The Robot Economy reference
Robot costs
A robot’s purchase price is one input. Integration, tooling, productive hours, maintenance and supervision change the cost of useful work. This reference connects our published calculations with an adjustable partial cost model.
Try the disclosed cost model
Starting values reproduce the first case in our published nine-case robot-cell model. They are illustrative assumptions, not a supplier quote. All currency inputs are USD; no currency conversion occurs. Zeros mean unpriced items, not evidence that a cost does not exist.
Modeled cost per productive hour
- Installed capital
- $105,000.00
- Annual capital allocation
- $21,000.00
- Annual maintenance assumption
- $6,000.00
- Annual fixed model cost
- $27,000.00
Formula and exclusions
Installed capital = hardware price × (1 + integration percentage). Annual fixed model cost = installed capital ÷ capital life + maintenance on hardware + other annual cost. Divide by productive hours, then add the entered supervision and energy costs per productive hour.
This is not a payback or ROI calculation. Financing, tax, insurance, residual value, downtime, cycle time, safety work and omitted operating inputs are not automatically priced. Productive hours are an assumption; they must already reflect the useful work you intend to count. Values stay in this page; the calculator sends no input data to a server.
The nine published cases
These are the original model outputs, not observed customer operating costs. Download the nine-case CSV and read the full method and limitations.
| Hardware | Installed | Productive hours/year | USD/productive hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| $75,000.00 | $105,000.00 | 1600 | 16.88 |
| $75,000.00 | $105,000.00 | 3200 | 8.44 |
| $75,000.00 | $105,000.00 | 4800 | 5.63 |
| $150,000.00 | $210,000.00 | 1600 | 33.75 |
| $150,000.00 | $210,000.00 | 3200 | 16.88 |
| $150,000.00 | $210,000.00 | 4800 | 11.25 |
| $300,000.00 | $420,000.00 | 1600 | 67.50 |
| $300,000.00 | $420,000.00 | 3200 | 33.75 |
| $300,000.00 | $420,000.00 | 4800 | 22.50 |
Humanoid prices are a different screen
Our humanoid research compares selected public purchase-price documents with labor benchmarks. Its capital-only screen omits the operating data needed to establish payback. Preserve the product configuration, currency, source date and exclusions when using those figures.
Read the humanoid price study · Download its published data · Download regional research data.
Guide text reviewed 19 October 2026. Linked reporting keeps its original publication dates. About our editorial desks.