I've covered every major sale event since 2021, spending hundreds of hours looking for the best vacuum deals, as well as testing, reviewing and writing about vacuum cleaners daily.
As essential as they are, vacuums aren't cheap. There are budget models out there between $100 to $200 but they rarely do a good job of cleaning our floors. Instead, you're looking at forking out $300+ for a vacuum that's actually worth the spend.
My team of product testers and I have tested 72 of the world's best vacuum cleaners and, from my experience, I'd never recommend paying full price for one. They're on sale at so many points throughout the year that you never have to wait long until the next discount.
Below, I've included links to where you can find the best vacuum sales across the biggest brands and retailers, as well as detailed guides on what to look for in a vacuum, how to shop appliance sale events, and how to know if a vacuum deal is genuinely worth it.
Where to shop for vacuum cleaner deals
I've compiled an easy-to-browse quick list for all vacuum sales across retailers. We also have a dedicated hub for the best Dyson deals if you're looking for high-quality engineering.
Brand sales:
- Bissell: Up to 55% off vacuums
- Dyson: Save up to $170 on some of Dyson's bests
- Miele: Browse premium vacuums deals
- Hoover: Up to $300 off vacuums, floor cleaners and bundles
- iRobot: Save $600 on the latest-and-best Roomba
- Proscenic: Up to 86% off cordless and robot vacuums
- Samsung: $100 off AI robot and cordless vacuums
- Shark: Up to $300 off cordless, upright and robot models
- Ultenic: Budget vacuums under $200
Retailer sales:
- Amazon: $100+ savings on thousands of vacuums on Dyson, Shark, Bissell and more
- Best Buy: Discounted vacs from $100
- Home Depot: Discounts of $400+ on Roborock and other brands
- QVC: View vacuum deals with up to 46% off
- Walmart: Vacuums we love from $200
- Wayfair: Offers with $30 off Bissell, Shark, iRobot and more
My top vacuum deal tips and tricks
I've been covering appliance deals and sales events since 2021. After writing about every Black Friday, Prime Day and other major sale periods for the last four years, I've learned how to spot a genuinely good deal and a few things to do before heading into the online sales.
First off, do your research. There are tons of vacuum cleaners out there, spanning cordless, upright, canister, wet/dry and even robot models. Brush up on how to choose the right vacuum cleaner for your home and browse our buying guides (linked below) for advice from our thorough testing. The right vacuum cleaner depends on your home's needs; they're not all suited to everyone.
Doing your research beforehand equips you when the big sales come around. With retailers and manufacturers pushing their 'best' vacuum deals, it can be easy to become distracted and choose a model you wouldn't have normally gone for.
Online stores will occasionally bump up the prices before a sale event so that their discounts look much bigger. So when it comes to finding deals, you can use two sites to check whether you've found it at its cheapest.
Honey: this is a price comparison tool. If you install it as an extension on your browser, it'll pop up when you're on a product page, and display info from across the web. It'll tell you if you've found it at its cheapest or if another retailer offers it at a better price. You can also view price history up to the past 120 days – this will help to show you whether you've found a genuinely good price, or if a retailer has bumped it up ahead of the sale so that the discount seems bigger.
CamelCamelCamel: this website works in a similar way, but exclusively for Amazon listings. You can enter a product name or URL, and it'll show you its entire price history. This is particularly useful as you can see when a vacuum is at its lowest price ever (then, you've found it at the right time).
Use Camel and Honey alongside each other to check price history, compare other sites, and learn more about the best times to buy a particular vacuum.
Pro tip: You can find refurbished vacuums online for a lower price. It might not sound appealing for such an important investment, but refurbished vacuums still have to meet rigorous testing standards to be sold and labeled as such. Dyson Renewed is a great example – it's their outlet store for recycled and refurbished goods. You can also find dedicated pages for refurbished vacs at Walmart and Best Buy.
The best vacuums to look out for deals on
We've tested 65 of the world's best vacuum cleaners and put them through their paces in our test center and in our own homes. If you're unsure where to look, start with my handpicked selection of tried and tested vacuums worth snapping up on a good deal.
The best vacuum cleaner you can buy
The Gen5detect has performed better than every other vacuum we've tested at Homes & Gardens. It's the flagship model from Dyson, boasting their latest and highest-quality engineering. It has a price to reflect that (almost $1,000!), so you'll want to try and grab this when it's on sale, by a lot.
Whether you're vacuuming super-fine dust, large debris, hair or fur, the Gen5detect can pick it up with complete ease. It has dedicated floorheads for carpets and hard floors too, as well as attachments for cleaning upholstery, pet beds, shelves and crevices.
But what makes the Dyson Gen5detect so excellent is its detection tech. It features a green laser that reveals dust that the naked eye can't see, and it adapts to how dusty your floors are and ups the suction power when you need it (but preserves it when you don't). It also has a Piezo sensor that counts each individual particle that's been picked up, giving you insight into what you're cleaning and where the messy parts of your home are.
