Robot vacuums that can both mop and sweep your floors have improved significantly in recent years. While they are still not as effective as good ol’ manual labor, if you run them regularly, they will help keep your floors cleaner with much less effort on your part.

The difference is that newer “combo” robot vacuum and mop models are designed to actually scrub your floors. The first robot vacuums that could also “mop” simply slapped a thin, flat microfiber pad on the bot that kind of Swiffer-ed your floor. Basically, all this was good for was getting up fine dirt that the vacuum left behind.

Newer models now come with vibrating or oscillating mop pads, and some even have roller mops. Most models have onboard water tanks to keep the mops wet while in use, and many can wash and dry their mops in their charging docks, which also automatically empty and refill their water tanks, meaning less work for you.

While most robot vacuums today come with some sort of mopping feature, this guide focuses on those that excel at mopping. If you’re more interested in the best vacuum, check out my guide to floor-sweeping bots.

The downside to these combo bots with serious mopping chops is that they tend to be bigger and heavier and need more frequent intervention than regular vacuum bots. Water equals gunk, and cleaning their giant multifunction docks, even the self-cleaning ones, can be an icky job. You also have to empty and refill their tanks about once a week.

Mopping bots also need to return to their docks more frequently than robot vacuums in order to refill their onboard water tanks. This means they’ll take longer to clean your floors than a dedicated vacuuming model, but they are doing two jobs at once. Robot mops with roller mops will self-clean as they work, negating this issue, but these models are also the largest and bulkiest, as they carry a bigger water tank on board.

Combo bots can mop and vacuum simultaneously, but for especially dirty floors, it’s best to have the option to vacuum first and then mop. A mop-only mode is also good, as you can send the bot to clean up a wet spill without it sucking up water — something they’re not designed to do yet.

If you have a lot of hardwood or tile floors and constantly struggle with muddy paw prints or the general dirtiness of life with multiple pets, people, and kids, a good robot vacuum and mop combo will definitely make your life easier.

Best robot vacuum and mop

Multifunction Dock: Yes, auto empty (3L) and drain/refill (4L dirty, 4L clean) / Mop style: Roller / Mop washing: Yes, hot water and hot air drying / Mop pressure: 4,000Pa at 200 RPM / Mop lift: Yes, 10mm / Edge cleaning: Yes, mop extension / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 18,000Pa / Vacuum brush style: Single rubber/bristle / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts, Matter

Ecovacs’ Deebot X8 Pro Omni is a welcome return to form for Ecovacs’ flagship line. Its new tower-less lidar navigation system did a much better job of mapping and navigating than the previous flagship, the Deebot X2 Omni, which was constantly getting lost in my tests. However, the most notable thing about the X8 is the Ozmo Roller Mop.

This is the best roller mopping bot I’ve tested, thanks mostly to the Ozmo’s ability to extend outwards to clean along baseboards and furniture. This is a unique feature on a roller mop (for now) that makes up for the mop’s relatively short length (both the Eufy S1 and Switchbot S10 have longer roller mops). At $1,299, the X8 is also one of the less expensive flagship models (though the new X9 Pro Omni retails for $1,599.99).

The X8 did an excellent job on my milk, OJ, and dried ketchup tests, absorbing the small spills with one or two passes. It covered the floors evenly, without leaving any streaks or gaps, something that I’ve seen happen with spinning mop pads. When it comes across an edge — be it a baseboard, furniture like a chair or table leg, or any obstacle — it extends out its mop to the right to clean as close as possible. It did an excellent job getting the grime up from the stools around my kitchen counter, something most other bots struggle to do.

The self-cleaning brush system kept the bot from smearing any spills it encountered. As it’s cleaning, a scraper squeegees off the dirty water and 16 nozzles spray it with fresh water and solution, if you use it. As with most high-end mopping bots, the dock has the option of auto-dispensing cleaning solution.

The X8 was the best vacuuming robot among the serious combo bots I tested, outperforming my Cheerio and oatmeal tests and doing a good job on rugs (when it could reach them). However, its vacuum has a relatively small, single rubber roller brush, which is less effective than Roborock’s dual roller brush models (which include the S8 MaxV Ultra and the 10 Max).

