This year! The robot rental market erupts into a hundred-billion-yuan industry

In the 2026 Year of the Horse Spring Festival Gala, an unprecedented lineup of robot performances amazed the entire internet. Robots from Yushu Technology, Magic Atom, Galaxy General, and Matsunaga Power took turns on stage, showcasing martial arts, human-machine interaction, complex physical movements, and more, igniting the offline robot rental market.

After the gala, “renting the same robots as the Gala” became a hot trend. From cultural tourism fairs and shopping malls to family gatherings and corporate events, robot rental orders surged dramatically. Some rental companies booked their schedules until April, and prices dropped to a level accessible to everyone. This industry boom sparked by the Gala is not just a short-term traffic spike but signals that China’s robot rental industry is entering a phase of large-scale explosive growth.

1

From inception to explosion, a billion-yuan track

accelerating to scale

According to the latest research by iiMedia Research, China’s robot rental market is expected to explode in 2026, surpassing 10 billion yuan, a tenfold increase from about 1 billion yuan in 2025, with an annual growth rate exceeding 900%. It has become one of the fastest-growing emerging sectors under the new productive forces.

This leap is not accidental but the result of mature technology, upgraded demand, innovative models, and capital support working together. From specialized equipment once limited to factory production lines to now accessible products in shopping malls, homes, and scenic spots, robot rental is reshaping the commercial logic of the robot industry and opening a new service model for the smart era.

Currently, China’s robot rental market is at a critical turning point from “trial and pilot” to “large-scale implementation,” showing exponential growth.

In 2025, the market size was about 1 billion yuan, mostly in the embryonic stage, dominated by small rental companies with limited equipment supply and concentrated application scenarios. The rental model had not yet achieved scale effects. By 2026, the market is projected to approach or even exceed 10 billion yuan, with a payback period of about 6 to 8 months, daily rental prices ranging from 399 yuan to 13,500 yuan, and some services offering no deposit.

From user and scenario perspectives, rental users have expanded from enterprises to individuals, with significant growth in orders for festivals, birthday parties, and other C-end scenarios. Service coverage is gradually spreading from first-tier cities to emerging first-tier cities.

From regional distribution, as of now, Guangdong and Jiangsu lead with over 350,000 related companies, accounting for 30.88% of all enterprises. Shandong, Zhejiang, and Shanghai follow, with significant regional clustering, providing strong industrial support for the explosion of the rental market.

The core driver of this explosive growth lies in the rental model precisely addressing three key pain points:

“Cannot afford”—robot purchase costs often run into tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of yuan, making heavy capital investment prohibitive for SMEs and ordinary families; “Cannot use”—maintenance and technological updates require ongoing investment in funds and manpower, leading to high operating costs; “Fast obsolescence”—rapid technological iteration of embodied intelligence means quick depreciation, and post-purchase, devices risk becoming outdated.

The rental model replaces “heavy asset ownership” with “light asset use,” enabling efficient resource allocation and lowering the barrier to robot popularization.

Sources: Qingtian Rental, JD.com, Taobao official platforms

2

Demand scenarios flourish, with main and new growth points working together

“Currently, the hot spots in the robot field still focus on commercial scenarios with prominent ‘emotional value,’ mainly driven by commercial performances and exhibitions. The market size is still in its early stages, with annual demand around 800 million yuan, characterized by trial demand and relatively limited supply,” said Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iiMedia Research, to Huaxia Times.

He noted that in the next two years, the industry will enter a critical stage of platform integration and mass production, with application scenarios gradually expanding from commercial performances to retail, security, industrial pilots, and cultural tourism, among others. The overall market is expected to enter a rapid growth phase in the next two to three years, with an annual scale potentially reaching hundreds of billions.

（一）Enterprise-level demand: main support, cost reduction and efficiency enhancement as core

Enterprise demand is the core pillar of the robot rental market, mainly concentrated in two major areas covering multiple sub-scenarios:

First, in dining, retail, logistics, manufacturing, and other scenarios, the main needs are cost reduction, flexibility, and rapid digitalization. SMEs can replace manual labor with rented robots to effectively lower labor costs and respond flexibly to seasonal demand fluctuations. For example, some manufacturing companies in Foshan adopt a “robot container” model, renting pre-assembled smart production lines by order, avoiding large equipment purchase and maintenance costs; restaurants rent service robots for ordering and delivery; retail stores use guide robots to attract customers, all achieving efficiency gains and cost savings.

