The Vacmaster’s impressive power and compact design make it a great all-around shop vac. One of our editors owns the previous iteration of this model and has found it's the ideal shop vac for home use. Its 5.5-hp motor is much more powerful than what you’ll find with most other 5-gallon shop vacs. It also has a small, 18.6-by-13.4-inch footprint, so it’s easy to carry and store, though its smaller capacity may not be enough for busier workshops.

With an 18-foot power cord and 7-foot hose, you won’t need an extension cord to clean up a large two-car garage or reach a car in the driveway. Plus, the newest version of the Vacmaster adds wheels that make it even easier to move around. There are also four attachments, which offer enough versatility to handle different jobs, and all of the Vacmaster’s attachments fit neatly into a storage compartment on the vacuum.

Full Vacmaster Beast Series 5-Gallon Shop Vacuum Review

Stanley’s 6-gallon wet/dry vac is a fraction of the cost of other shop vacs, yet it still packs enough power and capacity to handle most cleanups. Though it lagged behind the top performers we tested, it still completed our sawdust test in a respectable 21 seconds, and it swallowed up 2 gallons of water in just 11 seconds. And with its smaller-diameter hose, it produced enough suction to pick up both screws and bolts.

This shop vac finds a nice sweet spot between crowding your shop because it’s too bulky and not being able to accommodate enough material because it’s too compact. It sits on swiveling casters and is relatively light, which made it easy to wheel around our tester’s garage.

We also liked its accessories, which include two extensions and three nozzles for both floor and spill cleanup. We particularly liked the crevice tool, which was small enough to reach into the tight spaces between the seats of one of our cars.

We did find ourselves wishing the power cord was longer than 10 feet so we could reach all corners of the workshop without having to use an extension cord. Still, with its low price and ample capacity, this Stanley vac is a great value option for any home workshop.

Key Specs

DeWalt’s Stealthsonic shop vacuum offers tremendous capacity and pure vacuuming might at a surprisingly quiet noise level.

It was the largest of the shop vacs we tested, with a 12-gallon capacity. Thanks to its 20-foot-long cord, it covers an entire two-car garage without the need for an extension cord, and it sits on heavy-duty rubber casters.

It also produced the most impressive vacuuming results during our tests. Backed by its 5.5-hp motor and 2.5-inch diameter hose (about the same size as a firehose), the Stealthsonic gobbled up our pile of sawdust in just 16 seconds and drained our bucket of water in just five seconds, the fastest of any shop vac we tested.

While its larger-diameter, 7-foot-long tube is ideal for the quick collection of lighter materials, it’s not ideal for heavier objects. The Stealthsonic struggled to produce enough suction to suck up wood screws and was unable to collect larger bolts like some shop vacs with smaller-diameter hoses could. It's also a bit too bulky to get into tighter spots, such as the small gaps in and around the seats in a car. But if you’re looking for something that will quickly clean up larger spills and messes at the jobsite or in a workshop, this vacuum is it.

Key Specs

This is a new addition to the best shop vac list, and I really wanted to test it because of Ridgid’s excellent reputation in the shop vac space. This particular 12-gallon model is powerful, tough enough to endure the rigors of any jobsite (not to mention transport), and affordable enough to fit most budgets.

During testing, it collected a pile of saw dust in just over 16 seconds before proceeding to drain a bucket of water in about 6 seconds. While I liked how quickly it picked up light debris, the Ridgid left a little to be desired with lift power. While its large diameter hose made quick work of lighter material, it struggled to pick up larger bolts (though I should note that this was an issue with other vacs with large 2-1/2-inch diameter hoses).

The Ridgid also has a sturdy feel to it. The hose resisted cracking or denting, even after I mistakenly stepped on it, and the tub is made of thick plastic. There’s also a locking system on the hose, which prevents attachments from falling off when the vacuum is in use.

The vacuum’s long, 7-foot hose made it easy to clean a work area without having to repeatedly reposition the base. Attachments include two extension wands, along with a crevice tool and floor tool, all of which fit onto the shop vac for storage. An included wet filter would make this shop vac a real no-brainer purchase, but it’s not far off from that even without one.

Full Ridgid 12-Gallon 5.0 Peak HP NXT Shop Vacuum Review

Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel wet/dry vacuum, which runs off an 18-volt lithium-ion battery, offers excellent performance if you don’t mind spending a little more. The vac impressed during testing, even matching some of the corded shop vacs we tested. It consumed our sawdust pile in 20 seconds flat and a bucket of water in just 11 seconds, which is saying something given that it has a long, 9-foot hose.

We also loved the design of this wet/dry vac. The accessories, which include a floor utility nozzle and crevice tool, fit nicely inside a compartment on the top of the shop vac, and the tray holds both extensions. The extra-long hose and the small profile of the crevice tool were particularly valuable when we used the M18 Fuel wet/dry vacuum to clean out a car.

The M18 6-gallon vacuum is also easy to maneuver. It sits in a sturdy tray with four casters with rubber wheels that rolled easily over our tester’s garage floor and driveway. The M18’s run time was also impressive. When loaded with a 12.0Ah battery, we got 31 minutes of run time when set it to high and 48 minutes on its lower power setting.

