Buying guide
Mentra Live vs Omi in 2026
Comparing 2 humanoid robots across availability, pricing, capabilities, and verified deployments. Current as of 2026.
Key differences
On DEPLOY's record, Mentra Live has more verified real-world deployments (4 versus 1) than Omi as of 2026; DEPLOY counts a deployment only when confirmed at a named site with a primary source.
- Omi has the lower recorded price.
- Mentra Live has more verified real-world deployments (4 vs 1).
| Attribute | No image on file | |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Mentra | Based Hardware |
| Form factor | wearable | wearable |
| Maturity | commercial | commercial |
| Autonomy | — | — |
| Availability | shipping-nowshipping | shipping-nowshipping |
| Price | $349 (actual sale price) | $17-$19/month subscription or $89 (actual sale price) |
| Capability claims | — | — |
| Brain | — | — |
| Verified deployments | 4 | 1Based Hardware |
| Privacy practices | — | 5third-party-sharing, on-device-processing, capture-indicator, data-deletion-control, cloud-upload |
| Sources on file | 1 | 6 |
Track this matchup
Get told the moment Mentra Live or Omi changes. Verified changes only, the second they are real. No press-release noise.
Mentra Live
Omi
Editorial summaries
Mentra Live
Mentra Live smart glasses are available for purchase directly from mentraglass.com and are shipping now; Batch 1 sold out and Batch 2 is on sale, limited to 1,000 units per batch. Mentra Live is priced at $349 USD as listed on the manufacturer's website; prescription lens add-on is $99 USD.
Omi
Omi, by Based Hardware (founder Nik Shevchenko, San Francisco), is a shipping AI necklace in the ambient-recording 'second brain' category: a small circular orb on a neck lanyard that captures conversations and runs them through GPT-4o for ambient transcription in 25+ languages, auto-summaries and tasks, a searchable memory database, daily recaps, and a 'Brain Map'. It sells for $89 as a consumer unit (about $70 dev) one-time, with a free tier (unlimited on-device transcription plus 1,200 cloud minutes a month) and an optional Omi Unlimited plan from $16 a month; the user owns the device.
It is one of the few genuinely open-hardware entries in the cohort: an MIT-licensed GitHub repo of about 12,700 stars with firmware, apps, and open hardware designs, maintained into 2026. The AI is genuine cloud functionality, not veneer. One significant cap-flag: the aspirational brain-interface and EEG 'reads-your-mind' marketing is not the shipping product, which is audio-only; the BCI module is roadmap with no code, and TechCrunch could not verify it. (Omi is distinct from Friend, Avi Schiffmann's pendant; Shevchenko's device was originally also named Friend and was renamed Omi.)
Common questions
How do Mentra Live and Omi differ?
What is the difference between Mentra Live and Omi?
Which is cheaper, Mentra Live or Omi?
Which has more verified deployments, Mentra Live or Omi?
Recent coverage
- XAUUSD 1H Near Term PredictionOmi · TradingView · 2026-09-02
- Elon Musk’s heterodox robotaxi philosophy gets put to the testOmi · The Verge · 2026-09-02
- Mentra Raises $8 Million To Launch Open-Source OS For Smart GlassesMentra Live · Ben Smith, Deploy Editor · 2025-07-01
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