DEPLOY Buying Guide
The Physical AI
Buying Guide
Humanoid robots, AI wearables, and consumer robotics, compared honestly. Real prices where they exist, real availability, and capability claims checked against primary sources, not marketing copy.
28+
Humanoids tracked
12
Categories
8+
Explainers
Featured
Figure 03
Courtesy of Figure
Featured
Shop by category
Browse the full landscape
Humanoid robots
28 models tracked
AI wearables
19 models tracked
Health and biometric wearables
15 models tracked
AI drones
12 models tracked
Robotaxis and self-driving vehicles
9 models tracked
Surgical robots
9 models tracked
Maritime and underwater robots
9 models tracked
Autonomous trucks
8 models tracked
Sidewalk delivery robots
7 models tracked
Autonomous mobile robots
4 models tracked
Construction robots
4 models tracked
Agriculture robots
4 models tracked
Compare
Put two products side by side
Price, availability, specs, capabilities, privacy, and subscription terms, lined up head-to-head from primary sources.
Figure 03vsTesla Optimus
View comparison →
NEOvsTesla Optimus
View comparison →
Unitree G1vsUnitree H1
View comparison →
Learn
Understand before you buy
What is physical AI?
Physical AI refers to AI systems that operate in the physical world rather than purely in digital environments. The category spans autonomous vehicles, humanoid robots, autonomous mobile robots in warehouses, drones, and AI-augmented industrial automation. Physical AI differs from digital-only AI in that the system must perceive, decide, and act under physical-world constraints (sensor noise, latency, mechanical failure modes, regulatory frameworks). DEPLOY tracks physical AI across four subcategories with distinct verification frameworks per category.
Which is the cheapest humanoid robot you can buy?
The Unitree R1 is the cheapest walking humanoid robot commercially available in 2026 at $5,900 base (smaller-form mass-market consumer + developer platform launched July 2025). For a full-size bipedal humanoid, the Unitree G1 starts at roughly $13,500 to $16,000 base. Both are made by Unitree Robotics (Hangzhou, China) and represent the most aggressively priced humanoid platforms commercially available; every other publicly-listed humanoid is meaningfully more expensive.
What is the best humanoid robot to buy in 2026?
There is no single best humanoid robot in 2026; the right pick depends on which of the five availability tiers matches your use case. For consumer home use, 1X NEO is the only verified-available option ($20,000 outright or $499/month subscription with a six-month minimum; late-2026 US delivery). For research and developer access, the Unitree G1 is the practical choice. For warehouse and factory pilots, Agility Digit, Apptronik Apollo, and Figure 03 are the platforms with documented commercial deployments. For elite R&D, Boston Dynamics Atlas remains the dynamic-motion benchmark. Tesla Optimus remains consumer-promised but not for sale.
Browse the full library: pricing, safety, capability, and category deep dives.
Browse all explainers →What's coming
This guide covers the robots themselves today. Peripherals, accessories, deals, and robot-app coverage are on the roadmap as the category matures.