The X8 uses lidar and a 3D camera for mapping; the latter also facilitates its obstacle detection, which is very good — it easily navigated fake dog turds and cables while sucking up oatmeal and Cheerios. It’s much better at navigating than the X2, but it did occasionally get itself trapped, including when it went under a chair that was too low for it to get out from. The top of the robot was fairly scratched up after just one week of use. (Worth noting, Ecovacs suffered a hack last year in which bad actors could access the camera and microphone on the X2)

The X8’s multifunction dock is much smaller than the X2’s and has some nice rose gold accents. Its water tanks are integrated into the dock and supereasy to remove to empty and refill — there’s no lid to mess with, you just lift up and go. The X8 doesn’t self-clean its washboard, however, and while it’s removable to make it easier to clean, I still had to get on my knees and scrub its base station after just a week of use.

The downside of roller mop bots is that they are big and heavy: the X8 weighs a whopping 12 pounds. Despite an ability to lift itself up to clear thresholds, the X8 isn’t as agile as smaller, lighter robot vacs. It struggled with the combo challenge of a large, tasseled, high-pile rug and spindly chair leg. Very few robot vacs tackle that one well, but it got stuck on the chair leg and sucked up the rug tassels. I ended up setting a keep-out zone so it could complete its job.

The integrated nature of the roller mop means the bot can’t remove it when it goes to vacuum carpet, as some mopping bots with pads can. It can lift it, but only 10mm, which isn’t going to work for the fluffiest rugs. The X8 does have carpet sensors, and you can choose to avoid them automatically, pass over them, or vacuum only. But its best carpet feature is the option to have it vacuum the carpets first, then mop everywhere else.

Overall, the Deebot X8 is a stellar vacuum mop combo for anyone seeking a robot that will thoroughly scrub and sweep their floors. With high-end features at a decent price, the X8’s roller mop, slick navigation, and excellent obstacle avoidance will get the job done.

Best midrange robot vacuum and mop

Multifunction Dock: Yes, auto empty (2.5L) and drain/refill (2.7L dirty, 3L clean) / Mop style: Dual spinning pads / Mop washing: Yes, hot air drying / Mop pressure: 2.2 lbs at 180 RPM / Mop lift: Yes, 12 mm / Edge cleaning: Yes, swinging motion / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 8,000Pa / Vacuum brush style: Single rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts

The Eufy X10 Pro Omni is an excellent mop vacuum hybrid with a full multifunction dock. It can wash its mop, drain, and refill its water tank. It’s also the cheapest model to offer dual spinning mop pads, and it has very good obstacle detection for this price range.

However, the X10 has just 8,000Pa suction, no hot water washing, and smaller water tanks. While it has most of the same functions as the top-of-the-line mopping bots, it’s not quite as effective at any of them. Which is sort of the definition of “midrange.”

An edge-hugging mode makes the robot swing its behind into the baseboards to help mop edges, but this is less effective than mop extension found on the more expensive models. With its squarish shape, it gets into corners better than most of the round bots, but its 12mm mop pad lift over carpet wasn’t effective, resulting in its pads getting hung up in a few places.

The Eufy performed very well in my mopping tests, eradicating dried stains with its 2.2 pounds of downward pressure. Thanks to an onboard water reservoir, it didn’t have to head home to fill up as frequently as some bots do. It also has heated mop drying to help prevent the base from getting stinky — a first in this price range.

The X10 has great object recognition, allowing it to suck up Cheerios and piles of oatmeal while deftly navigating fake dog turds and cables. However, its navigation sometimes got screwy; it would go into a corner and stay there for a while, trying to figure itself out.

Best robot vacuum and mop for a mix of hard floors and rugs

Multifunction Dock: Yes, auto empty (3L) and drain/refill (4L dirty, 4.5L clean) / Mop style: Dual spinning pads / Mop washing: Yes, hot water and hot air drying / Mop pressure: Unknown / Mop lift: Yes, 10.5 mm / Edge cleaning: Yes, mop extension Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 12,000Pa / Vacuum brush style: Single, rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts

If you have a lot of fluffy rugs or carpets as well as hard floors, the Dreame X40 Ultra is the best robot vacuum for you. It’s not quite as effective as a mop or vacuum as the Ecovacs Deebot X8, but it’s better suited for high-pile carpet and rugs because it can automatically drop and reattach its mopping pads during vacuuming, eliminating the risk of getting your rugs wet or stained. The Ecovacs X8 can only raise its mop 10mm, not remove it, so it struggles on high-pile carpets.

Along with dropping its pads, the X40 can also extend and swing them to get under your cabinets and consoles. The X8 can extend to an edge, but won’t get under those low cabinets or furniture. I watched the X40 spread its mops wide apart and swing behind my TV console, allowing it to access the dust wedged a good inch under it.

