Unitree R1 vs G1 vs H2: Which One for Which Job

Unitree's humanoid lineup now spans a twentyfold price range: from $4,900 for the R1 Air to $100,000 for the H2 Plus. The three robots most buyers compare sit in the middle: R1 at $5,900, G1 at $13,500 and H2 at $29,900. The biggest change in the lineup this year is at the top: the full-size H1-2, sold for $99,900 to $128,900, was delisted in 2026, and its place went to H2 at $29,900, so a full-size Unitree now costs less than a third of what it did. They are not three sizes of one robot. Each has a different sensor set, runtime and payload, and the cheapest one is the right answer for fewer jobs than its price suggests.

Prices and specs below come from our catalog, verified against unitree.com and distributor listings on 26 September 2026.

The lineup in one table

| Model | Price | Height | Weight | DOF | Payload | Runtime | LiDAR | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | R1 Air | $4,900 | not published | not published | 20 | not published | not published | no | | R1 | $5,900 | 123 cm | 29 kg | 26 | not published | 60 min | no | | G1 | $13,500 base, EDU from $43,900 | 127 cm | 35 kg | 23 (up to 43 in EDU) | 2 kg | 120 min | yes (Livox MID-360) | | H2 | $29,900 base, $40,900 North America | 182 cm | 70 kg | 31 | 7 kg | 180 min | no | | H2 Plus | $100,000 | not published | not published | not published | not published | not published | not published | | H1 | $90,000 | 180 cm | 47 kg | 20 | not published | 105 min | yes (Livox MID-360) |

The H1-2, which carried 21 kg, is gone. Unitree delisted it from its store in 2026 and distributors have sold out. Its last prices were $99,900 to $128,900.

R1: the cheapest body, not the cheapest platform

R1 costs $227 per degree of freedom. G1 costs $587 and H2 $965. On that measure R1 is the best deal in humanoid robotics, and it is why the robot got TIME's Best Inventions list in 2025 and why it does cartwheels and handstands in every demo video.

The limits are in the rest of the spec sheet. R1 runs 60 minutes per charge, the shortest of the lineup. It has stereo cameras but no LiDAR and no depth camera. Unitree publishes no payload figure. The base R1 has an 8-core CPU; NVIDIA Jetson Orin comes with the EDU version, which starts at about $10,500 through sales. A lab that needs on-board GPU compute pays close to double the headline price.

R1 fits three jobs well: teaching, where a class can afford several robots instead of one; motion research, where whole-body control on a light 29 kg frame is the point; and demos and events. It is a weak choice for manipulation work, where the missing payload number and the lack of depth sensing matter more than the joint count.

The R1 Air at $4,900 drops to 20 degrees of freedom. For a locomotion-only course, that is enough. For anything with arms, the extra $1,000 for the standard R1 is worth it.

G1: the research default, if you budget for EDU

G1 is the obvious research pick, and the spec sheet shows why. For $13,500 it has what R1 lacks: a Livox MID-360 LiDAR, an Intel RealSense depth camera, 120 minutes per charge on a 421 Wh battery, and ROS 2 support. It is the only robot under $30,000 in the lineup with both LiDAR and depth sensing.

Two numbers hold it back. Payload is 2 kg, enough for grasping research with cups and small parts and not enough for anything resembling logistics. And charging takes 105 minutes, almost as long as the 120-minute runtime. With one battery, a G1 spends close to half its day on the charger. Labs that run long experiments should plan for that.

The price that matters for serious research is not $13,500. The EDU configuration starts at $43,900 and adds NVIDIA Jetson Orin and up to 43 degrees of freedom. Street prices for the base unit run from $13,500 to $19,000, depending on the distributor. When comparing G1 with the H2, compare EDU with EDU.

H2: human scale at a third of H1's price

H2 replaced H1 as Unitree's full-size humanoid. At 182 cm and 70 kg, it matches human reach and eye height, which matters for work in spaces built for people: shelves, counters, doors, workbenches. It has 31 degrees of freedom, a 972 Wh battery good for about 3 hours, and an EDU option with NVIDIA Jetson Thor, starting at $68,900 by quote.

Against its predecessor the numbers are lopsided. H1 costs $90,000, has 20 degrees of freedom and runs 105 minutes. H2 costs $29,900 in the Unitree store, has 11 more degrees of freedom and runs 75 minutes longer. H1 keeps two advantages: the 3.3 m/s bipedal running record against H2's 1.5 m/s (a figure Unitree does not publish; it comes from third-party listings), and a LiDAR, which H2 lacks. Our H1 vs H2 comparison has the full sheet.

The weak spot is payload. H2 is rated at 7 kg. The discontinued H1-2 was rated at 21 kg. A buyer who wanted a Unitree full-size humanoid for material handling has no current equivalent: H2 carries a third of what H1-2 did, and the H2 Plus at $100,000, shipping late 2026, has no published payload.

North American buyers should budget for $40,900, not $29,900. That is the regional starting price, with deliveries phased from April 2026.

Which one for which job

The choice is easier if you start from the task rather than the price.

Teaching and outreach. R1, several of them. Five R1 cost $29,500, less than one base H2. Pick R1 Air only if the course never touches manipulation.

Locomotion and whole-body control research. R1 EDU or G1, depending on sensing. R1 is lighter and cheaper; G1 has LiDAR and depth, so it is the one to choose if the robot has to walk through a mapped space rather than across an empty floor. The G1 vs R1 comparison lists the details.

Manipulation and embodied AI data collection. G1 EDU for tabletop work under 2 kg. H2 EDU when the policy has to transfer to human-sized environments, since data collected on a 127 cm robot does not map cleanly to a 182 cm one.

High-speed locomotion. H1, and only H1. It is the one reason left to pay $90,000 for it.

Material handling. None of the current lineup. With 7 kg on H2 and 2 kg on G1, a buyer who needs to move totes should look outside Unitree, or wait for H2 Plus specs before committing.

What to watch before buying

Unitree changes prices and configurations often. In April 2026 it cut the R1 price in China to RMB 29,900 without changing the US price. G1 street prices vary by more than $5,000 between distributors. H2 North America deliveries were phased rather than immediate.

Before signing a purchase order, check three things: the exact configuration the quote covers (base, EDU or a regional version), whether the SDK access you need comes with that configuration, and the delivery date in writing. For the wider price context across manufacturers, see our guide to the cheapest humanoid robots of 2026.

Unitree's lineup is the widest in the market and the cheapest per degree of freedom. It is also built for research, education and demonstration, not for lifting. Buy it for what it does well.