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Robotics-as-a-Service Companies
Robotics as a service companies in the HardwareMap index: who sells robots by the month, the hour or the job, and how RaaS contracts work for buyers.
by the HardwareMap editors3 min read
From the HardwareMap index, REV 26.09, refreshed 11 Oct 2026
Contents
Robotics as a service companies in the HardwareMap index, the ones that publicly sell robot work by the month, hour or job rather than the robot itself, number 6 as of REV 26.09. Ranking rule: disclosed capital raised, since all six ship to paying customers. Most sell into factories and warehouses, so this list sits under industrial robotics companies.
Six is a small count, and it undercounts the model. Many robot makers offer leases or subscriptions on request without saying so on their site; the index records a company as RaaS only when the company itself says it sells that way, or when its datasheet already records the model.
How robotics as a service works
A RaaS contract replaces a purchase with a recurring fee. The vendor keeps ownership of the hardware and takes on most of what follows a sale:
- Installation and integration at the customer's site.
- Maintenance and repairs, often with a guaranteed response time.
- Software updates, including new skills and better models.
- Monitoring, often around the clock, from the vendor's operations center.
- Uptime risk. If the robot is down, the vendor is not earning, which is the point.
The fee is set in one of three ways: per robot per month, per hour of robot work, or per unit of output. Customers like it because the spend is operating expense and starts paying back in the first year. Vendors carry the cost of the fleet, which makes RaaS a capital-heavy model for a startup; our hardware unit economics note shows how to model it.
Robotics as a service companies in factories and warehouses
Agility Robotics (Salem, Oregon) signed what it called the first formal commercial deployment of a humanoid in 2024: a multi-year robots-as-a-service agreement with GXO Logistics for Digit, which moves totes (Agility).
Locus Robotics (Wilmington, Massachusetts) sells its warehouse mobile robots under a RaaS model it describes as replacing large upfront automation spend with a predictable operating expense, including maintenance and 24/7 support. It counted more than 20,000 robots at more than 360 sites in October 2026 (Locus Robotics).
Formic (Bolingbrook, Illinois) installs and maintains palletizing, case-packing and machine-tending cells for small and mid-sized US manufacturers at one fixed monthly price with no capital spend (Formic). It is responsible for uptime, so it only earns when the cell runs.
Chef Robotics (San Francisco) leases food-assembly robots to food manufacturers. Its RaaS fee covers hardware, software, AI updates, support and monitoring (Chef Robotics). Its robot module is NSF/ANSI 169 certified, a food equipment sanitation standard.
Service models beyond the factory
Two companies in the index apply the same idea to vehicles.
Einride (Stockholm) runs fleets of electric heavy trucks and cab-less autonomous vehicles and sells shippers transport capacity rather than trucks. It listed on Nasdaq in June 2026 through a SPAC merger. Garuda Aerospace (Chennai) builds drones and also sells drone services for agriculture and other commercial work in India, alongside remote pilot training.
The logic is the same: the customer buys an outcome, freight moved or fields sprayed, and the operator carries the machine. For more on driverless vehicles and robots that navigate on their own, see autonomous robotics companies.
When robotics as a service makes sense, and when it does not
RaaS fits when the customer's volume is uncertain, when it lacks robot maintenance staff, or when capital budgets are tight. It also fits seasonal work: warehouse fleets can grow for peak season and shrink after.
It fits less well when a robot will run for many years at steady volume and the customer can maintain it. Over a long life, ownership can cost less. It is also harder for very large fixed systems, such as storage grids built into a building, which are usually sold as capital projects; the warehouse robotics companies list shows both models side by side.
Before signing, buyers should read four terms closely: the minimum contract length, what uptime is guaranteed and what happens when it is missed, who owns the data the robots collect, and what it costs to end the contract early or buy the robots out. Those terms, not the monthly fee, decide whether the deal is cheap.
For a founder, the decision shapes the whole company. RaaS needs more capital, often equipment financing, and a field service team from day one. In return it brings recurring revenue and closer customer data. Our note on hardware startup funding covers how hardware companies finance a fleet.
Frequently asked questions
What is robotics as a service?
Robotics as a service, or RaaS, is a way of selling robots where the customer pays a recurring fee instead of buying the machine. The vendor installs, maintains and updates the robot and is usually responsible for uptime. Fees are set per robot per month, per hour of work, or per unit of output such as pallets moved or meals assembled.
Which companies offer robots as a service?
In the HardwareMap index, Agility Robotics, Locus Robotics, Formic and Chef Robotics state that they sell robots on a service or subscription basis. Einride sells freight capacity rather than trucks, and Garuda Aerospace sells drone flights as a service. Many other robotics companies offer leases or subscriptions on request without saying so publicly, so the list undercounts the model.
Is RaaS cheaper than buying a robot?
Over a short contract, usually yes, because there is no upfront capital spend. Over the robot's full life, buying can cost less if the customer can maintain it. RaaS moves maintenance, software updates and downtime risk to the vendor, and it lets a site add or return robots as volume changes. Compare total cost over the expected years of use, not monthly fee against purchase price.
Why do robotics startups choose RaaS?
It shortens the sale. A plant manager can approve an operating expense faster than a capital purchase, and a vendor paid for uptime is easier to trust. The cost is on the startup's side: it carries the robots on its own balance sheet, needs more capital or equipment financing, and must run a field service team. Recurring revenue is the payoff investors look for.
HardwareMap records each company's business model on its datasheet. Open any company above for hub, stage, raise and investors.
The index
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