EngineAI vs Unitree: Which Humanoid to Pick

EngineAI vs Unitree: Which to Pick

Pick Unitree when your team requires an off-the-shelf purchase path with public dollar pricing, published warranty lengths, and a public SDK repository. Unitree lists hardware directly on its global store, listing the G1 at $13,500 and the R1 Air at $4,900 at the time of writing. If your software team requires secondary development access, Unitree gates secondary development behind its EDU tiers. You can compare other commercial builders across the region in our Chinese humanoid robots buying guide.

Pick EngineAI when you need a full-size humanoid with the 450 N·m peak joint torque EngineAI lists for the T800. EngineAI is also the pick when you want the PM01's open-source training and deployment code, which EngineAI publishes in the BSD-3-Clause engineai_ros2_workspace repository. EngineAI lists the T800 from 180,000 yuan at the time of writing. It shows no PM01 price.

At The Bot Scout, we have not tested or ordered any robot on this page; every product fact here comes from the maker's own page or the cited report.

Side-by-Side Comparison of Both Manufacturers

Unitree was founded by Wang Xingxing in 2016 through angel investment, maintaining its primary corporate headquarters in the Binjiang District of Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Unitree listed on the Shanghai STAR Market, recording its first trading day on 19 August 2026 after pricing its initial public offering at 150.8 yuan and raising approximately 6.1 billion yuan, or around $900 million. Wang Xingxing holds about a third of Unitree, The Next Web reported. Unitree shares traded at about 900 yuan early on debut day, according to a Reuters report in the Newcastle Herald.

EngineAI was founded in October 2023 in Shenzhen by Founder and CEO Zhao Tongyang. EngineAI is private. The Next Web, citing Bloomberg, reported a confidential Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) filing in June 2026. It also reported an April 2026 Series B that put EngineAI's valuation above 10 billion yuan. While Unitree operates a retail web store with published prices in United States dollars, EngineAI publishes hardware pricing in Chinese yuan for the T800 and took orders via JD.com at launch.

Small Humanoids: PM01 Against G1

The EngineAI PM01 and the Unitree G1 are the two makers' smaller humanoids. PM01's height differs across EngineAI's pages: the product page lists 1400 mm for the Education Edition, while the EngineAI homepage says 138 cm. The PM01 weighs approximately 44.0 kg with its battery pack installed and provides 24 degrees of freedom (DoF), with general marketing materials stating 23 DoF or greater.

The Unitree G1 stands 1320 mm tall in a standard standing posture, folds to 690 mm, and weighs approximately 35 kg including its battery. The standard G1 model provides 23 degrees of freedom, while the G1 EDU version expands joint movement from 23 to 43 DoF. Unitree's shop lists the G1 at $13,500 and the G1 Pro at $21,500 at the time of writing; the G1 EDU is "Contact sales".

The PM01 reaches a maximum torque of 164 N·m, while the base Unitree G1 reaches 90 N·m at the knee, rising to 120 N·m on the G1 EDU tier. For software engineers, EngineAI hosts its training and deployment code via the BSD-3-Clause engineai_ros2_workspace repository. Unitree supplies the unitree_sdk2 repository under the BSD-3-Clause license for Ubuntu 20.04 systems, though Unitree limits secondary development features exclusively to G1 EDU hardware buyers.

Unitree R1 as the Lower-Cost Small Humanoid

Unitree lists the Unitree R1 at public prices that start well below the G1, while EngineAI publishes no PM01 price at the time of writing. Unitree lists the R1 Air at $4,900 and the standard R1 at $5,900 at the time of writing. The R1 EDU states "Contact Sales" on unitree.com, but Unitree lists the R1 EDU on the shop for $10,500 at the time of writing. All R1 shop variants are available to order at the time of writing.

Unitree lists the R1 at 1230 mm standing height and about 27 kg for the Air, or about 29 kg for the R1 and EDU variants. That makes it lighter and shorter than the 44.0 kg PM01. The R1 battery provides about 1 h of runtime, compared to 2 h on the PM01. Unitree configures the R1 with 20 degrees of freedom on the Air, 26 on the R1, and 26 to 40 on the EDU. Only the EDU tier lists secondary development support. Unitree sets warranty coverage at 6 months for the R1 Air, 8 months for the R1, and 12 months for the EDU.

Full-Size Humanoids: T800 Against H2

In the adult-scale category, the EngineAI T800 stands against the Unitree H2. The T800 measures 173 cm tall and weighs between 75 and 85 kg depending on hardware options. EngineAI lists 25 DoF for the Basic and Open Source editions, 43 for the Pro (29 body plus 14 hand) and 46 for the Max (32 body plus 14 hand). Its marketing says "29 DOF excl. hands". Maximum joint torque on the T800 reaches 450 N·m.

The Unitree H2 stands 1820 mm tall and weighs about 70 kg with its battery module. The chassis provides 31 degrees of freedom across the body, with 360 N·m at the legs and 120 N·m at the arms. Unitree lists the standard H2 at $29,900 at the time of writing, excluding tax and shipping, though its shop shows the H2 sold out. Secondary development requires the H2 EDU edition. More pricing context for Unitree products appears in our Unitree robot price breakdown.

Battery operating life presents conflicting data across published manufacturer materials. The T800 specification table lists 3 to 5 hours of runtime, while marketing copy on the exact same page states up to 4 hours, and a Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission (DRC) article cites 4 to 5 hours. The Unitree H2 lists approximately 3 hours of operation from an onboard 15 Ah, 0.972 kWh battery pack.

Ordering Channels and Warranty Terms

At the time of writing, the Unitree G1, G1 Pro, and all variants of the R1 biped remain available for checkout. Conversely, the public store listing for the full-size Unitree H2 displays the unit as unavailable and sold out, with custom quotes required for the H2 EDU and G1 EDU editions.

Unitree defines clear hardware warranty periods by product tier. Unitree provides 8 months of warranty coverage for the standard G1 and 18 months for the G1 EDU. The standard H2 carries an 8-month warranty, whereas the H2 EDU includes 12 months. The compact R1 receives 6 months on the R1 Air, 8 months on the standard R1, and 12 months on the R1 EDU. Unitree lists the G1 and H2 prices as excluding tax and shipping.

EngineAI has not published a US dollar price for any robot at the time of writing; the PM01 page shows "Buy now" and "Purchase now" buttons with no price. The Shenzhen DRC reported the T800 was listed on JD.com and taking orders in December 2025. EngineAI news dated 22 May 2026 says its first T800 batch came off its Shenzhen line. EngineAI mentions a warranty manual across its web pages but publishes no warranty duration figures.

Combat and Demo Track Record

Fox News reported that REK staged an exhibition cage match with one Unitree G1 and two modified EngineAI T800 units, all piloted remotely with virtual reality gear or gamepads.

PC Guide reported that every team in EngineAI's URKL fighting league used the T800 as its standard platform.

Unitree's site navigation lists "G1-Boxing" and "G1-Comp" application plans. See our Unitree vs Boston Dynamics comparison.

Who Should Pick Neither Humanoid

Pick neither if you need a full-size humanoid shipped outside China now with a published dollar price and warranty. EngineAI publishes no dollar price or warranty term for the T800, and Unitree's shop shows the $29,900 H2 sold out at the time of writing. See our guide to Unitree alternatives.

This pick would change if Unitree removed secondary development restrictions from its base consumer tiers, or if EngineAI published standardized international dollar pricing, global shipping rates, and transparent warranty durations on its English web portal.