What a Home Robot Costs
What does it cost to have a robot do your chores? $20,000, or $499 a month. And when it doesn't know a chore, the makers' own pages say a person helps it, remotely.
1X's NEO
The best known, 1X's NEO: twenty thousand dollars to own. Or four hundred and ninety-nine a month.
Its page on 28 October 2026: $20,000, or $499 a month, with a $200 deposit, and "US Deliveries start 2026".
Source: 1X's and Weave's own pages, read at source 28 October 2026; Tau's hourly price as MarketWatch reported it, read on MarketWatch (secondary)
The rivals
A wheeled rival, Weave's Isaac: about eight thousand, or four hundred and forty-nine a month. Its page: Isaac 1 at $7,999, or $449 a month, with a $250 deposit, and "Deliveries to California begin in Fall 2026".
Or, if you're invited, rent a cleaning service. Tau's two robots for an hour were reported at $60, which is $30 per robot-hour. Tau lists no price on its site: the price is MarketWatch's report, and Core Matter's visit of 20 October 2026 carries the same.
Over a year of subscription, NEO's $499 a month comes to $5,988 and Isaac's $449 to $5,388, before the deposits. That is our own arithmetic from the makers' pages.
Source: 1X's and Weave's own pages, read at source 28 October 2026; Tau's hourly price as MarketWatch reported it, read on MarketWatch (secondary)
What's included
And what comes with it? In 1X's words: "For any chore it doesn't know, you can schedule a 1X Expert to guide it." A person, from the company, guiding the robot remotely, in your home, at a time you book.
1X's sentence in full: "NEO works autonomously by default. For any chore it doesn't know, you can schedule a 1X Expert to guide it, helping NEO learn while getting the job done."
The Expert can "remotely supervise its actions at scheduled times".
The others
The others say the same. Weave's page offers "teleoperation assistance when needed."
Tau's own FAQ asks: "Are the robots fully autonomous?" Its answer: "No, robots are operated by humans and AI."
Each line is from the maker's own page or FAQ, read on 28 October 2026.
The founder's reply
A year ago, 1X's Bernt Børnich answered a video about NEO by the reviewer MKBHD, on X, on 29 October 2025.
His reply, in full as written: "@MKBHD Just to clarify, all actions portrayed as AI in the video (text layovers from the AI planner) is 100% autonomous. We hope to ship a mostly fully autonomous robot in 2026, but chose to not promise anything that does not already works today. Hopefully breaking with the trend."
The reply had 106,669 impressions on 28 October 2026. The promise in it is for 2026: "a mostly fully autonomous robot".
When
And when does it arrive? 1X says it booked out its first year of production in five days: ten thousand robots. Its promise: "Some of you will get your NEO this year, some will get them later."
In April, it said the robots coming off the line were "being prioritized for our internal team." Its factory post of 30 April 2026, six months after the launch: "booked out our entire production capacity for the next year in just 5 days (10,000 NEOs)".
Those are pre-orders on a $200 deposit, not sales. The post goes on: "we are working around the clock to deliver NEO to your doorstep starting in 2026". No customer delivery is confirmed at source to 28 October 2026. Nothing here implies fraud.
What we couldn't confirm
In the makers' own words: "schedule a 1X Expert"; "teleoperation assistance"; "operated by humans and AI".
We couldn't confirm any 1X customer delivery, or Tau's hourly price at the maker itself.
You're not just buying a robot. For now, you're also hiring the person who helps it.
Every price and promise from the makers' own pages. Token Runner dot A I.
Sources
- 1X, its NEO page, read at source on 28 October 2026: $20,000 to own, or $499 a month, a $200 deposit, "US Deliveries start 2026"; "NEO works autonomously by default. For any chore it doesn't know, you can schedule a 1X Expert to guide it, helping NEO learn while getting the job done."; the Expert can "remotely supervise its actions at scheduled times".
- 1X, its factory post of 30 April 2026 (six months after the launch), read at source: "booked out our entire production capacity for the next year in just 5 days (10,000 NEOs)" (pre-orders on a $200 deposit, not sales); "Some of you will get your NEO this year, some will get them later."; "While the current NEOs coming off the line are being prioritized for our internal team to accelerate development and testing in homes, we are working around the clock to deliver NEO to your doorstep starting in 2026". No customer delivery confirmed at source to 28 October 2026; secondary reports of April shipments conflict with 1X's own post.
- Weave Robotics, its Isaac page, read at source: Isaac 1, $7,999 or $449 a month, a $250 deposit, "Deliveries to California begin in Fall 2026"; "teleoperation assistance when needed." (the maker's one page, its Isaac section)
- MarketWatch on Tau Robotics' cleaning service: $60 for two robots for one hour ($30 per robot-hour), invite-only, with the company's own line that its robots are operated by humans and AI (the article is paywalled; the readable copy beside it carries the same price).
- Core Matter, 20 October 2026, a visit to Tau Robotics' cleaning service in San Francisco: $60 for two robots for one hour, at $30 per robot-hour (a readable copy of the price MarketWatch reports).
- Tau, its own FAQ: "Are the robots fully autonomous?" "No, robots are operated by humans and AI."
- Bernt Børnich (1X), his reply to MKBHD on X, 29 October 2025, in full as written: "@MKBHD Just to clarify, all actions portrayed as AI in the video (text layovers from the AI planner) is 100% autonomous. We hope to ship a mostly fully autonomous robot in 2026, but chose to not promise anything that does not already works today. Hopefully breaking with the trend." (106,669 impressions on 28 October 2026.)