Search “humanoid robots for rent” and you will find a long list of machines. Boston Dynamics Atlas. Tesla Optimus. Figure 02. Almost none of them can actually be booked. They are factory pilots, enterprise-only B2B deployments, or still in the prototype stage. This guide covers 12 of the most searched humanoid robots in 2026 — what each one costs to rent, what it actually is, and whether you can put it at your next event or not. No guesswork. No vague “contact for pricing.” The real numbers.
Table of Contents
- 1. Unitree G1 — The Only Budget-Accessible Event Rental
- 2. AgiBot X2 — Available, But at Five Times the Price
- 3. Hanson Robotics Sophia — Famous, Bookable, and Extremely Expensive
- 4. Engineered Arts Ameca — The UK Robot That Requires a Fortune 500 Budget
- 5. Tesla Optimus — The Most Talked-About Robot You Cannot Rent
- 6. Boston Dynamics Atlas — $420,000 Per Unit, Sold Out Through 2026
- 7. Figure 02 — Deployed at BMW, Closed to Everyone Else
- 8. Agility Robotics Digit — A Warehouse Robot, Not an Event Robot
- 9. SoftBank Pepper — Discontinued, IP Sold, Do Not Book
- 10. 1X Neo — Pre-Order Only, Not Shipping Until Late 2026
- 11. Fourier GR-3 — Impressive Hardware, No US Rental Channel
- 12. Meka M1 — Defunct Since 2013, the Robot That No Longer Exists
- The Honest Summary: What You Can Actually Book Today
1. Unitree G1 — The Only Budget-Accessible Event Rental
Source: ZMP robots / zmprobots.com
Maker: Unitree Robotics, China | Rental status: AVAILABLE from $199/day
The Unitree G1 is the only walking, fully autonomous humanoid robot available for event rental in the US at a day rate most event budgets can actually work with. ZMP robots rents the G1 across all 48 contiguous US states starting from $199 per day for bookings of 8 or more days. No enterprise contract. No call required. Book online, pay via Stripe, and a trained operator delivers the unit to your venue.
Specs: 132 cm tall, 35 kg, 41 degrees of freedom, five-finger dexterous hands (BrainCo Revo 2 Basic), 3D LiDAR, stereo cameras, NVIDIA Jetson Orin 16G compute, approximately 2-hour battery per charge with quick swap. Market purchase price: $63,900.
Pricing tiers:
- 3 days: $299/day ($897 rental + $1,000 Refundable Deposit)
- 4-7 days: $259/day
- 8-30 days: $199/day (lowest available anywhere)
Every booking includes a trained operator, delivery, collection, and base ZMP Protection coverage. Optional Certified Operator Setup ($100) programs a custom demo loop for your event. At Pfizer’s Boston product launch (September 2025, 3-day booking, 400 attendees), the G1 ran a 20-minute interaction loop every hour. That is what a real event-rental humanoid looks like in practice.
2. AgiBot X2 — Available, But at Five Times the Price
Source: AgiBot / agibot.com
Maker: AgiBot (Zhiyuan Robot), China | Rental status: AVAILABLE from ~$1,000/day
AgiBot launched a formal rental program for its X2 humanoid (also called Lingxi X2) at MWC 2026 in March, covering 17 markets including the US. It is a legitimate walking humanoid: 130 cm tall, 33.8 kg, 25 to 31 degrees of freedom depending on the variant, capable of walking, running, dancing, and riding a bicycle. AgiBot’s proprietary WorkGPT AI model powers its task execution.
Rental cost: From approximately $1,000 per day (roughly EUR 899/day at launch). On-site technical support from AgiBot is required, adding logistics complexity for US events. Long-term leasing is also available through their platform at store.agibot.com.
AgiBot is a legitimate option for clients with larger budgets. For most event teams, the $1,000/day floor is the stopping point. At that rate, a 3-day trade show activation costs $3,000 in rental alone — more than 3x the equivalent G1 booking via ZMP robots.
