Short version: in September 2026 you can buy a straight stair lift online, with a real price tag and a working “Add to Cart” button, for $1,499 used or $1,999 new — plus shipping, and with installation billed separately. You can also pay $12,440 for a curved model from the same company. Between those two numbers sits almost every American household that needs one, and the reason nobody can tell you where you land is that half the industry refuses to publish a price at all.
We spent this week doing something most “stair lift cost” articles skip: we opened the manufacturers’ and retailers’ own pages and wrote down only the numbers that were actually printed on them. Where a company does not publish a price, we say so and name the page we checked. Nothing on this page is an “industry average,” an estimate, or a midpoint of somebody else’s range.
All figures verified 2026-09-02.
Why most stair lift price articles are guessing
Stair lifts are sold almost entirely through local dealers who quote after an in-home measurement. That business model produces a very specific information gap: the national brands publish beautiful product pages with weight capacities, rail specifications and warranty terms — and no price. The dealer sets the number, in your living room, after seeing your stairs.
So when a website tells you “the average stair lift costs $4,500,” ask where that came from. In almost every case it came from another website, which got it from a third, none of which link to a page where the number is printed.
There is a second problem that makes published prices hard to compare even when they exist: some sellers quote the machine, and some quote the machine installed. A $1,999 lift that you install yourself and a $5,700 lift that arrives with a certified technician are not two points on the same scale. We separate them below.
Straight stair lifts: the prices you can actually click
A straight lift runs on a single rail up a staircase with no turns and no landings. It is the cheapest configuration by a wide margin, and it is the only configuration for which several sellers publish real, transactable prices.
| Model | Published price | Seller | What the price includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AmeriGlide Cardinal Indoor Straight | $1,999.00 | AmeriGlide (manufacturer site) | “Plus Shipping”; spec sheet states Basic Installation Included: No |
| AmeriGlide Rave 2 | $2,249.00 | AmeriGlide category page | Plus shipping, no installation |
| AmeriGlide Rave 2 (Amazon listing) | $2,195.00 | Amazon | Plus $398 delivery; listed as DIY self-install |
| Universal Stair Lift (Amazon listing) | $2,395.00 | Amazon | Plus $495 delivery; typical price shown as $2,595.00 |
| AmeriGlide Rubex AC | $2,545.00 | AmeriGlide category page | Plus shipping |
| AmeriGlide Liberty | $2,595.00 | AmeriGlide category page | Plus shipping |
| Harmar SL350 (via 1800wheelchair) | $3,743 | 1800wheelchair | Free shipping stated |
| Stannah straight range | from $4,700 | Stannah (manufacturer site) | Installed; Stannah states typical cost about $5,700 |
| AmeriGlide Harmar Pinnacle HD | $6,999.00 | AmeriGlide category page | Plus shipping |
Two things in that table deserve to be read slowly.
First, the AmeriGlide prices are machine-only. The Cardinal Indoor spec table answers the question “Basic Installation Included?” with a flat No, and every price is followed by “Plus Shipping.” That $1,999 is not a landed cost.
Second, Stannah is the rare manufacturer that publishes a starting price and an honest typical price in the same sentence. Its own pricing page states that straight lifts start “from $4,700” and that a straight stair lift typical cost is about $5,700, with many customers landing in the $5,700–$6,200 range once options are added. That is a manufacturer telling you the sticker price is not the number most people pay — which is more candour than the category usually offers.
The practical read: if you are handy, or have a family member who is, the self-install market starts around $2,000 plus a few hundred in freight. If you want a company to measure, deliver, install and warrant the thing, the published evidence puts you near $4,700 as a floor and closer to $5,700 as a realistic middle.
Curved stair lifts: the number almost nobody prints
If your staircase turns, has a landing, or is a spiral, you need a rail bent to your house. It is manufactured for your staircase specifically, which is why it costs two to five times as much and why almost no one will quote it online.
