Home & DIYcomparison
Best Shop Vacs 2026: Tested and Reviewed Picks From $57 to $249
A 5-gallon Vacmaster with a 5.5-hp motor takes Best Overall, and four more vacs cover wet messes, tight budgets and big jobs.
The best overall pick
The Vacmaster Professional Wet-Dry Beast Series 5-Gallon Shop Vacuum is named Best Overall, and it costs $110 at Amazon. [1] If you want one shop vac for the garage or workshop, its 5.5-hp motor is much more powerful than most other 5-gallon shop vacs. [1]
The Beast Series has an 18-foot power cord and a 7-foot hose. [1] The newest version adds wheels. [1]
The Vacmaster Professional Beast Series FLT+ connects to the exhaust ports of large sawdust-producing power tools. [1] It also syncs with connected power tools via a wireless remote. [1]
How we tested
The shop vacs were tested by Popular Mechanics team members, including Tony Carrick and Test Editor Brad Ford. [1] They ran three timed tests using only each vacuum's hose, with no attachments. [1]
The first test involved vacuuming up 12 cups of sawdust to measure how quickly each vac collected dry material. [1]
Prices and results at a glance
The Stanley SL18116P is priced at $57 at Amazon. [1] The Ridgid 12-Gallon 5.0 Peak HP NXT is $128 at Amazon, and the DeWalt Stealthsonic 12-Gallon is $139 at Amazon. [1]
A 9-gallon DeWalt AC/DC wet/dry vacuum is $199 at Lowe's. [2] The Milwaukee M18 Fuel 6-Gallon Wet-Dry Vacuum is $249 at Home Depot. [1]
Where the other picks differ
Stanley's SL18116P is a 6-gallon wet-dry vac that costs a fraction of the price of other shop vacs. [1] It completed the sawdust test in 21 seconds and drained 2 gallons of water in 11 seconds. [1] Testers wished its power cord was longer than 10 feet. [1]
The Ridgid 12-Gallon 5.0 Peak HP NXT collected a pile of sawdust in just over 16 seconds. [1] It drained a bucket of water in about 6 seconds but struggled to pick up larger bolts. [1]
The DeWalt Stealthsonic 12-Gallon Wet-Dry Shop Vacuum is named Best for Wet Messes. [1]
The Craftsman CMXEVBE17595 has a 16-gallon tank and is the largest pick in the guide. [1] Its max airflow of 185 cubic feet per minute lets it suck up material faster than any other shop vac the testers evaluated. [1]
Using a shop vac for water
Wet messes such as a water main break, leak, or flood can be handled by a wet/dry shop vac that sucks liquid into a canister. [2] A shop vac can also unclog a drain, acting like a powerful plunger. [3]
If your vac has a bag, remove it before vacuuming water, or it may fill with liquid and rip. [2] Plug the vac into a GFCI outlet, and use a wet-rated extension cord if you need one. [2]
Moving the vacuum attachment back and forth rapidly across a floor spreads puddles and makes them harder to clean up. [2] A floating ball or puck blocks suction when the water reaches an unsafe height, and then the canister needs emptying. [2]
Cleaning and lifespan
After wet jobs, mold and unpleasant odors can build up inside a shop vac if it is not cleaned. [3] The key areas to keep clean are the filter, the hose, and the canister. [3]
About a quarter cup of bleach in a gallon of warm water cleans the inside. [3] Shop-Vac's reusable disc, full polyester, and cartridge filters can be rinsed with water and dried before reinstalling. [3]
Shop vacs may last for a decade before they stop working. [3] Ridgid says its vacuums are expected to last about 500 to 700 hours. [2]
Which one to buy
If you want the top pick, the Vacmaster Beast Series is Best Overall at $110. [1] If you mostly deal with water, the DeWalt Stealthsonic is named Best for Wet Messes at $139. [1]
If price matters most, the Stanley SL18116P is $57, though its power cord is shorter than testers wanted. [1] If you need the fastest suction, the Craftsman CMXEVBE17595 sucks up material faster than any other shop vac the testers evaluated. [1]
If you need a shop vac for one job, big box stores rent them by the hour or day for less than the cost of a new one. [2]
Sources
Written from the sources above and checked twice before publishing. How we work · Report an error
