Buying guide
Digit vs Tesla Optimus in 2026
Comparing 2 humanoid robots across availability, pricing, capabilities, and verified deployments. Current as of 2026.
Key differences
On DEPLOY's record, Digit is further along: at the commercial stage versus Tesla Optimus at the research stage, as of 2026.
- Digit has more capabilities independently verified as autonomous (1 vs 0).
- Tesla Optimus has the lower recorded price.
- Digit has more verified real-world deployments (11 vs 6).
- Digit is at the commercial stage; Tesla Optimus at the research stage.
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Agility Robotics | Tesla |
| Form factor | humanoid | humanoid |
| Maturity | commercial | research |
| Autonomy | ✓ 1 verified autonomous | ◐ not independently verified |
| Availability | internal-onlyenterprise | announced-no-dateannounced |
| Price | $100,000-$250,000 (analyst estimate) | $20,000-$30,000 (manufacturer target) |
| Capability claims |
|
|
| Brain |
|
|
| Verified deployments | 11 | 6 |
| Privacy practices | — | — |
| Sources on file | 45 | 31 |
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Digit
Tesla Optimus
Editorial summaries
Digit
Digit is the cohort's commercial verification anchor: the most-verified-hours humanoid in the registry, with Agility's GXO Flowery Branch deployment doing the load-bearing work. The maker-facility rule applies in reverse here. GXO operates Digit on customer-paid freight inside GXO's own warehouses, which is the commercial-deployment shape that internal-facility pilots from Tesla, 1X, and others do not yet have.
Agility describes Digit's operational envelope as autonomous mobile manipulation in structured logistics; the verification anchor is what operators document at the customer site, not Agility's spec sheet.
Tesla Optimus
Tesla Optimus is the canonical example of the verified-vs-claimed gap in commercial humanoid robotics. Tesla has shown Optimus in choreographed demos, internal-facility deployment, and consumer-marketing contexts, but no verified third-party customer deployments and no shipped consumer units exist as of 2026. The price ($20,000 to $30,000) is a manufacturer target contingent on high-volume production that has not yet begun. Optimus units inside Tesla facilities count as manufacturer pilot, not commercial deployment under DEPLOY's maker-facility rule.
Common questions
How do Digit and Tesla Optimus differ?
What is the difference between Digit and Tesla Optimus?
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Which has more verified deployments, Digit or Tesla Optimus?
Recent coverage
- FLYTO Uses Digital Twins to Test New AircraftDigit · Ubergizmo · 2026-08-23
- News from BIA VictoriaDigit · Marine Business News · 2026-08-23
- Virtuix Expands Omni One Into Tesla Optimus, NASA And U.S. Military ApplicationsTesla Optimus · Pulse2 · 2026-08-22
- Tesla and SpaceX will invest $16.8B to start building ‘Terafab’ chip factory in TexasTesla Optimus · TechCrunch – Transportation · 2026-08-06
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