Best new vacuum cleaner


The 12 Best Vacuum Cleaners of 2022

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more›

  1. Appliances
  2. Vacuum Cleaners
Photo: Michael Murtaugh

If you want an affordable, versatile vacuum cleaner—nothing fancy, but something dependably solid—look for a bagless upright vacuum that costs about $150. It will work well for most people in most homes. (The Shark Navigator line has been our favorite for this style for many years.) But if you’re looking for something different, we’ve also rounded up the best of the rest—from cordless sticks and long-lasting canisters to cheap handhelds and even robots—for all types of homes.

Our pick

Shark Navigator Lift-Away NV352

This reliable, effective, easy-to-use, and reasonably priced bagless upright vacuum cleaner will work well for most people in most homes. It’s our pick for six years running.

Find the right vacuum for your needs

Best overall vacuum

Photo: Sarah Kobos

The best affordable bagless uprights work well with just about any type of vacuumable debris (including pet hair) and floor type (including most carpets, wood, tiles, or anything else). And they should last at least five years without much maintenance (no new belts are required) and with minimal cost (the filters are washable, and these vacs don’t need bags).

On the most common types of flooring (like low- or mid-pile nylon carpeting and most bare floors), great bagless uprights work almost as well as the strongest overall vacuums (like Miele canisters, among some others), often for much less than half the cost. They’re easier to maintain than cheaper uprights and most canister vacuums, and should last longer than all but the sturdiest high-end machines. Read more about the best upright vacuums.

Consider an affordable bagless upright vacuum if:

Skip an affordable bagless upright vacuum if:

(If our current pick, the Shark Navigator Lift-Away NV352, is out of stock, you could consider the NV354, which is the same base model with different accessories.)

Our pick

Shark Navigator Lift-Away NV352

This reliable, effective, easy-to-use, and reasonably priced bagless upright vacuum cleaner will work well for most people in most homes. It’s our pick for six years running.

Best canister vacuum

Photo: Michael Murtaugh

If you like your floors to stay very clean, and you’re willing to pay big bucks for a vacuum that will last a decade or more, get a high-end canister vacuum. It’s a big investment, but it can pay off in the long run.

The best canister vacs are arguably the best vacuum cleaners. Their big, high-suction motors and versatile, adjustable cleaning heads do an excellent job cleaning all types of floors (even delicate or high-pile rugs) without being too unwieldy to handle, since the weight is distributed among their different parts. They should last for at least a decade (usually much longer), and tend to do an excellent job of maintaining great indoor air quality—though you’ll need to pay for fresh bags and filters every few months for as long as you own the vacuum. Read more about the best canister vacuums.

Consider a high-end canister vacuum if:

Skip a high-end canister vacuum if:

Upgrade pick

Miele Complete C3 Calima

Praised by nearly everyone as excellent, this nimble canister vacuum works on any kind of flooring, runs quiet, and should last for decades. It’s great for those with asthma and allergies, but it requires bags.

An approximation of the relative cleaning power of different types of vacuums. Illustration: Sarah MacReading

Best cordless stick vacuum

Photo: Michael Hession

For most people, great cordless vacuum cleaners are now strong enough to replace plug-in vacuums. But cordless vacs cost more, they don’t last as long, and unless you spring for a really high-end model, they may not have enough run time to clean big homes in a single pass.

All that said, cordless vacuums make it so easy to clean that you may just be fine with those tradeoffs. They’re especially life-changing if you live in an apartment or smaller house with a cramped floor plan, because they’re so thin and light and easy to steer, and there’s no cord to get caught on any corners. And even in bigger homes, you may find that you get used to cleaning just a few rooms at a time, so that battery life isn’t such a big deal. The best cordless models are strong enough to clean as well or nearly as well as plug-ins, even on most types of rugs.

Most cordless vacuums also double as handheld vacuums now, so you can buy one vacuum to clean your floors and your car. Read more about the best cordless vacuums.

Consider a cordless vacuum if:

Skip a cordless vacuum if:

Our pick

Tineco Pure One S11

The Tineco S11 is one of the lightest, most comfortable-to-use stick vacuums that also have enough cleaning power to work pretty well on most rugs (though it’s not quite the best we’ve tested). A unique dust sensor makes it easy for you to focus your efforts on areas that are actually dirty.

