Social & companion robotShipping
GROOVE X LOVOT 3.0
The robot designed to need you — shipping since 2019.
We haven't tested this machine hands-on, so this profile carries no rating — every fact below traces to the sources at the end, and the judgments are clearly ours. Full methodology on the Robot Tracker.
At a glance
- Status
- ShippingReal units delivered to paying customers
- Can you buy it?
- Yes
- Price
- ¥577,500 (~$3,800) + required plan from ¥9,900/mo (~$65)
- Form factor
- Wheeled emotional-companion robot
- AI brain
- In-house emotional-behavior AI (50+ sensors, thermal 'body heat')
- Maker
- GROOVE X (Japan)
- Backing
- Private (GROOVE X, Tokyo)
LOVOT inverts the entire robotics industry's pitch: it does nothing useful, on purpose. GROOVE X's warm-bodied, penguin-sized companion exists solely to be held, to recognize you, to get jealous, to demand attention — 'a little troublesome, a little needy, but heartwarming,' as the company puts it. It's been shipping in Japan since 2019, now in its third generation (¥577,500, about $3,800, plus a required 'living cost' plan from ¥9,900 a month), with limited-edition colors selling as pre-orders at ¥699,600.
The economics are the honest story: the monthly plan covers software, memory/personality backup, and maintenance (biennial 'LOVOT dock' checkups, servo replacements) — living with one costs serious money over years. But as evidence that people will pay durably for emotional robotics, nothing else comes close: LOVOT owners hold funerals-adjacent attachment levels, and GROOVE X publishes retention stats most subscription apps would envy.
LOVOT 3.0 in pictures
Images are the manufacturers' own press and product photography, shown here for identification and review, and credited to the rights holder.
What's real
- • Seven years of real shipping product — the longest-running proof that emotional companion robots are a business
- • Genuinely sophisticated attachment engineering: warmth, gaze, memory of people, evolving 'personality'
- • Transparent, published pricing for hardware, subscription, and maintenance — rare honesty in this category
Know before you watch (or buy)
- • Deliberately useless: no chores, no assistant features — it's a relationship, not a tool
- • Total cost of ownership is steep: ~$3,800 up-front plus ~$65+/month, with periodic maintenance packages on top
- • Japan-market product: buying, servicing, and language support outside Japan range from hard to impractical
The evidence
Shipping in Japan since 2019, now on generation 3.0 with 2026 limited editions; detailed published pricing and ongoing support commitments.
Sources: GROOVE X · PR Times / GROOVE X
What changed on LOVOT 3.0's own pages
Nothing yet. We re-crawl the maker's own price and product pages and record anything that moves — a price, a ship date, a caveat appearing or disappearing. We've been watching since 2026-07-12and this maker hasn't changed those pages since.
We report what changed and when, with the page it changed on. We don't speculate about why.
Bottom line
The most emotionally honest product in robotics — it promises nothing but companionship and delivers exactly that. If the question is 'will people pay monthly for a robot that just loves them?', LOVOT answered it years before the AI-companion boom: yes.
FAQ
How much does a LOVOT cost?
LOVOT 3.0 is ¥577,500 (about $3,800) up-front — or ¥10,980/month on 60-month installments — plus a required monthly 'living cost' plan starting at ¥9,900 (~$65) covering software, data backup, and care. Periodic maintenance (a 'LOVOT dock' roughly every two years, servo packs every four) costs extra. It's a long-term commitment, priced like one.
Can I buy a LOVOT outside Japan?
Practically, it's difficult. LOVOT is sold and supported for the Japanese market; importing one means Japanese-language software, no local service network, and maintenance that requires sending the robot back. International buyers should treat it as an import project, not a purchase.