We could all benefit from fewer tasks on our hands. An increasingly popular helper for single folks and families alike? The robot vacuum. Once utterly futuristic, robot vacuums are now mainstream enough to offer reliable, tech-powered cleaning at pricing that’s actually pretty accessible, especially if you really could use a helping hand around the house and know you’d use the device.

Yet with so many robot vacuums now available, it can be difficult — and downright overwhelming — to tell the models apart, much less figure out which one is best suited for your home.

At its most basic, a good robot vacuum will clean your home with limited interference from you — moving about your home and absorbing dirt and debris while avoiding obstacles like stairs and furniture. Models with more bells and whistles may also recharge and empty themselves, remember the specific contours of your home or even mop.