Upgrade pick

Dyson V15 Detect

If you want a cordless vacuum that fully replaces a plug-in, a high-end Dyson is as close as it gets. The Dyson V15 is actually better than lots of plug-in vacuums at cleaning rugs. Owners love the auto-adjusting suction.

Best robot vacuum

Photo: Michael Hession

If you’re interested in a robot vacuum and willing to pay for one, then hell yeah, get one. They don’t clean rugs as deeply as traditional vacuums do, and they never navigate perfectly (though some are getting pretty close). But they can keep your floors tidy, with very little effort and oversight on your part. They’re particularly advantageous for pet owners, but most people are pleasantly surprised by how much stuff robot vacuums manage to pick up.

Some simple but effective robot models are about the same price as good traditional vacuums. Meanwhile, higher-end models add advanced features like targeted area- or room-specific cleaning, or even a self-emptying feature. (Roomba introduced smart-mapping software for our top pick in March 2022, but we haven’t tested it yet.) Read more about the best robot vacuums.

Consider a robot vacuum if:

Skip a robot vacuum if:

Our pick

iRobot Roomba i3 EVO

The i3 is better than competitors at getting pet hair out of rugs, and its nimble nav system consistently and thoroughly cleans large spaces. Like any iRobot Roomba, it should be durable.

iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO

This is the Roomba i3 packaged with a charging dock that automatically sucks all the debris out of the robot after a cleaning session. It works! And it makes it even easier to own a robot vacuum.

Budget pick

Eufy RoboVac 11S

This affordable robot vacuum is quieter and fits under more furniture than any other model we’ve tested. While it works best in small spaces, it rarely gets stuck and does a good job on bare floors and short-pile rugs.

Best budget vacuum

Photo: Michael Murtaugh

We’re not comfortable recommending any specific vacuums that cost less than $150 (except when the models we just mentioned go on sale). Plenty of vacuums cost less than that, and some of them actually work pretty well—at least when they’re brand-new. But even the good ones tend to wear out quickly and often can’t be repaired at all. It will usually pay off in the long run to spend a little more today on a vacuum that will last longer.

All that said, if you insist on spending less and just need something convenient to use for a couple of minutes per day to tidy up small messes on bare floors—and not to clean rugs—just go for the cheapest thing you can find on Amazon (or wherever). The cheapest plug-in models cost around $35, and cordless models start around $90. Don’t expect anything great.

Budget pick

Black+Decker Powerseries Extreme 20V Max

The Black+Decker cleans the best of any cordless vacuum we tested in its price range. Though its dustbin is a pain and its bare floor cleaning only so-so, it effectively strips rugs of gritty debris. Bonus: It uses affordable Max batteries.

Budget pick

Shark Navigator Lift-Away Deluxe NV360

This model is essentially the same as the NV352, our top canister vacuum pick, with very minor differences. It runs cheaper than the NV352 too, which makes it a solid choice if you’re working with a smaller budget.

Best handheld vacuum

Photo: Michael Murtaugh

It’s handy to have a little handheld vacuum to deal with small messes. Today’s handheld vacuums can be surprisingly strong without costing too much. The best ones have enough oomph to quickly suck up crumbs, grit, and other types of obvious debris, with adjustable nozzles that can make it easier to get at hard-to-reach spots without wrenching your wrist. Read more about the best handheld vacuums.

Our pick

Black+Decker 20V Max Lithium Pivot BDh3000PL

This handheld vacuum’s distinctive pivoting nozzle and powerful suction make short work of tidying up around the home or in the car.

Runner-up

Best vacuum for pet hair

We’d argue that robot vacuums are the best tool for cleaning up pet hair because they can dutifully keep up with the mess at a pace that few humans have the time or patience to match.

But if you don’t want a bot, then any decent vacuum cleaner will work fine. There’s no special design that makes vacuums especially adept at picking hair up off of floors. Even the cheapest vacuums can pick up pet hair off a bare floor, and any vacuum that’s good at getting dust out of rugs will also be good at digging pet hair out of rugs.

