Shaftless Home Elevator
A shaftless home elevator is a self-supporting cab on its own rails that rides through an opening in the floor, with no shaft, pit or machine room to build.
- Installed price
- $20,000–$35,000
- Shaft or pit
- No shaft or pit
- Floor space
- 30 to 60 in across
- Carries
- 350 to 845 lb
- Takes a wheelchair
- Some models
Most installs land at $20,000 to $35,000: the lift and a normal fitting through one floor opening in a two-story house. Quotes climb above that when the guide also counts site prep and framing (HomeGuide's $40,000 to $75,000), for a third floor, or for a cab big enough for a wheelchair. A list price in the model table is the lift alone, so it sits below the range. A through floor lift is the same self-supporting kind of lift under another name; its page draws on a different set of price guides, which is why its range is higher.
Expect to pay somewhere around $20,000 to $35,000 for a shaftless home elevator once it is installed. Published figures stretch from roughly $18,500 up to $75,000, because some guides count the building work in the house and others count only the lift and its fitting. The lift itself is a compact cab that moves between two floors by passing through an opening cut in the floor above. There is no shaft to construct, and none of the models covered on this page need a pit either.
- Cheapest listed equipment price we found: $17,999
- Time to install: three to five days
What Each Source Says About Price?
Not every price guide or dealer counts the same items. A few stick to the lift and the installer's time. Some fold in the building work your house will need. That difference explains why the ranges disagree so much.
| Where the figure comes from | What it counts | Cost |
|---|---|---|
 Angi | The lift itself runs $15,000 to $25,000, with installer labor of $1,500 to $2,500 | $18,500–$27,500 all told |
| Country Home Elevator | A lift serving two floors, added to an existing house | $18,500 to $30,000 |
| HomeElevators.com | Basic units through to high-end luxury versions | $20,000 to $35,000 |
 HomeGuide | The lift plus its installation | $30,000 to $50,000 |
| HomeGuide | The lift, prep of the site, and installer labor | $40,000 to $75,000 |
We sit in the middle of what these sources publish, which lands the typical installed price at $20,000 to $35,000.
Residential Shaftless Elevator Models
Every lift in this list supports itself on its own rails, and none of them need a pit. Two words come in handy for reading the table. Footprint means how much floor the unit occupies. Headroom means the clearance from the floor to the ceiling overhead on the top level.
| Model | Price, and what it covers | Cab interior | Floor footprint | Headroom needed | Weight limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 AmeriGlide Affinity | $17,999, lift only (list price) | 23.8 by 27.75 inches | 29.5 by 38 3/16 inches | 87 13/16 inches | 550 pounds |
 Stiltz Duo Alta | $27,000 to $29,000, installed (dealer quote) | 30 11/16 by 26.5 inches | 41.25 by 31 7/8 inches | 93 inches | 375 pounds |
| Stiltz Trio Alta | From $29,000, installed (dealer quote) | 30 7/16 by 42 5/16 inches | 41.25 by 50 3/8 inches | 96 inches | 550 pounds |
 Savaria Telecab | Price on request from a dealer | 30 by 46 inches | 36 by 60.5 inches | 96 inches | 500 pounds |
| Savaria Telecab 17 | $30,000 to $35,000, installed (dealer quote) | 30 by 46 inches | 35.25 by 60.5 inches | 96 inches | 845 pounds |
 Bruno Connect | From $35,000, installed (manufacturer's range) | Not published | Not published | Not published | 500 pounds |
A list price is for the equipment by itself. A dealer quote is what a seller tells you for one specific model, and the number can shift depending on your house. Other lifts from Savaria, like the Luma, carry a manufacturer's suggested range of $30,000 to $40,000.
Outside the US, the Stiltz Duo Alta and Trio Alta go by the names Duo+ and Trio+. Cost guides put the Duo somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000 and the Trio between $30,000 and $35,000. With the Trio you get a roomier cab and a higher weight capacity. Going from a Duo up to a Trio costs about $5,000 to $10,000 more.
