It can be a pain to be constantly clean up after a shedding pet. While you love your furry friends, their hair and dandruff can quickly pile up and get caught in fibers or under furniture. Luckily, a robot vacuum can help take some weight off your shoulders by automating the cleaning process. It can independently travel around your home and pick up pet hair so you can spend more time with your cats or dogs. A robot vacuum can be an especially helpful tool if you're in the middle of seasonal shedding, as you can program it to clean a room several times a day if needed.
We've tested more than 25 robot vacuum cleaners, and below are our recommendations of the best vacuums for pet hair to buy. These recommendations are based not only on their pet-hair cleaning performance on different types of surfaces but also on their design and price. For more buying recommendations, take a look at our list of the best vacuums for pet hair, the best robot vacuums, and the best vacuums for high-pile carpet.
The iRobot Roomba S9 is the best robot vacuum for cleaning pet hair from carpet that we've tested. Unlike many robot vacuums, it performs impressively on low-pile carpets, where it sucks up pet hair with no issue, and it's also very good at clearing pet hair from high-pile carpets. It's equipped with a HEPA filter, which is great if you're concerned about allergens.
It's very well-built and has a remarkable battery performance, as even if you use its most powerful suction mode, it provides roughly 50 minutes of continuous runtime. It uses its iAdapt 3.0 navigation system to create more efficient paths through rooms and detect spots that need extra cleaning. With the companion app, you can set up cleaning schedules for different rooms, create virtual boundaries for the vacuum, and even see its cleaning history. While it's especially good at cleaning pet hair, it also sucks up a good amount of other types of debris from carpets and has an overall excellent performance on bare floors.
Unfortunately, like many robot vacuums, it has a lot of parts that need to be serviced regularly. Pet hair can get tangled in the brushroll and side brush and needs to be removed manually. Also, the recurring costs are quite high because several parts, including its HEPA filter, need to be replaced periodically. That said, if you're a pet owner and want a hands-off way to keep your carpets clean, it's an excellent option.
If you want a robot vacuum that can clean pet hair from carpets but is easier to maintain, try the Neato Botvac D7. It doesn't perform as well on carpet overall as the iRobot Roomba S9's, but it's still very good at cleaning pet hair from those surfaces and requires much less regular maintenance. It also does a better job of cleaning bare floors than the iRobot. Its battery life is exceptional, and it has excellent automation features, including the ability to set virtual boundary markers to keep the vacuum out of certain areas. However, while it's fairly easy to maintain, it incurs quite a few recurring costs, as several parts, including its HEPA filter, need to be replaced regularly.
If you want the option with the best overall performance on carpets and don't mind doing a lot of regular maintenance, go for the iRobot. On the other hand, if you want something that isn't as much work to take care of, the Neato is also one of the best robot vacuums for pet hair we've tested.
The best robot vacuum for cleaning up pet hair on bare floors that we've tested is the Roborock S6. It's fantastic at sucking up pet hair from surfaces like laminate or hardwood and easily picks up other kinds of debris as well. The battery can last more than three hours on a single charge, which is outstanding, and it even has a mopping attachment to clean up sticky or wet messes, although we don't currently test that feature.
It has great automation features, like boundary setting and schedule programming, so if there's an area in your home where pet hair tends to accumulate, you can have it clean there more often. Thanks to its small size, it can easily maneuver under low furniture, and it also has an incredible build quality, with durable rubber wheels that help it climb onto high-pile rugs.
However, maintaining it is a bit complicated because several parts need to be serviced regularly, including the filters and brushroll. Also, the recurring costs are fairly high since a few parts need to be replaced periodically. Conveniently though, the companion app can notify you when a part needs to be changed. All in all, its exceptional performance makes it the best robot vacuum for pets on bare floors that we've tested.
The Roborock E4 is the best budget robot vacuum for pet hair that we've tested. This affordable model has no issue clearing pet hair from any surface type, from bare surfaces like linoleum or hardwood to high-pile carpets. Its battery life is impressive, as it provides roughly two to three hours of continuous use, depending on what power setting is used.
It has an excellent build quality and is equipped with an allergen-trapping HEPA filter. Smoothly-rolling wheels allow it to maneuver on carpets, and its dirt compartment is a decent size for a robot vacuum. It cleans rooms in an organized, S-shaped pattern, and you can use the companion app to see a map of the area it covered. The app also allows you to create a cleaning schedule and check the vacuum's maintenance status and cleaning history.
Unfortunately, the app doesn't allow you to create individual cleaning schedules for different rooms or set virtual boundaries for the vacuum. Also, like many robot vacuums, it incurs fairly high recurring costs. However, considering its performance and budget-friendly price, it's a great option for pet owners looking for an affordable robot vacuum.
If you're looking for something more affordable, you may want the eufy RoboVac 11S instead. It's not as well-built as the Roborock E4 and doesn't perform as well overall, but it's less expensive and clears a good amount of pet hair from low and high-pile carpets. The battery performance impressive, as it provides roughly one to two hours of continuous use, depending on what power setting is used. This vacuum doesn't work with a companion app, but you can use it without an internet connection because it comes with a remote control. It's smaller than the Roborock and easily fits under low-lying furniture, but it can sometimes lose track of areas it's already cleaned since it doesn't have a smart pathing feature.
If you want the vacuum with better overall performance or that has a companion app, go for the Roborock. If you want to spend a little less and don't mind sacrificing some performance, try the eufy.
Feb 17, 2021: Verified that we're still recommending the best products for our users and that they're in stock.
Jan 21, 2021: Added the Yeedi K650 to Notable Mentions. Checked that other picks are still the best recommendations for our users and that they're in stock.
Dec 21, 2020: Added the Shark IQ Robot to Notable Mentions.
Oct 22, 2020: Replaced the Neato Botvac D7 with the iRobot Roomba S9 as 'Best Robot Vacuum for Pet Hair On Carpet' and added the Neato Botvac D7 as 'Easier To Maintain Alternative'. Added the iRobot Roomba i7+ to Notable Mentions.
Oct 01, 2020: Replaced the eufy RoboVac 11S with Roborock E4 as 'Best Budget Robot Vacuum For Pet Hair'. Removed iRobot Roomba 675 as 'Easier-to-Maintain Alternative' and replaced it with eufy RoboVac 11S as 'Even Cheaper Alternative'.
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best robot vacuums for pet hair for most people. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.
If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here's the list of all our robot vacuum reviews, ranked by pet hair performance. 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.