Are Robot Mowers Worth It in the UK? 5-Year Costs

Short answer: against a gardener, even a gardener at the cheap end of our range costs more than a robot mower by the end of the second season. Against doing it yourself with a petrol mower, it costs more over five years, and what you are buying is your time back.

The Five-Year Comparison

We compared three ways of keeping a typical lawn of up to 300 m² mown from March to October, the months the RHS says most lawns need cutting weekly or fortnightly. All figures are from the sources listed at the end, and the workings are shown below the table.

	Robot mower	Petrol mower, DIY	Gardener
Upfront	£899 (Navimow i205 AWD)	£350–£550	None
Yearly running	Up to about £27 electricity, plus blades	£75–£90 service, plus fuel	£510–£1,750 in visits
One-off later	£180–£225 replacement battery	None assumed	None
Five years	about £1,210–£1,260, plus blades	£725–£1,000, plus fuel	£2,550–£8,750
Your time	Setup, then occasional edging and cleaning	Every mow	None

How We Worked It Out

Robot Mower

Purchase: the Segway Navimow i205 AWD at its UK price, our best pick under £1,000.
Electricity: Husqvarna lists its larger Automower 430X NERA at an average of 13 kWh a month at maximum use. At Ofgem's price cap rate for October to December 2026, 26.32p per kWh, that is about £3.40 a month, or about £27 for an eight-month season. A smaller mower on a smaller lawn will use less, so treat this as a ceiling.
Battery: Navimow says robot mower batteries typically last 5–7 years, and Husqvarna says 2–5 years for Automower batteries. We assumed one replacement in five years, at the 20–25% of the mower's price that Navimow estimates.
Blades: small, cheap blades are replaced every few weeks to few months, depending on the brand. Prices vary by model, so we have not added a figure. See how long robot mowers last.

Petrol Mower

Purchase: Which? says a good petrol mower costs £350–£550.
Service: Which? puts a full petrol mower service at around £75–£90 a year.
Fuel: not included, as consumption varies too much to estimate fairly.

Gardener

Rate: Checkatrade puts a typical garden maintenance visit including mowing at £30–£50.
Visits: fortnightly from March to October is about 17 visits a year; weekly is about 35. So £510 to £1,750 a year.
MyJobQuote's figures for grass cutting alone are higher: £40–£80 a visit for 75–150 m², and £70–£150 for 150–300 m².

When a Robot Mower Is Worth It

You pay someone to mow. Even at fortnightly visits, the gardener's running total passes the robot's during the second season.
Your lawn is large. The bigger the lawn, the more hours a robot saves, while its running cost barely changes.
You are away a lot. A robot keeps the lawn short through the summer while you are on holiday.
You want a better-looking lawn. Frequent light cuts match the RHS advice to remove no more than a third of the grass height at a time.

When It Probably Is Not

Your lawn is tiny. On a lawn of 50 m², a push mower takes only a few minutes.
You enjoy mowing. Plenty of people do.
Your garden is very complex. Many narrow strips, steps and beds can mean a lot of edging and setup. Check our multi-zone guide first.
Hedgehogs visit and you cannot commit to daytime-only mowing. See robot mowers and hedgehogs.

You will still need to trim edges now and then. That is one of the most common caveats in the owner reviews we read.