Bruno’s own site explains the mechanism plainly: a high quality curved stairlift “will be custom made specifically for the staircase onto which they will be installed,” and the company recommends contacting a local dealer for free measurements and quotes. Acorn is blunter still — its FAQ says the price “all depends on your own personal requirements and the configuration of your staircase,” that each lift is tailor-made, and that a trained surveyor will produce the quotation.
Despite that, three numbers are published:
- Bruno states in its FAQ that curved stairlifts “generally start at $10,000+ for the most basic installation types,” and that most high-quality or custom-made curved stairlifts start around $13,000 for the rail with a base bend angle.
- Stannah publishes curved stair lifts “from $10,800,” while telling you an exact figure requires a free in-home estimate.
- AmeriGlide — the outlier — actually lists curved machines with prices: the Infinity Curved at $7,599.00 and the Rave Curved HD at $12,440.00, both “Plus Shipping.”
So the honest answer to “how much does a curved stair lift cost” is: the two manufacturers who publish anything both start above $10,000, and the one company selling curved rails as a catalogue item asks $7,599 to $12,440 before freight and before installation. Anything more precise than that requires someone to measure your stairs.
Outdoor stair lifts
Outdoor units are weather-sealed versions of the same machine, usually for porch or deck steps. AmeriGlide publishes the Cardinal Outdoor Straight at $2,999.00 and an Outdoor Deluxe at $3,995.00, both plus shipping. Stannah publishes outdoor lifts “from $6,300,” installed.
Two dealers publish wider ranges on their own pricing pages, which we cite as dealer-published figures rather than manufacturer list prices: 101 Mobility gives outdoor stair lifts as $4,000–$12,000, noting straight outdoor lifts typically run $4,000 to $7,000 and outdoor curved starts at $11,000. Lifeway Mobility states outdoor units “tend to cost $2,000-$3,500 more than most indoor units on average – $7,500-$10,500.”
Standing and perch lifts: nobody in the US publishes a price
A perch or standing lift carries you in a semi-standing posture, for people who cannot bend their knees enough to sit on a conventional carriage. It is the configuration most often recommended after a hip or knee fusion.
We could not find a single US manufacturer or retailer page that publishes a price for one. Acorn’s FAQ confirms standing models exist in its range but attaches no figure. Stannah’s US options page does not price them. Harmar’s straight stair lift line does not include a perch model. Bruno’s FAQ does not address them. AmeriGlide’s catalogue does not carry one.
Every dollar figure we found for perch lifts traced back to aggregator sites, UK dealers quoting in pounds, or content farms — none of which we will repeat here, because a price you cannot open in a browser is not a price. If you need a perch configuration, you will have to get a quote; there is no published US number to check it against. That is worth knowing before a salesperson tells you their figure is “standard.”
Installation: where two prices stop being comparable
This is the single biggest source of confusion in stair lift pricing, so here is what the sellers themselves say.
- AmeriGlide splits it explicitly. Its site states that for curved lifts “installation is already included in the price of your stair lift” and that they are not self-installable; for straight lifts, “the cost of installation a straight stair lift can be as low as $199,” requested at checkout.
- Bruno refuses to give a number: “There are no universal costs for stairlift installation. Local stairlift dealers set their own pricing for stairlift installation and installation may often be included in the final quoted price.”
- 101 Mobility states that its $2,800 to $8,000 purchase range includes installation as well as a one-year service warranty.
- Lifeway Mobility states its stair lift prices always include professional installation by trained and certified technicians.
The rule of thumb that follows: when you compare two quotes, first establish whether each one includes the rail cut, the installation labour, the electrical work and the removal at end of life. A $2,000 gap between two quotes often turns out to be a $2,000 service that one of them simply did not mention.
Used and reconditioned lifts
Straight rails are the one part of this market with a real secondhand trade, because a straight rail can be cut down to a new staircase. Curved rails generally cannot, which is why used curved lifts barely exist.
- AmeriGlide lists a Used Rave Stair Lift at $1,499.00, plus shipping, with a warranty of 1 Year Parts Only, 30 days Battery.
- AmeriGlide also lists a Rave 2 Factory Reconditioned at $1,999.00, plus shipping.