However, because the X40 features dual spinning mop pads rather than a self-cleaning roller mop, it requires more frequent returns to clean the mops, which means it takes longer to clean your home. The X40’s spinning pads are effective at scrubbing your floors, but I found the X8’s roller mop to be better overall and more consistent.

The X40 can clean its washboard and features AI-powered smart dirt detection, which uses its cameras to identify spills, such as milk, or particularly dirty areas. When it spots something, it slows down and performs a more thorough cleaning. It also has an option to just mop. These are features the Ecovacs X8 doesn’t offer.

Dreame recently released the X50 Ultra, which adds 20,000Pa suction power and the ability to climb over higher thresholds. I’m currently testing this model.

Best robot vacuum and mop for hardwood floors

Multifunction Dock: Yes, auto empty (2.5L) and drain/refill (2L dirty, 3L clean) / Mop style: Roller / Mop washing: Yes, warm water and hot air drying / Mop pressure: 10N, 170 RPM / Mop lift: Yes, 12mm / Edge cleaning: No Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 8,000Pa / Vacuum brush style: Rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts

If you have mostly hardwood floors, the Eufy Omni S1 Pro is an excellent option. With its sleek, high-tech design and a long 11.4-inch roller mop, this product did an excellent job of keeping the hardwood floors of my main living area spotless.

I found the Eufy’s longer roller mop to be slightly more effective than the Deebot X8’s, mopping evenly and getting up more dirt on its first pass. While there is no mop extension of edge mopping, its square shape does help it get into corners, and its dual spinning side brushes help pull in debris.

However, its vacuuming prowess is middling; this really is a dedicated mopping robot. With just 8,000Pa suction power and a small rubber brush, it did a decent job of getting up debris, but left several flakes of oatmeal, thanks to its side brushes spinning the debris out beyond the bot’s reach. Its obstacle avoidance is also fairly average; it dodged larger items but struggled with cables.

The S1’s omni station is quite eye-catching, with a tall, futuristic design, and clear water tanks with glowing lights inside — although it might be considered an eyesore, depending on your style. Usefully, everything you need to interact with is located at the top, so there’s no need to bend down: a touchscreen display provides controls and the clean and dirty water tanks are easy to remove.

While it has a mop lift of 12mm (which is higher than the X8’s), it really struggled on my high-pile carpets, to the point where I had to set keep-out zones around them.

Like the X8, the S1 self-cleans the mop with water jets as it’s working, and you can set how frequently it returns to the base station for a thorough clean with warm water before continuing to mop. It will also dry the mop with hot air, which is effective, if noisy.

Neither the X8 nor the S1 have self-cleaning washboards, something Dreame offers. This is where the dock automatically washes the mopping tray in the dock – Dreame’s uses little wipers that go back and forth. It still needs to be cleaned eventually, but it does help keep the ick at bay for longer.

The S1 station’s debris filter got grungy fast and required manual cleaning, although this is fairly straightforward. After a month of use, I also had to disassemble the scraper and filter inside the bot, as well as remove the roller mop. This is something you’ll need to do for all mopping bots, but the Eufy’s was the most involved process, requiring me to disassemble multiple parts.

In my testing, I found that roller mops are great for most hardwood floors, but if you have lots of tile or scraped wood floors with grooves and nooks and crannies, a bot with oscillating mop pads will be better, as these do a better job of getting into crevices such as grout lines.

Best robot vacuum and mop for tile floors

Multifunction Dock: Yes, auto, empty (2.5L) and drain/refill (4.1L dirty, 4.5L clean) / Mop style: Dual triangular spinning pads / Mop washing: Yes, hot air drying / Mop Pressure: 2.6lbs at 180 RPM / Mop lift: Yes, 12mm / Edge cleaning: Yes, robot swing and fluffer / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 12,000Pa / Vacuum brush style: Single, conical rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcut

Narwal’s latest flagship mopping bot, the Freo Z Ultra, combines everything I loved about the Freo X Ultra, and adds better vacuuming, better object avoidance, an auto-empty dock (a first for Narwal), and a fluffy side brush to polish your baseboards. It also now comes in gray (white robot vacuums are not a good idea, unless you like cleaning your robot vacuum).

With its dual, triangular spinning mop pads (the unique shape helps avoid missing spots), the Freo Z is a great choice for homes with lots of hard floors, and especially tile. The oscillating mop pads are slightly better than roller mops at getting into grout lines and other crevices found on natural surfaces. The Freo Z’s downward pressure of 2.6 lbs meant it did a great job of scrubbing up dried-on debris, excelling in my dried ketchup test, even getting the red gunk up from tile grout.

