BOTZ vs ROBO: The Two Original Robotics ETFs Compared

If you search for a robotics ETF, two tickers show up before anything else: $BOTZ from Global X and $ROBO from ROBO Global. They are the veterans of the category. Between them they hold more money than most of the newer humanoid and physical AI funds combined, and they have each lived through multiple bull and bear markets.

From a distance they look interchangeable. Both say "robotics" on the label, both own factory automation and AI-related companies, and both pay only a small dividend. But they are built on very different ideas about how to invest in robots, and those differences show up in fees, concentration, the types of companies you end up owning and how each fund behaves when markets move. This guide walks through every one of those differences with live data.

The numbers side by side

$BOTZ holds $3.10B and charges 0.68% a year. $ROBO holds $1.90B and charges 0.95%. On a $10,000 position, that fee gap is roughly $27 a year in favor of BOTZ. That sounds small, and in any single year it is. Over a decade or two, compounding makes it more meaningful, as we show further down.

A short history of each fund

ROBO: the original robotics ETF

$ROBO launched on October 22, 2013, long before robotics was a popular investing theme. It was built around an index created by ROBO Global, a firm that focused specifically on researching robotics, automation and related technologies. The goal from day one was to capture the whole robotics value chain, not just the largest names, which is why the fund has always owned a long list of companies across many countries.

BOTZ: the bigger, more focused follower

$BOTZ arrived on September 12, 2016 as part of Global X's lineup of thematic ETFs. It tracks an index of companies involved in robotics and artificial intelligence, and it holds fewer stocks than ROBO. Its lower fee, the Global X brand and its exposure to large AI hardware companies helped it grow into the largest dedicated robotics ETF on the market.

Difference #1: concentration

This is the most important difference between the two funds, and it explains most of the others.

BOTZ is more concentrated. A relatively small group of large companies, including big AI chip makers and established factory automation leaders, makes up a large share of the portfolio. When those leaders run, BOTZ tends to follow them closely. When they fall, BOTZ feels it.

ROBO is more spread out. It owns a longer list of companies and gives smaller businesses more weight than a size-based index would. That includes makers of sensors, motion control systems, machine vision, surgical robots and logistics automation, many of them mid-size companies in Japan, Europe and the US.

Difference #2: fees

$BOTZ costs 0.68% a year and $ROBO costs 0.95%. The average across all 25 robotics funds we track is 0.67%, so BOTZ sits near the middle of the pack and ROBO sits near the top.

Fees matter more than they look because they come out every single year, in good markets and bad. The chart below shows how much a fee difference of this size can compound over 20 years in a simple illustration.

That said, a fee is only one input. If one fund's strategy fits what you want to own and the other's does not, a quarter of a percent a year should not be the deciding factor on its own.

Difference #3: what you actually own

Because of the different weighting styles, the two funds give you a different mix of businesses even though both are labeled robotics.

• BOTZ leans toward the "brains" of automation: AI computing, industrial software and the largest factory automation companies. It behaves partly like a technology growth fund.
• ROBO leans toward the "body" of automation: the actuators, sensors, motion systems, vision systems and specialized robot makers that turn software into physical work. It behaves more like an industrial technology fund.

Both funds hold a meaningful share of non-US companies. Japan in particular is home to many of the world's leading industrial robot and component makers, so both funds carry some currency and country exposure. Check each issuer's fund page for current country weights.

Difference #4: track record and age

ROBO has been trading since 2013 and BOTZ since 2016. Both have been through full market cycles, including sharp drawdowns, which is more than almost every humanoid and physical AI fund can say. If you want a long record of how a robotics strategy behaves under stress, these two are the best places to look. You can see each fund's full price history on its profile page: $BOTZ and $ROBO.

Past performance does not predict future results, but a long history does tell you how volatile a strategy can be. Both funds have experienced large declines from their peaks during broad tech sell-offs.

Difference #5: income

Neither fund is built for income. $BOTZ yields about 0.53% and $ROBO about 0.38%, and both pay infrequently. If dividends are part of your plan, robotics is not the place to find them. These are growth funds where returns depend almost entirely on price changes.

How they compare with the rest of the category

BOTZ and ROBO are no longer the only choices. Newer funds target narrower slices of robotics, such as humanoids or the actuators inside robots. Here is where the two veterans sit among the largest funds we track.

If you want something in between, $IBOT from VanEck uses a revenue screen to stay close to pure robotics companies at a 0.47% fee. If you want broader AI exposure instead, $AIQ is the largest fund on our list. And if humanoids are your focus, see our humanoid robot ETF guide.

Which one fits which investor

BOTZ may fit someone who wants a lower fee, a larger and more heavily traded fund, and more exposure to the biggest AI and automation leaders, and who is comfortable with higher concentration.

ROBO may fit someone who wants the broadest possible exposure to the robotics supply chain, including smaller specialist companies, and who values diversification over a lower fee.

Owning both is possible, but there is some overlap. Many investors who want two robotics exposures pair one core fund with a narrower fund, such as a humanoid or autonomy fund, rather than owning two broad funds.

For the full side-by-side with live charts, see BOTZ vs ROBO. To see how both stack up against every other fund, go to the full robotics ETF table. This comparison is for research only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell either fund.