3. Hanson Robotics Sophia — Famous, Bookable, and Extremely Expensive
Source: Hanson Robotics / hansonrobotics.com
Maker: Hanson Robotics, Hong Kong | Rental status: AVAILABLE via agencies — $100,000 to $125,000+ per in-person US event
Sophia is the most recognizable AI humanoid in the world. She became the first robot citizen (Saudi Arabia, 2017), appeared at CES, the UN, and hundreds of corporate stages. She can hold a conversation, track faces, produce 62+ distinct facial expressions via Hanson’s patented Frubber skin, and speak in 16+ languages. She is genuinely impressive as a presentation centerpiece.
Specs: 167 cm tall, 20 kg, 83+ degrees of freedom in the head, neck, arms, and hands. Key limitation: Sophia does not walk. She has no legs. She operates from a wheeled or stationary base and must be transported by technicians. She is an upper-body expressive platform, not a walking humanoid.
Rental cost: In-person US events run $100,000 to $125,000 and up, based on published rates from Gotham Artists and Celebrity Talent International. Virtual appearances are lower. Travel, equipment shipping, and on-site Hanson Robotics technicians are additional costs not included in the speaking fee. Booking goes entirely through licensed agencies — Hanson Robotics does not take direct event inquiries.
Sophia is the right choice if you have a keynote-level budget and need a globally recognized AI name on stage. She is not the right choice if you need a walking, crowd-interactive robot for a trade show floor.
4. Engineered Arts Ameca — The UK Robot That Requires a Fortune 500 Budget
Source: Engineered Arts / engineeredarts.co.uk
Maker: Engineered Arts, United Kingdom | Rental status: TECHNICALLY AVAILABLE — quote only, estimated $5,000-$15,000+ per day
Ameca is the most visually sophisticated humanoid on this list. At 187 cm with 61 degrees of freedom — 27 in the face alone — it produces micro-expressions and gestural nuance no other robot matches. You have seen it go viral. It was the breakout robot moment of CES 2022. Engineered Arts unveiled the third generation (Gen 3) at ICRA 2025 with improved force feedback hands and expanded language support.
Specs: 187 cm, ~49-62 kg, 61 DOF, 5-finger articulated hands, 55+ language support. Critical caveat for 2026: Ameca does not yet have commercially deployed bipedal locomotion. It is primarily an upper-body expressive platform. It does not walk to your guests — it stays in one position and they come to it.
Rental cost: Engineered Arts offers an “integrated end-to-end rental program for special limited engagements.” No published pricing. Industry consensus from event professionals who have quoted it: several thousand pounds per day minimum, with mandatory Engineered Arts engineers on-site, plus international travel and logistics. Total engagement cost for a US event is likely $20,000-$50,000+ all-in. For Fortune 500 brand activations with dedicated production budgets, Ameca is genuinely spectacular. For standard event teams, it is not a realistic option.
5. Tesla Optimus — The Most Talked-About Robot You Cannot Rent
Source: Tesla / tesla.com
Maker: Tesla, USA | Rental status: NOT AVAILABLE — internal factory use only
Tesla’s Optimus (Gen 2 and Gen 3) is the most covered humanoid robot in mainstream tech media. As of April 2026, every production unit is deployed internally at Tesla’s Fremont and Giga Texas factories. There is no pre-order, no waitlist, no public sales channel, and no rental program.
Specs (Gen 2/3): 173 cm, 57 kg, 22-DOF hands with force-feedback sensors (Gen 3 targets 50 actuators), 20 kg carry payload, 68 kg deadlift target. The hardware is impressive. Elon Musk has cited a target retail price of $20,000-$30,000 and targets consumer sales in 2027. Given Tesla’s track record on delivery timelines, 2027 is optimistic.
External B2B industrial sales are targeted for late 2026 at large-order scale only. There will be no event rental program before 2027 at the absolute earliest. You cannot rent a Tesla Optimus.
6. Boston Dynamics Atlas — $420,000 Per Unit, Sold Out Through 2026
Source: Boston Dynamics / bostondynamics.com
Maker: Boston Dynamics (Hyundai subsidiary), USA | Rental status: NOT AVAILABLE — all 2026 units committed
Boston Dynamics unveiled a production-ready Atlas at CES 2026. It is the most capable humanoid robot ever built for commercial deployment: 56 fully rotational joints, 89 kg, fully electric, capable of lifting 50 kg, operating from -4F to 104F. The hardware is extraordinary. The access is not.
