6 Best Cheap Vacuum Cleaners, According to Cleaning Experts

Bissell vacuums have long been strong performers in our Lab, especially in our carpet cleaning tests. This Cleanview upright vac has five height settings meaning you can clean high-pile and low-pile carpeting, bare floors and everything in between. We like that Bissell's bagless dust cup empties from the bottom because our tests show that this design creates less mess. And its turbo brush attachment mimics those we've seen on more expensive vacuums for removing pet hair and lint from upholstery and carpeted stairs.

It comes with a washable foam filter, a 25-foot cord and a two-year limited warranty from Bissell. Though it doesn't offer HEPA filtration, variable suction or a brush roll on/off switch at this price point, the brush roll is designed to minimize scattering on bare floors, and the multi-stage filtration captures both large and tiny particles. And weighing only 13.5 pounds, it’s easy to carry up and down stairs.

There’s a reason this mini vacuum cleaner has been on the market so long: It works! We tested this top-rated canister vacuum years ago in our Cleaning Lab and still consider it one of the best for the price. Lightweight and easy to tote around, the Eureka is a bare floor and hardwood vacuuming champ. It comes with a HEPA filter to trap allergens and a hose, wands and other attachments, like a shoulder strap, for easier floor-to-ceiling cleaning. The dust bags are easy to change, and the blower port emits a powerful blast to rid your workbench, garage, driveway or deck of debris.

Especially nice at this cheap price are the fingertip controls and a 20-foot cord. While the floor nozzle can easily clean up bare floors and flat and low pile rugs and carpets, don't expect it to retrieve dirt and debris embedded deep into medium and high pile carpets. You need a rotating brush for that and this doesn't come with one.

Stick vacuums are lightweight and convenient for homes with lots of bare flooring, but they're usually not so convenient for heavily carpeted areas. Not the case with this stick vac from Bissell. Unlike others at this price point, it has a rotating brush head to better remove pet hair and other debris from carpeting and upholstery. It also converts to a handheld vacuum, and it's corded for nonstop cleaning.

Bissell stick vacuums tend to do very well in GH Cleaning Lab tests, quickly picking up debris and litter from bare floors and low-pile carpets without pushing or scattering it. The Featherweight PowerBrush has a small washable filter at the top of the dust cup, but it's not a HEPA filter and the cleaning head doesn't swivel, which bothers some users.

This small but mighty vacuum weighs only 3 pounds and earned the highest overall score in our last test of 18 handheld vacuums. The Worx Power Share Cordless Cube earned a perfect score across six of our seven ease-of-use tests and five of our seven performance tests. What makes it even better is that it's cordless. The rechargeable battery is compatible with any 20v or 40v Worx power tools, but it is sold separately which will drive up the price. It ran for 23 minutes on a single charge in our test, longer than many other handheld vacuums twice its size.

It features a HEPA filter that can be cleaned with warm water, a crevice tool and a dusting brush attachment and a flexible hose that extends up to 4 feet making it easy to reach under and between car seats or into hard-to-reach corners. Surprisingly, we liked its unique boxy shape and easy-carry top handle.

This vacuum from Black+Decker gives you lots of bang for your buck. In our Cleaning Lab tests, it earned the second-highest overall score thanks to its powerful suction that rivaled some of the higher-end models we tested. And the motorized power brush attachment for removing pet hair and other embedded debris is a nice extra for a handheld vacuum at this price. We were impressed with the amount of dirt and pet hair we were able to remove from carpets, even on the standard power mode.

Other notable features include a runtime of 32 minutes (long for a handheld vacuum), a washable filter and an easy-to-empty dustbin. It also earned high scores for being one of the quietest hand vacs we tested. The large, easy-to-read battery indicator means you'll always know when the power is running low too. While it's geared up for deep cleaning and removing pet hair, it lacks a HEPA filter which would have been helpful for allergy sufferers.

For maximum versatility, there's a relatively new category of vacuum cleaners that's revolutionizing the way we clean our floors. Vacuum mops are upright models that suck up both dirt and wet messes. We like these vacuums because they effectively clean and wash your floors in a single pass. But, like the best vacuum cleaners, vacuum mops worthy of the most attention tend to be pricey.

This one is a rare exception, and it performed well in our cleaning tests, especially when picking up spilled cereal and milk. It rolled smoothly on both hard flooring and area rugs and steered nimbly around furniture. We also liked the smell of the cleaning solution, plus the fact that the unit comes with separate brushes to clean the vacuum itself. The trade-off? It's the only one of our top vacuum mops without a display screen or voice notifications.