The exploration of alternative molecular hole-transporting materials (HTMs) specifically for high performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is a relatively recent research area. Aiming for further increasing the 'efficiency-cost ratio' of PSCs, we developed a spiro[fluorene-9,9'-xanthene] based HTM (X59) via two-step synthesis from commercial precursors for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) that works as effectively as the well-known HTM-Spiro-OMeTAD-based device under the same conditions. The molecular structure was analyzed by X-ray crystallography indicating a similar packing regime as for Spiro-OMeTAD. An impressive PCE of 19.8% was achieved by using X59 as HTM in PSC, which can compete with the record PCE of 20.8% by using the state-of-the-art-HTM Spiro-OMeTAD (Tress et al., 2016) [1]. The optimized devices employing X59 as HTM exhibited minimized hysteresis, excellent reproducibility and reasonable stability under dark and dry conditions. The present finding highlights the potential of spiro-type HTM for high performance PSCs and paves the way to a much deceased fabrication cost for potential commercialization of perovskite solar panels. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.