Best robot vacuum for pet hair 2024: tested by experts

I'm always a little skeptical of robot vacuum cleaners. The market is saturated with inexpensive but low-quality robots that never quite get you floors clean. 

That's especially true with pet hair. Fine, light hair from shedding dogs and cats can be difficult to remove from carpets and hard floors even with the best vacuum, let alone a robot with half the power. 

But we've tested plenty of robot vacuums over the years, so I know exactly which models are actually worth buying. Combined with our breadth of experience examining the best vacuums for pet hair, I've found the vacuums that really do the job. 

With an all-rounder, a choice for hard floors, and a choice for carpets, these three robot vacuums suit a wide range of homes, pets, and owners. 

Roomba Combo™ j7+ | Was $1099.99, now $799 on Amazon
The only thing we don't like about Roomba is the price, so it's great to see this model selling for $300 less. When the Roomba switches on, you can switch off: this little robot automatically empties its own bin for 60 days at a time. 

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Shark AV2501AE Vacuum | Was $649.99, now $324.99 on Amazon
This Shark Vacuum was already affordable. Now that it's selling at half-price, it's an absolute steal. This vacuum has a runtime of 120 minutes, so it's ideal for whole-house cleaning. 

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Roomba i3+ EVO | Was $899.99, now $599.99 on Amazon
You can save $300 on this vacuum, which has 10 times greater Power Lifting Suction compared to the Roomba 600 series. The Roomba i3+ EVO can locate and remove dirt and dust particles as small as .7 microns.

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The quick list

Best robot vacuum for pet hair

This robot is our favorite robot vacuum on the market, in part because it's such a good vacuum for pet hair. It did a great job picking up pet fur and dander from carpet, as well as mud tracked in from dogs' paws. It's fantastic at detecting and avoiding cables, chair legs, and pet toys, too.

However, it has lots of other great feature for pets. Perhaps the best is that it can identify and avoid pet messes. Early robot vacuums couldn't do this, and it meant that if your pets left you a 'present' they would drive straight through it and track it into the carpet. This vacuum is fantastic at identifying these, and iRobot is so confident that  it offers an aptly-named P.O.O.P. (Pet Owner Official Promise) that if one of these vacuums fails to spot a pet mess, iRobot will replace it for free.  

Another great feature for pet hair is the Roomba j7+CleanBase docking station. This station not only charges the battery, but empties the dustbin automatically into a larger dust bag in a larger bin. That's great on its own terms, but it also means pet hair is sealed away in a bag, which is great if you suffer from allergies. Each dust bag has enough room for 60 days' worth of dirt, so you only need to empty it once every two months.

Our biggest criticisms are that it's pretty pricey, and there's an ongoing cost with replacing the dust bags. It can also be a little overzealous when spotting pet messes – our tester had a patterned carpet that kept being flagged as an obstacle. 

There's more detail in our full iRobot Roomba j7+ review.

Best robot vacuum for pet hair on hard floor

This robot is a good choice for pet owners with hard floors because not only do you have the option of vacuuming up their fur, but you can also mop up common pet stains like dog slobber or minced pet food. 

On test, it did a good job with rice, soil, and dog fur. However, the mopping performance is the real stand out, easily cleaning up a stain left on a wood floor from a snowy boot. This robot also has clever tech that blasts air at your baseboards to loosen dirt, making sure this robot cleans right to the edge. 

However, bear in mind that the mopping isn't automatic. You have to switch it from vacuuming to mopping mode yourself, so don't expect this vacuum to scrub your floors and vacuum the carpet by itself. You'll also have to empty the water tank yourself.

The app is also a little glitchy (though in fairness this may have been patched since our review) and it also can't track progress as it goes. Sometimes this robot doubles up and cleans areas it has already vacuumed or mopped, so it's not always the most efficient.

All the detail is in our full Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop review.

Best robot vacuum for pet hair on carpets

The s9+ is the most powerful Roomba to date, with a 40x improved suction compared to its base models such as the Roomba 981. By point of reference, the j7+ above only has 10x the power. It's an excellent choice for deep cleaning carpets, automatically ramping up its suction power as it moves form hard floors to carpet. 

On test, we found that it did the best job of any robot when it comes to cleaning pet hair from carpet. It cleans in neat rows and will pay extra attention to spots that need a deeper clean. Unlike the j7+ above, the D-shape means that it can clean corners, too. 

So it seems surprising that this vacuum isn't in at the number one spot. The reason is that this vacuum is incredibly noisy. Of course, no vacuum is quiet, but our tester Alex says that this vacuum sounds 'like a jet engine taking off'. She sent me over a video for a second opinion and I can testify how loud it is. You can't hear yourself over the sheer noise of it, and Alex's dog looked very unimpressed, which is not what you want from a vacuum for pet hair. If you're out at work in the day then this might not be an issue, but with so many of us working from home these days, it's a significant drawback. 

It's also over powered. Where other vacuums might bump into a chair leg, the s9+ will push it over, which you don't want if you've got expensive furniture or kids nearby. 

All the detail is in our full iRobot Roomba s9+ review.

Meet the team

Alex David

Alex oversees all our reviews content and ranked the vacuums in this guide. After graduating from Cambridge University he began work as a consumer journalist. He's tested vacuums ever since he started reviewing, so hundreds of hours spent testing dozens of vacuum cleaners, he's an expert in the best vacuum cleaners for your home. 

Camryn Rabideau

Camryn Rabideau is a freelance writer and product reviewer who has been testing home goods, including cleaning tools, for several years. She tested the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum from her small homestead in Rhode Island. 

About this review

About this review

Alex Frost

Alex is a mom, wife, and journalist working out of Cincinnati, OH. She tested the s9+ for a month, putting it through multiple mapping programs, charging sessions, and cleaning cycles. She assessed how well it vacuumed her various types of flooring and if it had the skills to weave its way through chair legs, LEGO, and her kids' artwork.

Jaclyn Turner

Jaclyn was an eCommerce editor for Homes & Gardens, where she oversaw sleep content including mattresses and bedding. She tested a number of vacuums including the iRobot Roomba j7+. 

How we test

At Homes & Gardens we like to get hands-on experience with all the products we feature. You can learn more how we test products in our dedicated guide, and there's a more specific rundown of our vacuum test process in how we test vacuums.

All of our vacuums are tried and tested in our test centre and in our own homes. When in the test centre, we assess each vacuum on carpet, linoleum and wood flooring, two of the most common types of hard floor. We test them with flour and sugar, which is a common kitchen spill but also a good proxy for dust and dead skin; cereal, which shows how well it picks up larger debris like crumbs and small stones; and most of all on old hair extensions, which demonstrates how well a vacuum can pick up hair, and whether or not hair gets stuck in its rollers.

Specific to robot vacuums for pet hair, we test in homes with dogs and assess how well the vacuum can pick up pet fur and dander on a wide range of surfaces. We take care to note each vacuum's ability to map out a room and avoid obstacles. We note whether each vacuum can fit under sofas and into corners, as well as clean along baseboards.  

We test the vacuum cleaners for a number of weeks so that we know our tests aren't a one-off. In some instances, we are also fortunate enough to keep the vacuum cleaners after writing up the review so we can continue to learn about them over months or even years and share our findings with you as the vacuums pick up wear and tear over time. 

Robot vacuums for pets FAQs

Not every robot is good for pet hair, so I've only included the very best here. If you don't have pets, your options are are a lot broader. You'll find that some of the best robot vacuum are a lot cheaper and quieter than those featured in this guide, because they don't need to have the power of these robots.