Robot‑as‑a‑Service (RaaS): The Next Frontier in Robotics

Imagine “hiring” a robot instead of buying one. That’s the core idea behind Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS), a business model that is rapidly transforming how companies adopt automation. Much like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) revolutionized software delivery, RaaS offers robots on subscription – giving businesses access to cutting-edge robotics without the hefty upfront price tag of ownership. From factory floors to hospital halls, RaaS is lowering barriers and accelerating the spread of intelligent machines.

What Is RaaS and How Does It Work?

At its heart, Robots-as-a-Service means renting robotic capabilities as an on-demand service instead of purchasing robots outright. In practice, a RaaS provider delivers a full package: the physical robot, the AI-driven software that powers it, and ongoing support such as maintenance, upgrades, and monitoring. The customer pays a subscription or usage-based fee (for example, monthly, hourly, or per task), and the provider ensures the robots are always performing at their best. This model shifts automation costs from Capital Expenditure (CapEx) to Operating Expenditure (OpEx), making adoption far more accessible. Instead of a large up-front investment, companies pay predictable fees over time – turning a big one-time purchase into a manageable operational cost.

In industrial environments like warehouses and factories, RaaS has been especially game-changing. Consider a warehouse that needs to automate repetitive picking or pallet-moving tasks. Under a RaaS agreement, the warehouse can deploy a fleet of robots immediately, without buying each machine. The RaaS provider handles installation, integration with existing systems, and cloud connectivity. The robots perform their jobs – shuttling goods, fetching parts, scanning inventory – and the company simply pays for the service (for instance, per hour of robot work or per number of items moved). All the technical complexity stays with the provider: they monitor robot performance remotely, push software updates to improve efficiency, and handle repairs or part replacements as needed. The client enjoys the productivity boost of advanced robotics without needing in-house robotics expertise or maintenance crews.

Other sectors are also embracing RaaS. In healthcare, hospitals can subscribe to robotic couriers or disinfecting robots, expanding or reducing the fleet as patient volumes change. In retail, stores use inventory-scanning robots or customer service droids on a service model – for example, paying per store visit or per task completed. This flexibility opens the door for robotics in fields that previously found automation cost-prohibitive. In fact, RaaS is expanding robotics into new verticals like hospitality, agriculture, security, and retail by removing the need for huge upfront investment. Whether it’s a robotic nurse’s assistant in a clinic or an autonomous floor cleaner in a supermarket, the as-a-service approach means these robots can be deployed quickly and scaled to demand.

Economic and Strategic Benefits of RaaS

For both the customers and the robotics companies, RaaS unlocks a win–win opportunity that goes beyond simple leasing. The most immediate benefit is financial flexibility. Businesses no longer need to spend hundreds of thousands (or millions) to buy robots that might take years to pay off. Instead, they pay as they go, only for what they use. This dramatically lowers the risk and upfront cost of automation, making advanced robots affordable even to midsize firms. Companies can start small, prove the ROI of robots in one facility, and then scale up their subscription as needed – or scale down during slower periods. This on-demand scalability is a huge strategic advantage: it lets operations flex with seasonal peaks or new projects without long procurement cycles.

Crucially, RaaS shifts many responsibilities to the provider. Maintenance, repairs, software updates, and even operator training are often bundled into the service. For the customer, this means less downtime and headache – their robots are always running the latest software and get prompt fixes if anything goes wrong, usually at no extra cost. The provider typically guarantees performance levels in the contract (e.g. uptime or tasks per hour), so the incentive is on them to keep the robots running smoothly. In effect, the RaaS client is buying a result (automated productivity) rather than a product, which aligns everyone’s interests

For robotics firms, meanwhile, RaaS represents a strategic sea change in how they generate revenue. Instead of one-off sales, they gain recurring revenue streams and closer customer relationships. This can smooth out the traditional volatility of hardware sales. In a RaaS model, a startup might not recoup the full cost of building a robot immediately, but over time the subscription payments often sum to more than a single sale would – while providing steady cash flow. Importantly, they can monetize the software and data along with the hardware. Under a service contract, the provider continues to add value through cloud analytics, AI upgrades, and new features, potentially upselling premium capabilities. This not only boosts revenue but also creates a stickier relationship with clients, who rely on the provider’s expertise continuously rather than just at the point of sale.

From SaaS to RaaS: The Subscription Mindset

It helps to put RaaS in familiar terms. If Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) turned software into a subscription, RaaS does the same for robotics. Instead of purchasing a license, you subscribe to a robot’s labor. This analogy isn’t just marketing talk – it captures a fundamental shift in thinking. Just as SaaS allowed companies to use sophisticated software via the cloud without installing or maintaining it themselves, RaaS lets companies deploy world-class robots without owning or hosting the complexity. The robots become a cloud resource in a sense: need more units or extra features? Just change your plan. Don’t need them anymore? Cancel or scale down. This service mindset is spreading as businesses grow comfortable with subscription models in IT and beyond. In the words of one executive, “With RaaS, you aren’t buying a product – you’re paying for a service,” lowering the entry cost and letting the vendor handle the hard parts. It’s automation on tap.

