Buying guide
Atlas vs Adam in 2026
Comparing 2 humanoid robots across availability, pricing, capabilities, and verified deployments. Current as of 2026.
Key differences
- Atlas has more verified real-world deployments (2 vs 0).
- Atlas is at the pilot stage; Adam at the research stage.
| Attribute | ||
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Boston Dynamics | PNDbotics |
| Form factor | humanoid | humanoid |
| Maturity | pilot | research |
| Autonomy | — | — |
| Availability | internal-onlyenterprise | preorder-openpreorder |
| Price | Not announced | $45,000 (manufacturer target) |
| Capability claims | — | — |
| Brain |
| — |
| Verified deployments | 2Google DeepMind, Hyundai Motor Group | 0 |
| Privacy practices | — | — |
| Sources on file | 20 | 6 |
Editorial summaries
Atlas
Atlas is the cohort's longest-running humanoid research platform, first unveiled (hydraulic) in 2013. Generation discipline matters here: the hydraulic Atlas was retired in 2024; the current electric Atlas, unveiled the same year, is the active research vehicle and inherits the lineage but not the deployment record. Hyundai's 2020 acquisition reframes the economics: Atlas's pilot at Hyundai's Metaplant America is parent-corp R&D rather than arm's-length commercial pursuit, which keeps the maturity stage at research under DEPLOY's maker-facility rule. Boston Dynamics describes Atlas through research demonstrations; the engineering credibility is the deepest in the cohort, but commercial deployment at named third-party operators is not yet on the record.
Adam
Adam, from China's PNDbotics, is a full-size humanoid (~1.6-1.67 m, ~60-63 kg) in several variants (Adam Lite, Adam/Adam SP, the teleop/research Adam-U, Adam Pro), with quasi-direct-drive actuators and five-finger hands. The research-focused Adam-U is offered to research institutions on pre-order at about $45,000; other variants have no published consumer price. DEPLOY classifies its maturity as research. A China deployment partnership (Tianyong) is stated, not yet a verified deployment.
Common questions
- What is the difference between Atlas and Adam?
- Atlas and Adam 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.
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