Six humanoids with published specs, the questions to ask every vendor, and what to verify before you sign a purchase order.

You need to buy a humanoid robot for a lab, a pilot line, or a teaching program. Which one can actually do your task, and what will it really cost?

We have not tested these robots ourselves. This guide relies on manufacturer spec pages, company announcements, the FCC, and industry reporting, and every number links to its source.

By the end, you will have a shortlist, a side-by-side table, and a vendor checklist you can paste into a request for quotation.

In this article

• The short answer
• Humanoid robots for sale: the comparison table
• Model by model: strengths, limits, who it suits
• Own it or buy it as a service?
• Before you buy a humanoid robot: the vendor checklist
• Pilot before you scale
• Limitations of this guide
• Frequently asked questions
• Summary

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The short answer

For research and teaching, the lowest published prices come from Unitree: $4,900 for the R1 AIR and US$13.5K for the G1, before tax and shipping (Unitree R1; Unitree G1).

For heavier industrial work, expect quotes, not price tags. UBTECH lists a 15 kg payload for the Walker S2 but no price (UBTECH), and Agility deploys Digit through service contracts (Agility Robotics).

Verdict: match the robot to one written task first. Price differences between models are smaller than the cost of buying the wrong class of machine.

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Humanoid robots for sale: the comparison table

Every figure below comes from the linked manufacturer page, checked on November 1, 2026. Where a maker does not publish a figure, the cell says so.

Model	Published price	Height	Weight	Degrees of freedom	Arm payload	Runtime	Source
Unitree R1Get pricing for Unitree R1	$4,900 (R1 AIR); $5,900 (R1)	1,230 mm	About 27–29 kg	20 (AIR); 26 (R1)	About 2 kg	About 1 h	unitree.com
Unitree G1Get pricing for Unitree G1	US$13.5K (G1); EDU on request	1,320 mm	About 35 kg	23 (G1); 23–43 (EDU)	About 2 kg (G1); about 3 kg (EDU)	About 2 h	unitree.com
Booster K1Get pricing for Booster K1	$14,999 MSRP (RoboCup Edition)	About 95 cm	About 19.5 kg	22	Not published	Up to 70 min walking (Education/Pro)	booster.tech; RoboCup
Unitree H1-2Get pricing for Unitree H1-2	Not published	About 178 cm	About 70 kg	27	About 7 kg rated; about 21 kg peak	Not published (0.864 kWh battery)	unitree.com
PAL Robotics TALOSGet pricing for PAL Robotics TALOS	Not published	175 cm	95 kg	Not published	6 kg per arm, fully extended	1.5 h walking; 3 h standby	pal-robotics.com
UBTECH Walker S2Get pricing for UBTECH Walker S2	Not published	Not published	Not published	Not published	15 kg	Autonomous battery swap in about 3 min	ubtrobot.com

Need one for your project? Request a quote →

One catch: the same name can cover different machines. The base G1 has 23 degrees of freedom; the G1 EDU ranges from 23 to 43 and adds secondary development support (Unitree).

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Model by model: strengths, limits, who it suits

Here is how each platform reads on paper. These are not test results.

Unitree R1

Get pricing for Unitree R1

• Strengths: the lowest published price here, at $4,900 for R1 AIR and $5,900 for R1 (Unitree).
• Limits: about 1 hour of battery life and an arm load of about 2 kg (Unitree).
• Who it suits: classrooms, demos, and labs that need several units for locomotion or interaction research.

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Unitree G1

Get pricing for Unitree G1

• Strengths: about 2 hours of runtime, a depth camera plus 3D LiDAR, and an EDU version with up to 43 degrees of freedom (Unitree).
• Limits: arm load of about 2–3 kg, and Unitree notes that it “varies greatly” with arm posture (Unitree).
• Who it suits: research labs working on manipulation, imitation learning, or reinforcement learning.

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Booster K1

Get pricing for Booster K1

• Strengths: about 95 cm and 19.5 kg, with a carrying handle and up to 70 minutes of walking on Education and Pro editions (Booster Robotics).
• Limits: the Geek edition lists 20 minutes of walking and a 3-month warranty (Booster Robotics).
• Who it suits: education and competition teams. RoboCup lists the larger Booster T1 RoboCup Edition at a $44,700 MSRP (RoboCup; Get pricing for Booster T1).

