AUBO Robotics is one of the few Chinese cobot builders with a real US footprint — a Michigan headquarters with warehouse, service and training on site since January 2023 — and one of even fewer whose arms carry publicly listed prices anywhere in the world. That combination makes it unusually easy to price compared with most of its domestic peers. Here is what an AUBO arm actually costs in 2026, and the one number you will not find.
The i-series lineup
AUBO's mainstream range is the i-series, six-axis collaborative arms aimed at machine tending, pick and place, palletizing and light assembly.
| Model | Payload | Reach |
|---|---|---|
| i3 | 3 kg | 625 mm |
| i5 | 5 kg | 886.5 mm |
| i10 | 10 kg | 1,350 mm |
| i16 | 16 kg | 967.5 mm |
| i20 | 20 kg | 1,650 mm |
Above that sits the iS-series for heavier and harsher duty — iS3 through iS35, the largest at 35 kg payload and 2,100 mm reach, with a 25 kg / 1,700 mm iS25 and a long-reach iS20L at 2,000 mm. AUBO quotes repeatability of ±0.02 to ±0.05 mm across the range; note that distributor spec sheets list looser figures (0.05 mm on the i5, 0.1 mm on the i10/i16) than AUBO's own pages, so treat the tighter numbers as manufacturer-stated rather than independently confirmed.
What the arms cost
The most useful pricing in the world for AUBO is European, not American. Unchained Robotics, a German distributor, publishes live transactable prices:
| Model | Listed price (EUR, ex VAT) | Approx. USD |
|---|---|---|
| i3 | €18,100 | ~$19,500 |
| i5 | €18,600 | ~$20,100 |
| i10 | €21,000 | ~$22,700 |
| i16 | €21,000 | ~$22,700 |
| i20 | €31,000 | ~$33,500 |
Two things matter about these numbers. First, they are packages, not bare arms — the listed i5 price covers the robot unit, the teach pendant and the control box, which is how the arm arrives ready to program. Second, the USD column is arithmetic conversion, not a quoted US price. European distributor margin and a different tariff regime both sit inside those euros.
Independent third-party estimates put AUBO's overall range at roughly $14,000 to $38,000, which brackets the listed European prices well and is the most defensible USD band to plan around. A widely circulated figure of $6,000–$10,000 for an i5 appears in one pricing aggregator and is roughly a third of the same model's actual listed price — it is either a bare-arm ex-works number or simply wrong. Do not budget against it.
The number that does not exist: a US list price
No US channel publishes a price for any AUBO model. AUBO Robotics USA, its distributors, and integrator storefronts all return "request a quote"; one explicitly states that pricing depends on scope, deployment region and support package. Used-equipment marketplaces list second-hand i5 units but gate the prices behind registration.
This is normal for industrial automation in North America, where cobots are sold as projects rather than products, but it means any US buyer should expect a quote-based process and should walk in holding the European list prices as an anchor. That anchor is legitimate: it is the same hardware, from the same factory in Changzhou.
Arm price is roughly half the project
The single most common budgeting error with cobots is treating the arm price as the deployment price. Industry pricing analysis puts the arm at 50–70% of total deployment cost, with the remainder in end-of-arm tooling, vision, integration and training. A worked example on a comparably priced Chinese cobot runs arm $24,320 + gripper $2,500 + vision $2,500 + integration $5,000 + training $1,500, landing near $35,800 all-in.
Applied to AUBO, a ~$20,000 i5 realistically becomes a $30,000–$40,000 working cell. Because the Unchained package already includes the controller and pendant, the delta you are adding is tooling, vision, integration and training — not the control hardware. Budget accordingly and ask any integrator to quote those four lines separately.
Where AUBO sits against Universal Robots and JAKA
Chinese cobots generally price 30–70% under Western and Japanese equivalents depending on whose analysis you read. AUBO specifically is described as competing with Universal Robots at 40–50% lower cost. Comparative bands from one 2026 vendor comparison put AUBO at $14–38K, JAKA at $12–36K, Universal Robots at $28–75K and Doosan at $25–60K.
The real-world sanity check holds up: a ~$20,000 i5 against a UR5e at roughly $45,000–$55,000 is close to a 60% undercut, inside the claimed band. Practically, AUBO sits marginally above JAKA on price and well below UR, and the choice between them usually comes down to local support and software ecosystem rather than sticker price.
The tariff math US buyers should run
Chinese-origin industrial robots still carry a 25% Section 301 duty in 2026 under List 1 (HTS 8479.50 / 8479.89). That compresses the advantage without erasing it — an arm priced 40% below a Western equivalent still lands roughly 15% cheaper after duty, and AUBO's discount is wider than 40%.
One nuance worth knowing before a "made in America" pitch lands on your desk: AUBO's research lineage traces to the University of Tennessee, and its SwitchWeld welding cells are assembled in Cookeville, TN. The cobot arms themselves are produced in Changzhou, China, at a stated capacity around 10,000 units a year. The Tennessee content applies to the welding line, not the arm — so run the duty math on the arm regardless.
Who should buy one
AUBO makes sense where you want a mid-payload cobot at roughly half UR money and can live with a quote-driven US purchase. The i5 covers most machine-tending work; the i10 and i16 are the palletizing and heavier-handling picks; the i20 and iS-series matter when reach past 1.6 m or 20 kg+ payload is the constraint. If you are still deciding between a cobot and a conventional industrial arm for the application, start with the collaborative robot category and price a full cell, not an arm.
