How Much Does a Home Elevator Cost in The Philippines in 2025? Comparison of 5 Kinds of Home Lifts & Their Price

Choosing the most appropriate home elevator can be overwhelming with several technologies, costs, and installation requirements to consider. Whether you’re planning for accessibility, convenience, or luxury, understanding the kinds of lifts that are available will allow you to make a knowledgeable decision. Here, we cover five major types of home elevators, their descriptions, pros and cons, and approximate cost ranges in Philippine pesos (PHP).

Let’s dive into it!

1. Through-the-Floor Elevator

Estimated Cost: ₱1,000,000 – ₱1,800,000

Imagine you’re in a two-storey home with stairs that are getting harder and harder to navigate. You’re looking for something nicer and more useful than a stair lift, but that won’t break the bank. That’s where through-the-floor elevators come in! These convenient systems travel through a simple cutout in your top floor without all the finicky machinery standard elevators require.

These small lifts are not only easy to fit, you can have them for much less money now than before. Okay, yes, they don’t zoom up like those at your shopping centers (they go a bit slower) and aren’t able to take as heavy loads, but in most homes, they are perfect. Most have a wheelchair accessible size as well. Imagine your grandmother being able to ascend the stairs to her cozy reading area again, or not having to pull your heavy laundry basket down those treacherous stairs.

They’re not for all homes, though. If you’re in a three-story home or dream of a high-tech glass elevator, you might have to shop somewhere else. But if you have small homes or older homes where radical renovations aren’t feasible, these elevators are miracles. We’ve put them in everything from small cottages to new town houses. Our customers appreciate being able to stay in their favorite homes without stairs being a daily hassle. Ready to expand your home’s accessibility without destroying it? That’s what these smart little elevators do best.

2. Hydraulic Elevator

Estimated Cost: ₱1,500,000 – ₱2,500,000

Hydraulic elevators are kind of cool – they use a piston that’s filled with fluid, and this pushes the elevator upward and downward. Some people will always ask, “What makes it move?” Answer: oil pressure! Just like a oil squirt gun, only strong enough to lift people.

These lifts won’t cost you a fortune, and they ride smoothly enough if you discount the start and stop that tends to have a jerk. Our customers value that they hold more weight, exactly what you need when moving furniture or giving Grandpa a hand with his mobility scooter! They do take up a bit of room, though – a little pit down below and room for the oil tank. Imagine a small closet somewhere in your house dedicated to your elevator’s “brain.” Not something that the typical house is going to have to deal with, but something to be aware of.

The catch? They sometimes leak oil which can be a complete disaster for homes (in part due to the lingering smell), and they need more checking than some of the other models. These lifts used to be the go-to for home lifts 15 years ago, but have fallen out of favor due to the inherent limitations of the oil technology. The oil reacts to the temperature, which means that depending on how hot it is (or how frequently you use the lift) the landings will no longer line up. Which is why they tend to be a much better fit for industrial / commercial uses (think car lifts or scissor lifts).

3. Traction Elevator (without shaft)

Estimated Cost: ₱1,300,000 – ₱2,100,000
+ Shaft construction: ₱800,000 additional

Those elevators you encounter every day in malls, office buildings, or hotel? They’re traction elevators! They have a motor with ropes or belts and a counterweight system – basically a high-tech pulley. Furthermore, they are fast by design, built to take lots of people up and down lots of times. The equivalent of a bus, but travelling vertically!

The greatest thing about traction elevators is their price: on the phone, you’ll rarely find a lower quote! There are two catches though. One, that price doesn’t include the shaft, so if you haven’t planned for that, expect a serious bill on the civil works that will make you switch back to another technology like screw immediately. Second, their business model is designed around selling the elevator cheap and making the money on the maintenance. Many traction companies will sell the elevator at a loss just to gain the maintenance contract. They are the printers of the elevator world, and they control the ink. They also last Half as long as other technologies, at which point you will need to do a Lift Modernization (which is a fancy word for: “buy a new one instead”).

Not only that, but they also need some serious space. You’ll need to have space for a deeper pit below, more height above the top level and space on the roof for the machine (goodbye terrace opening!). It’s almost as if you need to excavate a mini-basement for your elevator! The shaft also needs to be built separately, so that takes up special space in your home.

4. Screw-Driven Elevator (e.g. Cibes)

Estimated Cost: ₱2,500,000 – ₱3,800,000 (includes shaft)

Ever considered what type of elevator would be just awesome in your home but also super safe? Screw-driven elevators are cool – they lift you up and down between floors through the action of a rotating nut on a toughened steel screw. The icing on the cake? You don’t need to dig holes in the ground or add additional rooms to hold equipment! Imagine an elevator like the ones you would see in a five-star hotel, but made from shiny aluminum (the same strength as in an airplane!) and with glass walls so that you observe everything en route.

These lifts are almost flawless. They can’t free-fall like in the horror movies because the screw mechanism won’t permit it – you’re Always attached to it. They hardly consume any electricity – about the same as a blow-dryer – and that’s why they’re such a hit with families.

Likewise, they do take more cash upfront than some others, and they won’t whizz up rapidly like the lifts in tower blocks. But for a home environment, those few extra seconds don’t matter. These lifts last a lifetime with hardly any maintenance costs, and this saves money in the long term. One of our customers joked that their lift will outlast their roof! If you want your home to have the “wow factor” and to be able to guarantee that everyone can move about all parts of the house without difficulty, then these screw-driven lifts are perfect!

Not to mention that of all of these, screw-lifts are the most innovative When it comes to design. Premium powder coats, touchscreens, saloon doors and guide rail lights were all pioneered by screw-driven brands.

5. Stairlifts (alternative to elevators)

Estimated Cost: ₱300,000 – ₱600,000

Need an affordable way to travel up and down stairs? Stair lifts are probably what you’ve seen at your grandparents’ house – those motorized chairs that glide along the banister on the stairs, and the best part is that they’re very easy to install.

They’re not fancy, they’re not even really an elevator, but they get the job done if you just need to get one person from floor to floor. The downside? You can’t roll furniture or wheelchairs up and down on them, and, honestly, they’re not going to be beauties at any contest in your home.

For families on a budget but still in need of stair assistance, these are the best. They are vastly less expensive than complete elevators and don’t mean ruining your house. A few real estate agents will say they may not bring value to your house in the same way a full elevator would, but our clients are more concerned with being able to remain independent in the house they love. That peace of mind? It’s priceless.

Technology Comparison Table

Feature	Through-the-Floor	Hydraulic	Traction (w/o shaft)	Screw Drive (Cibes)	Stairlift
Price Range (PHP)	₱1M–₱1.8M	₱1.5M–₱2.5M	₱1.3M–₱2.1M (+₱800k shaft)	₱2.5M–₱3.8M	₱300k–₱600k
Own Shaft	N/A	Optional	N/A		N/A
Pitless					N/A
Space Saving
Safety
Affordability of Maintenance
Speed
Noise

Some Small Thoughts Before the Big Decision

Choosing a suitable home elevator is up to your room, budget, and priorities. For small 2-storey homes, stairlifts or through-the-floor lifts might be ideal. For long-term thinking or seeking optimum combinations of looks, safety, and servicing, screw-driven varieties are difficult to beat. Hydraulic and traction elevators are acceptable, but have structure and upkeep problems.

When deciding, never look at the purchase price in isolation. Think about the lifetime cost, especially When it comes to lifetime of the lift in Years, maintenance and repair costs, and long-term energy consumption, maintenance, noise, and resale value. A lift is a significant expense; ensure it works well for your home and lifestyle in the years to come.