Our take
Tutor has the most transparent pricing in warehouse robotics: hourly rates from $14 on its website, an 80-hour monthly minimum, and no long-term contract. That makes it one of the easiest robots for a mid-sized plant to try.1
Its robots learn from remote human tutors who step in when needed, and every task feeds its models. Growth is fast, with almost four times as many facilities as a year ago, but the company is young and does not disclose revenue or fleet size.2,3
Scores by criterion
Each criterion is defined on our methodology page.
Who uses Tutor and what it's for
Manufacturers and logistics sites use Tutor robots for palletizing, depalletizing, case picking, and each picking. Its single-arm robot Cassie handles case picking and palletizing, and its two-arm robot Sonny handles each picking.1,3
Andreessen Horowitz says Tutor robots work across some of the country's largest manufacturing and logistics networks, and its hourly model opens robotics to small and mid-sized customers.3
History
Josh Gruenstein and Alon Kosowsky-Sachs founded Tutor in 2021 out of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. It raised a $34 million Series A led by Union Square Ventures in December 2025, bringing total funding to $42 million.5,4
In 2026 it opened DF1, a data factory of 100 two-arm robots at its Watertown headquarters, to train its Ti0 vision-language-action model. On November 2, 2026 it raised a $75 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz.5,2
Cassie, Sonny, and remote tutors
Tutor runs fleets of connected robots that remote human operators, called tutors, guide when needed. Each finished task produces data that Tutor uses to train its models.2
Tutor says a dedicated deployment manager gets robots live about 40 days after signing.1
Pricing
Palletizing and depalletizing are billed by the hour, from $14 an hour, with a minimum of 80 hours a month, an $8,000 refundable deposit, and a $10,000 flat implementation fee. The rate covers support, maintenance, and model updates.1
Picking is billed per pick, quoted from a simulation of the site's volume. Tutor estimates 10% to 50% under current cost, and buyers can also purchase Cassie outright with an annual service plan.1
Competitive landscape
| Company | Product | Pricing model | Deployment footprint | Where Tutor wins or loses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tutor Intelligence | Cassie for palletizing and case picking; Sonny for each picking3 | From $14 an hour; 80-hour monthly minimum1 | Almost 4 times as many facilities as a year earlier2 | Robots rented by the hour from $14 with no long-term contract |
| Formic | Palletizing, case packing, and machine tending robots, fully managed6 | Fixed monthly fee with no capital outlay6 | Hundreds of robots in more than 100 facilities in over 30 states7 | Formic wins on a longer record in full-service factory automation. Tutor wins on a published hourly rate and no long-term contract. |
| Plus One Robotics | InductOne, DepalOne, and vision software with remote human help9 | DepalOne from $155,000; other systems by quote9 | More than 1.5 billion picks in 15 countries9 | Plus One wins on high-speed parcel induction. Tutor wins on palletizing and picking billed by the hour. |
| Dexterity | AI-driven robots for truck loading and parcel handling11 | Not published11 | Robots run full shifts at large logistics companies; model trained on over 100 million production actions11 | Dexterity wins on truck loading at large parcel hubs. Tutor wins on smaller sites that want to rent by the hour. |
| Pickle Robot | Robot that unloads trailers and containers of loose goods12 | Not published12 | UPS is a named user; unloads a trailer in as little as 90 minutes12 | Pickle wins on unloading trucks and containers. Tutor wins on end-of-line palletizing and picking. |
| Brightpick | Autopicker17 | Robots as a Service from $2,190 per robot per month, 15-robot minimum, three-year term13,18 | Drives along existing shelving and picks items itself, no fixed grid17 | Brightpick wins on mobile picking robots for e-commerce. Tutor wins on palletizing with published hourly prices. |
| Chef Robotics | AI-guided robot arms that deposit ingredients into meal trays20 | Flat yearly robots-as-a-service fee, not published19 | More than 149 million servings in North America and Europe22 | Tutor wins on hourly rented robots with a published rate. Chef wins on depositing food ingredients rather than packing finished goods. |
Limits
Revenue and fleet size are not disclosed. We estimate revenue at $5 million to $20 million, based on hourly pricing from $14 with an 80-hour monthly minimum and a fleet that the company plans to grow to more than 1,000 robots under contract by the end of 2027. This is an estimate, not a reported figure.1,2
Robots rely in part on remote human operators, and the tutors at Tutor's data factory work from Mexico and the Philippines. Some sites may need to clear remote operation with their security policies.2,5
The company is five years old, so its long-term track record is short.5
What customers say
Where it helps
Because robot hours are an operating expense, a site can fund a robot the way it funds a shift, with no capital request.1
Nearly a third of customers that received Tutor robots in the past 12 months were existing customers adding more.3
Where it falls short
Large distribution centers that want to own a fixed palletizing line, or need high-speed parcel handling, may get more from integrators or parcel specialists such as Plus One Robotics.
Leadership
Josh Gruenstein
CEO and co-founderGruenstein met his co-founder as an undergraduate at MIT and co-founded Tutor in 2021 out of MIT CSAIL.3,5
Alon Kosowsky-Sachs
CTO and co-founderKosowsky-Sachs co-founded Tutor and leads its technology as chief technology officer.5
Sources
- Tutor Intelligence, Pricing, accessed November 3, 2026
- The Next Web, Tutor Intelligence raises $75M from a16z to put robots to work by the hour, November 2026, accessed November 3, 2026
- Andreessen Horowitz, Investing in Tutor Intelligence, accessed November 3, 2026
- Tutor Intelligence, Series A funding announcement letter, accessed November 3, 2026
- The Robot Report, Tutor Intelligence builds Data Factory to train robot AI in the real world, May 5, 2026, accessed November 3, 2026
- Formic, Homepage, accessed November 2, 2026
- VentureBeat (Business Wire), Formic raises $50 million to scale physical AI across American manufacturing, October 22, 2026, accessed November 2, 2026
- Plus One Robotics, About, accessed November 1, 2026
- Plus One Robotics, Home page, accessed November 1, 2026
- TechCrunch, Plus One raises $50M for its parcel robotics vision systems, March 7, 2023, accessed October 31, 2026
- Dexterity, Home page, accessed November 1, 2026
- Pickle Robot, Home page, accessed November 1, 2026
- Brightpick, Pricing, accessed November 1, 2026
- Brightpick, Brightpick and NAPA partnership, accessed November 1, 2026
- Brightpick, 2025: a year of milestones, accessed October 31, 2026
- Brightpick, About us, accessed November 1, 2026
- Brightpick, Autopicker, accessed November 1, 2026
- Brightpick, How Brightpick’s RaaS works, accessed October 31, 2026
- Chef Robotics, Robotics as a service, accessed November 3, 2026
- Chef Robotics, Homepage, accessed November 3, 2026
- Chef Robotics, How Amy's Kitchen used Chef robots to improve product consistency by 12%, accessed November 3, 2026
- Chef Robotics, About us, accessed November 3, 2026
