Guide · November 2026
Pepper robot alternatives for reception
A business can still get a Pepper robot in 2026, but how easy that is depends on where you are. In Japan, SoftBank Robotics rents an updated model. In the United States one reseller lists it, and in Europe there is no official support center at present. This page sets out what the sources say for each region and then looks at other robots that do the same job.
Pepper's status in 2026
Pepper is a humanoid robot that SoftBank Robotics launched in June 2014. What follows is what the sources show in November 2026.
Production and the maker
Production stopped in 2020 or 2021, according to a report in The Robot Report, which also gives about 17,000 Pepper robots sold. The same report says that Aldebaran, the French maker of Pepper, went into receivership in June 2025. In July 2025, Maxvision Technology of Shenzhen bought Aldebaran's core assets.
Europe
The old Aldebaran site now leads to Maxtronics. Its Pepper page states that Maxtronics gives no technical support for Pepper and that Europe has no official Pepper support center at present. The page also gives October 1, 2026 as the end date for Pepper cloud services.
Maxtronics does offer Pepper rental for events through a local partner, and it is looking for a European partner to take over Pepper sales, repair and support.
Japan
SoftBank Robotics released Pepper+ on February 2, 2026. The new model adds new AI and video analysis, and the first apps are for retail.
Pepper+ is a rental product. The Pepper+ page lists a retail plan at 79,800 yen a month on a one-year contract, plus a 9,800 yen first fee, and a one-month plan at 150,000 yen.
United States
The SoftBank Robotics America Pepper page sends US buyers to RobotLAB, which lists Pepper from $32,000, to buy or lease.
What the RobotLAB page does not state is stock, lead time, or whether the units are new, so ask for all three in writing before you order.
Prices checked in November 2026. They change often; check the linked pages.
What buyers used Pepper for
Businesses put Pepper where people walk in. The SoftBank Robotics America page lists the jobs it did there: it greeted people as they entered and started a conversation, answered questions about products and promotions, and helped customers find products. The same page names retail, banking, education, hospitality and healthcare as the main fields.
The options below do the same greeting job.
Options a business can get today
The table is in alphabetical order by maker or seller, so the order says nothing about which robot is better.
| Robot | What it is | Who talks to the guest | How you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAL Robotics ARI | A 165 cm social robot with a touchscreen. The maker lists receptionist and guide roles and more than 30 languages. | The robot's software | Quote on request. No public price. |
| Pudu KettyBot Pro | A delivery and reception robot with an 18.5-inch ad display. It greets customers and leads them to a table. | The robot's software and screen | No public price on the Pudu page. Ask for a demo. |
| Pepper, by RobotLAB (US) | The same Pepper robot, sold and serviced in the US by a reseller | The robot's software | From $32,000, to buy or lease |
| Pepper+ (Japan) | The updated Pepper with an AI sales agent for shops | The robot's software | Rental, 79,800 yen a month on the retail plan |
| Starlife Bella | A humanoid service robot with a friendly face and a chest display, on a wheeled base | A trained robot pilot, in the robot's own voice | From $10 an hour |
| temi | A 100 cm autonomous assistant robot with voice control and video calls | The robot's software, or a remote person on a video call | The temi site shows $3,999 |
Which one to choose
Stay with Pepper if you have Pepper apps that you want to keep and you are in Japan or the United States, but confirm the support terms first.
Of the other robots, temi suits a buyer who wants to own a small robot at a low public price. KettyBot Pro is for a restaurant or store that wants one robot to show ads and carry items. Choose ARI if you also want a robot for research, because the maker lists research on human-robot interaction as a use.
Starlife Bella is the one to choose if you want guests to have a real conversation and you do not want to own or program a robot.
What is different about Starlife Bella
A robot pilot holds a real conversation
Bella is not autonomous. A trained robot pilot controls it live from a laptop, with AI assistance, which means that a person hears the guest's question and answers it. Guests hear the robot's own voice. Bella speaks more than 30 languages, with live translation both ways.
You pay by the hour
Bella costs from $10 an hour, and most deployments cost $10 to $20 an hour. There is no big contract. Starlife provides the robot pilot, the driving and the maintenance.
The normal start is a 14-day pilot, with a lead time of about one week. Bella is available in the United States and Germany.
Results from a mall
In a 14-day pilot at American Dream mall, one Bella robot had 2,222 guest engagements. Guests it referred redeemed a coupon at 35.4%, against 8.0% for a human street team. The case study has the details.
You can hire Bella today as a front-desk receptionist, a store greeter and a mall concierge.
If you want to see how Bella would greet your guests, the next step is a demo. Book a demo.