Further reading:

iiMedia Research’s (艾媒咨询) report “Development Status and Consumer Behavior of China’s Catering Industry in 2025” shows that the online food delivery market in China reached 1.7469 trillion yuan in 2025, expected to hit 1.9567 trillion yuan in 2027. This indicates that China’s online food delivery market has entered a stage of steady growth and structural optimization, with a large base and continuous expansion, demonstrating strong consumer stickiness and becoming a fundamental service in modern life.

iiMedia Research’s “2024-2025 China Food Delivery Industry Downstream Consumption Market Study” reports that from 2014 to 2025, the number of instant logistics users in China grew from 124 million to 855 million, showing an overall upward trend. As social consumption upgrades, shopping methods are changing, and demand for courier services is increasing. Rapid delivery services like food delivery and fresh produce distribution are thriving, with rising consumer pursuit of quality of life.

Second, in cultural tourism, exhibitions, and commercial performances, these scenarios are seasonal, one-time, and highly visible, making rental the optimal choice. After the Gala, many companies, scenic spots, and exhibitions rent robots for performances and traffic attraction; during the Lantern Festival, rental demand peaks, with some companies fully booked until April, even facing “insufficient equipment” issues. However, these demands are highly dependent on festival economy, with sharp declines after the holidays.

Further reading:

iiMedia Research’s “2025 China Study Tour Market Development and Consumer Behavior” shows the industry reached a market size of 213.2 billion yuan in 2025, a 19.04% increase year-on-year. As Chinese residents pay more attention to educational travel, demand will further grow, with the overall market expected to surpass 300 billion yuan by 2028, offering broad development prospects.

（二）Educational/Research demand: lowering barriers, supporting talent cultivation

Demand in education and research mainly focuses on programming teaching, popular science activities, competitions, and training. The rental model effectively reduces equipment investment and update costs for schools and research institutions, allowing more students and researchers to access advanced robot technology and fostering talent development. As robot education becomes more widespread, demand in these scenarios will continue to grow steadily.

（三）Family/Personal demand: new growth point, combining novelty and practicality

By 2026, families and individuals have become a new growth point in the robot rental market, with core needs centered on companionship, cleaning, entertainment, and holiday interactions. As rental prices decrease, the cost for ordinary families to try out robots drops significantly—mainstream robot dogs rent for as low as 78 yuan per day, humanoid robots around 3,000-5,000 yuan per day, and experience packages at 999 yuan become popular. “Renting robots to go home” is emerging as a new consumption trend. During Spring Festival, orders related to lifestyle events and emotional consumption on Qingtian Rental accounted for 16%, with about 30% of first-time renters, highlighting the huge potential of the family/personal market.

Further reading:

iiMedia Research’s “2025 China Domestic Service Industry Development and Consumer Behavior Survey” shows that the industry reached a scale of 1.2847 trillion yuan in 2025, expected to grow to 1.3855 trillion yuan by 2027. Consumers’ demand for convenient, professional life services is rising, and the industry needs to seize opportunities in digital transformation and quality upgrades, improving user experience through standardized services and innovative differentiation to meet diverse family service needs. Future competition will focus on refinement and intelligence.

（四）Public service demand: huge potential, high-frequency needs waiting to be tapped

Public service scenarios such as healthcare, elderly care, community patrols, and park cleaning feature rigid, high-frequency needs, representing potential growth poles for the rental market. For example, Zhongguancun Science and Technology Rental in Beijing offers surgical robot “service leasing” solutions to ease high-end equipment procurement costs for public hospitals; community elderly care centers rent companionship robots to alleviate loneliness; parks and communities rent patrol robots to improve security and cleanliness. With increased policy support, demand in these areas will gradually release.

Further reading:

iiMedia Research’s “2024-2025 China Silver Economy Investment Outlook Report” shows that by 2025, China’s elderly care industry reached 16.1 trillion yuan, a 15.8% increase year-on-year. Industry growth momentum continues, with projections reaching 21.1 trillion yuan by 2027.

3

Lower barriers, upgraded models reconstruct industry ecology

In 2026, China’s robot rental market will see significant changes in price, supply, and business models, transitioning from “hardware rental” to “service rental,” with rental thresholds continuously lowering and supply systems improving.

