The hourly cost of a robot varies significantly depending on methodology: $2 according to Roland Berger, $10 to $12 according to JPMorgan, and over $35 in early industrial deployments. These gaps are explained by utilization rates: a $90,000 industrial robot amortized over five years costs approximately $12 per hour if running 2,000 hours per year, but its effective cost doubles if used only 1,000 hours. Agility Robotics’ S-4 filing shows 65,000 hours of operation for its Digit robots, but also $140.2 million in operating losses against $1.78 million in revenue in 2025. The Labor-as-a-Service model, where customers pay for work performed rather than for the machine, is presented as the solution to force robotics companies to optimize their systems’ utilization.
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