Humanoids · Guide

Buy, Subscribe or Wait? The Home Humanoid Decision for 2026-27

By The RobotDoorstep team · Sources checked Oct 29, 2026

Most households should wait. No home humanoid sold in the US has a publicly confirmed record of doing chores on its own in a customer's home.

If you want one anyway, here's our call. Subscribe to the 1X NEO at $499 a month instead of buying it for $20,000. Buy a Unitree R1 only if you want a robot to experiment with, not one to fold your laundry.

We haven't tested these robots. Our facts come from spec sheets, FCC filings, company statements and owner/press reports, all checked on October 29, 2026.

Which home humanoid robots can you get in the US right now?

Two have public US prices. Everything else is a demo or a waitlist.

Robot	Price	How you pay	US availability	FCC status
1X NEO	$20,000, or $499/mo (1X)	Buy or subscribe, $200 refundable deposit	"US Deliveries start 2026"; we found no confirmed customer delivery	Pending: no FCC ID found
Unitree R1 Air	$4,900 (Unitree)	Buy	White version backordered on Unitree's shop	Authorized, FCC ID 2A5PE-YUSHU010
Unitree R1	$5,900 (Unitree)	Buy	"In Stock" on Unitree's shop	Authorized, FCC ID 2A5PE-YUSHU010
Unitree R1 EDU	$10,500 (Unitree shop)	Buy	Unitree.com says contact sales	Not separately verified
Figure 03	No public price	None	No order page on figure.ai	Not tracked

Unitree's prices exclude tax and shipping. Its shop says shipping runs $300 to $1,200, and the buyer handles customs duties, taxes and import clearance.

Unitree's shop also lists the G1 from $13,500. We haven't matched the G1 to a specific FCC grant, so it's not in our table.

What does the FCC robot rule mean for buyers?

On July 28, 2026, the FCC released DA 26-786, which added "foreign-produced advanced robotic devices" to its Covered List. The definition explicitly covers humanoids and quadrupeds. Covered devices can't get new FCC equipment authorization unless the Department of War grants a Conditional Approval.

According to the FCC's FAQ, updated October 27, 2026, the rule leaves a lot alone:

Models authorized before the deadline can still be imported, marketed and sold.
You can keep using a robot you already own.
Software and firmware updates are allowed under a waiver.
Repairs with identical replacement parts are allowed.

There's one exception that hits shoppers directly. A covered robot that was never authorized here, bought abroad and brought home, generally can't be operated legally in the US.

Seven Conditional Approvals had been granted as of October 29, 2026, by our tracker's count. The two consumer products among them are Husqvarna robot mowers and a Matic floor cleaner. None is a humanoid.

Is a US-made humanoid a safer bet than an imported one?

The legal risk is different for each, and so is the timing.

The rule is country-neutral and ignores the company's nationality. What matters is the "domestic end product" test in 48 CFR 25.101(a). The robot has to be made in the US, and more than 65% of its component cost has to be domestic for deliveries from 2024 through 2028. That bar rises to 75% from 2029.

Unitree R1 is imported (Unitree's shop makes buyers handle customs and import clearance), and its FCC grant is dated June 22, 2026 (fccid.io mirror), before the deadline. Today's R1 can keep being sold and updated. The risk is Unitree's next model, which will need a Conditional Approval before it can be authorized here.

1X NEO is, by 1X's claim, manufactured in California. But 1X hasn't published its domestic component share, so we can't say whether NEO passes the test. We also found no FCC ID. Devices approved by SDoC don't carry one, so that alone doesn't mean NEO is unauthorized.

Security is a separate question from where a robot was made. The FCC's determination cites IEEE Spectrum's September 2025 report on an exploit that allowed takeover of fleets of Unitree robots. NEO's risk is different but real: 1X built in remote access, letting its staff pilot the robot in Expert Mode. In the Wall Street Journal's 2025 demo, everything NEO did was guided by a remote operator.

How much does each option cost over 24 months?

We use a 24-month window here. You can change it in the calculator linked below.

