Leybold vacuum pumps: independent brand profile
Leybold is one of the oldest names in vacuum: the Cologne company backed Wolfgang Gaede, whose pumps helped create the vacuum industry. Today it belongs to Atlas Copco. This profile shows how chemists and engineers talk about Leybold, digs into a founding-date puzzle every AI assistant glosses over, and maps where the brand is searched most.
Independent profile by Vacuum Engineering Tools. We are not affiliated with Leybold, receive no payment and do not sell pumps. Quotes are the opinions of individual users, not statements of fact by us. Brand names belong to their respective owners.
In short
Leybold (Cologne, Germany) is part of Atlas Copco’s Vacuum Technique business area. It dates itself to 1850, when Ernst Leybold set up his first business in Cologne, and has worked in vacuum since partnering with Wolfgang Gaede in 1906. Its range runs from TRIVAC and SOGEVAC rotary vane pumps through DRYVAC dry screw pumps and RUVAC Roots boosters to TURBOVAC turbopumps. On Reddit, chemists sum it up as an excellent reputation at a high price.
Verified facts
What users say
Leybold shows up mainly in r/Chempros, where synthetic chemists choose pumps for Schlenk lines and turbopumping stations. The consensus is short: excellent reputation, expensive, good technical literature. In the composites community, a user notes that industrial pumps like Leybold move much more air than cheap pumps that reach a deeper ultimate vacuum.
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Vacuum pump recommendations for Schlenk line
“Leybold pumps have an excellent reputation but they are expensive.” Google preview
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Molecular turbopumping stations
“...leybold vacuum oven which is pretty decent and they have some great technical literature available.” Google preview
- Confused about vacuum pumps
Reddit blocks automated access, so thread titles, links and previews come from Google’s index of reddit.com (October 2026). Previews are excerpts, not the full comment.
From specialist forums
In woodworking forums Leybold is listed among the established industrial names rather than discussed in depth.
“Busch, Becker, Leybold, and Edwards, it depends on your needs.”
Verbatim quotes from public forums, without usernames.
AI fact-check: what ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude say
On 9 October 2026 we asked all four assistants the same question (who owns Leybold, headquarters, founding, best-known series and what buyers say) and checked every answer against the manufacturer’s own pages.
| Question | ChatGPT (gpt-5.5) | Gemini (3.5 Flash) | Perplexity (Sonar) | Claude (Sonnet 5.5) | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns it? | ✓ Atlas Copco | ✓ Atlas Copco | ✓ Atlas Copco | ✓ Atlas Copco (from Oerlikon, 2016) | Atlas Copco Group [Source] |
| Headquarters | ✓ Cologne | ✓ Cologne | ✓ Cologne | ✓ Cologne | Cologne, Germany [Source] |
| Founded | ~ 1850, Ernst Leybold | ~ 1850, Ernst Leybold | ~ 1850, Ernst Leybold | ~ 1850, Ernst Leybold (unsure) | 1850 per Leybold’s history page; 1863 per its founders page [Source] |
| Series named | ✓ TRIVAC, DRYVAC, TURBOVAC | ✓ TURBOVAC, SCROLLVAC, SOGEVAC | ✓ TRIVAC, DRYVAC, TURBOVAC | ~ TRIVAC, SCREWLINE, DRYVAC, TURBOVAC | Current: TRIVAC, SOGEVAC, DRYVAC, LEYVAC, SCROLLVAC, RUVAC, TURBOVAC [Source] |
| “What buyers say” | ✓ Reliable, premium-priced | ✓ Reliable, long life, premium | ~ Reliable; some service issues (Trustami) | ✓ Durable (flagged as anecdotal) | Reddit: “excellent reputation but … expensive” [Source] |
✓ correct · ~ partly right or outdated · ✗ wrong · ? cannot be checked against an official source. Answers condensed. Only Perplexity used web search; the other models answered from training data.
Every assistant said Leybold was founded in 1850 by Ernst Leybold, and that matches Leybold’s headline claim. But Leybold’s own founders page tells a more precise story: in 1850 Ernst Leybold worked for a coffee import agency, in 1851 he stepped in to help run the business of his late landlord Martin Kothe, and in 1863 he took it over as “E. Leybold (formerly Leybold & Kothe)”. Claude was the only model to flag the date as uncertain. Claude also listed SCREWLINE, an older dry screw range that no longer appears on Leybold’s home page.