Like the Deebot X8, the Freo Z can recognize various floor materials, including tile, hardwood, and marble, and clean in the direction of the flooring, such as along the wood grain. Unlike the X8, it automatically adjusts pressure and “mopping humidity” based on the floor type, using higher humidity on tile floors than on wood floors, which can be impacted by excessive moisture. The Freo Z also self-cleans its station and has a removable tray, making maintenance easier.

Vacuuming is much better than the Freo X, with the Z boasting 12,000Pa. While that’s not as high as the X8, the Freo Z is remarkably quiet, making it a great option for running in a primary bedroom suite where you may have a tile bathroom combined with carpet.

As with the X8, the Narwal doesn’t deal well with high-pile rugs, as there’s still only a 12 mm mop lift and no automatic mop removal. However, you can set it to perform one of four actions when it encounters a carpet: sidestep, cross it without cleaning, power boost to clean the carpet more effectively, or regular cleaning.

The obstacle detection is vastly improved and very good. A dual camera system allows the bot to not only see objects but uses AI to identify what they are and “decide” how to clean them. The best use of this I saw in testing is when there was a large puddle of water and it automatically switched to mop-only so as not to suck up liquid.

Similarly, Narwal’s dirt detect feature is very good. The bot goes back and forth over a stain or dirty area to ensure it’s clean.

My two biggest gripes with the Freo Z are that it uses a lot of water; it doesn’t have an onboard water tank, so it has to return frequently to refill — and could only clean my 800 square foot area once before I needed to refill the main tank in the dock. By comparison, the X8’s tank only needed refilling after three runs.

Additionally, its app can be frustrating. It’s not easy to navigate, gets hung up between screens, and frequently disconnects from the robot. However, unlike the X8, the Narwal has controls on top of the station to start a clean, and once I had programmed a schedule, I didn’t find myself needing to use the app much at all.

The fluffy sidebrush feels more of a novelty than a necessity and doesn’t really seem to do much. Also, at this price, it would be nice if the Narwal offered a self-cleaning washboard. However, its washboard is removable, which makes it easier to clean manually.

Best robot vacuum and mop with a plumbing hookup

Multifunction Dock: Yes, auto, empty (4L) and drain/refill (two separate devices) / Mop style: Roller / Mop washing: Yes (during use), hot air drying / Mop Pressure: 2.2lbs at 300 RPM / Mop lift: Yes, 7mm / Edge cleaning: No / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle detection: Yes / Suction power: 6,500Pa / Vacuum brush style: Single rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcut, Matter

The SwitchBot S10 is a multitasking robot that hooks into your plumbing for a virtually hands-free sweeping and mopping experience. It’s one of the best robot mops I’ve tested, thanks to its self-cleaning roller mop and the fact that I never had to empty or fill its water tanks. These two features meant I could set it and forget it and have clean floors for weeks.

My other favorite feature of the S10 is its dual docking system. Its main dock is a charging / auto-empty dock, and there’s a separate battery-powered dock water station that you can put in a different room. This battery-powered dock is what makes the S10 the best plumbing hookup option, as it gives you much more flexibility with placement. Roborock, Dreame, and Narwal also have plumbing hookup docks, but they require power (I’ve not tested either of those yet).

While the SwitchBot is a decent vacuum, it’s not the best. Its relatively paltry 6,500Pa of suction power is low compared to the competition, but the bot’s weight did help the rubber roller brush dig into the carpet and get up most of the cat hair.

Other downsides include the AI obstacle avoidance, which isn’t great. The S10 frequently got stuck on clothes left on my floor and bath mats, its battery life is short, and it lacks high-end features like dirt detection. There is also no edge cleaning function, meaning it didn’t do a great job along baseboards and around furniture.

SwitchBot recently released the Switchbot S20 ($480 $799.99), which looks like the Pro model that made its debut at CES. The upgrade addresses some of my issues with the S10, including adding an extendable roller mop and side brush to add edge cleaning, as well as 15,000Pa. It also comes with the option of two all-in-one auto-empty base stations: one with a regular water tank you manually refill, or one that can hook into your plumbing. But it will also work with the battery-powered water station. I plan on testing this soon.

What I’m currently testing and what’s coming next

Photography by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Update, December 8th: Adjusted pricing / availability. Mentioned the Ecovacs X11 OmniCyclone, Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai Robot, and Eureka J15 Max Ultra, while adding information regarding the Roborock Q10 S5 Plus and iRobot’s latest Roombas. Sheena Vasani also contributed to this post.