You don’t even have to limit yourself to models that have the words pet or animal in their names. That just means they come with a tool for getting pet hair off of upholstery, or (occasionally) that a vacuum’s brush roll won’t tangle easily. Those are nice features! But plenty of vacuums with names that don’t include animal or pet have these features, too.

One edge case to consider: If you have a lot of hairy pets, like four golden retrievers or a half-dozen long-haired cats, you might want to avoid bagged vacuums. Pet hair fills bags quickly, and the cost of replacing bags so frequently can add up.

Our pick

Shark Navigator Lift-Away NV352

Any decent vacuum can clean up pet hair, so don’t fret about this. Our favorite vacuum is good whether or not you have pets.

Our pick

iRobot Roomba i3 EVO

The i3 is better than competitors at getting pet hair out of rugs, and its nimble nav system consistently and thoroughly cleans large spaces. Like any iRobot Roomba, it should be durable.

Best vacuum for allergies and asthma

If you have asthma or severe allergies, and indoor air quality is crucial to your health, a high-quality bagged vacuum is a safe bet. Our favorite high-end vacuums do an excellent job of sucking up allergens and irritants—and keeping them contained during disposal.

There’s a bit of controversy on this topic. Experts disagree on the traits a “clean-air” vacuum needs to have. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) says that some bagless vacuums are okay in this regard. (It’s worth noting that AAFA is sponsored by Dyson, which makes only bagless vacuums. No other major vacuum brands sponsor AAFA. So that’s a potential conflict of interest, though the AAFA certification testing is pretty rigorous, and we don’t doubt that bagless models have produced good results on this tough test.) But most boots-on-the-ground salespeople and technicians told us that they would not recommend bagless models for households in which air quality was a major concern, because the act of emptying a bagless vacuum re-pollutes your air. We’d recommend erring on the side of caution with a bagged, sealed-system vacuum that has a HEPA filter.

What if you don’t have asthma or severe allergies? Well, it never hurts to have a HEPA filter on a vacuum, but they’re overkill for many people. Also, a vacuum can come equipped with a HEPA filter but have mediocre overall filtration, if the transfer points throughout the vacuum don’t have rubber gaskets. So don’t be fooled into paying extra just because a vacuum has a HEPA filter.

Our pick

Miele Complete C3 Calima

The Complete C3 is a bagged vacuum (they trap dust and dander better than bagless vacs), and the C3 is one of the tightest-sealed machines out there. This model comes standard with a HEPA filter.

Best vacuum for bare floors

This is the easiest task for a vacuum cleaner, and you don’t need anything special. But if you want to make the job a little easier, there are a couple features to consider.

For a mix of bare floors and rugs, the surest bet is to get a vacuum that lets you turn the brush roll on or off. An aggressive brush can scatter certain kinds of debris on bare floors, or even scratch certain types of flooring, so it’s helpful to be able to switch it off. Most plug-in vacuums (including the upright and canister models we recommend) have this option, though it’s less common among cordless vacuums.

If you don’t plan to clean rugs (or at least not very deeply), you can get a vacuum that’s purpose-built for cleaning bare floors. Most of these are “suction-only” models, without a brush roll (and some of these are dirt cheap). But a few of them use a specialty soft-fabric brush roll to help “hug” the debris toward the intake. Read more about the best vacuums for hardwood floors.

Also great

Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction

This quiet and long-lasting suction-only vacuum is great for bare floors and flat rugs. You can easily upgrade to a different cleaning head if you eventually buy low- or medium-pile rugs.

Buying Options

$349* from Amazon

*At the time of publishing, the price was $299.

Best vacuum for high-pile carpets

High-pile carpets (like shag, frieze, saxony, cable, or long plush) pose a problem for some vacuums: The long fibers can tangle around the brush roller and/or block the intake, essentially choking the vacuum.

If you have any carpeting like that, and you want to clean it thoroughly, your best bet is to get a vacuum with an adjustable cleaning head—one that can rise or fall with the carpet height.

Alternatively, you can try to clean longer rugs by turning off the brush roll or turning down the suction (if your vacuum has those options). Read more about what makes a vacuum great on carpet.

