Humanoid robot or robot vacuum: what should you buy?

Buy a robot vacuum. It cleans floors on a schedule without help for a few hundred dollars, and a home humanoid does not do that job better today, costs about 40 to 50 times as much and may need a remote human to finish tasks. A humanoid is a bet on dishes, laundry and tidying, which a vacuum cannot do, but no one has shown that bet paying off in a customer’s home yet.

The price gap

On November 1, 2026, iRobot’s site listed the Roomba Plus 415 Combo with an AutoWash dock at $379.99 (was $599.99) and the Roomba Plus 575 Combo at $499.99 (was $799.99). Both were limited-time prices. Compare:

The NEO price is 40 times the $499.99 combo and about 53 times the $379.99 one. At $499 a month, a subscription costs about as much as buying the higher-priced vacuum every month.

What a robot vacuum can do now

Robot vacuums are the one home robot that has earned its place. They run on their own, return to a dock and need little attention. The category is moving toward grabbing items: Roborock’s Saros Z70 has a foldable five-axis arm with a camera that can pick up socks, sandals, crumpled tissues and towels under 300 grams. A weight sensor stops it from lifting anything heavier, it recognizes 108 pre-programmed object types plus up to 50 you add in the app, and the features are off by default until you turn them on. It has 22,000 Pa of suction and a hot-water mop dock. Roborock’s page shows no price, so check a retailer.

That arm tells you where the line is. A vacuum with an arm can clear a sock from the path. It cannot load a dishwasher, open a refrigerator or fold a towel.

What a humanoid might do that a vacuum cannot

• Dishes. Figure showed a robot unloading and reloading a dishwasher in a four-minute run, and Sunday lists a 33-step table-to-dishwasher sequence for Memo.
• Laundry. Figure has shown towel folding. Weave’s Isaac 1 targets laundry flow, from collecting to folding to putting away.
• Tidying. NEO, Figure and Sunday all show picking up and putting away.
• Reaching and carrying. NEO lists a 55-pound carry capacity.

The evidence behind these is thinner than the videos suggest. The Wall Street Journal’s NEO test was remotely operated, Figure’s best published home result is 56% full-task success in 30 test homes, and Sunday’s Memo and Weave’s Isaac 1 have no independent delivery reports. See what a home humanoid can do.

Do not buy a humanoid to vacuum

In the Wall Street Journal’s test, NEO vacuumed by operating an ordinary vacuum cleaner, and it did so well, according to Notebookcheck. Paying $20,000 for a robot to push a vacuum is poor value next to a $400 machine that does the same job unaided. If floors are your problem, the humanoid is the wrong answer.

The three-year view

A robot vacuum bought at iRobot’s November 1 sale prices costs $379.99 to $499.99 once. A NEO subscription costs $17,964 over 36 months, and an owner pays $20,000 up front. At those prices a household could buy roughly 40 to 50 robot vacuums for the cost of one NEO. That does not make the humanoid a bad idea, only a bet that it will do jobs a vacuum cannot. Ongoing costs such as filters, brushes, pads and batteries are not listed on the pages we reviewed, so price them at a retailer.

There is also a middle path. Wheeled chore robots such as Weave’s Isaac 1 ($7,999 or $449 a month) and Sunday’s Memo target laundry and dishes at a lower price than NEO, but both are still pre-launch.

Privacy and security cut both ways

Both kinds of robot carry cameras and microphones. The FCC’s July 28, 2026 action cites an early-2026 vulnerability that let remote actors reach thousands of consumer robots in homes, with camera feeds and audio exposed, according to law firm K&L Gates. The FCC’s FAQ confirms that robot vacuums and lawn mowers can fall within its Covered List, which blocks new foreign-produced models from getting authorization but does not revoke existing ones. A humanoid adds a second risk: a remote operator may drive it and see through its cameras. See the privacy guide.

What to buy, by problem

1. Dirty floors: a robot vacuum, with a mop dock if you have hard floors. Check the warranty and the maker’s app and data policy.
2. Socks and small clutter on the floor: a vacuum with an arm, or just a tidy-up habit.
3. Dishes: a dishwasher. No delivered humanoid has proven it can do this unaided.
4. Laundry: a washer and dryer. Isaac 1 and humanoids are early; wait for owner reports.
5. You want to be an early adopter: reserve NEO with the refundable $200 deposit, and read the subscription versus buying guide and the price guide first.
6. Kids or pets at home: a vacuum carries much less risk. See the safety guide.

When to reconsider

Revisit the humanoid question when independent owners confirm that NEO or a rival does real chores in ordinary homes, when prices fall below five figures for a robot that works, and when privacy terms are public. Can you buy a humanoid robot today shows what can be ordered now.