Optimus Gen 3 vs Apollo
Optimus Gen 3
Tesla
Tesla's 3rd gen humanoid with AI5 chip and Grok voice AI. 50 actuators, 22-DOF hands. 50,000 units targeted for 2026. Fremont factory preparing 1M/year capacity.
Full profileApollo
Apptronik
Commercial manufacturing beginning 2026. $935M+ funded. Liquid-cooled actuators from NASA Valkyrie. Partners: Google, Mercedes-Benz, Jabil, John Deere.
Full profileSpec Comparison
| Spec | Optimus Gen 3 | Apollo |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Humanoid | Humanoid |
| Price | $20,000-25,000 (target) | $50,000 (target) |
| Year | 2026 | 2026 |
| Height | 173cm | 173cm |
| Weight | 57kg | 73kg |
| Payload | --- | 25kg |
| Speed | 8km/h | 4km/h |
| Battery | 2.3kWh | 4hr |
| DOF | 50 actuators | 36 |
| OS | Tesla OS | Apptronik OS |
AI and Software
Optimus Gen 3
- FSD Neural Net v13
- AI5 Chip
- Grok Voice AI
- Dojo trained
Apollo
- Google DeepMind
- Foundation models
Optimus wins on AI, Apollo wins on open partnerships
Tesla's Optimus Gen 3 has deeper AI integration and Tesla's manufacturing scale advantage, but Apollo from Apptronik offers something different: a more open partnership model with multiple OEM partners and NASA-heritage reliability engineering. For buyers who want the best AI-driven humanoid, Optimus wins. For those who want flexibility in how they deploy and integrate, Apollo's open approach is more appealing.
Optimus Gen 3 is better for
AI-first deployments leveraging Tesla's neural network stack
Apollo is better for
buyers wanting open OEM partnerships and NASA-grade reliability