Read our full Dyson Gen5detect review here.
The best upright vacuum cleaner
The Shark POWERDETECT is a relentless cleaner that easily makes light work of more serious cleaning tasks. Upright vacuums are the ideal choice for homes with carpets, pets and kids, as these high-traffic floors need more cleaning power.
Like the latest Dyson offerings, the POWERDETECT responds to your floor type and how dusty it is, so that it can adapt the suction power by itself. That means it's working less intensely on your delicate hard floors while digging deep into carpets, automatically.
It's also amazing on pet hair. On test, it was able to dig cat fur out of the carpet that wasn't even visible to the tester. A nice touch from Shark, too, is that it comes with an odor-neutralizer, leaving a fresh scent across your home after you clean.
Read our full Shark POWERDETECT review here.
The V15 Detect is part of Dyson's flagship range that includes the Gen5detect and V12 Detect Slim. They all share features but vary slightly in terms of cleaning power and size. The V15 Detect is the middle option out of the three, which makes it hundreds of dollars cheaper than the Gen5detect.
During testing, the V15 Detect was able to collect all of the dirt and fur from a dog bed, while also reviving its original color – something previous vacuums weren't able to. The Motorbar floorhead and hair screw tool both have anti-tangle brushrolls that can collect hair and fur without you having to manually remove it.
It also shares the detection features found in the Gen5detect: the green laser to reveal invisible dust, the particle sensor, and the intuitive suction power. Although it's more affordable than the Gen5detect, it still costs $750 at full price, so you should always wait until it's on sale (the best sale price I've ever seen is $550).
Read our full Dyson V15 Detect review here.
When is a good time to find a vacuum deal?
In my time covering deals and sale events, I've learned that the best time to buy a vacuum cleaner is around September to January. This is often when brands are releasing new products, and the manufacturers and retailers will clear old stock to make space (by reducing the price). That being said, this isn't always the case, and I've learned that you can find vacuum bargains all-year-round if you know when to look.
Memorial Day vacuum deals
This year, Memorial Day falls on May 26, and there will no doubt be a flood of sales from the major retailers and all of our favorite vacuum brands. This is the case every year, so if you're in the market for a discounted vacuum, this might be your time.
Prime Day vacuum deals
Amazon's Prime Days (in July and October) always bring some great deals on vacuum cleaners, but there isn't always the biggest selection. As it's only a single retailer, the range of products that are actually discounted can sometimes be limited, but I often see the well-known bestsellers on offer (like those from Shark and Dyson).
Recently places like Walmart, Target and Best Buy have been launching competing sales while Prime Day is live, often lasting for days or even weeks longer. If you look through all the sites, you're sure to find a great discount on a good vac.
Labor Day vacuum deals
Among all the Labor Day sales, I've always been surprised by how many impressive vacuum deals I've found, often rivaling those I see during Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Prime Day. Lots of stores get involved with the Labor Day sales, as well as the brands themselves (it's on the brands' own websites where I tend to find the best deals).
Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals
Black Friday (typically the end of Nov) and Cyber Monday (the first Monday after Thanksgiving) is the biggest sale event of the year. Historically this is where I've seen the most choice when it comes to vacuum deals, with retailers and the vacuum brands themselves all launching their own sales. If you're looking to browse, this is the best time to do so.
After Christmas and New Year's Day vacuum deals
For some online stores and manufacturers, this period is the last chance to clear old vacuum stock, so you'll likely find some decent price reductions. There may not be the best choice on offer, but if you're looking for something cheap, you're in luck. It's also the time of year when people generally spend less, driving the prices down further.
FAQs
Why are Dyson vacuums so expensive?
Dysons are so expensive because they offer the best, market-leading engineering. From our 48 vacuum tests, Dyson have come out on top in almost every way, and their vacuums have unique features that can't be found elsewhere.
I'd personally never recommend buying a Dyson at full price, though. They're on offer so frequently throughout the year that it's best to wait until some Dyson deals are in full swing.
If they're still too expensive then, we have a guide dedicated to the best Dyson alternatives, for similar cleaning power at a fraction of the cost.
Are cordless vacuums worth buying?
Yes, but it depends on your home. If you live in a busy, heavily carpeted home with pets, you'd probably benefit from the power of one of the best upright vacuums.
But if your home has a lot of hard floors, and you like to clean regularly, you can't beat the convenience of a cordless stick. They're lighter, more comfortable to use, and some are even rivaling the power of an upright vacuum (granted, these are the expensive ones, like the Dyson Gen5detect).
If you're on the hunt for the best vacuum deals, it might be worth learning how shark vs dyson vacuums compare, to see which will be best for your home.
And if you're looking to make your cleaning a little easier, find out whether robot vacuums are really worth it, too.
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