Guide · November 2026
Can you buy a humanoid robot for your business?
Yes. A business can order a humanoid robot today, and prices start at $5,900 for a Unitree R1. But most models on sale are development platforms or home robots, so few of them do a business job on the first day.
This guide shows which robots you can order, what each one does without an engineer, and what to ask the vendor.
Humanoid robots a business can order today
| Robot | Price | Who sells it | Delivery status | What it does without an engineer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unitree R1 | $5,900, tax and shipping extra | Unitree | Listed with a price on Unitree's site | The standard model does not offer secondary development. Custom tasks need the R1 EDU, priced on request. |
| Unitree G1 | $13,500, tax and shipping extra | Unitree | Listed with a price on Unitree's site | The standard model does not offer secondary development. Custom tasks need the G1 EDU, priced on request. |
| Unitree H2 | $29,900, tax and shipping extra | Unitree | Listed with a price on Unitree's site | The standard model does not offer secondary development. Custom tasks need the H2 EDU, priced on request. |
| 1X NEO | $20,000, or $499 a month | 1X | A $200 refundable deposit holds an order. 1X states that US deliveries start in 2026. | It is a home robot for chores. 1X says it works autonomously by default, and a 1X Expert can supervise new tasks remotely. |
| Agility Digit | No public price | Agility Robotics sales team | In use at industrial customers | Agility builds it for industrial sites. A deployment starts with a solution setup by Agility. |
| Starlife Bella | From $10 an hour | Starlife | Lead time of about one week, in the United States and Germany | It greets, answers and guides visitors from the first day. A robot pilot controls it. You hire it by the hour and cannot buy it. |
Prices checked in November 2026. They change often; check the linked pages.
Some makers show no price and no order page. The Figure site, for one, offers a contact form only.
What the table means for a buyer
Unitree gives the lowest prices and sells direct, which makes a Unitree robot a good choice for a team that wants to build its own software. Its own pages ask buyers to understand the limits of humanoid robots before they buy.
1X NEO is made for homes, so check with 1X before you plan any business use.
For repetitive work in a factory or warehouse, Agility Digit is the better choice, but expect a sales process and an on-site validation stage.
None of the robots in this table arrives ready for every job, so start by matching the robot to one task.
Questions to ask a vendor
Ask these questions before you sign, and ask for the answers in writing.
Who controls the robot? The robot may run on its own software, a remote person may control it, or your own staff may have to control it. Find out which it is, because each answer changes your cost and your risk.
What happens when it fails? Ask who repairs the robot and how fast, whether you get a replacement, and whether you pay during the downtime.
Who is liable? Ask who pays if the robot hurts a person or damages property. Put the same question to your insurer, since your policy may or may not cover a robot that moves near the public.
What data leaves the building? Ask what the cameras and microphones record, and then where that data goes, who can see it and how long the vendor keeps it.
How long until it works on day one? Ask for the time from delivery to the first useful shift. Ask also what your site must supply, such as Wi-Fi, floor maps or trained staff.
What does the price leave out? Ask whether the price includes tax, shipping, software, maintenance and training.
Buy, or hire by the hour
Buying makes sense if you have engineers and a long-term plan. You own the hardware and you can change the software, but you also own the setup, the repairs and the idle time.
Hiring by the hour makes sense if you want a result now. You pay only for the hours you use, and the vendor keeps the robot in working order. A short hire is also a low-cost test, because you learn how visitors react before you spend money on hardware.
Whichever you choose, compare the full cost of each option and look past the purchase price. See our pricing.
Where Starlife Bella fits
Starlife Bella is a humanoid service robot with a friendly face and a chest display, and it moves on a wheeled base. Bella is not autonomous. A trained robot pilot controls it live from a laptop, with AI assistance, which is why it works on the first day without programming by your team.
Bella fits jobs where a robot talks to people:
- Mall concierge
- Front-desk receptionist
- Hotel front desk
- Store greeter
- Hospital lobby greeter
- Companion in senior living
- Event hire
Bella speaks more than 30 languages, with live translation both ways. It has built-in 5G, so it needs no customer Wi-Fi. It does need one power outlet, and it runs a full 8-hour shift on one charge.
You pay from $10 an hour, and most deployments cost $10 to $20 an hour. Starlife provides the robot pilot, the driving and the maintenance. The normal start is a 14-day pilot.
In a 14-day pilot at American Dream mall, one robot had 2,222 guest engagements, and the guests it referred redeemed a coupon at 35.4%, against 8.0% for a human street team. Read the case study.
Where Starlife Bella does not fit
Bella is the wrong choice in these cases:
- You want to own the robot. Bella is for hire by the hour.
- You want a robot that works with no person in control.
- You need a robot that carries or handles objects. Look at a delivery robot or an industrial humanoid for that.
- You need a robot outdoors, because Bella works indoors only.
- You need a research platform to program. A Unitree EDU model is a better fit.
- Your site is outside the United States and Germany.
See the full specs for more details.
If you tell us the job and the site, we will tell you whether Bella fits. Book a demo.