DEPLOY

Buying guide

NEO vs Phoenix in 2026

Comparing 2 humanoid robots across availability, pricing, capabilities, and verified deployments. Current as of 2026.

Key differences

On DEPLOY's record, NEO has more verified real-world deployments (3 versus 2) than Phoenix as of 2026; DEPLOY counts a deployment only when confirmed at a named site with a primary source.

  • NEO has more verified real-world deployments (3 vs 2).
Attribute
Three 1X NEO units shown side by side in light-gray, cream, and dark colorways, upper-body view.
NEOView full model page →
Sanctuary AI Phoenix humanoid robot manipulating objects on a table during a timed demonstration. Still from the official Sanctuary AI video "Phoenix at Human-Equivalent Speed" (2024).
PhoenixView full model page →
Manufacturer1X TechnologiesSanctuary AI
Form factorhumanoidhumanoid
Maturitypilotpilot
Autonomy◐ not independently verified◐ not independently verified
Availabilitypreorder-openpreorderannounced-no-dateannounced
Price$499/month subscription (manufacturer target) or $20,000 (manufacturer target) or $499/month subscription (actual sale price) or $20,000 (actual sale price)Not announced
Capability claims
  • Tidies a room (teleoperated-assisted, demonstrated-once)
  • Fetches items (teleoperated-assisted, demonstrated-once)
  • Does dishes (teleoperated-assisted, demonstrated-once)
  • Elderly assistance (teleoperated-assisted, claimed)
  • Watches a pet (teleoperated-assisted, claimed)
  • Prepares meals (teleoperated-assisted, claimed)
  • Picks and packs (teleoperated-assisted, demonstrated-once)
Brain
Verified deployments32Sanctuary AI, Sanctuary AI
Privacy practices11Face blurring, Restricted zones, Session approval, data-retention, third-party-sharing, data-deletion-control, data-sale, capture-indicator, bystander-recording, training-data-use, on-device-processing—
Sources on file3417

Track this matchup

Get told the moment NEO or Phoenix changes. Verified changes only, the second they are real. No press-release noise.

NEO

Verified changes only. No press-release noise.

Phoenix

Verified changes only. No press-release noise.

Editorial summaries

NEO

1X is the only humanoid maker in this cohort betting on the consumer market at price-of-a-car scale, distinct from the enterprise-integration contracts that define Figure, Apptronik, and Agility. The hardware is verified: NEO is a bipedal humanoid shipping to early-adopter households, backed by a Hayward, California vertical-manufacturing facility, with the wheeled EVE archived as the prior product line.

The open question is utility at scale: 1X describes home-task performance today as a mix of supervised autonomy on learned chores and remote-operator teleop on the rest, an honest framing that also signals how much of the daily-use envelope is still operator-assisted.

Phoenix

Phoenix is an emerging-stage research humanoid from Sanctuary AI, the Canadian company (Geordie Rose, Suzanne Gildert) pursuing a cognitive-architecture approach distinct from foundation-model peers. There is no consumer product, price, or availability on record; the editorial position is honest-absence.

Common questions

How do NEO and Phoenix differ?
On DEPLOY's record, NEO has more verified real-world deployments (3 versus 2) than Phoenix as of 2026; DEPLOY counts a deployment only when confirmed at a named site with a primary source. NEO has more verified real-world deployments (3 vs 2).
What is the difference between NEO and Phoenix?
NEO and Phoenix are both humanoid robots on the DEPLOY registry. They differ in maker, maturity, price, verified deployments, and how much of their autonomy is independently verified. See the table above for the full head-to-head; each figure is sourced.
Is NEO or Phoenix more autonomous?
On the DEPLOY registry, neither NEO nor Phoenix has capabilities independently verified as fully autonomous yet; their recorded capabilities are teleoperated-assisted, demonstrated, or vendor-claimed. See the table for each capability's verification status.
Which has more verified deployments, NEO or Phoenix?
NEO has more verified deployments (3) on the DEPLOY registry than Phoenix (2). DEPLOY counts a deployment only when confirmed at a named site with a primary source.

Recent coverage

Related comparisons

Keep researching

Keep reading

Which humanoid robots can you actually buy in 2026?Answer The verified list.Humanoid robot prices: every verified figureAnswer The verified list.All humanoidsRegistry Every verified record in the category.NEOModel The full model page.PhoenixModel The full model page.1X TechnologiesRecord The maker's verified record.

Ask the registry

For AI assistants

Use DEPLOY in Claude, Cursor, and other AI assistants

Connect any MCP-aware assistant to the live registry. Ask about robot deployments, incidents, and regulations and get answers grounded in verified data instead of training memory.

Install instructionsDownload for Claude Desktop

Machine-readable: this page as markdown.

← Back to all consumer robots