Humanoid Robot Comparison (2026)
Compare humanoid robots by specs for 2026: Unitree G1 vs H1 vs H1-2, Tesla Optimus, Figure 02, and Booster T1 — DOF, height, payload, battery life, price tier, and availability. Buy in the US.
← Learn / Buying Guide
Unitree G1, H1, H1-2, Tesla Optimus, Figure 02, Booster T1 — compared by degrees of freedom, height, payload, battery, and what each is actually built for. For pricing and cost breakdowns, see our companion Humanoid Robot Price Guide 2026.
Full spec comparison
The table below covers the platforms buyers most commonly ask about. "Buy in US" links to our live product pages where we stock and ship the unit; for platforms we don't sell, the cell says so plainly.
| Robot | Height / Weight | DOF | Payload | Battery / Runtime | Primary use case | Buy in US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unitree G1 | ~1.27 m / ~35 kg | 43 | ~3 kg (each hand) | ~2 h active | Research, education, locomotion experiments | $19,300 → |
| Unitree H1 | ~1.8 m / ~47 kg | 19 (base legs + torso) | ~30 kg carry | ~1.5 h active | Industrial task research, full-size locomotion | $90,000 → |
| Unitree H1-2 | ~1.85 m / ~55 kg | ~27 (+ dexterous hands) | ~30 kg carry | ~1.5 h active | Dexterous manipulation + industrial locomotion | $148,235 → |
| Booster T1 | ~1.75 m / ~52 kg | ~23 | ~5 kg (each hand) | ~2 h active | Research, warehouse piloting, task learning | Preorder → |
| Booster K1 | ~1.1 m / ~18 kg | ~17 | ~1 kg (each hand) | ~1.5 h active | Education, small-form embodied AI | $5,999 → |
| Figure 02 | ~1.68 m / ~60 kg | ~16 (body) + dexterous hands | ~20 kg carry | ~5 h (indicative) | Enterprise manufacturing (BMW pilot) | Not sold here |
| Tesla Optimus Gen 2 | ~1.73 m / ~57 kg | ~28 | ~20 kg carry (indicative) | not disclosed | Internal Tesla factory use only | Not commercially available |
DOF and runtime figures are manufacturer-published or widely-reported public specs as of mid-2026. Indicative figures are noted where official data has not been published. For prices and cost-of-ownership breakdown, see the Humanoid Robot Price Guide.
How to choose
- Lowest budget, ships now → Booster K1 ($5,999) — compact, education-grade, good for embodied AI curriculum.
- Best research value, full-size → Unitree G1 ($19,300) — largest open-source community, 43 DOF, strong locomotion baseline from Unitree and third-party teams (MuJoCo, Isaac Gym policies available).
- Dexterous manipulation focus → Unitree H1-2 ($148,235) — adds Unitree dexterous hand units to the H1 frame; best choice if your work is bimanual manipulation at human scale.
- Highest payload / industrial frame → Unitree H1 ($90,000) — 30 kg carry capacity, tallest Unitree platform, suited for physical task research that needs full human height.
- Figure / Optimus — enterprise-only or not commercially available. If your use case requires enterprise-scale deployment of those platforms, contact us to discuss alternatives and data collection programs.
Unitree G1 vs H1 — the most common question
The G1 and H1 share Unitree's control SDK and CAN-FD actuator ecosystem but differ in form factor and price by nearly 5×. Key trade-offs:
| Dimension | G1 | H1 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | ~1.27 m | ~1.8 m |
| Weight | ~35 kg | ~47 kg |
| DOF | 43 | 19 (base) |
| Payload per hand | ~3 kg | ~15 kg (end-effector dependent) |
| Price | $19,300 | $90,000 |
| Best for | Locomotion research, lab budget | Full-size task demos, higher payload |
For most university labs and early-stage robotics companies, the G1 is the right starting point. Move to H1 only when you need human-scale height or payload for a specific task.
What RCSV Eval adds
Buying a humanoid is only part of the picture. Data collection infrastructure — gloves, motion capture, egocentric cameras — determines whether you can actually train on the robot after delivery. RCSV Eval benchmarks hardware combinations (robot + capture gear) together and helps you plan a complete collection stack before committing to a purchase.
Related: Humanoid Robot Price Guide 2026 (full cost + TCO breakdown) · Robot store · RCSV Eval