ROBOTICS startup AgiBot on Monday rolled out Botshare, a new robot rental platform that allows customers to lease androids for events and other uses for as much as 100,000 yuan (US$14,227) a day, despite ongoing uncertainties in the sector.

Robots can be hired through a WeChat mini-program for use in more than 16 application scenarios, including business meetings, trade shows, concerts and weddings, AgiBot said on its WeChat account. Prices vary depending on the scenario and the robot model. For example, the D1 Ultra quadruped robot used for security patrols rents for about 500 yuan a day, while a “sports competition” package, which includes two D1 robots, costs up to 99,800 yuan per day.

The rental market still faces several challenges, such as unstable pricing, strong seasonal swings in demand, and incompatible interface standards across different robot brands, analysts said. Whether Botshare can succeed will depend on whether its open ecosystem can truly address these core industry pain points and establish a sustainable profit model.

The renting platform is already operating in 50 cities and has brought together more than 600 service providers and over 1,000 robots, said CEO Li Yiyan. Next year, it plans to expand its service network to more than 200 cities.

The platform also announced its “1234 strategy,” which aims by 2026 to have more than 10 original equipment manufacturers onboard, build a network of over 200 top-tier rental service providers, bring in more than 3,000 software creators and serve 400,000 customers.

The focus this year will be on entertainment and performance-related rentals, said Jiang Qingsong, chairman of Botshare. Starting next year, the company plans to gradually open up rentals in the manufacturing and industrial sectors as well.

China’s robot rental market was worth more than 1 billion yuan in 2025, according to sources. With platforms like Botshare entering the picture, the market is expected to reach at least 10 billion yuan next year.

The robot rental boom can be traced back to earlier this year, when Unitree Robotics’ robot performance at the Chinese New Year Gala drew widespread attention, briefly pushing daily rental rates for humanoid robots to tens of thousands of yuan.

However, the hype quickly cooled as companies like Unitree and Shanghai-based AgiBot ramped up mass production. Daily rental prices for mainstream models have fallen back to between 3,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan, making it much harder for rental companies to land contracts.

(SD-Agencies)