Sale season might be over, but these robot vacuum are still under $500 – for now

Best for: pet owners and allergy sufferers

If the absolute last thing you want to do is empty a vacuum dustbin every few days, the Dreame D20 Pro Plus is designed to hand you back your weekends. Featuring a highly efficient auto-empty station, it locks away dust and debris for up to 90 days in an enclosed, sealed dust bag—a massive win for allergy sufferers who want to avoid puffing dust back into the air during maintenance.

Equipped with a high-efficiency filtration system and smart dynamic mapping, it systematically covers every corner of your floor plan. Its dual-action vacuuming and mopping paths lift fine dust from hard floors while keeping pet dander in check on carpets, offering a healthier home environment with next to no manual effort.

Also available from:

• $499 at Dreame

Best for: effective hard floor to carpet cleaning

For homes with a mix of sprawling hard floors and plush rugs, the ECOVACS DEEBOT N30 Pro Omni offers a remarkably premium cleaning experience without the top-tier price tag. Boasting strong suction alongside pressurized rotating mopping pads, it actively scrubs away stubborn, dried-on stains rather than just wiping over them.

The standout feature is its ultra-compact Omni station, which automatically washes the mop pads with hot water and dries them with heated air to prevent musty odours. Combined with precise LiDAR mapping and carpet detection that automatically lifts the mops to keep your carpets bone-dry, it’s a stellar set-and-forget solution for modern Australian homes.

Also available from:

• Currently unavailable at Amazon

Best for: hands-free maintenance

If emptying the vacuum is the chore you’d happily never do again, the Dreame D20 Plus is designed with you in mind. Its self-emptying dock stores dust for up to 150 days, dramatically reducing day-to-day maintenance while keeping your floors consistently clean.

Powerful 13,000Pa suction tackles everything from fine dust to pet hair, while the HyperStream anti-tangle brush helps prevent hair from wrapping around the roller; a welcome feature for pet owners and households with long hair. Intelligent navigation, app control and vacuum-and-mop functionality round out a robot vacuum that works hard behind the scenes, so you don’t have to

Also available from:

• $499 (was $999) at Dreame

Best for: scheduled cleaning

If the thought of a robot vacuum that tackles everything (from cleaning and emptying, to mapping out highly effective cleaning routes, without you having to lift a finger) the ECOVACS DEEBOT N20 might just be your new favourite housemate. Designed with powerful suction and an anti-tangle brush that keeps pet hair in check, it glides through daily messes with quiet confidence.

The best part? Its clever hybrid design means it vacuums and mops in one go, leaving hard floors streak-free and carpets refreshed. You can even schedule cleans or set no-go zones straight from your phone, so every tidy-up feels completely effortless. Elegant, efficient and surprisingly intuitive, it’s the kind of cleaning companion that makes modern living feel a little more luxurious.

Best for: cleaning under furniture

For those looking to automate the daily vacuum without investing in a top-tier model, the Roborock Q7T+ strikes an excellent balance between performance and value.

Its powerful 8,000Pa suction easily lifts dust, crumbs and pet hair from both hard floors and carpets, while smart app controls let you schedule cleans, customise rooms and create no-go zones with ease. A self-emptying dock reduces how often you’ll need to empty the dustbin yourself, and the HEPA filtration system helps capture fine dust and allergens, making it a practical choice for keeping on top of everyday mess with minimal effort.

Also available from:

• $799 from Roborock
• $339 from Kogan

Best for: low clearance areas

If you prefer your appliances to blend quietly into a clean, minimalist home, the Hitachi RV offers a beautifully sleek, low-profile aesthetic. Hitachi brings its signature Japanese engineering to this model, packing efficient cleaning power into a compact design that easily glides under low-clearance sofas, bed frames, and entertainment units where dust bunnies love to hide.

Utilising smart gyro-mapping to navigate in logical, straight paths, it ensures no patch of floor is left untouched. It is a highly practical, streamlined choice for apartments or smaller homes looking for an elegant daily maintenance vacuum that gets the job done without taking up visual space in the room.

Also available from:

• $481 at Amazon

Best for: a robot vacuum under $250

Bringing together vacuuming, sweeping and mopping in one clever design, the Magivaac 3-in-1 is the quiet achiever of home cleaning. With strong suction, a built-in HEPA filter and smart navigation, it tackles everything from crumbs to fine dust while keeping the air fresh. And with its slim shape that glides under furniture with ease, combined with intuitive controls, it’s never been easier to switch from a quick tidy-up to a deeper clean

If you’re looking for an affordable option that actually works, the Magivaac might be your perfect fit. The best part? There are plenty of positive customer reviews to help you upgrade your cleaning routine with confidence.

Best for: first-time robot vacuum owners

For homes where a dust-free floor is non-negotiable, the iRobot Roomba 105 is the simple yet powerful solution. Its high-efficiency, power-lifting suction captures dust, dirt, and crumbs across multiple floor types, and its edge sweeping brush ensures that every corner is spotless. The smart navigation system guides the Roomba in methodical cleaning patterns, while its slim profile allows it to glide under furniture, reaching areas that often get overlooked.

Set it up once, and the Roomba takes care of the rest: its self-charging capability ensures it’s always ready for action, and its intuitive design makes operation effortless, no complicated settings required. Quiet and built for everyday life, the iRobot Roomba 105 blends seamlessly into your home, giving you the luxury of freshly cleaned floors without lifting a finger.

Also available from:

• $250 from Myer
• $499 from JB HI-FI

Best for: industry-leading suction

A relatively fresh face in the Australian market, MOVA is making a serious name for itself by packing top-tier tech into impressively priced packages. The MOVA E20s Pro Plus is a prime example, boasting a massive 13,000Pa suction capacity—a power level usually reserved for units double the price—making it absolutely lethal against deep-set carpet dirt, crumbs, and embedded pet hair.

Navigating via a smart Pathfinder laser system and 3DAdapt obstacle avoidance, it smoothly charts a path around shoes, furniture, and unexpected clutter. It vacuums and mops in a single pass, and when it returns to base, the compact station automatically sucks away the debris into a large sealed dust bag, giving you up to 90 days of completely hands-free floor maintenance.