Opentrons is one of the very few lab-automation vendors that puts real prices on a public web store instead of hiding everything behind "request a quote." That makes it a useful reference point for anyone budgeting a liquid-handling robot in 2026 — and it also makes something else visible that most robot buyers never get to see: how fast a robot vendor's own list prices move.
We pulled every price below directly from Opentrons' own store and product pages on July 31, 2026, and compared them line-by-line against Opentrons' official 2024 Core Hardware Price Update PDF, which prints both 2023 and 2024 prices with part numbers. All figures are USD and valid, per Opentrons, "in the US and select other territories."
Opentrons robot prices, July 2026
| Product | Store price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Opentrons Flex robot | **$24,950** (base) | Add to cart; on-site installation required and included |
| Flex, configured with pipettes | $30,925 – $61,425 | Ten configuration steps depending on pipette pair |
| OT-2 robot | **$15,950** (base) | Self-serve install; 1-week lead time, US and international |
| OT-2, configured with pipettes | $18,900 – $23,850 | Left/right pipette options |
| Flex workstations (6 SKUs) | $43,785 – $96,700 | Full application bundles across configurations |
The Flex base price includes the mandatory on-site installation service; the OT-2 is explicitly sold as "self-serve unboxing and installation," which is a real difference in what your money buys and matters below.
Pipettes, modules and accessories
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Flex 1-channel pipette | from $3,600 |
| Flex 8-channel pipette | from $6,400 |
| Flex 96-channel pipette | from $15,250 |
| OT-2 single-channel pipette | from $2,950 |
| OT-2 8-channel pipette | from $3,950 |
| Flex Gripper GEN1 | $9,750 |
| Flex Stacker | $15,000 |
| Absorbance Plate Reader GEN1 | $14,850 |
| Thermocycler module | $10,230 |
| HEPA module | $6,850 |
| Heater-Shaker module | $4,150 |
| Temperature module GEN2 | $3,975 |
| Flex Magnetic Block GEN1 | $1,750 |
| Flex Waste Chute GEN2 | $1,750 |
| Flex Deck Expansion Set (4) | $1,500 |
A single accessory can cost more than a third of the robot: the gripper that makes the Flex a labware-moving system, not just a pipettor, is $9,750 on a $24,950 machine.
What actually changed since Opentrons' own 2024 price list
This is the part you cannot get for most robot brands. Opentrons published a price list with part numbers effective January 1, 2024, showing both 2023 and 2024 prices. Matching those part numbers to today's store gives a three-point series.
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | Jul 2026 | 2024 → 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OT-2 robot | $6,500 | $8,950 | $15,950 | **+78.2%** |
| Flex robot | $15,000 | $16,750 | $24,950 | **+49.0%** |
| Flex Deck Expansion Set (4) | $500 | $1,000 | $1,500 | +50.0% |
| OT-2 single-channel pipette GEN2 | $1,250 | $2,250 | $2,950 | +31.1% |
| Flex 1-channel pipette (1–50 µl) | $2,500 | $2,750 | $3,600 | +30.9% |
| Flex Waste Chute (GEN1 → GEN2) | $700 | $1,400 | $1,750 | +25.0% |
| Flex 8-channel pipette | $4,750 | $5,250 | $6,400 | +21.9% |
| OT-2 8-channel pipette GEN2 | $2,000 | $3,250 | $3,950 | +21.5% |
| Flex Magnetic Block GEN1 | $1,500 | $1,650 | $1,750 | +6.1% |
| OT-2 HEPA module | $6,250 | $6,500 | $6,850 | +5.4% |
| Flex 96-channel pipette (5–1000 µl) | $13,000 | $14,500 | $15,250 | +5.2% |
Our reading of the numbers: the robots repriced, the accessories mostly didn't. The two robots are up 49% and 78% since 2024, while the median increase across the other nine line items is 21.7%, and the three most expensive add-ons — 96-channel pipette, HEPA module, magnetic block — moved 5–6%, roughly inflation.
Two honest caveats before anyone quotes that 78%:
- The Flex's $24,950 now bundles required on-site installation, which the 2024 hardware line did not include. Some of its +49% is service, not hardware.
- The OT-2's number has no such explanation. It is still sold as self-serve installation, and it went from $8,950 to $15,950 in about two and a half years. Against the 2023 price of $6,500, that is +145%.
- The waste chute row compares a GEN1 part to its GEN2 replacement, so treat it as a generation change rather than a pure price move.
Where Opentrons' own site disagrees with itself
Worth knowing before you build a budget from a headline figure:
- The OT-2 product page still carries the page title "Opentrons Lab Automation from $10,000," while the store sells the OT-2 from $15,950.
- The Flex marketing page says "Configurations starting at $26,400, and our Flex NGS Workstation starting at $55,100." The store's Flex base is $24,950, its cheapest pipette-equipped configuration is $30,925, and the workstation category starts at $43,785.
None of these are huge sums in lab-capex terms, but they are the difference between a budget that survives procurement and one that doesn't. Take the number from the store configurator, not from the marketing page.
How to budget a real deployment
- Never budget the base robot. A Flex with two pipettes starts at $30,925; add the gripper and you are at ~$40,675 before a single module.
- The OT-2 is still the cheap entry, but it is no longer the cheap robot its reputation suggests. Roughly $19–24k configured is the honest planning range.
- Modules are where application cost hides. A thermocycler ($10,230) plus HEPA ($6,850) plus heater-shaker ($4,150) is $21,230 — near the price of a second robot.
- Compare against the workstation SKUs. If your application maps to one of the six pre-built workstations ($43,785–$96,700), the bundle can be simpler to defend in procurement than a hand-assembled parts list, even when the line items are similar.
If you are scoping automation beyond liquid handling, our collaborative robot and cleanroom robot category pages cover the arm-based side of lab and production automation, where quote-only pricing is still the norm.
Sources: all live prices verified on opentrons.com product and category pages on July 31, 2026; historical prices from Opentrons' "Prices go into effect January 1, 2024" Core Hardware Price Update PDF (insights.opentrons.com). Prices change; re-check the configurator before committing a budget.
