The Shortlist
The best humanoid companions
Where to start, depending on what matters to you — then the whole field in one honest matrix.
Ranked by realism
The most lifelike humanoid companions
The machines that come closest to a real human presence — ranked by our editorial realism index across face, skin, movement and mind.
See the picksAvailable today
Humanoid companions you can buy right now
No waitlists, no concept reels — the companions actually shipping to customers in 2026.
See the picksRealism per dollar
The best-value humanoid companions
Where the realism index stretches furthest per dollar — the most lifelike presence for the money.
See the picksFemale-presenting
The most lifelike female-presenting companions
The female-presenting companions leading on realism — the form the dream is usually built around.
See the picksLowest price first
The most affordable humanoid companions
The cheapest way into the category — machines ranked from the lowest disclosed price up.
See the picksPremium tier
The flagship humanoid companions
The no-compromise machines at the top of the market — the most capable, and the most expensive.
See the picksRanked by the face sub-score
The most expressive robot faces
Ranked purely on the face dimension of our realism index — skin, eyes, gaze and micro-expression, judged from real footage rather than renders.
See the picksRanked by the body & skin sub-score
The most lifelike robot bodies and skin
The machines whose bodies read most convincingly human — materials, proportions and what they're like to touch — ranked on the body & skin dimension of our index.
See the picksRanked by the motion sub-score
The robots that move most naturally
Gait, balance and fluidity — motion is where realism is won or lost, and this is the field ranked on that dimension alone.
See the picksRanked by the voice sub-score
The most convincing robot voices
Speech quality, lip sync and conversational latency — the machines that sound most human, ranked on the voice dimension of our index.
See the picksRanked by the mind sub-score
The best conversational minds
Autonomy, memory and how convincing the intelligence feels in unscripted exchange — the field ranked on the mind dimension of our index.
See the picksThe full matrix
Every machine we track, side by side. Realism is our editorial index.
| Machine | Maker | Status | Price | Realism |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aria | Realbotix | Shipping | $125,000 | 64/100 |
| UBTech U1 | UBTech Robotics | Pre-order | $17,650 | 60/100 |
| Moya | DroidUp | Concept | $173,000 | 52/100 |
| Melody | Realbotix | Shipping | $95,000 | 56/100 |
| NEO | 1X Technologies | Pre-order | $20,000 | 40/100 |
| Clone Alpha | Clone Robotics | Pre-order | Undisclosed | 46/100 |
| Figure 03 | Figure AI | Announced | Undisclosed | 38/100 |
| Optimus | Tesla | Announced | $30,000 | 34/100 |
| Ameca | Engineered Arts | Shipping | Undisclosed | 55/100 |
| Unitree G1 | Unitree | Shipping | $16,000 | 22/100 |
| Atlas | Boston Dynamics | Shipping | Undisclosed | 30/100 |
| Apollo | Apptronik | Announced | Undisclosed | 28/100 |
| Phoenix | Sanctuary AI | Announced | Undisclosed | 30/100 |
| Digit | Agility Robotics | Shipping | $250,000 | 22/100 |
| Sophia | Hanson Robotics | Shipping | Undisclosed | 40/100 |
| Unitree H1 | Unitree | Shipping | $90,000 | 24/100 |
| Grace | Hanson Robotics | Announced | Undisclosed | 42/100 |
The briefing
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