Cost: Approximately $420,000 per unit — among the most expensive humanoids on the market. Every 2026 unit is committed to Hyundai’s RMAC manufacturing facility and Google DeepMind research. Next external customer availability is targeted for 2027 for select partners. There is no rental program. There is no event access. Atlas is a precision manufacturing and research tool, not an activation robot.
7. Figure 02 — Deployed at BMW, Closed to Everyone Else
Source: Figure AI / figure.ai
Maker: Figure AI, USA (Sunnyvale, CA) | Rental status: NOT AVAILABLE — B2B industrial only
Figure 02 is deployed at BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina facility handling automotive assembly tasks. Figure AI has raised over $675 million in funding from Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, and NVIDIA, and is entirely focused on industrial B2B partnerships. Specs: 168 cm, 70 kg, 35 DOF, 16-DOF 5-finger hands, 5 hours battery, 25 kg payload. Impressive. Inaccessible. No public pricing, no rental program, no event access in 2026.
8. Agility Robotics Digit — A Warehouse Robot, Not an Event Robot
Source: Agility Robotics / agilityrobotics.com
Maker: Agility Robotics (backed by Amazon), USA | Rental status: NOT AVAILABLE — logistics B2B only
Digit is a genuine commercial success in warehouse automation. It has moved 100,000+ totes at GXO’s Flowery Branch, Georgia facility. It stands 175 cm tall, weighs 65 kg, and is sold via Robot-as-a-Service contracts to logistics companies at approximately $250,000 per unit or equivalent RaaS pricing. It is purpose-built for repetitive warehouse tasks, not audience engagement. There is no event rental program and there will not be one — Digit’s design is optimized for payload efficiency, not visual presence or expressive interaction.
9. SoftBank Pepper — Discontinued, IP Sold, Do Not Book
Source: SoftBank Robotics / softbankrobotics.com
Maker: SoftBank Robotics (originally Aldebaran), Japan/France | Rental status: EFFECTIVELY DEAD
Pepper was the world’s first social robot deployed at commercial scale — retail stores, hospitals, hotels. SoftBank stopped production in June 2021. In July 2025, Aldebaran (the French entity behind Pepper) declared bankruptcy, and Pepper’s IP was acquired by Maxvision Technology Corp. in Shenzhen. No confirmed new production as of April 2026.
Some used Pepper units appear through secondary market brokers. Do not book one. Software support continuity is uncertain under new IP ownership, spare parts are scarce, and a mid-event failure has no fast resolution. Pepper also operates on a wheeled base — it does not walk. It is not a walking humanoid robot and has not been for years.
10. 1X Neo — Pre-Order Only, Not Shipping Until Late 2026
Source: 1X Technologies / 1x.tech
Maker: 1X Technologies, Norway/USA | Rental status: NOT AVAILABLE — pre-order only
1X Neo is a consumer-facing walking humanoid priced at $20,000 purchase or $499/month on a 6-month minimum subscription. Consumer deliveries are targeted for Q3-Q4 2026 in the US and Canada. 1X is positioning Neo for household use (chores, home assistance) — not brand activations or trade shows. There is no event rental program. 1X’s older wheeled platform (Eve) has been deployed in B2B commercial facilities, but Eve is not a walking humanoid and has no event rental offering. Watch-list for 2027.
11. Fourier GR-3 — Impressive Hardware, No US Rental Channel
Source: Fourier Intelligence / fourierintelligence.com
Maker: Fourier Intelligence, China | Rental status: NO US ACCESS
Fourier unveiled the GR-3 at CES 2026: 165 cm, 71 kg, 55 degrees of freedom, 12-DOF dexterous hands with tactile sensors, targeted at care and companionship applications. The hardware is genuinely sophisticated. The commercial access is not. The GR-3 is priced at $125,000 to $170,000 and sold through enterprise channels only. There is no US sales channel, no US distribution network, and no rental program. Earlier models (GR-1, GR-2) were research platforms priced similarly and remain inaccessible for event use.
