Renting an autonomous pallet truck: RaaS, leasing or purchase in France in 2026

For an autonomous pallet truck, three models coexist: outright purchase (capital tied up, depreciated over 3 to 5 years), leasing (a monthly payment, already dominant among French material-handling rental companies) and RaaS, or Robotics-as-a-Service (an all-inclusive subscription covering maintenance and updates). In France, RaaS remains almost absent from documented public offers, whereas leasing is already a reality, from around €1,000/month at the entry level.

Rental, RaaS, leasing, purchase: what exactly are we talking about?

Three financing approaches compete for equipping a warehouse with an autonomous pallet truck (AGV or AMR). Purchase turns the robot into a fixed asset, depreciated on the books. Leasing (or long-term rental) turns the investment into a fixed monthly payment, with or without a purchase option at the end of the contract. RaaS goes further: a subscription that includes, on top of the machine, the software, maintenance and updates — the company pays for the robot's use, not for the machine itself.

These three models don't suit the same company profiles, nor the same degree of certainty about the need. That is what this guide breaks down, line by line.

Logistics RaaS (Robotics-as-a-Service): the definition

RaaS (Robotics-as-a-Service) is a monthly or annual subscription that gives access to a fully operational robot, without the client company ever owning it. The provider remains responsible for maintenance, software updates and, often, replacement in case of extended downtime. The company pays a recurring amount covering the entire service, in the manner of SaaS applied to a physical object.

This model turns a capital expense (CAPEX) into an operating expense (OPEX): no more need to commit €30,000 to €150,000 at once for an autonomous pallet truck (range excluding integration, source: travail-industrie.com), and theoretical flexibility to adjust the number of robots to activity levels.

Only two international players explicitly position themselves around RaaS for pallet-handling robots: Vecna Robotics (United States, almost absent from Europe) promotes its subscription and its Pivotal software; OTTO by Rockwell Automation mentions a possible RaaS formula through its global network. Neither has an active RaaS commercial structure in France to date.

Leasing: the rental model already widespread in France

Leasing (financial leasing or long-term rental) is a contract under which a financial institution or the manufacturer remains the owner of the machine, in exchange for a monthly payment made by the client company over a defined contract term. This is already the dominant model among material-handling rental companies and distributors in France: Manuloc and Aprolis (Monnoyeur group), for example, combine rental and multi-brand maintenance contracts on their forklift fleets, including on AGV/AMR projects.

On the autonomous pallet truck itself, the clearest documented figure comes from EP Equipment: its EXP15 (1,500 kg, LiDAR + camera navigation) sells for around €12,000 excl. VAT outright, with leasing advertised from €1,000/month, the most accessible and best-documented offer on the market in this segment.

For conventional electric pallet trucks, short-term rental is also available from generalist rental companies: Kiloutou rents a manual model from €40/day and an electric one from €76 to €150/day. These offers remain designed for one-off needs, not for the permanent operation of an autonomous robot.

Purchase: the classic model, capital tied up

Purchase remains the historical reference in the material-handling sector. The company invests once, depreciates it on the books over several years and becomes the full owner of its equipment, free to resell it, move it from one site to another, or keep it beyond the depreciation period.

For an AGV-type autonomous pallet truck, the observed range runs from €30,000 to €150,000 excl. VAT excluding integration; for an AMR, prices generally sit between €50,000 and €150,000 (specialist intralogistics sources, 2026). Integration, maintenance and training add to this machine price. In return, purchase removes any time commitment: once the robot is paid for, there is no more recurring payment.

Purchase, leasing, RaaS: the complete comparison table

Quick takeaway: the further you move from purchase toward RaaS, the more the risk and the upfront investment shift from the client to the provider — but the less structured and available the offer is on the French market today.

AGV rental and RaaS in France in 2026: what actually exists

Let's be honest about the state of the market: turnkey AGV/AMR rental in the RaaS sense remains, to date, almost uncharted territory in France. Our market monitoring finds no reliable public data on the volume or the number of integrators offering structured RaaS for material-handling robots — a documentation gap confirmed across the specialist sources consulted.

What actually exists.

• Leasing on entry-level autonomous pallet trucks: EP Equipment offers leasing from €1,000/month on its EXP15 (1,500 kg), with European stock delivered within a week — the most concrete example on the market.
• Short-term rental on conventional pallet trucks: Kiloutou and Loxam rent manual and electric pallet trucks by the day, a mature model that does not cover autonomous robots.
• Multi-brand rental/maintenance for forklifts: Manuloc and Aprolis structure rental contracts with maintenance for automated forklifts, expertise that is transferable to AMRs but rarely packaged as a public RaaS offer.
• The major automated-forklift manufacturers (Fenwick-Linde T-MATIC, Jungheinrich ERE 225a, STILL AXL 15 iGo, Toyota Autopilot) sell through a sale-plus-service-contract model, close to leasing in spirit, but quoted per project with no public pricing.