Humanoids on Subscription: Real-World RaaS Examples

The RaaS wave is not theoretical – it’s happening now, led by next-generation robotics firms that build humanoid robots for practical jobs.

2022 – 1X Technologies Begins Humanoid Leasing and Service Models

Outside the US, 1X Technologies emerged as an early mover in service-based humanoid deployment. During this period, the company offered its humanoid robots through leasing and service agreements, particularly for security and monitoring use cases. Clients effectively subscribed to robotic labor, paying annually for deployment, maintenance, and upgrades rather than owning the machines outright. This approach demonstrated how humanoid robots could be introduced into real-world environments with limited upfront risk while remaining operationally scalable.

2024 – Figure AI’s Commercial Agreement With BMW

In 2024, another major industrial milestone occurred when Figure AI signed a commercial agreement with BMW Manufacturing to bring its humanoid robots into automotive production at the Spartanburg, South Carolina plant. This early contract marked one of the first commercial partnerships between a major manufacturing customer and a next-generation humanoid robotics company. Rather than being a product sale, the agreement signaled a shift toward real robotic automation in factory settings, laying the groundwork for future service-oriented deployments

2024 – Agility Robotics Advances Commercial Humanoid RaaS Deployments

By 2024, Robot-as-a-Service had moved beyond pilots and demonstrations into sustained commercial use, led by next-generation robotics companies focused on humanoid systems for real industrial work. A prominent example came from Agility Robotics, creator of the bipedal humanoid Digit. That year, Agility announced a US-based commercial deployment in which Digit operated inside a live distribution center, performing tote-moving tasks as part of everyday warehouse operations under a Robot-as-a-Service arrangement.

Rather than selling the robots outright, Agility retained ownership and delivered Digit as a managed service. Customers paid for access to the robots alongside the cloud platform used to operate, monitor, and update the fleet, with ongoing support included. This deployment demonstrated how humanoid robots could be integrated into production environments as continuously managed services, reinforcing RaaS as a practical commercial model for introducing humanoid labor without long-term capital commitments.

2024 – Apptronik Advances Humanoid-as-a-Service Through Automotive Trials

Following closely behind, Apptronik advanced its humanoid strategy by preparing its Apollo robot for service-based deployment. Throughout 2024, Apollo was trialed in automotive manufacturing environments, integrating directly into factory workflows. Rather than positioning Apollo as a product to be sold, Apptronik structured deployments as service engagements, allowing the robot’s capabilities to be continuously refined and adapted to customer needs.

This model reinforced the idea that humanoid robots benefit most when deployed as evolving systems, where software, control policies, and task execution improve over time without requiring hardware replacement.-

2026 – Humanoid and Schaeffler Establish a European RaaS Pathway

This momentum is now extending into Europe through a newly announced partnership between Humanoid and Schaeffler. Under the multi-year collaboration, Humanoid plans to deploy hundreds of its humanoid robots into Schaeffler’s production environments, beginning with controlled validation phases and progressing toward scaled rollout.

Crucially, the partnership includes a clear pathway toward offering these systems under Robot-as-a-Service models once performance, safety, and integration benchmarks are met. Beyond deployment, the collaboration spans actuator supply, joint hardware development, and large-scale data collection to train task-specific skills aligned with real industrial workflows.

RaaS in Action: A Flexible Workforce by Design

Across these examples, a consistent pattern emerges: Robot-as-a-Service transforms humanoid robots into a flexible, continuously improving workforce. The humanoid form factor is especially compelling because it fits naturally into environments designed for people, reducing the need for costly infrastructure changes.

RaaS is proving to be the mechanism that brings these complex machines into daily operations, allowing organizations to test, scale, and refine humanoid deployment with limited financial risk—while enabling robotics companies to iterate faster, learn from real-world data, and deliver measurable outcomes rather than static machines.

The Rise of RaaS: Why It’s the Future of Robotics

All signs point to RaaS becoming the dominant business model for the next generation of robotics. Market adoption is accelerating rapidly as companies realize they can access advanced automation without the burden of ownership. Installed bases of service robots are growing at a pace that far exceeds traditional robot sales, driven by demand from logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail.

Investor behavior reflects this momentum. Venture capital and strategic investors are backing robotics companies that promise scalable, service-based revenue, betting on long-term recurring income rather than one-time hardware sales. The appeal is clear: robots delivered as a service generate predictable cash flow, enable continuous improvement, and deepen customer relationships.

Ultimately, RaaS aligns with a broader shift toward outcome-based services. Organizations increasingly want results, not assets. They want productivity, safety, and reliability—without managing complex hardware. RaaS delivers on that promise by packaging robots as continuously improving services rather than static machines.

In much the same way that cloud computing transformed IT infrastructure, Robot-as-a-Service is poised to turn robotics into an on-demand utility. Robots are no longer experimental tools reserved for the largest corporations. Through RaaS, they are becoming accessible, scalable, and practical across the economy. The robots are ready to work—you just have to subscribe.