Reviews
Part of Home mobility equipment reviewed for 2027
Ramps, stair lifts, hoists and platform lifts: mobility equipment compared
Home mobility equipment compared: ramp against platform lift, stair lift against through-floor lift, hoist against transfer board, on cost, space and power.
Comparing mobility equipment by feature list produces bad decisions, because the features inside each category are alike. The comparison that changes what you buy is ownership cost: purchase price, servicing, battery life, floor space, and whether one person can run it alone.
What to take away
- Ramps and regraded paths carry no motor, no battery and no service contract. Over ten years they are usually the cheapest to own.
- Every powered option needs a service visit and a battery replacement on a schedule. Price both before comparing stickers.
- Rental moves servicing and repair to the supplier. On powered equipment that is often worth more than the saving on the purchase price.
- A wheelchair user who cannot transfer rules out a stair lift. Through-floor and ceiling track lifts keep a wheelchair in play.
Typical purchase prices
Prices swing with region, dealer and site conditions. The figures below are typical U.S. installed ranges, not quotes. Get a site survey before comparing.
Typical installed range
- Modular ramp
- $1,500 to $6,000
- Regraded path
- $1,000 to $8,000
- Vertical platform lift
- $5,000 to $15,000
- Stair lift, straight
- $3,000 to $6,000
- Stair lift, curved
- $10,000 to $20,000
- Through-floor lift
- $20,000 to $60,000
- Mobile hoist
- $1,000 to $4,000
- Ceiling track hoist
- $3,000 to $8,000 per room
- Transfer board
- $50 to $300
Space needed
- Modular ramp
- Long run, near 12 ft per foot of rise
- Regraded path
- Whatever the ground allows
- Vertical platform lift
- Small pad, small footprint
- Stair lift, straight
- Stair width when folded
- Stair lift, curved
- Stair width plus track
- Through-floor lift
- A room-sized opening
- Mobile hoist
- Floor space to park it
- Ceiling track hoist
- None at floor level, fixing above
- Transfer board
- None
Power cut behaviour
- Modular ramp
- None
- Regraded path
- None
- Vertical platform lift
- Battery backup, then manual lower
- Stair lift, straight
- Finishes the trip, then stops
- Stair lift, curved
- Finishes the trip, then stops
- Through-floor lift
- Battery lowering or manual
- Mobile hoist
- Manual release
- Ceiling track hoist
- Manual release, some on battery
- Transfer board
- None
Wheelchair user
- Modular ramp
- Yes, if slope and landings allow
- Regraded path
- Yes, often the best answer
- Vertical platform lift
- Yes
- Stair lift, straight
- No, unless the user transfers
- Stair lift, curved
- No
- Through-floor lift
- Yes
- Mobile hoist
- Transfers, with a helper
- Ceiling track hoist
- Transfers, with a helper
- Transfer board
- Transfers, needs technique
[figure 1]
Mobility equipment compared
Ramp
- Space
- Very high
- Power
- None
- Servicing
- None
- Wheelchair
- Yes
- Cost
- Low
Platform lift
- Space
- Small footprint
- Power
- High, backup
- Servicing
- Needs servicing
- Wheelchair
- Yes
- Cost
- High
Stair lift
- Space
- Stair width
- Power
- High
- Servicing
- Needed
- Wheelchair
- No
- Cost
- Cheapest powered
Through-floor lift
- Space
- Room-sized hole
- Power
- High
- Servicing
- Needed
- Wheelchair
- Yes
- Cost
- Expensive
If the entrance itself is the problem, building work can beat equipment. The comparison in universal design choices compared shows when widening, regrading or moving a doorway is the cheaper route.
Running costs and servicing
A ramp needs little beyond an annual look at decking, fixings and handrails, plus clearing in winter. That is the whole running cost.
Powered options want one scheduled service a year, typically in the range of $150 to $400. A battery replacement lands every two to five years, typically $150 to $400. Curved stair lifts and through-floor lifts sit at the top of those bands.
Rental rates for a straight stair lift commonly fall in the range of $150 to $400 a month with servicing included. Two years of that exceeds most purchase prices, which is why rental suits short recoveries. Our round-up of home mobility products reviewed names models once you know the category you need.
What happens in a power cut
A stair lift runs on a battery charged from the mains. It usually finishes the trip in progress and then holds, so nobody is stranded halfway up.
Platform lifts with battery backup may manage a few trips before they need manual lowering. On an outdoor lift that often means a hand pump and a second person.
Ceiling hoists vary most. Many have a manual release chain or brake, and a few run on a battery. Ask for the lowering procedure in writing, then test it once.
The independence test
Public facility rules offer a useful standard. Where the federal requirements for accessible pool entry apply, a lift has to be usable without staff help. Those rules govern hotels and public pools rather than your house, but the principle transfers.
Ask of any device: can this person start it, ride it and stop it alone, at night, when tired? Equipment that needs a helper is not access. It is a favour with a maintenance contract.
Rent or buy
Buy when the equipment will be in daily use for years and you own the house. You own the repair queue, but the total cost is lower and the device stays.
Rent when the need is short, the outcome uncertain, or the equipment is powered. The supplier carries servicing, breakdowns and replacement. Check what happens if the unit fails on a Sunday.
Financing helps either way. HUD home improvement programs cover accessibility modifications. Veterans have a separate route, and VA disability housing grants can pay for ramps, lifts and bathroom changes.
Whoever installs it, the quote matters more than the brochure. The hiring questions for accessibility contractors cover what a written quote should state.
Matching the option to the house
- Entrance steps only, ground allows a sloperegrade first, ramp second.
- Stairs inside, user can transferstraight stair lift, curved if the flight turns.
- User cannot transfer and lives on two floors: through-floor lift.
- Transfers with a helper presentmobile hoist, or ceiling track where floor space is tight.
- Rental home or a short recoveryrent the powered option.
Example: a split-level house, one wheelchair user
The user cannot transfer. The entry has four steps and the bedroom is upstairs. Regrading the entry plus a ceiling track hoist in the bathroom solves most of the problem.
The bedroom stays awkward. A through-floor lift is the clean answer and the expensive one, so many households move the bedroom downstairs instead. In Canada, CMHC and HASI grants for aging in place fund part of that work.