Search interest compared
Google Trends data compared with the five largest vacuum brands, web search, October 2021 to October 2026. “leybold” has the highest search interest of the five almost everywhere, from Italy and Taiwan to China. Part of that lead is structural: it is a single distinctive word, while the other terms add “vacuum”, so treat it as an upper bound.
Worldwide interest per year (index)
Leybold · the other four
Where people search for Leybold
How to read this: of every 100 Google searches for these five brand names in Italy, 55 were for Leybold, more than for any other brand. It shows relative interest, not sales or market share.
| Country | Leybold share | Rank | Most searched |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 55 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| Taiwan | 52 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| Germany | 51 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| Austria | 45 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| Switzerland | 45 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| China | 44 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| France | 40 % | 2nd of 5 | Pfeiffer (49 %) |
| Japan | 37 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| South Korea | 36 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| India | 33 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| Netherlands | 32 % | 1st of 5 | — |
| United States | 27 % | 2nd of 5 | Edwards (35 %) |
| Singapore | 27 % | 2nd of 5 | Edwards (30 %) |
| United Kingdom | 26 % | 2nd of 5 | Edwards (48 %) |
| Australia | 23 % | 3rd of 5 | Busch (37 %) |
Pulled on 9 October 2026 via DataForSEO. Terms compared: “busch vacuum”, “pfeiffer vacuum”, “leybold”, “edwards vacuum”, “atlas copco vacuum”. Relative values, not absolute search volumes; non-English searches are not included.
Technology fingerprint
Computed from our directory of 25 manufacturers: which technologies Leybold offers and how common each is in the market.
| Technology | Makers in our directory | |
|---|---|---|
| Cryopump | 3 of 25 | rare |
| Scroll | 5 of 25 | rare |
| Turbomolecular | 7 of 25 | |
| Screw | 11 of 25 | |
| Roots | 11 of 25 | |
| Rotary vane | 15 of 25 |
Not in the range: Claw, Liquid ring, Diaphragm
Closest alternatives
Manufacturers with the largest overlap in pump technologies.
- Edwards Sister brand
- ULVAC
- Pfeiffer Vacuum
- Ebara
- Osaka Vacuum
Product series at a glance
| Series | Technology | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| TRIVAC | Rotary vane | Two-stage oil-sealed rotary vane pumps for labs and backing. |
| SOGEVAC | Rotary vane | Single-stage oil-sealed rotary vane pumps for industry. |
| DRYVAC | Screw | Dry screw pumps for industrial processes. |
| LEYVAC | Screw | Compact dry screw pumps. |
| SCROLLVAC | Scroll | Dry scroll pumps. |
| RUVAC | Roots | Roots boosters. |
| TURBOVAC | Turbomolecular | Turbomolecular pumps for high and ultra-high vacuum. |
Typical fit
- Research and ultra-high vacuum systems
- Coating, metallurgy and vacuum furnaces
- Chemistry labs (Schlenk lines, distillation)
- Industrial dry screw applications
Useful calculators
Official owner resources
Find service for Leybold
Manufacturer service and independent shops in the US.
Vacuum Pump Service Directory (US) →
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Leybold?
Leybold belongs to the Swedish Atlas Copco Group and is part of its Vacuum Technique business area, alongside Edwards and Atlas Copco’s own vacuum pumps. It is still headquartered in Cologne, Germany.
When was Leybold founded?
Leybold gives 1850 as its founding year, when Ernst Leybold set up his first business in Cologne. Its founders page adds that he took over the Leybold & Kothe business under his own name in 1863. Vacuum technology began in 1906 with Wolfgang Gaede.
Are Leybold vacuum pumps good?
Chemists on Reddit describe Leybold as having an excellent reputation but being expensive, and praise its technical literature. Like other premium brands, the value comes from service life and support rather than purchase price.
Leybold or Edwards?
Both belong to Atlas Copco and cover similar technologies, from rotary vane to turbomolecular pumps. The choice usually comes down to the specific model, local service coverage and what your existing equipment uses. Leybold leads in search interest in continental Europe and East Asia, Edwards in the UK and US.
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