Robot Vacuum or Cordless Stick? What Each Actually Does
Daily maintenance versus deep cleaning, stairs and sofas, and the combo dock that does both.
Free-to-use photo via Pexels (Thirdman); no attribution required by license, credited here as courtesy.
What a robot does
Runs daily, keeps floors from getting bad, and — with a dock — asks for nothing for weeks. It does not do stairs, sofas, car seats or a spilled bag of flour.
What a stick does
Deep cleans when you decide to, everywhere. It also sits in a cupboard until you do.
Most households need
A robot for the daily pass and a stick for everything else. The Ecovacs T30S Combo puts both in one dock; otherwise pair a self-emptying robot from our ranking with any mid-range stick.
Pet hair
Rubber rollers (Roomba) and self-cleaning brushrolls (Shark) shed no hair in our two-week test; bristle brushes needed cutting free.
» See the full rankings: Best Robot Vacuums of 2027, Best Robot Vacuums for Pet Hair .