Non-Humanoid Companion Robots

Most of this site tracks machines built to look like people. A quieter part of the companion market goes the other way: a seal, a furry pet, a robot dog, a talking tabletop device. These robots sit where Masahiro Mori told designers to aim in 1970, likeable and honestly artificial, well short of the uncanny valley. They cost far less than a humanoid companion, several ship today, and they have more research behind them. Prices below were checked on October 30, 2026.

At a glance

Robot	What it is	Price	Where you can get one
ElliQ (Intuition Robotics)	Talking tabletop robot with a touchscreen	Leased: $39-$59 a month plus a $249 one-time fee [1]	US, ordered online
LOVOT (Groove X)	Furry pet robot	LOVOT 3.0 from ¥599,500 (about $3,800), plus a required care plan from ¥9,900 a month [3]	Japan; Groove X also runs a mainland China store [4]
PARO	Robotic baby harp seal	No public list price; $6,000 at its 2009 US launch [5]	By inquiry; the US distributor targets hospitals and care facilities [6]
Moflin (Casio)	Small furry robot pet	$429 [7]	US, in stock on Casio's store
aibo (Sony)	Robot dog	Last US edition: $2,899.99 MSRP with a three-year cloud plan [9]	Japan sales ended in 2026; Sony's US store lists it as unavailable [9] [10]
Joy for All Companion Pets (Ageless Innovation)	Animatronic cat or pup	$159.99 (cat), $179.99 (pup) [12]	US; the pup was unavailable on October 30, 2026
Jennie (Tombot)	Robotic puppy	Not yet priced [13]	Waitlist only

Dollar conversions use the October 30, 2026 rate of about ¥158 to the dollar.

The robots

ElliQ is a tabletop robot from Intuition Robotics that looks something like a desk lamp with moving parts, paired with a touchscreen. It plays music, shares news, runs trivia, exercise classes and bingo, and sets medication reminders. You don't buy it; you lease it. A monthly membership is $59, an annual one works out to $49 a month ($588 up front), and a two-year plan to $39 a month ($936 up front), each with a one-time $249 lease initiation fee. Intuition says the membership covers the device, setup, software updates, an unlimited warranty and support [1]. New York State's Office for the Aging placed ElliQ with more than 800 older adults in a pilot [2].

LOVOT, from Groove X, is a furry pet robot built, in the company's words, around "comforting tactile warmth" and users' "innate desire to nurture and feel needed" [4]. It sells mainly in Japan, where LOVOT 3.0 starts at ¥599,500 and LOVOT 2.0 at ¥449,900. Every owner also pays a monthly care plan of ¥9,900, ¥12,980 or ¥19,800 (about $63 to $125) [3]. The English-language site says LOVOT "is currently available in Japan" [4].

PARO is a robotic baby harp seal developed by Takanori Shibata at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). It carries tactile, light, sound, temperature and posture sensors, learns to respond to a name, and has been used in Japan and Europe since 2003 [6]. In the US it received a Class II exempt pre-market notification from the FDA in September 2009 and went on sale that December at $6,000 [5]. Neither of PARO's official sites lists a current price, and the US site is pitched at hospitals and extended-care facilities [6].

Moflin, from Casio, is a small, furry robot pet. Casio says Moflins "learn your voice and the way you interact, recognize you as their owner, and gradually grow attached" [8]. It costs $429 on Casio's US store [7]. Casio's Moflin site leans on testimonials and notes that those reviewers received the product and were paid for their feedback [8].

aibo is Sony's robot dog, revived as the ERS-1000 in 2018 after the original line ended in 2006. On June 25, 2026, Sony said it would stop selling the ERS-1000 in Japan once stock ran out, while keeping support, parts and the cloud subscriptions that store each dog's memories, and that "the aibo business will continue" [11]. Sony's Japanese store now says ERS-1000 sales have ended [10]. In the US, Sony's own store listed the limited Espresso Edition at an MSRP of $2,899.99, including a three-year AI Cloud Plan, but on October 30, 2026 it showed the item as no longer available [9]. Sony doesn't sell aibo or its services in Illinois or Baltimore, Maryland [9]. A new foreign-made model for the US would likely also need a conditional approval under the FCC's July 28, 2026 rule on foreign-produced mobile robots, which names quadrupeds [19].

Others. Ageless Innovation's Joy for All Companion Pets are animatronic cats and dogs: on October 30, 2026 the cat was $159.99 and in stock, the pup $179.99 and unavailable [12]. Tombot's Jennie, a robotic puppy for people who can't care for a live pet, isn't on sale yet. Tombot says its first litter sold out and that it will share pricing closer to shipping [13].

How they compare with humanoid companions

Price. Every robot here with a published price costs less than the cheapest humanoid companion. Realbotix's Echo Tabletop, a silicone-faced bust, is $11,950 plus an AI plan of $19.99 to $199 a month [18]. UBTech's walking U1 starts at ¥119,800 (about $17,650 at launch exchange rates) in China, and Realbotix listed Aria from $125,000 as late as September 2026. Even a LOVOT with three years of its cheapest care plan comes to about ¥956,000, roughly $6,000. Our cost guide has the humanoid price ladder, and the true cost of ownership explains why monthly plans matter as much as the sticker.

Availability. You can order ElliQ, Moflin and a Joy for All cat in the US today, and LOVOT in Japan. The humanoid side is thinner. Echo is a reservation for delivery in the second half of 2027 [18]. UBTech says U1 deliveries began in September 2026 but hasn't said how many [20], and we haven't been able to confirm that Realbotix still builds Aria. Can you buy one today? tracks the humanoids.

What they do. Only ElliQ holds a spoken conversation. The pets respond with sounds, movement and touch, which limits what they can offer but also what they can get wrong.

