Humanoid robot kits you can build
The cheapest walking humanoid you can build is Open Duck Mini, a 42 cm printed biped on 14 STS3215 servos for roughly $360 to $470. For a life-size showpiece, InMoov is the classic printed torso at about $1,500 to $2,500 in our estimate. For research-grade learned walking, Berkeley Humanoid Lite (about $4,350 BOM) and ToddlerBot (about $5,700 and up, or $4,299 assembled from WowRobo, excluding the Jetson) are the open builds to look at.
What matters
- Does it walk? Open Duck Mini, Berkeley Humanoid Lite and ToddlerBot walk with learned policies; InMoov's default build is an upper body that does not walk.
- Actuators drive the budget: hobby servos (InMoov), bus servos (Open Duck, HopeJR), Dynamixels (ToddlerBot) or printed drone-motor actuators (Berkeley).
- Printing load: every pick here needs a lot of printing; InMoov and Berkeley Humanoid Lite take weeks of printer time.
- Software maturity: ToddlerBot and Berkeley ship full RL training code; Open Duck uses RL policies on a Pi Zero 2W; InMoov runs MyRobotLab on a PC.
- Part availability: check for discontinued parts before you order (InMoov's HK15298B servo and Berkeley's 5010 110KV motor are both discontinued).
Our picks
| Pick | Why | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|
| Open Duck Mini Cheapest walking biped | Small enough to print at home and cheap enough to crash. Built from the same STS3215 servos as SO-101, so the parts and skills carry over. | Seeed Studio: $20.00 single STS3215 C001; 14 needed OpenELAB: EUR 23.57 single STS3215 C001; 14 needed |
| InMoov Life-size humanoid torso and hands | The best-known open humanoid, with a huge build community and tendon-driven hands. About 31 hobby servos in the default upper body; legs are not motorized by default. | ServoCity: $49.99 single Hitec HS-805BB; 14 needed |
| Berkeley Humanoid Lite Research walking on a budget | 22 printed cycloidal actuators driven by drone motors and small ESC boards, with open training code. Official BOM about $4,350. | TME: EUR 47.11 (unverified) single B-G431B-ESC1 motor driver; 22 needed |
| ToddlerBot Labs that want a proven research humanoid | Dynamixel-based toddler-size humanoid with RL and teleoperation software. The priciest pick, but a third-party seller offers it fully assembled. | WowRobo: $4,299.00 ToddlerBot 2.0 fully assembled |
| HopeJR (arm and hand) Humanoid arm and dexterous hand with teleop | Not a full body: a human-scale arm, tendon hand and exoskeleton glove from TheRobotStudio for LeRobot. Roughly $650 to $1,100. | Seeed Studio: $22.00 single STS3215 12V; 4 needed |
FAQ
Is there a humanoid robot kit I can just buy and assemble?
Not among the open builds we track, except ToddlerBot, which WowRobo sells fully assembled. The others are parts lists you source and print yourself.
What is the cheapest humanoid robot to build?
Open Duck Mini, at roughly $360 to $470 in parts plus your own printing. It is a small biped rather than a human-shaped robot.
Can InMoov walk?
Not in the default build. The official design is an upper body on a stand; leg designs exist but are not part of the standard parts list.
Do I need a powerful computer?
For running: Open Duck uses a Pi Zero 2W and ToddlerBot a Jetson. For training walking policies you will want a desktop GPU or cloud time.
Sources: github.com · inmoov.fr · github.com · berkeley-humanoid-lite.gitbook.io · github.com · hshi74.github.io · github.com · shop.wowrobo.com