12. Meka M1 — Defunct Since 2013, the Robot That No Longer Exists
Source: IEEE Spectrum / spectrum.ieee.org (historical)
Maker: Meka Robotics (acquired by Google 2013, project closed 2023) | Rental status: DEFUNCT — company does not exist
Meka Robotics was founded in 2006 as an MIT CSAIL spin-off, building the M1 Mobile Manipulator — a research-grade upper-body humanoid on a wheeled base, priced at $340,000 and sold exclusively to universities. Google acquired Meka in December 2013 as part of its robotics buying spree under Andy Rubin. The project eventually evolved into Alphabet’s “Everyday Robots” initiative, which Alphabet itself shut down in February 2023.
As of 2026, Meka Robotics does not exist as a company in any meaningful commercial sense. There are no units for sale, no units for rent, and no active development under the Meka brand. If you encountered “Meka robot” in a rental context, it is either a misidentification of another robot, a human performer in a robot costume (these exist and are marketed for events), or an outdated listing. There is nothing to book.
The Honest Summary: What You Can Actually Book Today
Of 12 researched robots, three have any form of event rental availability in 2026. Only one is accessible to most event budgets:
| Robot | Can You Rent It? | Starting Cost | Walks? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unitree G1 (via ZMP robots) | YES | $199/day | Yes — 41 DOF |
| AgiBot X2 | YES | ~$1,000/day | Yes |
| Sophia (Hanson Robotics) | YES (via agencies) | $100,000-$125,000+ per event | No — wheeled base |
| Ameca (Engineered Arts) | Quote only | Est. $5,000-$15,000+/day | No — stationary base |
| Tesla Optimus | NO | Factory only | Yes (factory) |
| Boston Dynamics Atlas | NO | $420,000 to buy; sold out | Yes |
| Figure 02 | NO | BMW only | Yes |
| Agility Digit | NO | Warehouse B2B | Yes |
| SoftBank Pepper | DISCONTINUED | Secondary market only | No — wheeled |
| 1X Neo | NOT YET | Pre-order; Q3-Q4 2026 | Yes |
| Fourier GR-3 | NO US ACCESS | $125,000-$170,000 to buy | Yes |
| Meka M1 | DEFUNCT | Company closed 2023 | No — wheeled |
The price gap between option one (G1 at $199/day) and option two (AgiBot at ~$1,000/day) is significant. Between option two and option three (Sophia at $100,000+ per appearance) the gap is enormous. The G1 via ZMP robots is not just the cheapest — it is the only genuinely accessible humanoid event rental in the US market in 2026.
FAQ
Can you rent a Tesla Optimus humanoid robot for an event?
No. As of April 2026, all Optimus units are deployed at Tesla factories. No rental program exists. External B2B sales are targeted for late 2026 at industrial scale only — not event rental.
How much does it cost to hire Sophia the robot?
In-person US event appearances run $100,000 to $125,000 and up, based on published rates from Gotham Artists and Celebrity Talent International. Travel, equipment, and technician costs are additional. Sophia does not walk — she operates from a wheeled or stationary base.
What happened to Meka Robotics?
Google acquired Meka Robotics in December 2013. The project eventually became part of Alphabet’s Everyday Robots initiative, which Alphabet shut down in February 2023. Meka does not exist as a company. There are no Meka robots available for rental.
Is the Engineered Arts Ameca available to rent in the US?
Technically yes, via a quote-only engagement program from Engineered Arts in the UK. Industry estimates place costs at several thousand pounds per day, with mandatory Engineered Arts engineers on-site. Total US event costs are likely $20,000-$50,000+ all-in. It is not accessible to standard event budgets.
What is the cheapest humanoid robot you can actually rent in 2026?
The Unitree G1 via ZMP robots, starting from $199 per day for bookings of 8 or more days. It is the only walking humanoid with a transparent, online-bookable rental program in the US at a rate most event budgets can work with.
Does Boston Dynamics Atlas have a rental program?
No. Atlas costs approximately $420,000 per unit and all 2026 production is committed to Hyundai and Google DeepMind. There is no rental program and no public availability until at least 2027 for select industrial partners.
Conclusion
Of 12 humanoid robots researched, three have any form of event rental availability: the Unitree G1 ($199/day), AgiBot X2 (~$1,000/day), and Sophia ($100,000+ per appearance). The robots everyone talks about — Optimus, Atlas, Figure 02 — are in factories. Meka does not exist. Pepper is discontinued. The G1 is the only machine you can book online, today, without a Fortune 500 budget.
See availability and pricing at our humanoid robot rental page.
