Electric Curtain Track: IKEA vs Silent Gliss Autoglide 5100
Does IKEA sell electric curtain tracks?
No. This is one of the most common misconceptions we hear. IKEA sells motorised blinds, but it does not make an electric curtain track. Its VIDGA track system is manual only. There is no motor, no remote, no automation. If you want to keep your curtains and automate them, IKEA does not have a product for that.
What IKEA does sell is a range of smart roller and cellular blinds. These replace curtains entirely with a fabric panel that rolls up and down inside a cassette. They are a different product category altogether, and they are worth understanding before you decide whether they solve your problem or not.
What IKEA actually offers
IKEA's motorised window products are battery-powered blinds. The main ones are:
- FYRTUR (blackout roller blind): fixed widths from 60cm to 140cm, rechargeable battery, grey fabric only. Prices range from roughly £55 to £115 depending on size.
- KADRILJ (light-filtering roller blind): same mechanism as FYRTUR but with a translucent fabric. Slightly cheaper.
- TREDANSEN and PRAKTLYSING (cellular blinds): honeycomb structure, up to about 122cm wide, white only.
All of these come in fixed sizes. You cannot cut them to fit. If your window is 95cm wide, you pick the nearest size up and live with a small gap at each side, or go to the next size down and leave part of the window uncovered.
For smart home control (Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit), you need the DIRIGERA hub, which is about £35 extra. Without it, you are limited to the included remote control.
Battery life is typically 6 to 12 months between charges, depending on how often you use the blind. That is manageable for one or two blinds, but if you have six windows in a living room, you are rotating USB cables through them regularly.
The hard limit is width. FYRTUR maxes out at 140cm. For wider windows, IKEA's answer is to mount two blinds side by side. This leaves a visible gap in the middle, and getting both blinds to move in sync is hit and miss. It works. It does not look great.
There is also the aesthetic question. FYRTUR is a roller blind. It looks like a roller blind. If you chose curtains for your room because you wanted the softness, the drape, the way fabric frames a window, a roller blind is a fundamentally different look. Some people prefer it. Many do not. It is not a like-for-like replacement for curtains.
To be fair: for a single bedroom window under 140cm, FYRTUR is decent value. Blackout performance is good, the motor is reasonably quiet, and the price is hard to argue with. It is a sensible product within its limits.
The SwitchBot workaround
People who want to automate their actual curtains, not replace them with blinds, sometimes land on a third-party workaround: the SwitchBot Curtain 3. This is a small battery-powered motor that clips onto an existing curtain track or pole and physically drags the curtain along it.
You can clip a SwitchBot onto an IKEA VIDGA track. It costs around £80 to £100, connects to its own app, and works with Alexa and Google Home. On paper, it sounds like a clever solution.
In practice, there are trade-offs. SwitchBot is battery-powered, so you are charging it every few months. It is slow, taking 20 to 30 seconds to draw a full curtain. It is audible. It struggles with heavy or lined curtains because the motor lacks torque. And the clip-on mechanism means it is always slightly visible, slightly awkward, and slightly unreliable compared to a purpose-built system.
For a spare room or a rental where you cannot make permanent changes, SwitchBot is a reasonable experiment. For a main living space, the daily experience of a slow, noisy motor pushing your curtains along a track it was not designed for gets old quickly.
We have written a more detailed cost-per-year comparison between SwitchBot and Silent Gliss if you want the full financial picture.
When you need a proper electric curtain track
IKEA's blinds and SwitchBot are both workarounds for the same underlying problem: you want your windows to open and close automatically. One replaces your curtains with blinds. The other bolts a motor onto a track that was never designed for one.
If what you actually want is an electric curtain track, one that is built from the ground up to move curtains quietly, reliably, and without compromise, that is a different product entirely.