First, prices will drop sharply, increasing accessibility for all. The most notable is humanoid robots, whose daily rental price will fall from 10,000–20,000 yuan in early 2025 to 3,000–5,000 yuan. The Gala’s Yushu U1 humanoid robot on JD.com rents for only 1,796 yuan per day; entry-level robot dogs rent for as low as 399 yuan daily, with some platforms even launching “1 yuan flash rentals,” further reducing user entry barriers.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reports that in 2025, there were over 140 domestic complete machine companies producing more than 330 humanoid robot models. The total industrial robot output in China reached 773,074 units, a 28% increase year-on-year.

Platforms like Xianyu and Xiaohongshu are flooded with individual rental providers competing for orders, leading to a “price war.” Meanwhile, mass production and technological maturity have driven costs down, supporting price reductions.

Second, supply volume will increase, covering more regions. 2025 marked the beginning of mass production, and in 2026, large-scale deployment of devices will occur. Leading brands like Zhiyuan, Yushu, UBTech, and Jiuzhi are all offering rental services, covering humanoid robots, robot dogs, service robots, and more.

Top rental platforms are consolidating supply resources—Zhiyuan’s Qingtian Rental connects multiple brands, covering over 100 cities and 3,000+ robots, using “shared rental + platform dispatch” to optimize deployment; JD.com Rental offers over 90% embodied intelligence brands, allowing users to select by brand, scenario, and price, with free delivery, installation, and no deposit, enhancing user experience.

Third, mode iteration and upgrade: shifting from “hardware” to “service.” Robot rental is evolving from traditional “hardware leasing” to RaaS (Robot as a Service), breaking the limitation of “just renting equipment.”

Platforms like Yushu, UBTech, and Jiuzhi are launching flexible payment models—pay-per-use, hourly, or performance-based—along with value-added services like device debugging, maintenance, and content updates. For example, Qingtian Rental provides on-site engineers to solve operational issues; some platforms collaborate with content creators to offer customized performances and interactions, increasing device value.

Furthermore, financing leasing is enriching the rental ecosystem. Companies like Foshan Haisheng Jinzu and Zhongguancun Science and Technology Rental offer financing leasing for industrial and surgical robots, helping SMEs and public hospitals reduce capital barriers and upgrade technology. In 2024, Beijing established a “Robot Industry Development Investment Fund,” and in 2025, the Beijing State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission set up the “Beijing Robot Rental Company,” with a planned investment of 3 billion yuan over three years to procure robots for various scenarios via leasing, further improving supply.

Sources: Beijing Robot Rental Companies

4

Multiple players enter, ecological competition intensifies

As the robot rental market explodes, platform giants, equipment manufacturers, and service providers are entering rapidly. Capital influx has intensified competition, and the industry is shifting from “fragmented competition” to “consolidated integration.”

Platform companies, leveraging resource integration, are becoming industry leaders, including Qingtian Rental (under Zhiyuan), Galaxy General, Matsunaga Power, etc. These companies utilize technological and capital advantages to integrate multiple brands, build service networks, and realize standardized, large-scale device deployment and service delivery.

For example, Qingtian Rental completed a seed round of funding led by Hillhouse Capital in January 2026. In three weeks, it attracted over 200,000 users; during the Spring Festival, city partners signed up over 16,000; the company plans to build a complete ecosystem covering manufacturers, service providers, content creators, and users through its “1234 strategic plan.”

Traditional robot manufacturers like Yushu, UBTech, and Jiuzhi are gradually shifting from “selling devices” to “leasing + services.” They leverage R&D advantages to offer not only equipment rental but also technical support, maintenance, and content updates, enhancing user stickiness.

As demand extends to lower-tier cities, rental service networks are expanding rapidly through partner models. Many individual and regional service providers join leading platforms, becoming the final link for device delivery, on-site debugging, and after-sales maintenance.

For example, Qingtian Rental’s service network covers many cities nationwide, with some providers handling both platform orders and local customer needs, forming a “platform-driven + local service” model, improving service timeliness and convenience.

5

Amid festivities, industry development still faces concerns

Despite the explosive growth in 2026 and the infusion of capital through leasing, the industry remains in its early stages with many challenges.

