lightweight plastic construction, maneuvering in cluttered areas can still be a hassle due to its bulky body and non-articulating floorhead. Thankfully, while the vacuum doesn't have a dedicated handheld configuration, you can still clean hard-to-reach areas with its hose, and it comes with an extension wand to give you a bit of added reach, not to mention a hard-bristle brush and a crevice tool for cleaning tight corners. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel very well-built, with a plastic structure that creaks and flexes while in use, though that isn't much of a surprise at this price point.

If you're comfortable stretching your budget a little farther than our above picks and prefer a cordless option, the Wyze Cordless Vacuum is the best budget-friendly cordless vacuum we've tested. Its upfront cost is noticeably higher than a budget corded model like the BISSELL PowerForce Helix or Eureka Mighty Mite, and the vacuum doesn't have a height-adjustable floorhead, so it isn't as well-suited to cleaning thicker carpets. However, its lightweight cordless design makes it much better suited to cleaning faraway areas than the aforementioned corded models, especially given their short power cords. It's also worth noting that it's still a bargain relative to other cordless stick models.

It performs very well for a cordless stick vacuum in this price range, easily clearing debris on hard floors as well as low- and medium-pile carpeting. The Wyze also does a great job handling pet hair, and its removable brushroll makes it easy to clear away any tangled strands of hair. It can run for almost an hour in its most power-efficient setting, which is quite good for a lower-end cordless model. The battery pack is removable, so you can replace it if it degrades over time and can no longer hold a charge. There's also a HEPA filter that does a good job trapping particles like fine dust or pet dander. Unfortunately, build quality is nothing special, with its plastic chassis feeling a little cheap and almost toy-like in places.

The Black+Decker 16V MAX dustbuster Cordless Hand Vacuum is the best budget handheld vacuum we've tested. Naturally, you won't buy this to clean an entire house, but it's great for spot-cleaning furniture or picking up small messes. Although it's a little big for a handheld vacuum, its relatively large size means it has a larger dirt compartment that won't need emptying too often compared to some of the competition. It's especially well-suited to tackling messes on bare surfaces like countertops, shelves, or hard floors, though it'll struggle with debris embedded deep within carpet fibers.

Unfortunately, battery performance isn't especially impressive, even for a handheld vacuum of this size, as it can only run for about 10 minutes on a full charge. Worse yet, the battery isn't user-replaceable. It doesn't come with many attachments, only a built-in crevice tool with a flip-out brush, though that isn't too surprising for a handheld vacuum. If you're looking for a smaller but similarly affordable alternative, the BISSELL AeroSlim/TurboSlim is also worth considering. However, it struggles more than the Black+Decker when it comes to bulky debris, which can clog its suction inlet.

The BISSELL Featherweight Stick is the best cheap vacuum we've tested. It doesn't perform nearly as well as more conventional vacuums with more powerful motors, like the Eureka Mighty Mite or BISSELL PowerForce Helix. However, it's remarkably lightweight and compact, making it a good option for those with more limited mobility. Its basic design makes it easy to maintain, with the few parts that need regular cleaning being very easy to access. As long as you regularly clean its dust cup and pre-motor mesh filters, you won't need to worry about replacing them, so ownership costs are effectively nil. You can easily reconfigure it into a compact handheld vacuum to clean tight spots by removing its handle.

This vacuum is excellent for dealing with pet hair or any other lightweight debris on hard floors, like hardwood or linoleum. However, it can have some trouble with heavier material, especially as its dustbin fills up. Its floorhead also lacks a motorized brushroll or even an air-driven turbo brush, so it isn't the best choice if you have a lot of carpeting.