Option	24-month cost	Notes
Buy NEO	$20,000	You own it; 3-year warranty
Subscribe to NEO	$11,976	$499 × 24; you return or extend it
Buy R1 Air direct	$5,200 to $6,100	$4,900 plus $300 to $1,200 shipping, before duties and tax
Buy R1 direct	$6,200 to $7,100	$5,900 plus $300 to $1,200 shipping, before duties and tax

At 24 months, subscribing to NEO saves $8,024 over buying it. Buying only wins if a two-year-old NEO resells for more than $8,024, or 40% of its price. The full break-even is $20,000 ÷ $499 = 40.1 months.

Cost per month of warranty is where the cheap robot looks expensive. Using the warranty terms on 1X's and Unitree's pages:

NEO, bought: $20,000 ÷ 36 months = $556 per covered month
R1: $5,900 ÷ 8 months = $738 per covered month
R1 Air: $4,900 ÷ 6 months = $817 per covered month

Run time per charge tells a similar story. Unitree lists the R1 at about 1 hour, and 1X claims 4 hours for NEO. Unitree's own page tells individual buyers to "thoroughly understand the limitations of humanoid robots before making a purchase."

You can rerun these numbers with your own term and resale guess in our buy vs. subscribe calculator.

You want chores done: wait. Neither robot has public, independent proof of doing household work on its own.

Early adopter with the budget: subscribe to NEO. Put down the $200 deposit now, since it's refundable. When your turn comes, take the $499 plan. Your downside is capped and you can send the robot back. Pick this only if you're comfortable with a 1X employee sometimes seeing your home through NEO's cameras.

Buying NEO outright makes sense only if you'd keep it more than 40 months and can live with an open-ended delivery date. Get 1X's FCC compliance details in writing first.

Tinkerer, developer or STEM family: buy a Unitree R1. The pre-deadline FCC grant means today's model stays legal to sell and update. One catch: Unitree's spec table marks secondary development as available only on the R1 EDU, at $10,500. If you want to write your own code, budget for EDU.

Privacy-first household: wait. Both robots carry cameras and microphones and connect to the cloud. We found no independent security audit of either one.

Caregiving or a home with young kids: wait. 1X's own FAQ tells owners to stay attentive around children and vulnerable people, and Unitree tells users to keep a safe distance.

What would change our verdict?

We'll revise this page when any of these happens:

1X publishes NEO's FCC ID or an SDoC statement.
1X confirms customer deliveries, or publishes how often a typical home needs Expert Mode.
Unitree gets a Conditional Approval for a new model.
Figure posts a price or opens orders for Figure 03.

Follow these on our US availability tracker. For the deep dive on 1X's robot, see our NEO guide.

How we checked

On October 29, 2026, we did the following:

Read pricing and spec pages from 1X and Unitree.
Read the text of FCC DA 26-786, including Appendix C, and the FCC's robot FAQ.
Looked up Unitree's grant in the FCC database and on fccid.io.
Searched both for 1X Technologies.

Our tracker lists Conditional Approvals from the FCC's published orders. We haven't handled these robots, and we label each company claim.

FAQ

Is it better to buy or subscribe to a home robot? For NEO, subscribing is cheaper if you'd keep it for less than about 40 months. Twenty-four months costs $11,976, compared with $20,000 to buy.

Can I still buy a Unitree robot in the US after the FCC rule? Yes, for models authorized before July 28, 2026. The R1's FCC grant is dated June 22, 2026.

Is the 1X NEO covered by the FCC robot rule? Only if it counts as foreign-produced. 1X says NEO is made in California but hasn't published its domestic component share.

Can I import a humanoid robot from overseas myself? If it's covered and was never FCC-authorized, the FCC says you generally can't operate it legally in the US.

Will my robot still get software updates? The FCC allows software and firmware updates for authorized covered devices under a waiver.

What's the cheapest home humanoid in the US? The Unitree R1 Air, at $4,900 before shipping, tax and duties. Shipping alone adds $300 to $1,200.