Market demand heavily depends on festival economy and marketing activities. During holidays like Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, demand surges, but quickly cools afterward, leaving many devices idle. Some Beijing rental companies rented out equipment for only three days post-holiday; some performance robots’ daily rent dropped from thousands of yuan to 900 yuan or even 499 yuan.

Meanwhile, supply has surged. According to CCTV Finance, over 1,500 new robot rental companies were established nationwide in 2025. Many individual providers entered the market, leading to mismatched supply and demand, uneven regional distribution, with some areas oversaturated and others short of devices, and limited fulfillment capacity.

Robot technology still needs improvement, especially in autonomous ability and stability in complex environments, which restricts scene expansion. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s Information and Communication Economic Expert Committee points out that current humanoid robots mainly perform in entertainment, with limited capabilities in industrial, elderly care, and other complex scenarios.

Additionally, high costs for customized adaptation and retrofitting of outdated equipment hinder industrial application. Small and medium enterprises face significant expenses to upgrade old devices, further restricting industrial scene adoption.

Rental companies face profitability pressures due to high costs and price competition. Rapid depreciation—20-30% annually—and costly repairs for core components (thousands of yuan after warranty) increase expenses. Price wars among rental providers further compress profit margins. Content development, after-sales, and maintenance costs add to operational burdens, leaving many small players in a “loss-making for traffic” stage with unclear profit models.

The industry also lacks unified standards; issues like deposit management, after-sales guarantees, fault compensation, and data security are problematic, hindering the healthy development of financing leasing. Currently, only the “China Robot Rental Service Standard Draft (2025 Trial)” exists as a guiding document, with no mandatory standards yet implemented.

6

From “traffic frenzy” to “value cultivation,” the industry enters a regulated growth phase

2026 marks a crucial year for China’s robot rental industry to shift from trial to large-scale implementation. Over the next 3-5 years, the industry will transition from “traffic frenzy” to “value deepening.”

Application scenarios will gradually shift from “performance-driven traffic” to productivity tools, with industrial, retail, elderly care, and government sectors becoming mainstream. Lei Jun, a National People’s Congress deputy, proposed promoting humanoid robots from “apprentices” to “formal workers,” aiming for an average fault-free working time of over 10,000 hours in specific industrial scenarios by 2027, with a task success rate exceeding 99%.

Some companies have already achieved breakthroughs—Yuejiang Robotics’ humanoid robots can work continuously for 14 hours without assistance, autonomously selling over 1,000 cups of popcorn daily, generating over 20,000 yuan in revenue per machine; Xiamen Haicang District has formed a complete ecosystem of 46 robot companies with an industry scale of about 29 billion yuan, focusing on elderly care and medical surgery. As technology matures, robots will increasingly integrate into real production and daily life, upgrading their value.

Models are becoming more mature, and the robot industry will gradually form a layered pattern of “rental-led, purchase-supported.” Rental will be the main driver for robot popularization, especially for SMEs and families, effectively avoiding heavy asset investment and technological risks.

For high-frequency, highly customized scenarios (e.g., core production lines of large manufacturers), purchasing will still hold a certain share. As robot technology slows its iteration pace, the proportion of purchase is expected to gradually increase.

Meanwhile, RaaS (Robot as a Service) will become more widespread, with flexible payment models like performance-based and customized services becoming mainstream, improving profitability.

The industry will move toward standardized, long-term growth, with an increasingly complete ecosystem. Platform integration will accelerate industry consolidation, with leading platforms dominating resource, technology, and service capabilities. Smaller rental companies will gradually exit or transform into service providers, forming a “leading players guiding, tiered collaboration” pattern.

Simultaneously, industry standards will be gradually established. The government and industry organizations will promote regulations on deposits, after-sales guarantees, data security, and more, clarifying responsibilities and protecting user rights.

Financial tools like insurance and leasing will deepen, further mitigating risks. Insurance products covering equipment loss, third-party liability, and data security have been launched by PICC, Ping An Property & Casualty, and Taiping Property & Casualty, easing concerns for rental companies and users, and fostering a complete “equipment supply - rental service - financial support - after-sales” ecosystem.

In 2026, China’s robot rental market will explode to hundreds of billions, not only a tenfold increase in scale but also a profound restructuring of business models and industry ecology. The rental model, with its “light assets, high flexibility, low barriers,” precisely addresses core application pain points, driving embodied intelligence from concept to “accessible to all,” becoming the main engine for robot industry proliferation.