The evidence on loneliness

This is where the non-humanoids are furthest ahead, though the evidence is modest. A 2025 systematic review in Healthcare found nine trials and pre-post studies of AI tools for loneliness in older adults. Six used social robots, PARO among them, and six of the nine studies reported significant reductions in loneliness. Samples were small, from 10 to 33 people per group, and interventions lasted from one week to three months. A trial in the review that used SoftBank's Pepper, a cartoon-faced humanoid, found no significant effect on loneliness [14].

Individual trials show the shape of it. In a 2008 study in long-term care, residents who spent time with Sony's AIBO and residents who spent time with a living dog both became significantly less lonely than a control group [15]. In a 12-week randomized trial with 40 residents of a New Zealand care facility, those who had PARO sessions had significant decreases in loneliness compared with residents who attended normal activities [16]. A larger Australian trial adds a caution. Across 415 people with dementia in 28 care facilities, PARO beat usual care on mood and agitation in video observations, but beat a look-alike plush toy (a PARO with its robotics switched off) only on engagement [17].

The most quoted ElliQ figure, a "95% reduction in loneliness," comes from New York's own program data, announced in a 2023 press release that gives no study design or control group [2]. Groove X cites an observational study in which LOVOT owners had higher baseline oxytocin levels than non-owners; the company says this suggests "affiliative relationships can form," which isn't a loneliness measure [4]. Casio offers testimonials, not trials, for Moflin [8].

For the lifelike humanoid companions this site tracks, we haven't found comparable trials. UBTech's emotion-reading claims and Realbotix's elder-care pitch for Echo remain company claims until owners and researchers test them, and Hanson Robotics' Grace is still a prototype trialled in care homes. Our guide to companion robots for seniors covers what families should ask before buying either kind.

Which kind to choose

If the goal is easing loneliness for an older relative, the non-humanoids are the evidence-backed place to start: ElliQ for conversation and reminders, PARO or a robot pet where touch and calm matter more. If the goal is presence, a face across the room, nothing in this guide supplies it, and the humanoids that try cost far more and mostly haven't shipped. Either way, read the privacy guide first, because any robot that listens or watches in your home raises the same questions.

References

1. Intuition Robotics, "ElliQ membership" (pricing and lease terms), https://elliq.com/products/membership, accessed October 30, 2026.
2. New York State Office for the Aging, "NYSOFA's Rollout of AI Companion Robot ElliQ Shows 95% Reduction in Loneliness," August 1, 2023, https://aging.ny.gov/news/nysofas-rollout-ai-companion-robot-elliq-shows-95-reduction-loneliness
3. Groove X, LOVOT online store (Japanese), https://store.lovot.life/buy, accessed October 30, 2026.
4. Groove X, LOVOT (English site), https://lovot.life/en/, accessed October 30, 2026.
5. PARO Robots U.S. and JETRO Chicago, "JETRO Chicago: PARO Robots Announces Launch of Sales and Delivery in the U.S." (PR Newswire, via BioSpace), November 4, 2009, https://www.biospace.com/jetro-chicago-paro-robots-announces-launch-of-sales-and-delivery-in-the-u-s
6. PARO Robots U.S., "PARO Therapeutic Robot," http://www.parorobots.com/, accessed October 30, 2026.
7. Casio, "Moflin" (PE-M10SR product page, US store), https://www.casio.com/us/moflin/product.PE-M10SR/, accessed October 30, 2026.
8. Casio, "Moflin" (US product site and testimonials disclosure), https://www.casio.com/us/moflin/, accessed October 30, 2026.
9. Sony Electronics, "aibo Espresso Edition, ERS1000B," https://electronics.sony.com/more/aibo/p/ers1000b, accessed October 30, 2026.
10. Sony, aibo store (Japanese), https://aibo.sony.jp/store/, accessed October 30, 2026.
11. CP24, "Sony discontinues Japan sales of robot puppy 'aibo'," June 26, 2026, https://www.cp24.com/news/2026/06/26/sony-discontinues-japan-sales-of-robot-puppy-aibo/
12. Ageless Innovation, Joy for All store, https://joyforall.com/, accessed October 30, 2026.
13. Tombot, "Tombot: Robotic Emotional Support Animals" (home page, Jennie waitlist), https://tombot.com/, accessed October 30, 2026.
14. Yang Y, Wang C, Xiang X, An R, "AI Applications to Reduce Loneliness Among Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Effectiveness and Technologies," Healthcare 13, no. 5 (2025): 446, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11898439/
15. Banks MR, Willoughby LM, Banks WA, "Animal-Assisted Therapy and Loneliness in Nursing Homes: Use of Robotic versus Living Dogs," Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 9, no. 3 (2008): 173-177, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18294600/
16. Robinson H, MacDonald B, Kerse N, Broadbent E, "The Psychosocial Effects of a Companion Robot: A Randomized Controlled Trial," Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 14, no. 9 (2013): 661-667, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23545466/
17. Moyle W, et al., "Use of a Robotic Seal as a Therapeutic Tool to Improve Dementia Symptoms: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial," Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 18, no. 9 (2017): 766-773, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28780395/
18. Realbotix, "Pricing" (Echo prices, AI plans and delivery terms), https://www.realbotix.com/pricing, accessed October 30, 2026.
19. Fenwick, "FCC Bans New Foreign-Produced Advanced Robotic Devices and Power Inverters," August 5, 2026, https://www.fenwick.com/insights/publications/fcc-bans-new-foreign-produced-advanced-robotic-devices-and-power-inverters
20. Damo Finance via 36Kr, "Contradictory Statements from UBTECH U1's Official Reps & Frontline Customer Service," September 29, 2026, https://eu.36kr.com/en/p/4003131439026053