The Latest Humanoid Robot Launches of 2026

2026 is the year humanoids stopped being demo-reel promises and started arriving with prices, deployment records and delivery dates attached. Four launches did most of the talking — Figure’s 03, Unitree’s G1, 1X’s NEO and Apptronik’s Apollo — and between them they map the whole market, from the factory floor to the living room. If you are trying to decide whether to rent or buy a humanoid robot, this is the year the options finally got concrete.

What actually launched

Figure 03 moved from prototype to paid work. Figure AI has a fleet of its third-generation robot running on a BMW assembly line, billed on a per-hour basis — reporting collected by ValueAdd VC pegs it at roughly $25 per robot-operating-hour — and the company says its BotQ factory has ramped production sharply through the year. Figure runs its own in-house AI system rather than a third-party brain, and reporting has put its valuation near $39 billion after an OpenAI-led round. There is still no public buyer price or storefront, so for now Figure is an enterprise story, not a consumer one.

Unitree’s G1 is the opposite: a walking, programmable humanoid you can already put in a cart. Unitree listed the G1 at about $17,990, and Forbes reported the company shipped more than 5,500 units across its line in 2025 — more than any other humanoid maker — with a 2026 target of 10,000 to 20,000. It is the closest thing the category has to an off-the-shelf machine.

1X’s NEO aimed squarely at the home. The Norwegian-American firm opened consumer pre-orders in late 2025 at $20,000 outright or $499 a month, and says it has passed 10,000 reservations, with customer deliveries beginning this year. Apptronik’s Apollo, meanwhile, raised $520 million in February at a reported $5.5 billion valuation, runs Google DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics models, and has pilots with Mercedes-Benz, GXO and Jabil — the two partners opened a shared training facility, nicknamed “Robot Park,” in June.

One notable name is still in the wings: Tesla’s Optimus is not yet sold to outside buyers. Tesla has pointed to a volume-production ramp and an eventual price in the $20,000–$30,000 range, but public sales are not expected until 2027, so treat any Optimus you see in 2026 as a preview rather than a product.

Why it matters if you rent or buy

For most businesses, the headline is not that you can buy a humanoid — it is that the category has split into tiers you can actually plan around. Off-the-shelf units like the G1 make ownership realistic for developers, universities and integrators. Enterprise platforms like Figure 03 and Apollo are being sold as labor by the hour, which is a rental model in all but name. And home units like NEO are a different market entirely.

If your interest is experiential — a humanoid greeter, brand ambassador or photo draw for an event or activation — the launches barely change the calculus: renting remains the smart move, because a single booking avoids five-figure capital, operator training and the risk of buying hardware that is a generation behind within a year. Our humanoid robots guide breaks down greeters versus full ambassadors, and you can compare verified humanoid rental companies in a couple of minutes.