Unitree/Humanoid
Unitree G1
The cheapest walking humanoid you can actually buy.
- The cheapest walking humanoid on the market
- Folds down to about 690 mm for transport
- Unitree ships more humanoids than anyone
Realism index
22/100
Our editorial estimate of how close this machine is to a lifelike human companion — six weighted dimensions, built from public evidence. How we score · The whole field, ranked
See it move
Photos flatter; motion is where realism is won or lost.
The G1 isn't here to be loved — it's here to remind everyone how cheap a walking humanoid can be. For roughly the price of a car, Unitree sells a folding, 35-kilogram machine that balances, walks, picks itself up off the floor, and runs the viral party tricks (dancing, "kung fu") that fill robotics feeds.
It's a research platform, plainly: exposed chassis, no face, no warmth, a two-hour battery, and a base model that ships without hands. But it has a thriving developer ecosystem and over-the-air updates, and it makes Unitree the volume leader in humanoids worldwide.
For this directory, the G1 is the price anchor. Every companion's six-figure sticker looks the way it does partly because the cheapest credible humanoid body on earth costs less than a used sedan — and comes from Hangzhou.
Our verdict
The case for
- The lowest-cost production humanoid you can buy
- Compact and portable — folds for transport
- A strong research SDK and OTA-update ecosystem
The case against
- Child-sized — limited reach and ~2 kg/arm payload
- Roughly two-hour runtime
- The base model ships without hands
What it can do
- Bipedal walking, balancing and self-righting
- Optional three-finger dexterous hands
- Dynamic skills — dancing, "kung fu," getting up — via learning
The paper trail
Dated milestones — announcements, prices, promised ship windows — as they were made. We add to this record; we don't rewrite it.
5,500+ humanoids confirmed delivered in 2025
Unitree's official clarification: over 5,500 humanoids sold and delivered in 2025 (6,500+ produced) — the G1 genuinely shipped at scale.
Listed at 99,000 yuan (~$13,700) after its Spring Festival Gala fame; the first listing quickly sold out.
August 2024 — mass-production version shown
A refined, production-ready G1, still from $16,000.
Introduced at ICRA 2024 in Yokohama — a fraction of the $90,000 H1.
Quick answers
Composed from the directory record above — so they can't drift from the data.
- What is Unitree G1?
- Unitree G1 is a humanoid-class machine (general-purpose) from Unitree (China). A folding, child-sized research humanoid that walks, dances and self-rights — for the price of a car, not a house.
- How much does Unitree G1 cost?
- ~$16k at launch; ~$13.5k base in 2026 (EDU options cost more). Prices in this category move often — the paper trail on this page records every change we log.
- Can you buy Unitree G1 right now?
- Yes — Unitree G1 is shipping to customers today. The maker's current label is "Shipping now".
- How lifelike is Unitree G1?
- We rate Unitree G1 22/100 on the gfs.ai Realism Index — an editorial score across six weighted dimensions, built only from public evidence. It scores strongest on reality (58/100) and weakest on face (0/100).
- Who makes Unitree G1?
- Unitree G1 is built by Unitree — founded 2016, headquartered in Hangzhou, China. The company's focus: affordable quadruped and humanoid robots.
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