Buying Guides
A lease looks expensive month to month and cheap the day the project fails. A purchase looks cheap on the invoice and expensive when the robot sits in a cupboard. Three years, not the first payment, decides it.
Hotels look at Relay and Temi this way. Factories look at an arm from KUKA the same way. The maths is related to hotel payback and a first cell test: count the full life, including the month you want out.
ⓘ Quick Answer
Lease if this is a first deployment, you need the vendor on site, or you are not sure the route will still exist in 18 months. Buy if the job is proven, you have in-house maintenance, and you can live with the machine when the contract would have ended.
What you are actually paying for
Lease or rental
Use of the machine, often service visits, sometimes swaps when it fails. You pay for the option to stop. Software is usually included or billed beside it.
Purchase
The asset, plus whatever service you add. You keep a depreciating box. You also keep the risk that the app or the spare part disappears — see when the company disappears.
Three-year questions
- What is the monthly lease times 36, including delivery and training?
- What is purchase plus three years of service, parts, and software?
- What does it cost you to be stuck with the machine in year two if the job dies?
A clean default
First robot in a hotel, office, or ward: lease a pilot. First cell you have already timed and staffed: buying can win, with a service contract. Do not sign a lease so long that it is a purchase without ownership.
💡 What to Check
Ask what happens if you return it in month four: fees, freight, data wipe, and whether a replacement unit is part of the deal.
Lease-or-buy checklist
Lease-or-buy checklist
- Is this a pilot or a proven route?
- Who repairs it on a Saturday, and is that in the price?
- What is the three-year total on both paths, written down?
- Can I exit without a penalty that wipes the savings?
- Does the lease include software, or is that a second bill?
Final Thoughts
Lease the uncertainty. Buy the boring, proven job. If you cannot say which you have, you are still in a pilot — lease.
Price real machines on Robot.help, then ask the vendor for both numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is leasing always more expensive?
If the project succeeds and runs for years, often yes. If it fails early, leasing is usually the cheaper mistake.
Can I lease a robot vacuum?
Sometimes through retailers. For a home, buying a modest new unit is simpler. Leasing matters more for service and industrial machines.
What if the vendor only sells?
Then your exit plan is resale. That is harder than it sounds. Price that risk.