The Silent Gliss Autoglide 5100 is a made-to-measure motorised curtain track. It is manufactured in Switzerland and we have sold the Silent Gliss range since 1986. Nearly 30 years of supplying the same brand, which tells you something about the product's longevity.
The 5100 is mains powered (standard UK plug), so there are no batteries to charge. Ever. The motor is built into the track itself and runs at around 35 to 38 dBA, which is quiet enough that most people do not notice it operating. It handles curtains up to 25kg, which covers everything from lightweight voiles to heavy lined velvet. And it can be made to measure up to 6 metres wide, which is over four times the maximum width of IKEA's largest blind.
It also bends. If you have a bay window, the 5100 track can be curved to follow the shape of the bay in a single continuous piece. No joins, no gaps, no separate motors for each section. This is one of the most common reasons people come to us: bay windows are where off-the-shelf products simply cannot cope.
Wave heading (also called ripplefold) is supported too. This is the clean, evenly spaced fold effect you see in hotels and contemporary interiors. The 5100 comes with compatible gliders that produce this look automatically.
The 5100 is also DIY installable. It comes with brackets and clear instructions. You do not need an electrician or a specialist fitter, just a drill, a spirit level, and a nearby plug socket. Most customers fit it themselves in under an hour.
Prices start from £483 for the 5100 B model, which includes a wireless wall button. It is more expensive than IKEA or SwitchBot. Significantly more. But it is a different class of product solving a different problem.
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | IKEA FYRTUR | SwitchBot + IKEA VIDGA | Silent Gliss Autoglide 5100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product type | Roller blind | Clip-on curtain motor | Electric curtain track |
| Maximum width | 140cm | Track dependent (VIDGA: 300cm) | 600cm |
| Power | Rechargeable battery | Rechargeable battery | Mains (UK plug) |
| Curtain weight | N/A (blind only) | Up to ~8kg | Up to 25kg |
| Noise level | Quiet | Noticeable | Very quiet (~35-38 dBA) |
| Bay window support | No | Limited | Yes, bends to fit |
| Wave/ripplefold heading | No | No | Yes |
| Smart home | Alexa, Google, HomeKit (needs DIRIGERA hub) | Alexa, Google (via SwitchBot app) | Via wall button or optional upgrade |
| Sizing | Fixed widths only | Fits existing track | Made to measure |
| Keeps your curtains | No (replaces with blind) | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | ~£55 | ~£80-100 (motor only, track separate) | From £483 (5100 B with wall button) |
| Installation | DIY, wall brackets | DIY, clips onto track | DIY, included brackets |
Which option makes sense for you?
These three products suit three different situations. Being honest about which one fits yours saves money and frustration.
IKEA FYRTUR makes sense if you have a single standard window under 140cm, you are happy to replace your curtains with a roller blind, and budget is the priority. It does what it says for the price. If you are furnishing a flat on a budget or covering a bedroom window cheaply, FYRTUR is a perfectly reasonable choice.
SwitchBot makes sense if you want to try curtain automation without any commitment. You are renting and cannot install anything permanent. You have lightweight curtains on a simple track and you want to see whether automation is something you would use before spending real money on it.
The Silent Gliss 5100 makes sense if you want a proper, permanent solution. Your windows are wider than 140cm. You have a bay window. You have heavy or lined curtains. You want the motor to be silent. You do not want to charge batteries. You want the system to work every day for 10 or 15 years without replacing anything. If any of those apply, the 5100 is worth the investment.
Most of our customers come to us after trying the cheaper options first. They bought a SwitchBot and got tired of charging it, or it could not handle the weight of their curtains. They looked at IKEA and realised it does not cover their window size, or they did not want to lose their curtains. The 5100 is where people end up when they want the job done properly.
Browse the full range of electric curtain tracks or take a look at the Autoglide 5100 product page for full specifications. If you are not sure which track suits your windows, get in touch and we will help you work it out. We are a family business in Burntwood, Staffordshire, and we have been fitting Silent Gliss since 1986.