HumanoidsLow-cost small humanoid
R1
R1 is a small humanoid robot from China's Unitree, about 1.2 metres tall and about 29 kg. It is Unitree's cheapest humanoid, with open controls so developers can program it. Unitree R1 product page
- Evidence
- Company-reported only
- Human help
- Not disclosed
- Last milestone
- June 2026
01Can I get it?
Yes, in places
- Where it works today
- On sale in China, and since April 2026 through AliExpress in markets including the US, Canada, Japan, the UAE and Singapore. Bloomberg, 15 Apr 2026
- Published price
- About $8,150 delivered to the US including import fees, or about $6,800 for a scaled-down version as of 15 April 2026 Bloomberg, 15 Apr 2026
- Human help
- The maker hasn't said whether people help it remotely.
02Track record
What has actually happened
Every milestone is dated and links to the page it comes from. Lines marked company-reported rest on the maker's own word.
On sale · sets the stage
Xinhua (via eHangzhou), 26 June 2026Company-reported
On sale · sets the stage
Bloomberg, 15 Apr 2026Company-reported
03Promised vs delivered
What the maker said, and when
Dated targets the maker set in public, against what has happened since.
- Said9 April 2026
R1 on sale worldwide the following week
Unitree said it would take the R1 global the following week. Interesting Engineering, 9 Apr 2026
DeliveredBloomberg reported on 15 April 2026 that sales on AliExpress had begun.
04Safety and incidents
What has gone wrong
No crashes, recalls or regulator reports in our sources. That is not proof none happened; we add them when a regulator or trusted outlet reports one.
How we placed it
The rule, not an opinion
Stages are worked out by published rules from the dated milestones above. We never rate robots, and no maker can pay to change a stage.
- 5
Regulator-cleared or mass market
A regulator has cleared it where approval applies: FDA clearance or approval for a medical robot, a permit to run with no one aboard for a self-driving vehicle, or an FAA approval for routine drone flights. Or: Widely sold: sales in the hundreds of thousands, or a product category you can buy in ordinary shops.
- 4
Paying customersThis robot
Delivered to customers who pay for it, beyond a trial, or a paid service the public can use.
Placed by: In China, Unitree cut the R1's starting price from 39,900 to 29,900 yuan and began offering it for immediate delivery (June 2026); Unitree began selling the R1 outside China through Alibaba's AliExpress, with free shipping to the US (15 April 2026).
- 3
Pilot
Working with a named customer in a real setting, as a trial.
- 2
Pre-orders
Orders, reservations or deposits taken, with nothing delivered yet.
- 1
Demo only
Shown in videos, staged events or a factory, with no units working for customers.
What we couldn't confirm. No figure for R1 units sold was found; Unitree reportedly sold about 5,500 humanoids of all models in 2025. Reported China prices vary by version and date (26,900 to 39,999 yuan).
Sources
- 01Unitree R1 product page
- 02Bloomberg, 15 Apr 2026
- 03Xinhua (via eHangzhou), 26 June 2026
- 04Interesting Engineering, 25 July 2025
- 05Interesting Engineering, 9 Apr 2026
Cite this page
Robotics Verdict. “R1 (Unitree Robotics): how far has it got?” roboticsverdict.com/robots/unitree-r1. Checked 19 October 2026.