Agility Robotics has given the robotics industry one of its clearest looks yet at the real-world economics of deploying humanoid robots in factories. In a securities filing, the Oregon-based company outlined a detailed cost model for its next-generation Digit v5 robot, showing that industrial customers could expect to pay around $400,000 over a five-year period, though the company claims the investment could pay for itself in roughly 1.1 years.

The pricing breakdown reveals the full scope of what it takes to bring a humanoid robot into a working factory. A customer would pay approximately $200,000 for the robot itself, plus a one-time deployment fee of roughly $20,000. After that, software and maintenance costs would run about $36,000 per year per robot. These figures are illustrative estimates used to model Digit's economics and do not represent fixed prices that customers will necessarily pay, as contracts are subject to individual negotiation.

What makes Agility's math potentially compelling to factory managers is the company's claim about rapid payback. The filing states that "Digit v5 is expected to achieve customer breakeven in approximately 1.1 years," based on assumptions about productivity, uptime, and worker availability. The company attributes this quick return to the robot's ability to operate for about 20 hours within a 24-hour period, meaning factories can extract substantially more work from the machine than they would from a conventional human worker operating a single shift. The Digit can lift up to 50 pounds, according to Agility.

How Does Digit Compare to Other Humanoid Robots on Price?

Agility's pricing reveals a significant gap between industrial-grade humanoid robots and research-oriented machines. China's Unitree Robotics, for example, advertises its G1 humanoid starting at around $13,500, but those robots are primarily aimed at research and development rather than demanding industrial production environments. This roughly 30-fold difference in upfront cost reflects the gap between consumer-grade and factory-ready hardware.

The lack of publicly disclosed pricing from most robotics companies makes direct comparison difficult. Few manufacturers have been transparent about what they charge for industrial humanoids, leaving Agility's disclosure as a rare window into the sector's economics. This transparency could help other companies justify their own pricing or help factory managers understand what to expect when evaluating humanoid robot investments.

What Tasks Is Digit Actually Performing in Factories Today?

Agility's current-generation Digit v4 has already been deployed at nine customer facilities, giving the company real-world data on how the robot performs in production environments. The list of customers includes major logistics and manufacturing names:

• Schaeffler: A global automotive and industrial supplier using Digit for warehouse operations
• GXO: A leading logistics company integrating Digit into its supply chain operations
• Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada: Deploying Digit in automotive manufacturing settings
• Amazon: Using Digit in fulfillment center operations

Despite these high-profile deployments, Digit's current capabilities remain focused on relatively straightforward industrial tasks. Agility co-founder Jonathan Hurst previously told Business Insider that the robot is currently used for activities such as picking up and moving bins and totes. These are not complex manipulation tasks requiring advanced dexterity, but rather repetitive, physically demanding work that benefits from the robot's ability to operate long shifts without fatigue.

Why Is the Humanoid Robot Industry Suddenly Getting Serious About Pricing?

Agility's decision to disclose detailed economics reflects a maturing industry. As humanoid robots move from research labs into actual factories, manufacturers and their customers need to understand the financial case for adoption. The disclosure also comes at a time when labor shortages and rising wages are making automation increasingly attractive to industrial operators.

The company stressed that its figures do not represent a fixed price and that Digit would not necessarily stop operating after five years. The five-year useful-life assumption is simply a modeling convention to help customers understand the total cost of ownership. In reality, if the robot continues to function beyond five years, the per-year cost would decline, making the investment even more attractive.

"Based on our current planning assumptions, Digit v5 is expected to achieve customer breakeven in approximately 1.1 years," the company said in its filing, citing productivity, uptime, and worker availability as factors in its calculations.

Agility Robotics, Securities Filing

Agility expects to release the next-generation Digit v5 robot later this year, which should incorporate improvements over the v4 model currently in the field. The company did not provide a detailed breakdown of how it calculated the projected returns, leaving some questions about the assumptions underlying the 1.1-year breakeven claim.

The broader context for this pricing disclosure is that the humanoid robotics industry is racing to prove that its machines can deliver real economic value in industrial settings. While companies like Figure AI and Boston Dynamics have captured headlines with impressive demonstrations, Agility is taking a different approach by focusing on practical deployment, customer relationships, and transparent economics. This strategy may prove more persuasive to factory managers who care less about cutting-edge capabilities and more about whether a robot can actually pay for itself.