Three picks, three buyers
Joy for All Pup
Best for: For a parent or grandparent. No app, no charging, used in state aging programs.
Watch out: Stationary lap pet; no learning or conversation
Loona
Best for: For a family or a kid over 8. Tricks, fetch, face recognition, free GPT-4o chat.
Watch out: ~90-minute battery; hard floors only
Sony aibo
Best for: For an enthusiast with the budget. Still the most lifelike walker — in its last sales window.
Watch out: Roughly $3,000, then $300/year
Saw a $35 "AI puppy" ad? That toy is not on this page. What those ads actually ship →
Every robot dog, compared
| Joy for All Pup |  metaDog | Loona |  Petoi Bittle X |  Hengbot Sirius | Sony aibo |  Tombot Jennie | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (verified September 5, 2026) | $179.99 | $189–$258 | $439–$499 | $319–$469 | $1,299 (waitlist) | $2,899–$3,199 | ~$1,500 (unconfirmed) |
| Availability | Out of stock at manufacturer; check retailers | In stock | In stock | In stock | Waitlist | In stock | Waitlist |
| Best for | Someone with dementia, or an older adult living alone who was a dog person. | A dog-person senior at home, when someone can handle charging. | Kids 8+, tech-curious adults, families who want tricks and conversation. | STEM-minded kids and adults. | Robotics hobbyists with patience. | An adult enthusiast with the budget who wants a walking dog and accepts end-of-life risk. | Join the waitlist if you can wait; buy a Joy for All if you cannot. |
| Moves around? | Stationary (lap/desk) | Stationary (lap/desk) | Rolls on wheels | Walks | Walks | Walks | Stationary (lap/desk) |
| Needs app or Wi-Fi? | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Battery | 4 x 1.5V C alkaline batteries (included); no charging | USB-C rechargeable; ~45 min charge, 'up to 10 h' runtime (manufacturer claim) | Li-ion; ~90 min continuous runtime at 40% screen brightness, ~2.5 h charge (per product manual); auto-returns to dock (Premium bundle) | Li-ion pack; ~1 h continuous walking; charges via USB | ~40–60 min active, 1–2 h idle; ~1 h charge (per user reviews) | ~2 h active per charge, ~3 h recharge; self-docks on charging station | Rechargeable; Tombot says charge overnight for all-day use (exact hours not published) |
Full spec table (battery, weight, subscription, warranty)
| Joy for All Pup |
metaDog |
Loona |
Petoi Bittle X |
Hengbot Sirius |
Sony aibo |
Tombot Jennie |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (verified September 5, 2026) | $179.99 | $189–$258 | $439–$499 | $319–$469 | $1,299 (waitlist) | $2,899–$3,199 | ~$1,500 (unconfirmed) |
| Availability | Out of stock at manufacturer; check retailers | In stock | In stock | In stock | Waitlist | In stock | Waitlist |
| Best for | Someone with dementia, or an older adult living alone who was a dog person. | A dog-person senior at home, when someone can handle charging. | Kids 8+, tech-curious adults, families who want tricks and conversation. | STEM-minded kids and adults. | Robotics hobbyists with patience. | An adult enthusiast with the budget who wants a walking dog and accepts end-of-life risk. | Join the waitlist if you can wait; buy a Joy for All if you cannot. |
| Feels like a real animal? | Yes — fur, holdable | Yes — fur, holdable | No — hard body | No — hard body | No — hard body | No — hard body | Yes — fur, holdable |
| Moves around? | Stationary (lap/desk) | Stationary (lap/desk) | Rolls on wheels | Walks | Walks | Walks | Stationary (lap/desk) |
| Talks / AI chat | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Needs app or Wi-Fi? | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Battery | 4 x 1.5V C alkaline batteries (included); no charging | USB-C rechargeable; ~45 min charge, 'up to 10 h' runtime (manufacturer claim) | Li-ion; ~90 min continuous runtime at 40% screen brightness, ~2.5 h charge (per product manual); auto-returns to dock (Premium bundle) | Li-ion pack; ~1 h continuous walking; charges via USB | ~40–60 min active, 1–2 h idle; ~1 h charge (per user reviews) | ~2 h active per charge, ~3 h recharge; self-docks on charging station | Rechargeable; Tombot says charge overnight for all-day use (exact hours not published) |