Our pick

Miele Complete C3 Calima

This all-around excellent canister vacuum has an adjustable cleaning head that can rise or fall to suit different types of flooring, including high-pile carpets. If it’s still hard to clean the densest rugs, you can also turn down the suction.

Best vacuum for cars

If you like to keep your car tidy, any handheld vacuum can work, but one with an accordion hose and clip-on tools will make the job easier. This style is also great for cleaning up around the house. Read more about the best car vacuums.

Our pick

Black+Decker 20V Flex BDh3020FL

Decent suction, a 4-foot flexible hose, and clip-on tools help this handheld vacuum reach spots in your car and home that other models at this price can’t touch.

Frequently asked questions

Which vacuum has the strongest suction?

We’re not sure, and we don’t think it matters. Suction is important, but it’s not the only thing that makes a vacuum great at cleaning. While suction lifts debris off the ground, airflow is also crucial for moving debris into the dustbin, and you need good brush-roll action to work the debris out of carpet fibers, too. Our overall favorite vacuum, the Shark Navigator Lift-Away, had some of the best cleaning performance of all the vacuums we’ve tested.

Which is better, bagless or bagged vacuums?

It depends. On one hand, bagless models have no recurring costs. On the other, bags can help a vacuum last longer by keeping debris out of hard-to-clean parts that will slowly clog the machine over time. Air quality experts tend to advise that bags are better for people with allergies or asthma because they’re easier to throw out without spilling debris or kicking up a plume of dust. Bags will, however, need to be replaced several times a year, and if you have pets, they’ll tend to fill up faster, and the costs can add up.

Are expensive vacuum cleaners worth it?

Sometimes. Paying more (sometimes a lot more) for a vacuum can get you a longer lasting machine (if we’re talking Miele canister vacuums) or it can get you more convenience and longer battery life (if we’re talking Dyson cordless sticks). In both the cases of Miele canister vacs and Dyson cordless sticks, you’re going to get excellent cleaning performance. If you pay more for a robot vacuum, you’re more likely to be able to control its cleaning pattern, and to get a self-emptying dock. It really depends on what you’re looking for. Most people are very happy with vacuums that cost around $150, and some of them can last for many years.

About your guide

Liam McCabe

Liam McCabe is a former senior staff writer for Wirecutter, and has covered the wild world of appliances since 2011. After testing dozens of robot vacuums, he is neither worried about AI nor holding his breath for self-driving cars. He enjoys visiting factories and learning about regulatory loopholes, and has flooded our testing area only three times.

Further reading

Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing to save people time, energy and money when making buying decisions. Whether it's finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we'll help you get it right (the first time). Subscribe now for unlimited access.

Dismiss

11 Best Vacuums of 2022

We updated this article in October 2022 to ensure all picks tested and vetted by the Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab were in stock with correct pricing.


When shopping for a new vacuum, decision paralysis can hit when you’re given so many options with seemingly endless brands, styles and models to choose from, not to mention prices ranging from budget-friendly vacuums under $100 to well over $1,000. And right now is a great time to shop, since you can score huge savings on a vacuum during Amazon's Prime Early Access Sale. While most vacuum cleaners should work well on low- to medium-pile carpets and bare floors, choosing the best vacuum cleaner for you and your home means also thinking about more than just the surface you’ll be vacuuming.

Thankfully, the Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab is here to help. We have tested hundreds of different types of vacuum cleaners, putting together lists of the the best robot vacuums, top-performing HEPA vacuums, best-in-class handheld vacuums and so much more. We consider bagged and bagless, corded and cordless models and test how easy each one is to maneuver, what tools it comes with and its overall performance. Because we test each model three times for cleaning performance and suction, our latest test of 20 models quickly multiplied into 320 separate tests. Models that were considered for our 2022 Cleaning & Organizing Awards were tested in the lab by our cleaning experts and by our panel of consumer testers too. From all of our testing and data tabulation, we chose these models as the best vacuum cleaners of 2022.

You can read more about how we evaluate vacuums in our Lab, plus everything you need to know to shop for the perfect vacuum cleaner for your home, at the end of this guide. Didn’t find the one here? Check out our guides to the best vacuums for hardwood floors, best vacuums for pet hair and best canister vacuums for more options.

Shop the best deals on vacuums for Amazon Prime's Early Access Sale