While the (unofficial) Strategist cleaning club might not count the entire staff as members, it gets pretty close. It’s with this passion for cleanliness that we dutifully test vacuums and interview cleaning experts to find out which robot vacuums, cordless vacuums, and even a few good carpet cleaners are actually worth your money. Over years of testing vacuums, we’ve also learned that Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the days leading up to both are the best time to buy a vacuum online — as in, right now.
While you’ll likely find even more deals on Strategist-approved vacuums come Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there are a number of notable sales on Strategist-tested vacuums already live. Here, I’ve rounded up all the best deals on vacuums that have appeared in any of our best-in-class vacuum guides, so you can trust that everything has been vetted by our team. I’ve also broken the deals out into categories — upright and stick vacuums, robot vacuums, handheld vacuums, and carpet cleaners — to make things easier for you. And if you’re looking for even more early Black Friday deals, you should check our Black Friday sales hub, where our deals editor, Sam Daly, is keeping tabs on all of the many, many sales across the internet.
Update on November 25, 2024: Added a few new standout vacuum deals; updated prices and checked stock for all other products.
Deals I Personally Think Are Best
As the owner of humble Bissell Featherweight that just isn’t cutting it anymore, I, too, am hoping to buy a new vacuum this Black Friday. I haven’t yet decided which one I’m buying, but I’d like it to be Strategist-approved and at least 50 percent. The Dreame is a nice versatile option that can handle both dry messes — like broken glass and cereal — and wet messes — like white wine and milk — with ease. I’m also impressed by the Shark, which came in a close second to the Dyson Gen5detect for best vacuum overall. And of course, it’s hard to resist the surprisingly quiet best affordable robot vacuum while it’s nearly half off.
Upright and Stick Vacuum Deals
I’m impressed by this deal on our favorite wet-dry vacuum. When one Strategist writer tested this one, it passed the most difficult tests for a wet-dry vacuum, including a week’s worth of dried coffee and stray beans below our writer’s coffee maker along with some dried maple syrup.
Our favorite affordable cordless vacuum is made even more affordable by its current 50 percent off discount. As our social-media editor, Kathy Li, says, “If you see something you want that’s already on sale, jump on it now.”
Some cordless vacuums require a charging mount that you’d need to install with a drill — not this one. It comes with a stand-alone charging base that’s easy to set up and move around — no drills required.
A vacuum so nice it appeared in our best-in-class guide twice, the Gen5detect is notable for its 70-minute run time, nifty add-ons, and masterful ability to suck up pet hair. You’ll save more than $100 if you buy it now.
If you don’t anticipate vacuuming your home for more than 70 minutes at a time, this one is a cheaper alternative. It’s the precursor to the Gen5detect and still includes the laser illumination that Dyson vacuums are known for.
Though the Dyson V15 recently overcame the V8 as our favorite lightweight cordless vacuum, the V8 is still a great option, especially for the price. It’s cordless, compact, and has a run time of 40 minutes, which I’d say is more than enough time to make a one-bedroom apartment spotless.
Cleaning professionals, vacuum experts, and many vacuum owners we’ve spoken to agree that Miele’s canister vacuums are the longest-lasting and best-performing ones on the market. This model also happens to be the very best canister vacuum according to Strategist testing.
If you’d rather a vacuum that’s ideal for vacuuming crumbs and stray hair off your carpets, this one is our top recommendation in part because of its roller head, which loosens, lifts, and sucks up deeply embedded debris from carpets.
Allergy sufferers know it’s the microscopic messes — not the large ones — that cause their discomfort. This vacuum can tackle those minuscule particles because it automatically adjusts its rolling speed and power based on the surface it’s cleaning, so those stubborn particles in your rug will get the attention they deserve. Best of all, you can turn it into a handheld to tackle dust in your car.
“If you’re looking for a lightweight, versatile vacuum cleaner that can tackle both hardwood floors and carpet, the Lift-Away is for you,” says Strategist writer Dominique Pariso. You can also turn it into a canister vacuum to tackle those tricky nooks and crannies.
Robot Vacuum Deals
Busy clean freaks, rejoice! Our favorite robot vacuum is at a record low price. We love it for its impressive mapping skills and docking station that will suck up all of the debris the Roomba collected.
If you’re willing to splurge on your robot vacuum, this one is a step up from the Roomba j7+ because of its mopping mode, which our resident robot-vacuum expert, Jordan McMahon, says is noticeably quiet.
Here’s our favorite affordable robot vacuum for nearly half the price. Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo has been using hers for years and says, “It’s super-quiet, so I can run it while I work or watch TV without getting distracted by noise.”
Of all the robot vacuums that McMahon has tested, this one mapped and cleaned his home the fastest. “I watched it zip from room to room, getting an accurate map of the house within about ten minutes, and getting right to its first custom cleaning job,” he says. “The results were impressive too: In just under two hours, it did two full vacuum and mop runs of my entire three-bedroom home, and my floors were spotless.”
Carpet Cleaner Deals
This pastel-green machine comes recommended by cleaning experts, pet owners, and vintage-furniture flippers for its carpet-cleaning abilities. You can even use it on upholstery if you’re looking to deep clean ahead of the holidays.
Another option from Bissell, this one is a dedicated carpet cleaner that’s powerful enough to tackle entire carpets yet small enough to fit in a city apartment.
Finally, here’s our favorite affordable carpet cleaner made even more affordable by a steep discount. It’s lighter and more compact than the Bissell, too, if you’re short on space.
If you’re not short on space and looking for an upgrade pick, this one is a nice option because it’s automatic: It uses motion-sensing technology to dispense cleaning solution when it moves forward and suck it up when it moves backward.
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
