BISSELL is an American manufacturer of vacuum cleaners and floor care appliances. They offer a diverse selection of vacuum cleaners, ranging from compact handheld cordless vacuums to bulky corded uprights and everything in between. Most of their offerings are somewhat budget-friendly and use bagless designs, meaning that recurring costs tend to be pretty low. That said, quite a few of their more compact offerings struggle with clearing bulky debris, while their bigger corded uprights generally feel somewhat cheap.
The BISSELL PowerForce Helix is the best vacuum from BISSELL that we've tested. Unusually for a vacuum in this price bracket, its floorhead has five levels of height adjustment, allowing you to quickly adapt to a wide mix of floor types in your home. It does an excellent job of clearing away debris on carpet and performs impressively well on bare floors. It can easily handle hair on various surfaces, ranging from bare floors to carpets, making it the best BISSELL vacuum for pet hair we've tested.
That said, untangling hair from its brushroll can be a bit of a hassle: you can only remove the roller after removing the brush guard, which is held in place with a handful of easily-stripped plastic screws. Its bagless design and washable pre-motor filter keep the cost of ownership low, while its spacious dirt compartment won't need to be emptied very often. It's fairly lightweight for an upright vacuum, so you can carry it up and down stairs without too much of a problem. You can also spot-clean small areas by using its wand and attaching either its soft-bristle dusting brush or its crevice tool.
However, this vacuum isn't very maneuverable because of its bulky design and fixed-angle head. Build quality is mediocre, with its floorhead wheels, brushroll plate, and dustbin feeling especially fragile. It also lacks a brushroll on/off switch, so it can get stuck on obstructions like rug tassels if the head height isn't set high enough and force you to turn the vacuum off to free. If that's a feature you want, consider the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser Turbo, which is much easier to maneuver on thick carpeting and feels better built. However, it's a lot more expensive and has quite a few maintenance requirements.
If you're on a tighter budget, check out the BISSELL Featherweight Stick. This corded upright doesn't offer anywhere near the deep-cleaning performance of the larger, heavier BISSELL PowerForce Helix. However, not only is it cheaper than its upright counterpart, but its extremely compact, lightweight design makes it much better suited for short clean-ups. It's also remarkably easy to maintain, with the few parts requiring regular maintenance being easy to access. While it struggles with clearing away heavy or bulky debris, like whole chunks of cereal or other debris that size, it has no trouble dealing with pet hair and lighter household debris.
Unfortunately, like many other corded BISSELL vacuums, it has a very short power cord, so you'll have to swap outlets when cleaning larger rooms. Its range of attachments is very limited; it only comes with a crevice tool that can be attached to the end of its body. Unsurprisingly, given its low purchase price, it also feels very cheaply built, with a body made mainly from hollow-feeling plastic. If you don't need a stick vacuum like the Featherweight and only need an inexpensive handheld for spot-cleaning messes, the BISSELL AeroSlim is a highly compact option that will fit almost anywhere.
If you prefer using a canister vacuum instead of an upright model to clean your home, check out the BISSELL Zing Bagged Canister. Its straight-suction floorhead doesn't offer the same level of surface agitation as the BISSELL PowerForce Helix's powered floorhead, so it isn't a great fit for cleaning thick carpeting. It's much smaller and far more maneuverable in cluttered environments. Its lightweight wand and body and easy-to-use design also make it a great fit for elderly users. Since its filter and dirtbag are easy to access and replace, user maintenance is also simple. It does struggle somewhat when clearing away heavy debris, but it doesn't have too much trouble with pet hair or lighter material.
Unfortunately, its power cord is very short. As a result, you'll probably have to swap outlets when cleaning larger rooms. On the upside, the cord rewinds with the press of a button, a convenience feature that's rare but very welcome for an entry-level vacuum. If you don't want to buy new dirtbags periodically, the BISSELL Zing Bagless Canister is a bagless equivalent that delivers similar overall performance and incurs minimal recurring costs. However, the lack of dirtbags results in inferior air filtration performance and a less hygienic means of debris disposal since emptying its dustbin can release a cloud of dust and debris.
If you want to go cordless, the BISSELL CrossWave Cordless Max is among the best BISSELL vacuum cleaners we've tested. This hybrid vacuum/mop isn't nearly as maneuverable or portable as a canister model like the BISSELL Zing Bagged Canister. It also doesn't deliver the deep-cleaning performance of an upright like the BISSELL PowerForce Helix, especially on carpets, since CrossWave's fluffy brushroll provides minimal surface agitation on carpets. However, it's a fantastic option if you want something that can tackle dry and wet messes as well as dried-on stains on bare floors, thanks to its detergent-dispersal function, which allows it to saturate and scrub away dried-on messes on hard floors. Its cordless design allows you to clean areas far from any power outlets, and its battery life of about 40 minutes will be sufficient for cleaning a fair amount of space.
Unfortunately, this vacuum does have more parts that need regular cleaning. There's also no way of adjusting the speed of the brushroll or stopping its rotation, so you must be careful when cleaning around loose obstructions like rug tassels, which can get stuck in its floorhead and jam its floorhead.
Dyson vacuums tend to occupy a much higher price point than BISSELL's offerings, which is reflected in generally superior performance and better build quality. That said, BISSELL's selection of corded models is far more extensive than what Dyson offers. You can see our recommendations for the best Dyson vacuums here.
Shark vacuums are generally better built than BISSELL's comparable offerings and deliver better overall performance. However, some BISSELL models are a little easier to maintain—many new Shark models use non-removable brushrolls that can be a hassle to clean properly. If you'd like our recommendations for the best Shark vacuums, click here.
Eureka and BISSELL vacuums occupy a similar budget-friendly niche, and offerings from each brand tend to have strengths. BISSELLs usually have a wider array of convenience features when comparing like-for-like models, while Eurekas offer superior debris pickup performance.
BISSELL vacuums usually fall into a budget-friendly price range. However, you may be sacrificing some measure of cleaning performance, build quality, or quality-of-life features in exchange for that affordability. Though they're similarly affordable, they tend to perform worse on all surface types than Shark vacuums and struggle more with clearing large debris than most Eureka vacuums.
BISSELL has a diverse lineup of vacuums, and their naming convention can sometimes be confusing. In broad strokes, you can outline their model lineup as follows.
Upright Models
Cordless/Corded Stick Models
Canister Models
Common Trims/Features
Jan 17, 2024: Minor in-text adjustments to further clarify product details.
Oct 18, 2023: Ensured all main picks are still available and represent the best option for user needs.
Jul 19, 2023: Minor in-text adjustments to better communicate product details.
Apr 21, 2023: Recategorized BISSELL Featherweight Stick as the 'Best Cheap BISSELL Vacuum' pick to maintain consistency with other recommendation articles. Verified that all picks still remain the best choice for user needs.
Jan 23, 2023: Ensured all main picks are still available and represent the best option for user needs.
BISSELL builds a wide variety of vacuums to suit different needs, ranging from cordless handheld vacuums for spot-cleaning countertops and furniture to bulky corded upright vacuums that you can use to clean large carpeted areas. BISSELL vacuums tend to be affordable and use bagless designs that keep recurring costs down. Unfortunately, they aren't usually the best choice for all-out cleaning performance and can feel cheaply made.