This was the priciest wet/dry vacuum we tested, but it’s worth the investment if you want to cut the cord without compromising power.

Key Specs

I wanted to see Ryobi’s recently redesigned portable shop vac in action. Another new addition to this list, it comes with 30 percent more suction power than the previous version—something that showed during testing. It vacuumed up lighter material quickly with impressive lift. While it was slower than higher end cordless 6-gallon models we tested, it costs a lot less than those premium brands. It took about 30 seconds to collect our saw dust pile and about 16 seconds to drain our bucket of water.

In terms of runtime, the Ryobi 6-gallon cordless shop vac was comparable to other cordless shop vacs we tested. With its 4Ah battery, it got about 17 minutes when running it on high. Running it on low pushed the run time to about 30 minutes, which is good given the battery capacity.

There were other features we appreciated with the Ryobi. It comes with a 7-foot hose, which is long for a 6-gallon cordless shop vac. This made it easier to use as an upright vacuum when attaching the two wand extensions. It’s also on wheels for additional freedom of movement.

The Ryobi comes with the requisite floor and crevice tools, both of which worked well. I do wish the attachments locked into the hose. I knocked the ends off a couple of times while using it to vacuum out my vehicle.

Key Specs

With its cordless design, light weight, and compact, box-shaped design, Milwaukee’s M12 Fuel shop vac is made for the road. At just 15 inches long, 13 inches wide, and 12 inches high, and with a weight of just under 10 pounds, Milwaukee’s M12 Fuel shop vac was by far the easiest to carry around of the wet/dry vacuums we tested. Its shape also made it ideal for sitting in the trunk of a car or storing on a set of garage shelves.

Per its name, the M12 Fuel shop vac uses a smaller power source—a 12-volt battery—so it doesn’t have the power of the corded and 18-volt cordless models we tested. Still, it took a respectable 35 seconds for it to complete our sawdust test and was capable of sucking down both bolts and wood screws. Its 1.6-gallon capacity and a max runtime of 26 minutes on low and 14 minutes on high limit it to small cleanup jobs, however.

While it lacks the power of larger shop vacs, it’s hard to overstate how convenient it is to use. We appreciated its compact size and cordless design when we toted it into the car for some detailing, then later up to a second-floor bonus room to clean up drywall dust after mounting a TV.

The M12 Fuel is pricey when you factor in the cost of a battery and charger, but its convenience is unmatched, especially if you’ve already bought into Milwaukee’s 12-volt power tool universe and have a 12-volt Fuel battery to load into it.

Key Specs

Capacity

The drum capacity of a shop vac determines how much material you can vacuum without having to empty it out. While sizes range from 1.6 to 16 gallons, smaller-capacity shop vacs, like the Milwaukee 0960-20 M12 Fuel 1.6-Gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum, provide more versatility to the average user through easier transport and storage. If you’re short on space, a smaller unit that you have to empty more frequently could be more convenient than a larger-capacity machine cluttering up your garage. Keep in mind that the stated gallon capacity doesn't factor in the space taken up by the filter, so don’t expect a 6-gallon model to suck up exactly 6 gallons of material.

Corded vs. Cordless

While the majority of shop vacs use corded power, cordless models are becoming more common. These battery-powered options offer more mobility—especially useful for car, boat, or RV cleaning—but they lack the runtime for extended projects. If you prefer the mobility of cordless models (especially if you’re interested in a larger-capacity model that requires a lot of power), choose one from the same brand as your existing power tools. This enables you to extend runtime by using additional batteries you already have on hand.

If you decide to go with a corded model, pay attention to the length of the cord. Models with a longer cord, such as the DeWalt Stealthsonic Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum, give you the freedom to cover larger workshops or reach to your driveway without having to get out an extension cord.

Air Flow

A shop vac’s air flow—measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM)—represents the amount of air a vacuum pulls through its nozzle. Roughly speaking, a shop vac with a higher CFM sucks up material faster than one with a lower CFM, though keep in mind this doesn’t include other factors like nozzle design, motor size, and suction power. As we found during testing, shop vacs with smaller diameter hoses, such as the Milwaukee M18 Fuel 6-Gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum, often produce greater suction power. So while a larger shop vac with a larger diameter hose will remove lightweight material, such as sawdust, more quickly than a shop vac with a narrower hose, that smaller vac is better able to pick up heavier objects, such as bolts and coins.

Accessories

While most shop vacs include several nozzle attachments for the hose, some models offer a more useful variety of accessories. Think about the type and scope of your cleaning tasks, and look for a vacuum with applicable accessories. For example, we’ve found a brush-tip nozzle to be essential for automotive interior cleaning, allowing us to quickly clean dust and pet hair from the dashboard and display screen—areas easily scratched by a hard plastic nozzle. Or, if you want to suck up the cobwebs in the corner of your garage or sawdust deep under your workbench, look for vacs with multiple extension wands to extend the nozzle reach.