Compare With Other Kinds of Lift
- Small one person lift
$25,000–$30,000 installed · no shaft
- Hydraulic elevator
$25,000–$56,500 installed · built shaft
- Traction or cable elevator
$27,000–$50,000 installed · built shaft
- Through floor lift
$30,000–$60,000 installed · ceiling opening
- Pneumatic vacuum elevator
$35,000–$60,000 installed · no shaft
- Outdoor elevator
$18,000–$40,000 · fixed to an outside wall or deck
- Hillside lift
about $60,000 · a car on a rail down a slope
Power Supply for Each Lift
These lifts do not all plug into the same kind of outlet, and that can affect what you pay an electrician.
- Stiltz Duo Alta and Trio Alta: a 220V to 240V circuit fed through a 10A to 20A outlet
- Savaria's Telecab and Telecab 17: power at 110 VAC, 20 A, 60 Hz, single phase
- AmeriGlide Affinity: a 120v, 20 AMP supply
Extra Costs Beyond the Lift Itself
The installed range at the top of this page already covers a normal fitting. The items below are what a house can add on top, only where the job needs them; the figures come from cost guides and most relate to Stiltz installs.
| Expense | Typical range | In the installed price? |
|---|---|---|
| Installer labor | $1,500 to $2,500 per Angi, or $5,000 to $15,000 per HomeGuide | Yes, a normal fitting |
| Site prep plus any construction | $3,000 to $10,000 | Added when the floor opening needs new framing |
| Work by an electrician | $500 to $2,000 | Added when no suitable outlet is close by |
| Permits and inspection fees | $500 to $2,500 | Added, set by the state or town |
Add it all up and cost guides place Stiltz lifts somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000 or $25,000 and $45,000 all in.
Time to Install
Getting the house ready normally takes one to three weeks of building work. Installing the lift itself takes roughly three to five days.
How It Stacks Up Against Other Home Lifts
| Kind of lift | Installed price, 2 floors | Shaft or pit |
|---|---|---|
 Shaftless home elevator | $20,000–$35,000 | No shaft or pit |
 Small one person lift | $25,000–$30,000 | No shaft or pit |
 Hydraulic elevator | $25,000–$56,500 | Built shaft and a small pit |
 Traction or cable elevator | $27,000–$50,000 | Built shaft and a shallow pit |
 Through floor lift | $30,000–$60,000 | No shaft, an opening in the ceiling |
 Pneumatic vacuum elevator | $35,000–$60,000 | No shaft or pit |
Installed for two floors. Also priced: a platform lift (an open platform, not an enclosed elevator) $5,000–$20,000, and a glass elevator $50,000–$100,000.
These numbers are figures from our site we worked out from what sources publish. If you go with a lift that needs a shaft and your house does not have one, expect the shaft build to add roughly $5,000 to $25,000.
How This Is Worked Out
For each type of lift, we collect the lowest and highest prices that guides and dealers put out. Then we take the middle of the low figures and the middle of the high figures, and round each one to the nearest $500. Five published ranges went into the numbers for shaftless lifts.
Questions People Ask
Is a third floor more expensive?
Yes. Across home elevators generally, plan on roughly $9,000 to $15,000 for each floor past two. Shaftless prices are usually quoted for a two-floor setup.
What is the smallest home lift?
The AmeriGlide Affinity wins that contest among the models here. The cab's inside measurements are 23.8 by 27.75 inches, and the unit as a whole sits on a patch of floor 29.5 by 38.1875 inches.
Which home elevator is cheapest to put in?
Platform lifts sit at the bottom of the price range, costing roughly $5,000 to $20,000 installed. Of the shaftless models here, the AmeriGlide Affinity carries the lowest list price at $17,999. Keep in mind that figure buys just the lift, with no installation included.
Running Costs and Help Paying
- Yearly service
- $300–$760
- Power
- About $0.10 a day
- Repairs to set aside
- $500–$1,500 a year
Sources: Angi (service), RetirementLiving (power, about 1 kWh a day), Willow (repairs, a Colorado estimate). A repair visit is billed at $75 to $100 an hour (HomeAdvisor).
- VA Specially Adapted Housing grant
Up to $126,526 (FY 2026) for veterans with a qualifying service-connected disability.
- USDA Section 504 repair loan or grant
A loan up to $40,000, or a grant up to $10,000 at age 62 or older, for very-low-income homeowners in rural areas.
- Medical expense tax deduction
The part of the cost that does not raise your home's value can count as a medical expense.
Talk to a Lift Installer Near You
One call gets you a local home elevator dealer who can measure your house and put a written price on it.