| Weight | 3.9 lb (official site) | Not published | 2.42 lb (~1.1 kg) per Amazon listing/manual | ~300 g class (not published on page); carries ~1 lb payload | ~1 kg (2.2 lb) | 2.2 kg (~4.9 lb) | ~6.5 lb (~3 kg) per CEO interview (Dec 2025) |
| Subscription | None | None | None required as of Sept 2026 — GPT-4o conversation is currently free; KEYi says this 'could evolve' (cloud costs) | None | None | aibo AI Cloud Plan required for full features: 3 years included, then $300/year (us.aibo.com) | None announced (free smartphone app for naming/customization/updates) |
| Warranty | Not published on product page (not verified) | Repair within warranty period (length not stated); 7-day return unopened | 1 year, lifetime support (official) | 1 year; 30-day returns | 1 year; lifetime support (official) | Sony limited warranty (terms not verified); all sales final | Not published |
The rankings
- Joy for All Pup — $179.99 · older adults and dementia care. Turns to your voice, heartbeat you can feel, four C batteries, no app.
- Loona — $439–$499 · best AI robot dog under $500. Fetch, face recognition, GPT-4o chat (free for now). ~90-minute battery, not cuddly.
- Sony aibo — $2,899–$3,199 · best walker, last call. 22 axes of motion, a personality that develops; Sony is winding it down, cloud plan $300/yr after year three.
- metaDog — $189 · best rechargeable plush. Fur, animated eyes, 20+ voice commands, USB-C. Ships from China; unopened returns only.
- Petoi Bittle X — $319–$469 · kids who build. Assemble in an hour, program in Scratch or Python. A STEM kit, not a companion.
- Hengbot Sirius — $1,299 · wait for batch two. Lightest walking quadruped; early backers reported falls and an unfinished app.
What "AI" actually means in a robot dog
- Scripted responses to sensors (Joy for All, metaDog, Sharper Image). Touch and sound trigger pre-programmed behaviours. Reliable, offline, no learning — exactly what a comfort object should be.
- On-device models (aibo's local behaviours, Petoi's offline voice, Moflin's "emotional AI"). Some recognition and adaptation without the internet.
- Cloud language models (Loona's GPT-4o chat, EMO, Sirius, AIBI). Real conversation, real face recognition, and a real dependency: if the company stops paying for the cloud, the feature stops. KEYi says Loona's free chat "could evolve."
For dementia care, category 1 is the right answer. For a family, category 3 is the fun one. For a walking dog, only aibo delivers category 2 well, and it is on its way out.
Why the three categories get confused
"AI robot dog" covers three very different things: a $180 plush lap dog with a heartbeat, a $450 wheeled robot that chats through ChatGPT, and a $3,000 walking dog with a developing personality. Buying the wrong category is the most common mistake, so this guide is organised by who the dog is for. Every price was checked against the manufacturer's own store on the date shown in the trust line above; see how much a robot dog costs for the full price ladder.
Head-to-head comparisons
- Joy for All Pup vs Tombot Jennie — buy the $179.99 pup today, or wait for the waitlisted Jennie?
- Loona vs Casio Moflin — the two best AI pets under $500: a robot that plays and talks, or a creature you hold.
- Under $200 vs $400+ — what the extra money actually buys, and when the cheap one is the right answer.
Robot dog or robot cat?
If the person is not a lifelong dog person, look at the cats: the Joy for All Cat is $20 cheaper, quieter, has the best evidence base of any robot pet, and is in stock more often. Best robot cats →
Everything else we track
The full table lists all 21 robot pets, including the desk companions (EMO, Eilik), the furry non-dogs (Moflin, Ropet), and the ones you cannot buy in the U.S. yet (LOVOT, Mirumi, Fuzozo).
Prices and availability verified September 5, 2026. We re-check monthly.