The best Shark robot vacuums are as good as their Roomba cousins — or better

In an unspoken sort of way, Roomba has been crowned “the best” on the sole basis that it’s the most established brand in the robot vacuum market. But Shark has always had competitive street cred when it comes to vacuums in general, and its newest round of robot vacuums is finally a force to be reckoned with among Roombas and Roborocks.

Having tested the top bots from all of these brands, we’re ready to name the best Shark robot vacuums for 2024.

Are Shark robot vacuums as good as Roomba?

It’s not the definitive one-word answer you were hoping for, but making an unequivocal call between the two brands just doesn’t make sense. As in the Instant Pot vs. Ninja Foodi debate, both vacuum brands are constantly growing their lineups, expanding their price ranges, and filling blind spots in which the other brand may have previously been the winner.

However, Shark typically does one thing better than Roomba: Making the best robot vacuum features accessible. Since robot vacuum’s mainstream presence took off around 2015 or 2016, a trifecta of cleaning technology (outside of the vacuuming itself) has arisen that separates the best robot vacuums from the ones that do the bare minimum. These are mopping, smart room mapping, and automatic emptying.

iRobot and Shark both have several options that offer all three or some mix and match version of two. With the release of its Matrix line in spring 2023, Shark is your best bet for securing more autonomous features at a lower price (compared to the prices on the Roombas with matching capabilities). There’s also a high chance that any given Shark robot vacuum is on sale at any given time. In our guide below, we’ll note the sale price we see most frequently in “The Good” section — so don’t take that full price too seriously.

Shark really shines at spot cleaning

Sometimes, there’s an unexpected mess that you want to clean without messing around with a map on the app. In those cases, Shark Matrix robot vacuums make spot cleaning much easier than Roombas do. Setting a zone for a one-time clean in the Shark app is as easy as dragging a square in the designated spot cleaning tab, compared to having to create and name an official cleaning zone on the map in the iRobot app. Shark Matrix robot vacuums also have a physical cleaning button if you want to pick the robot up and place it in the right area — an underrated feature that modern Roombas completely skip.

The Mashable team has tested dozens of robot vacuum cleaners, including some of the best Shark robot vacuums. Now, we’re gathering the top cleaning machines from the brand into one place.