Cobot price, what a collaborative robot costs to buy and to run, and how cobot pricing is built up line by line once the gripper, the fixturing and the integration are on the quote

How robotic automation is quoted

1. What the headline figure covers. A quoted arm price normally means the robot, its controller and the pendant or tablet used to programme it, with base software and a warranty. It does not include the gripper, anything the arm is bolted to, the parts presentation, the interface to the machine it will serve, the assessment of the application, or the labour to make all of that work together.
2. The lines that follow the arm. Expect separate lines for the end effector and its control, a pedestal or cart, fixturing and part presentation, electrical work and the interface to the served machine, the risk assessment, any guarding the assessment requires, programming and commissioning, training and documentation. Whether each is its own line or bundled into a project fee is formatting; the work happens either way.
3. Payload and reach move the number. Cobot pricing rises with payload and reach, and both are specified against the real application rather than a hope. Payload is the part plus the gripper plus anything else at the wrist, and undersizing it is the fastest way to buy an arm twice. Reach is measured in the layout as it will be built, including a full stack height and any need to reach past a machine door.
4. What it costs after the invoice. Running costs are modest and not zero: consumables at the tooling, periodic maintenance, spare fingers or pads for the parts that wear them, software support, and the time of whoever reprograms the cell for a new part. That last item is the one most often left out and the one that decides whether the arm gets a second application or stands where it was installed.
5. Comparing two quotes honestly. Two integrators quoting the same job format their answers differently, so normalise before comparing: same payload, same reach, same cycle time, same parts presented the same way, same assessment, same acceptance test, same training. A quote that is markedly cheaper is usually cheaper because an item on that list is missing, and it is worth finding out which one.

What changes the price, and what does not

What moves the number: payload at the wrist, reach in the real layout, how the parts are presented, the interface the served machine already has, and how many part families the cell must handle. What moves it less: the badge on the arm, since the integration around it is the larger half of most quotes.

Common questions

Capacity data by state