For a humanoid robot, please pay between $8,000 and one million. The reason for this big gap? Their capabilities and destination role. Overview of the existing offer, intended for the general public or businesses.
Humanoid robots are starting to leave laboratories. Certain models are now appearing on online sales sites: the G1 robot from the Chinese manufacturer Unitree can, for example, be purchased for less than 15,000 euros, the price of a small used car. Investments in humanoid robotics have accelerated in recent years, with several billion dollars raised by some start-ups. This dynamic can be explained in particular by the rapid progress in artificial intelligence, in particular models capable of interpreting images and understanding language. According to various estimates, between a few thousand and around 15,000 humanoid robots would have been sold worldwide in 2025. A volume that is still modest, but expected to grow rapidly by the end of the decade.
But despite the excitement around the sector, very few of these machines are actually available for purchase. The main customers today remain companies, universities and research centers. The high price of the machines, as well as their still limited capacities in domestic environments, constitute major obstacles.
Which robots are already available for purchase?
Historically, the first humanoid robot sold on a large scale was French. In the 2010s, the company Aldebaran Robotics marketed nearly 40,000 copies of its NAO and Pepper robots. These machines were mainly used in education, research or public reception. The company was, however, placed in compulsory liquidation in 2024. But the NAO and Pepper robots remain available at around 8,000 euros and 20,000 euros, respectively, now marketed by the company Maxtronics, made up of former employees of Aldebaran.
Another French company, Pollen Robotics, markets a humanoid model intended for research: Reachy. This open source robot is sold for around 70,000 dollars (around 65,000 euros).
As for more financially accessible models, several Chinese manufacturers are now trying to democratize the technology. Unitree Robotics, for example, offers its G1 from 13,500 dollars (around 12,500 euros) on its official website. Another Chinese start-up AgiBot also markets several humanoids, including the A2 Lite, with prices generally between 20,000 and 45,000 dollars (18,000 to 40,000 euros), depending on the configurations.
Other companies, such as the Chinese UBTech or the British Engineered Arts, also market humanoid robots intended for research, demonstrations or for use in museums and theme parks, at prices close to $100,000.
How much does a humanoid robot cost?
Prices vary greatly depending on the uses and level of sophistication of the robots. The humanoid market today extends from a few thousand euros to almost a million euros. The most accessible models are generally intended for education or research, with prices ranging from a few thousand to several tens of thousands of euros.
Several manufacturers are now seeking to reduce costs, particularly in China, where certain models are offered for 10,000 to 20,000 dollars (9,000 to 18,000 euros). At the other end of the market, humanoid robots intended for advanced research, such as Talos, developed by the Spanish company PAL Robotics, can cost nearly a million euros depending on the equipment and sensors on board.
The industrial humanoid robots currently being tested in factories (such as Figure 02, Apollo or Optimus) are not yet commercialized. Several industry estimates, however, place their potential price between 50,000 and 150,000 dollars (45,000 to 140,000 euros) when their production is launched on a large scale.
We can thus distinguish three main categories of humanoid robots: educational robots sold for a few thousand euros, research platforms around 10,000 to 70,000 dollars (9,000 to 65,000 euros), and industrial robots still in the testing phase, which can exceed a hundred thousand euros. The price gap reflects the very uneven maturity of the sector: between relatively simple educational robots and extremely complex industrial machines, humanoid robotics today covers a very broad technological spectrum.
Which robots will soon be commercialized?
While some robots are already available, the most advanced humanoids still remain in the testing phase. Initially, these machines are mainly deployed in industry. Several companies are currently experimenting with humanoid robots in factories and warehouses, in order to automate certain repetitive tasks.
The Figure 02 robot, developed by the American start-up Figure AI, is for example tested in the factories of the car manufacturer BMW in the United States. The Apollo robot, designed by Apptronik, is being tested in certain Mercedes-Benz group factories. For its part, the Digit robot, developed by Agility Robotics, was used in logistics warehouses belonging to Amazon and GXO Logistics.
Tesla is also testing its Optimus robot in its own production sites. In China, other models such as Walker S from the manufacturer UBTech Robotics or GR-1 from Fourier Intelligence are also the subject of industrial tests.
For now, these robots mainly perform relatively simple tasks, such as transporting parts, moving bins or stocking workstations. In total, only a few thousand humanoid robots are currently deployed in industry. But the trend is expected to accelerate in the coming years.
The Hyundai Motor Group, for example, has announced that it wants to deploy up to 30,000 robots from Boston Dynamics, including the humanoid Atlas, in its factories by the end of the decade.
What can humanoid robots do today?
To enter homes, humanoid robots will still have to go through several steps. Today, they are beginning to prove themselves in relatively controlled environments, such as factories or warehouses. Tireless and precise, they can perform certain repetitive tasks efficiently, including carrying loads or handling objects.
There are also applications in commerce or events. Some robots can greet the public, serve as guides or participate in spectacular demonstrations, like those carried out by Unitree’s robots.
On the other hand, these machines encounter more difficulties in open and unpredictable environments. Some demonstrations already show robots capable of folding laundry, emptying a dishwasher or cleaning a room. But it remains very experimental.
One of the main obstacles remains the amount of data needed to train the artificial intelligence models that drive these robots. To navigate in a domestic environment, or even in the street, a robot must be able to identify a very large number of objects and adapt to constantly changing situations.
At the rate at which artificial intelligence and robotics are progressing, however, we could see humanoids massively integrating businesses and homes over the next decade.
