The Best Roomba Vacuum for 2026

The Roomba Combo Essential is currently available for around $150, a steal for a model that combines vacuuming and mopping. Its performance when mopping and vacuuming hardwood floors rivals that of much more expensive models. It lacks a self-emptying or self-cleaning base station, but offers basic smarts, including compatibility with Alexa and Google Assistant for voice controls and app-based scheduling.

Bargain hunters: If you're shopping on a budget, the Roomba Combo Essential delivers excellent cleaning performance for an affordable price.

First-time buyers: Since the Combo Essential is so affordable, it's a great option to try out if you want to see if you like the convenience of a robot vacuum before investing in premium features like self-emptying and automatic mop pad washing.

Apartments and small houses: The Roomba Combo Essential uses a simple infrared sensor and gyroscope to create a heat map and clean in systematic rows, which is suitable for small floor plans.

If you're in search of a robot that can wash your hard floors, look to iRobot's Braava line of smart mops. The Braava Jet m6 robot mop can both sweep and mop hardwood, tile, and other non-carpet floors. It can't vacuum, but it's effective at cleaning and polishing your hard floors.

Homes with hardwood floors: If you hate dealing with a mop and bucket (or even one of those wet-pad Swiffers), the Braava Jet m6 should be on your radar. It cleans, sweeps, and scrubs hard floors in a way that standalone robot vacuums simply can't. With its long battery life and the ability to cover up to 1,000 square feet in a single session, the m6 is suitable for both apartments and larger homes.

Roomba vacuum owners: The Braava Jet m6 is a nice addition if you already own an iRobot Roomba i, j, or s series robot vacuum. You can link them in the app and configure the mop to start a run once the vacuum finishes cleaning your floors.

Self-emptying robot vacuums are more expensive than those that require manual emptying, but the convenience is worth it. The Roomba i3+ EVO makes the feature affordable. It lacks some smart navigation features, but you can still direct it to clean specific rooms and control it with your voice or an app.

Allergy sufferers: If you don't want to expose yourself to dust while maintaining your Roomba, this is an affordable model that empties its own bin. The i3+ EVO comes with a Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal dock, which charges the robot and holds around 60 days' worth of debris in its AllergenLock bag (depending on how often you vacuum and the cleanliness of your home). When the robot docks after cleaning, you can hear the blower motor in the base kick on as it sucks the contents of the dustbin into the bag.

People who value convenience: A self-emptying dustbin adds a lot to the convenience of owning a robot vacuum, since you don't have to empty the bin yourself after every run. It's a must-have feature for truly hands-free cleaning.

The innovative Roomba 205 Combo vacuums well for its relatively affordable price, and minimizes maintenance with a unique feature. It features a plastic fin built into its dustbin that compacts dirt to one side after each use. This allows it to last for roughly two months between emptying cycles, without requiring a large, self-emptying base station. Moreover, the 205 has capable navigation, and it can mop during vacuuming runs as well.

Small spaces: The Roomba 205's charger is significantly smaller than any self-emptying base station, and the robot's dust compactor enables it to offer similar convenience while occupying much less space in your home.

Budget-conscious buyers: If you appreciate the convenience of a self-emptying dustbin but don't want to purchase new bags every two months, the Roomba 205 eliminates the need for those.