- Stannah states that reconditioned stair lifts “typically cost around 80% of the price of a new stair lift,” refurbished through a multi-point inspection process.
- Lifeway Mobility publishes a used straight rail range of $2,900–$4,500+ installed, with financing from $79.99 per month.
Note the warranty gap. A new AmeriGlide Cardinal Indoor carries a 2-year warranty; the used Rave carries one year on parts and thirty days on the battery. Stair lift batteries are a routine replacement item, so a thirty-day battery warranty is doing very little work for you.
Renting instead of buying
Rental is the most under-discussed option in this category, and it is the right answer more often than the industry lets on — specifically when the need is temporary: recovery from a joint replacement, a course of chemotherapy, a parent staying for a season, or a house you are about to sell.
Published rental figures are thin, but they exist:
- USA Medical Supply publishes a straight-lift rental at $1,495 for an initial 3-month term, which its page states includes professional measuring, cutting, installation and removal and covers staircases up to 15.5 feet, then $195 per month after the initial term, with a three-month minimum. (Caution: the page title on that listing still shows an older $1,395 figure; the body text and the structured price both read $1,495. We are quoting the body text.)
- 101 Mobility states on its own pricing page that rentals are offered “often with terms as short as three months” and “often range between about $175–$450 per month.”
- Stannah confirms a rental programme for both straight and curved staircases, aimed at people who need a lift for three to six months — but publishes no rate.
- Bruno confirms rentals are typically available from local dealers and directs you to them; no rate published.
- Lifeway Mobility publishes what its rental includes — installation and removal, a monthly rental fee, and service as needed for the length of the rental — but not the fee itself.
Run the arithmetic before you sign anything. At $195 a month after a $1,495 setup, a rental passes the cost of a $1,999 self-install machine somewhere around month three, and passes a $4,700 installed lift around month seventeen. Rental wins decisively for a six-month need and loses badly for a permanent one.
Warranties: what the brands actually publish
| Brand | Published warranty |
|---|---|
| Bruno | Limited Lifetime on indoor stair lifts; Limited 5-Year on outdoor. Covers primary components for the original purchaser, if installed by a Bruno dealer. |
| Harmar SL300 | Parts: 2 years; gear rack: 10 years; battery: 1 year |
| Harmar SL600 | Gear rack: 10 years; battery: 1 year; lifetime motor warranty on any unit built after 9/2018 |
| AmeriGlide Cardinal Indoor | 2 years |
| AmeriGlide Used Rave | 1 year parts only; 30 days battery |
| Acorn | Not published. We checked the Acorn FAQ and the servicing page; no warranty term is stated on either. |
Bruno’s lifetime coverage carries a condition worth circling: it applies “if installed by a Bruno dealer.” Buying the machine and installing it yourself is exactly the scenario that voids it.
Who publishes prices, and who does not
After a week of checking, the market splits cleanly in two.
Publishes real numbers: AmeriGlide (full catalogue with Add to Cart), Amazon third-party listings, Stannah (starting prices plus an honest typical price), 1800wheelchair, USA Medical Supply (rental). Bruno publishes starting figures, but only inside its FAQ text, not on any product page.
Publishes nothing: Acorn — its cost page redirects to the homepage and every route ends at “FREE no obligation quote,” with a one-hour home survey. Harmar publishes complete specifications and warranty terms on every product page and no price at all, directing you to its dealer locator.
One more finding worth stating because it contradicts a common assumption: Home Depot, Lowe’s and Costco do not appear to sell rail-mounted seated stair lifts online at all. Their search results return stair railings, handrails and portable stair-climbing wheelchairs. If someone tells you to “check the price at Home Depot,” there is nothing there to check.
Who pays for it
Almost nobody pays the full amount out of pocket without first checking three doors, and the answers differ sharply.
Medicare is the door most people try first and the one most likely to close. We work through exactly why, and the narrow circumstances in which anything is paid, in our guide to whether Medicare covers stair lifts. Read that before you let a salesperson tell you “Medicare will cover it.”
