Buying guide
CORI vs Mako vs ROSA in 2026
Comparing 3 humanoid robots across availability, pricing, capabilities, and verified deployments. Current as of 2026.
| Attribute | No image on file | No image on file | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Smith+Nephew | Stryker | Zimmer Biomet |
| Form factor | surgical | surgical | surgical |
| Maturity | commercial | commercial | commercial |
| Autonomy | ◐ not independently verified | ◐ not independently verified | ◐ not independently verified |
| Availability | internal-onlyenterprise | internal-onlyenterprise | internal-onlyenterprise |
| Price | $600,000-$1,200,000 (analyst estimate) | $1,000,000-$1,500,000 (actual sale price) | $1,000,000-$1,500,000 (analyst estimate) |
| Capability claims |
|
|
|
| Brain | — | — | — |
| Verified deployments | 1United States | 2United Kingdom, United States | 2France, United States |
| Privacy practices | — | — | — |
| Sources on file | 11 | 15 | 14 |
Editorial summaries
CORI
Smith+Nephew's CORI Surgical System is a compact, surgeon-controlled handheld robotics platform for orthopedic knee surgery and the handheld, imageless archetype of the orthopedic sub-cohort. It is imageless (no pre-operative CT or MRI): the surgeon paints the joint surface intra-operatively to build a 3D bone model, then uses a handheld robotic bur whose cutting speed and exposure are robotically controlled to the surgical plan, with optical navigation. Its small footprint positions it for ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient ORs. It is AI-augmented but surgeon-controlled, not autonomous. A critical verified-vs-claimed distinction aggregators routinely blur: CORI's robotic burring is cleared for the knee only (total, partial/unicompartmental, and revision knee); its hip capability is navigation-only (RI.HIP NAVIGATION, cleared January 2022), not robotic burring. Made by Smith+Nephew (LSE: SN; NYSE: SNN). As enterprise B2B surgical equipment, there is no consumer price.
Mako
Stryker's Mako (Mako SmartRobotics) is a surgeon-guided robotic arm for orthopedic joint replacement and the large-footprint, CT-based, multi-procedure archetype of DEPLOY's orthopedic surgical sub-cohort. It pairs CT-based 3D pre-operative planning with intra-operative haptic boundary control (AccuStop physically constrains the saw or burr to the planned resection zone) and real-time optical bone tracking. Critically, it is AI-augmented but surgeon-controlled, not autonomous: the surgeon holds and guides the arm and makes every cut; the robot does not move or cut on its own, the same assistive class as Intuitive's da Vinci. Cleared procedures span partial and total knee (total knee August 2015), cementless total knee, total hip and a hip-revision feature, Mako Spine (510(k) K241517, May 2024, pedicle-screw placement) and Mako Shoulder 1.0 (510(k) K242373, November 2024, reverse shoulder arthroplasty). Sold in 45-plus countries by Stryker (NYSE: SYK). Cap-flag: Stryker frames itself in SEC filings as one of four leading global competitors, not a specific market-share percentage; aggregator share figures are not verified. As enterprise B2B surgical equipment, there is no consumer price.
ROSA
Zimmer Biomet's ROSA (Robotic Surgical Assistant) is a single articulated robotic arm coupled to optical navigation and 2D/3D planning software, and the mid-size, cross-domain archetype of the orthopedic sub-cohort: it spans orthopedics and neurosurgery. The arm positions and guides instruments but moves only on surgeon command; it does not cut or place autonomously (AI-augmented, surgeon-controlled). Current Zimmer Biomet variants are ROSA Knee (total knee arthroplasty, imageless X-Atlas workflow, cleared January 25, 2019; 'ROSA Knee with OptimiZe' cleared November 14, 2025), ROSA Hip (direct-anterior total hip arthroplasty specifically, cleared August 18, 2021), ROSA ONE Brain (cranial neurosurgery: biopsy, SEEG, DBS, and endoscopy, cleared February 11, 2019), and ROSA Shoulder (cleared February 2024). Made by Zimmer Biomet (NYSE: ZBH). Two cap-flags: ROSA Spine is not a current Zimmer Biomet variant (it left in the 2022 ZimVie spinoff), and Zimmer Biomet's autonomy ambitions run through its separate Monogram acquisition, not ROSA. As enterprise B2B surgical equipment, there is no consumer price.
Common questions
- What is the difference between CORI, Mako, and ROSA?
- CORI, Mako, and ROSA are all surgical 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.
Recent coverage
- Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update: auto navigation, Grok phone calls, Caraoke scoring, and moreCORI · Electrek · 2026-07-21
- Hesai Showcases Kosmo Spatial Intelligence Platform and Robotic Lidar at WAIC 2026, Underscoring Its Physical AI VisionCORI · Hesai Technology · 2026-07-20
- Makor to detail Zambia copper plan at AMWMako · Canadian Mining Journal · 2026-07-09
- Zimmer Biomet to Hire 500 in India as New Bengaluru Technology Centre Drives AI and MedTech InnovationROSA · MedTech Intelligence · 2026-07-08
- Calian for Resilient GNSS, From Water to SpaceROSA · Inside GNSS · 2026-07-07
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