In other words: a true subscription-based RaaS for an autonomous pallet truck does not yet exist in a standardised, public form in France. Leasing, on the other hand, is a real option already in practice, including at the entry level.

How to choose based on your company's size and the visibility of your needs

The right model depends less on company size than on two questions: available cash flow and how certain the medium-term need is.

Well-identified need, stable flows, a 3-5 year outlook. Purchase remains relevant: you depreciate calmly, there is no recurring payment once the equipment is paid for, and you keep full control of your asset. This is the classic setup for a company whose pallet flow to automate is constant and documented.

Still-uncertain need, wanting to test before rolling out. Leasing smooths cash flow and lets you scale the fleet without tying up significant capital upfront. This is the format that best fits the typical profile of early French projects: an average project involves 3 to 4 machines (source: Toyota Material Handling France, Voxlog report), a volume well suited to a rental trial before moving to purchase on a larger scale.

Rapid growth or marked seasonal activity. RaaS would, in theory, be the best-suited model — flexibility of use, no asset to resell in case of an activity downturn. But given the lack of documented public offers in France to date, this model should be approached with caution and negotiated case by case with each supplier, without assuming a standard formula exists.

In every case, company size matters less than visibility: an SME with a stable flow can quite reasonably buy from its very first robot, while a mid-cap company in the midst of a logistics reorganisation may prefer to secure a leasing contract while it stabilises its site layout.

Carsat/FIPU grants: applicable or not depending on the financing method

Prevention grants from the Assurance Maladie and the Carsat regional funds, including the fund for preventing occupational wear (FIPU), can finance up to 70% of the pre-tax amount of material-handling equipment that reduces musculoskeletal disorders, with caps ranging from around €1,000 to €75,000 depending on the scheme and regional fund. The application requires an up-to-date DUERP risk assessment and must be filed via net-entreprises.fr.

These grants are historically built to fund an equipment investment, meaning in practice a purchase. Their applicability to a leasing payment or a RaaS subscription is not documented consistently in our sources and varies by fund and by year: check directly with your Carsat, before signing, whether your financing arrangement remains eligible.

Note: the 40% robotics super-depreciation scheme (article 39 decies B of the French tax code), reserved for assets acquired in 2019-2020, has ended — do not factor it into any scenario, whatever financing method you choose.

FAQ

What is RaaS (Robotics-as-a-Service)?

RaaS is a subscription that gives access to a fully operational robot, maintenance and software updates included, without the client company ever owning it. It turns an investment (CAPEX) into a recurring operating expense (OPEX), on the same principle as SaaS applied to a machine.

Is it better to rent or buy an autonomous pallet truck?

It depends on your cash flow and how certain your needs are. Purchase (€30,000 to €150,000 excluding integration) suits stable flows and a long-term outlook. Leasing, from around €1,000/month for entry-level models, smooths out cash flow and lets you test before rolling out more widely.

Does RaaS actually exist in France for material-handling robots?

Not yet as a standardised, publicly available offer. Our market monitoring finds no operator offering a structured, documented RaaS for autonomous pallet trucks in France in 2026. Leasing, on the other hand, is already practised, particularly on entry-level AMRs.

Do Carsat/FIPU grants apply to rental or RaaS?

These grants, which can cover up to 70% of equipment that reduces musculoskeletal disorders, are designed around investment. Their application to a leasing payment or a RaaS subscription is not applied consistently: check your financing arrangement's eligibility with your Carsat before signing.

How much does renting an autonomous pallet truck cost?

The only documented figure is the leasing offer for the EP EXP15 (1,500 kg), from €1,000/month. For conventional electric pallet trucks, short-term rental starts at €40/day for manual models and €76 to €150/day for electric models at generalist rental companies such as Kiloutou.

Related reading

• Autonomous pallet truck price in 2026: ranges, ROI and models
• ROI of a pallet-truck robot: calculation, payback period, worked example
• Autonomous pallet truck vs forklift operator: the full cost comparison (TCO)
• MiR1200 Pallet Jack vs autonomous pallet truck: which pallet AMR should you choose?
• Autonomous pallet truck: complete 2026 guide
• Financing warehouse automation in 2027: grants, loans, RaaS, the complete financing overview.

Purchase, leasing, or terms to discuss? Easy to Carry distributes the robot in France, a fully autonomous 2,000 kg pallet truck deployable with no infrastructure work. Financing terms remain to be defined based on your project: start with the free site pre-assessment, a written verdict within 48 business hours.