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Unitree H1-2

Get pricing for Unitree H1-2

• Strengths: full-size at about 178 cm, with a rated arm load of about 7 kg (Unitree).
• Limits: about 70 kg, and no price or runtime figure on the product page (Unitree).
• Who it suits: labs studying full-size locomotion and whole-body manipulation.

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PAL Robotics TALOS

Get pricing for PAL Robotics TALOS

• Strengths: torque sensing in most joints, control loops at 2 kHz, and 6 kg per fully extended arm (PAL Robotics).
• Limits: 95 kg and 1.5 hours of walking autonomy (PAL Robotics).
• Who it suits: research groups that need torque control and a ROS-based stack.

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UBTECH Walker S2

Get pricing for UBTECH Walker S2

• Strengths: a 15 kg payload and autonomous battery swapping in about 3 minutes (UBTECH).
• Limits: no public price; sales run through quotes. UBTECH reported 921 full-size humanoids sold in the first half of 2026 (Gasgoo).
• Who it suits: manufacturers planning multi-shift pilots with vendor support.

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Own it or buy it as a service?

Research platforms are usually sold outright. Several industrial humanoids are not.

Agility signed a multi-year Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) agreement with GXO in June 2024, which it calls the first RaaS agreement for humanoids (Agility Robotics; Get pricing for Agility Digit). Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada signed one after a pilot (Agility Robotics).

The trade-off? A service contract moves maintenance and software updates to the vendor but ties you to a defined use case and term. Ownership gives you control, and the upkeep.

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Before you buy a humanoid robot: the vendor checklist

Send these six questions with every request for quotation. Ask for written answers.

1. Define the task. List object weights, reach, shift length, and floor conditions. Most options drop out here.
2. Check software access. Ask which interfaces are open. Unitree, for example, lists secondary development for the G1 EDU but not the base G1 (Unitree).
3. Test payload and runtime. Ask for a demonstration with your heaviest object at your reach, and runtime on your duty cycle.
4. Request safety documentation. ISO’s dedicated safety standard for dynamically stable industrial mobile robots, including bipedal ones, is still a committee draft, ISO/CD 25785-1 (ISO). Ask for the vendor’s risk assessment and emergency-stop design.
5. Verify authorization. The FCC added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to its Covered List on July 28, 2026; it says previously authorized models can still be sold (FCC fact sheet). Our explainer on the FCC Covered List and buying Unitree robots in the US lists the evidence to request.
6. Compare warranty and total cost. Unitree lists 8 months for the G1 and 18 months for the G1 EDU (Unitree). Add hands, spare batteries, shipping, duties, integration, and training.

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Pilot before you scale

Deployments tend to grow from one proven site. Agility says its GXO work began as a proof of concept in late 2023, and Digit has since moved more than 100,000 totes at the Flowery Branch, Georgia, facility (Agility Robotics).

Set success criteria before day one: tasks per hour, interventions per shift, uptime, and safety incidents. Agree in writing on which data you receive.

Is a humanoid the right tool at all? For inspection or patrol over rough ground, compare our guide to DEEP Robotics quadruped robots and where the X30, Lite3, and LYNX fit.

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Limitations of this guide

We have not run these robots in our own lab. Every figure is a manufacturer claim or a reported number, not a measurement.

Published payloads and runtimes are best-case values; Unitree itself says parameters “may vary in different scenarios and configurations” (Unitree). Prices change often, and several makers publish none.

The table covers six platforms with public spec pages. It is not a full market list.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to buy a humanoid robot?

Published prices start at $4,900 for the Unitree R1 AIR and US$13.5K for the Unitree G1 (Unitree R1; Unitree G1). Industrial models such as the Walker S2 are sold on quote.

Can a small lab buy one directly from the manufacturer?

Yes, for several research platforms. Unitree publishes R1 and G1 prices, and Booster offers K1 editions on its K1 product page. Developer editions are often priced on request.

Which humanoid robots for sale list the highest payload?

Among the figures we checked: 15 kg for the Walker S2 (UBTECH), about 7 kg rated for the H1-2 (Unitree), and 6 kg per extended arm for TALOS (PAL Robotics).

Can I still buy a foreign-made humanoid robot in the US?

According to the FCC, its July 2026 action applies to new models and does not stop sales of previously authorized ones (FCC). Verify the exact model’s authorization before ordering.

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Summary

Start with one written task. Decide between ownership and a service contract, compare only published figures, and run the six-point checklist with every vendor.

Then pilot with agreed metrics before you commit to a fleet. The right humanoid is the one that does your task, not the one with the longest spec sheet.