Medicaid is far more promising, but it depends entirely on which state you live in and which waiver you qualify for — amounts range from four figures to five. Start with how Medicaid pays for home modifications, then look up your own state’s ceiling in our Medicaid home modification funding limits by state table, or run the state funding checker.
Veterans have the most straightforward path of the three. The VA’s HISA grant is designed for precisely this kind of work — see our breakdown of the VA HISA grant.
If a stair lift is part of a larger plan to stay in the house, our overview of aging in place home modifications puts it in sequence with the other changes, and the home modification grants hub lists the non-Medicaid funding routes. If the bathroom is the harder problem, see whether Medicare covers walk-in tubs.
When a stair lift is not the right purchase
Three situations come up repeatedly, and in all three the money is better spent elsewhere.
The staircase is not the only barrier. If getting to the front door already requires help, a stair lift solves the second problem and leaves the first. Ramps and threshold work usually come first in the sequence, and they are cheaper.
Transfers are the real difficulty. A stair lift requires you to sit down onto the carriage, ride, and stand up at the top. If the sitting and standing is what has become dangerous, the lift moves the risk rather than removing it. This is the case where a perch model gets recommended — and, as above, no US seller publishes what one costs.
The need is temporary. Six months of recovery is a rental, not a purchase. See the arithmetic above.
Common questions, answered with published figures only
How much does a stair lift cost? The cheapest new straight lift with a published price and a working checkout is $1,999 plus shipping, machine only, self-install. The cheapest installed figure any manufacturer publishes is Stannah’s “from $4,700,” with the same company stating a typical straight lift runs about $5,700. Curved starts above $10,000 at both manufacturers who publish anything.
How much is a used stair lift? $1,499 plus shipping for a used AmeriGlide Rave, with a one-year parts warranty and thirty days on the battery. Installed, a used straight rail is published by one dealer at $2,900–$4,500 and up. Stannah’s own guidance is that reconditioned units run about 80% of new.
What does an Acorn stair lift cost? Acorn does not publish a price anywhere on its US site. Its cost page redirects to the homepage, and its FAQ states that every lift is tailor-made and priced after a surveyor’s assessment. Anyone quoting you an “Acorn price” they found online did not find it on Acorn’s site.
Is installation included? Depends entirely on the seller. AmeriGlide includes it on curved lifts, excludes it on straight ones and offers it from $199. 101 Mobility and Lifeway include it in every published figure. Bruno explicitly declines to state a universal installation cost because its dealers set their own.
What weight will these carry? The self-install models we priced — the AmeriGlide Rave 2, the Universal listing on Amazon and the Harmar SL350 — all publish a 350 lb capacity. Heavier-duty models exist at considerably higher prices; the Harmar Pinnacle HD is listed at $6,999.
Can I just rent one? Yes, and for a need under six months you probably should. Published rates: $1,495 for a first three months including installation and removal, then $195 a month; or roughly $175–$450 a month from a national dealer network. Two other manufacturers confirm rental programmes without publishing a rate.
How we sourced these numbers
Every price on this page was read directly off the seller’s own page on 2026-09-02, and we have said which page each one came from. Where a company does not publish a price, we wrote “Not published” and named the pages we checked rather than substituting somebody else’s estimate. We did not use price aggregators, review sites, or “average cost” content — the numbers on those pages are almost never traceable to a seller, and several of the figures we found circulating for perch lifts turned out to be UK prices converted at an unstated rate.
One methodology caveat we owe you. AmeriGlide’s category pages render both a “Call for Price” label and a numeric price for the same product, which is a template artefact. We opened individual product pages to confirm three of them — the Cardinal Indoor at $1,999, the Cardinal Outdoor at $2,999 and the Used Rave at $1,499 — and found genuine listed prices with working Add to Cart buttons. The remaining AmeriGlide figures in the tables above are taken from category pages and are labelled as such.
Prices in this category move, and dealer quotes vary by region. Treat the published figures here as verified floors and reference points for checking a quote, not as what you will be charged.
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