Unitree G1 EDU vs Basic: which tier is which
There are two G1 tiers, and the sensors are identical in both. The $13,500 base G1 has no SDK, no powered fingers and an 8-month warranty; the EDU adds an Orin module, up to 43 joints, an 18-month warranty and permission to write code, at a reported US floor of $43,900, roughly 3.3 times the base.
There are two Unitree G1 tiers, and only one of them has a price. The base G1 is $13,500 on Unitree's own store, and it cannot be programmed: the listing says so in one sentence. The Unitree G1 EDU is the tier that can be programmed, and Unitree's spec page prices it at "Contact sales." That is the whole fork, and everything below is the fine print on it.
One naming thing first, because the search box is full of it. Unitree does not sell anything it calls a "G1 Basic." Its own comparison table has exactly two columns, G1 and G1 EDU, and its store sells exactly one G1. "Basic" turns up as a distributor's label for the entry rung inside the EDU line, which is a different thing on a different price list. If you are searching "unitree g1 base price," the number you want is $13,500.
The two tiers, from Unitree's own table
Every row comes off the comparison table on unitree.com/g1.
| Spec | G1 (base) | G1 EDU |
|---|---|---|
| Price | US $13.5K | Contact sales |
| Secondary development | / | YES |
| Total degrees of freedom | 23 | 23 to 43 |
| Single hand DOF | / | 7 (optional force-control three-fingered hand) + 2 optional wrist DOF |
| Waist DOF | 1 | 1 + optional 2 more |
| Max knee torque | 90 N.m | 120 N.m |
| Arm max load | about 2 kg | about 3 kg |
| High-compute module | / | multiple options, "such as Orin" |
| Warranty | 8 months | 18 months |
| Sensing | depth camera + 3D LiDAR | depth camera + 3D LiDAR |
| Battery | 9000 mAh quick-release, about 2 h | 9000 mAh quick-release, about 2 h |
| Size and weight | 1320 x 450 x 200 mm, about 35 kg | same, about 35 kg+ |
Read the bottom three rows twice. The cameras, the LiDAR, the microphones, the battery, the body: identical. You are not buying a better-sensed robot. You are buying joints, compute, torque, more than twice the warranty, and permission.
The sentence that decides it
On the G1 store page: "This product does not support secondary development. For customization needs, please select the EDU edition." No SDK, no code deployment, and the route to EDU is an email address, sales_global@unitree.cc, not a cart.
I can find no published upgrade path from base to EDU, on Unitree's pages or its dealers'. The tier you buy is the tier you keep.
The same wall exists one shelf down. Unitree's R1 listing shows "R1 EDU (White)" and "R1 EDU (Red)" as selectable variants, and both come back contact-sales while the four non-EDU variants sit at $4,900.00 with an Add to Cart button. The dev tier never gets a price tag.
What the EDU letters mean
Unitree publishes the ceiling ("23 to 43") without publishing the rungs. The clearest public breakdown is the G1 EDU listing at Generation Robots, a European distributor, which offers thirteen selectable versions:
| Version | Hands | On-board compute | Total DOF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | none | none | 23 |
| U1 | none | Jetson Orin NX 16GB, 100 TOPS | 23 |
| U2 | none | Orin NX | 29 |
| U3, U4 | 2x Unitree Dex3-1, three fingers (U4 tactile) | Orin NX | 43 |
| U5, U6 | 2x Inspire, five fingers (U6 tactile) | Orin NX | 41 |
| U7, U8 | 2x BrainCo Revo 2, five fingers (U8 tactile) | Orin NX | 41 |
| U9, U10 | 2x Dex3-1, three fingers (U10 tactile) | Orin NX | 37 |
| U11, U12 | 2x BrainCo Revo 2, five fingers (U12 tactile) | Orin NX | 35 |
The joint counts are not arbitrary, and the arithmetic is worth doing once. Base is 23. Unitree lists two optional extra waist DOF and two optional wrist DOF per arm, which is six, and 23 plus 6 is 29: that is U2, a robot with no hands and a more mobile spine. Add two Dex3-1 hands at seven DOF each and you get 43, the number on Unitree's own ceiling. Skip the waist and wrist upgrades, keep the hands, and you land on 37. Every rung in that table is the same 23-joint robot plus some combination of spine, wrists and fingers.
Unitree G1 joint parameter correction: G1 can choose 23~43 joints (@UnitreeRobotics, 2024-05-17)
Nobody spells out what separates the EDU line's own "Basic" (23 DOF, no compute module) from the $13,500 store G1, which also has 23 DOF and no compute module. The obvious candidate is the SDK, the single row Unitree's table flips from "/" to "YES." Do not buy on my inference: ask before you wire money.
The price gap, and how solid it is
Unitree publishes no EDU number in any currency I could find. What exists is dealer pricing, at two levels of confidence.
Generation Robots lists the G1 EDU at From €39,000.00 including tax, which its own page data records as €32,500 before tax. Per-version prices are not displayed; the button is "Ask for a quote." That is a euro figure from a European distributor, and I am not going to run it through an exchange rate and call the result a quote.
For dollars, the fullest breakdown I found is in RoboZaps' G1 review, which the site says it verified July 20 to 22, 2026. It reports a US reseller range of $43,900 to $73,900: U1 Standard at the floor, U2 Plus at $53,900, and the hand-equipped configurations from $63,900 (U7) up to $73,900 (U6). I tried to confirm those against the named dealer's own listings and the store refused my requests, so treat that ladder as reported, not as a checkout I stood in front of.
Even taking the softest end of it, the shape holds: the cheapest programmable G1 anyone quotes publicly is around $43,900, roughly 3.3 times the $13,500 base. The base tier's own markup is small by comparison. Amazon's G1 listing, sold by Unitree's own storefront, ran $17,990.00 on 2026-08-04, and the listing title spells out the tier for you: "No Secondary Development."
For how the base price got to $13,500, and why it is one of the only humanoid charts that goes down, see the G1 price history. For where both tiers sit against everything else buyable, the full ladder is here.
Three G1 badges that are not tiers
Unitree's menu carries three more G1 names. None is a step on the Basic-to-EDU ladder.
- G1-D is a different machine wearing the family name: about 90 kg, 1260 to 1680 mm of adjustable column height, 17 or 19 DOF, and on the Flagship version a differential-drive wheeled base with about 6 hours of battery (unitree.com/G1-D). It is a data-collection platform, not a biped.
- G1-Comp is the soccer configuration, listed at 25 to 45 DOF (the extra two are a head), Orin NX at 100 TOPS, and "Contact sales" (unitree.com/robocup). Relevant if you run a RoboCup or research team.
- G1-Boxing is the fight-night build. Unitree's page for it markets motion-capture-trained strikes and impact recovery, and publishes no price or spec table. The part the highlight reels leave out is in here.
So which one do you need
If you want a G1 to own, walk, demo and never write a line of code for, the base is the answer, and $13,500 plus $300 to $1,200 shipping plus your own customs bill is the real number. It was backordered on 2026-08-07. Live status sits on the G1 tracker page, alongside the R1 for anyone whose budget stops earlier.
If you intend to run your own controller, train a policy, or touch anything Unitree ships as an API, the base tier is a dead end and you are shopping in the $43,900-and-up conversation whether the maker prints that number or not.
Neither tier does chores. Unitree's own G1 page tells individual buyers to "thoroughly understand the limitations of humanoid robots before making a purchase," which is the most useful sentence on it.
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