Best robot grippers, 2026.
The gripper — the end-of-arm tooling — often decides whether an application works at all. A vendor-neutral comparison of the parallel, vacuum, adaptive, soft, and magnetic grippers shops actually deploy, on grip type, payload, and part fit, with how to choose, what they cost, and why the tool is half the job.
The specs that actually matter for grippers.
A gripper is chosen against the part it must hold — so the numbers you weigh start with geometry and grip, not raw speed.
Grip type
Parallel, vacuum, adaptive, or magnetic. This is the first decision and it follows directly from the part's shape and surface — everything else refines it.
Payload & grip force
The gripper must hold the part through acceleration with a safety factor. Rate for the heaviest part and the fastest motion, not the average.
Stroke & finger travel
Total jaw stroke sets how much part-size variation one gripper can span. Too little stroke means a tool change for every new part.
Part variation handled
How many shapes and sizes can a single gripper cover? Adaptive and soft tooling spans more variation; rigid parallel jaws span less without swaps.
Actuation
Electric grippers give programmable position, force, and speed with no air; pneumatic grippers are simple, fast, and high-force but need a supply.
Integration
Plug-and-play cobot kits mount and wire in minutes with URCap-style software; industrial grippers need more integration but suit fixed high-volume cells.
The gripper families.
| Type | Best for | Strength | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-finger parallel | Rigid, well-defined parts | Precise, repeatable, simple to control | Needs consistent part geometry |
| 3-finger / adaptive | Varied or cylindrical shapes | Conforms to and centers many parts | Costlier, more moving parts |
| Vacuum | Flat, smooth, or boxed items | Fast, gentle, spans large surfaces | Needs a sealable, non-porous surface |
| Soft / food-grade | Delicate or irregular parts | Cradles fragile items, washdown-ready | Lower force, lighter payloads |
| Magnetic | Ferrous, thin, or flat metal | Grips uneven metal without a seal | Ferrous parts only, residual magnetism |
Twelve grippers, side by side.
Manufacturer-published specs, grouped by family and listed alphabetically within each. Figures are nominal — verify against current datasheets for your exact variant.
| Gripper | Maker | Type | Payload / force | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OnRobot 2FG7 | OnRobot | 2-finger parallel | ~11 kg · ~140 N | Machine tending, higher-force parallel |
| Robotiq 2F-85 / 2F-140 | Robotiq | Adaptive parallel | ~5–10 kg · 20–235 N | Flexible cobot handling, wide stroke |
| Robotiq Hand-E | Robotiq | Precision parallel | ~5 kg · 20–185 N | Precise assembly, dust/IP-rated work |
| Schunk EGP / Co-act | Schunk | Electric parallel / collaborative | Small parts · low-force | Compact electric and collaborative grip |
| Zimmer GEP / GPP | Zimmer | Parallel | Varies by size | Rugged industrial and cobot parallel |
| OnRobot 3FG15 | OnRobot | 3-finger / adaptive | ~15 kg | Cylindrical and varied-shape parts |
| OnRobot VGC10 | OnRobot | Vacuum (cobot) | ~15 kg | Compact all-in-one vacuum, no external pump |
| Schmalz cobot pump | Schmalz | Vacuum | Varies by cup layout | Boxes, sheets, and porous-tolerant picking |
| Piab piSOFTGRIP | Piab | Soft / food-grade | ~0.6 kg | Delicate, irregular, food-safe items |
| Soft Robotics mGrip | Soft Robotics | Soft / food-grade | Light, part-dependent | Variable, fragile food and produce |
| OnRobot Gecko | OnRobot | Gecko adhesion | Part-dependent | Thin, flat, smooth or perforated parts |
Table scrolls horizontally on small screens →
Four makers worth knowing well.
Robotiq — the deepest cobot-gripper ecosystem
Robotiq's 2F-85/2F-140 adaptive grippers and the precise Hand-E are among the most widely deployed cobot EOAT on the market, largely because the software, wrist cameras, force sensing, and integrator support around them are so mature. For a shop standardizing on Universal Robots or similar cobots and wanting programmable position and force out of the box, Robotiq is the safe default — the trade-off is that raw grip force is modest versus heavy industrial jaws.
OnRobot — the broad one-stop EOAT range
OnRobot's value is breadth: the 2FG7 and 3FG15 grippers, VGC10 electric vacuum, Gecko adhesion tooling, and a shared quick-changer and force/torque sensor all speak one ecosystem. If an application needs more than one grip type — or you don't yet know which — sourcing from a single vendor with common mounts and software reduces integration risk. The trade-off is that best-in-class depth in any one family may sit with a specialist.
Schunk — the industrial gripper leader
Schunk offers the widest catalog of industrial grippers, from compact electric EGP units to the collaborative Co-act line, engineered for high cycle counts and demanding duty in fixed cells. Where a purpose-built, long-life gripper matched exactly to a part matters more than plug-and-play convenience, Schunk is the reference. The trade-off is that the catalog's depth demands more selection and integration effort than a cobot kit.
Soft & adaptive grippers — for irregular and food work
When parts are delicate, variable, or food, compliant tooling wins. Piab's piSOFTGRIP and Soft Robotics' mGrip use soft, food-grade fingers that conform to and gently cradle produce, baked goods, and oddly shaped items that would bruise or slip in rigid jaws — with washdown-ready materials for food environments. Payloads are light and cycle force is low, so they complement rather than replace parallel and vacuum tooling.
Which gripper fits your part.
| If you… | Consider… | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Handle rigid, precise parts | Parallel (Robotiq, Schunk) | Repeatable jaw position for consistent geometry |
| Handle varied shapes | Adaptive / 3-finger (OnRobot 3FG15) | Fingers wrap and center many shapes and sizes |
| Pick flat, smooth parts or boxes | Vacuum (OnRobot VGC10, Schmalz) | Fast, gentle grip across a sealable surface |
| Handle delicate, food, or irregular items | Soft (Piab, Soft Robotics) | Compliant food-grade fingers cradle without damage |
| Pick thin, flat metal | Gecko / magnetic | Grips flat or ferrous parts with no seal or wrap |
The gripper is half the job.
It is tempting to spec the robot arm first and treat the gripper as an accessory. In practice the gripper often makes or breaks an application — a perfectly capable arm fails if the tooling can't hold the part reliably through the cycle. The right gripper is matched to part geometry, weight, and cycle together, not chosen from a catalog in isolation, and it frequently determines whether a high-mix line runs at all.
That is why gripper selection belongs inside cell design, alongside sensing, fixturing, and safety — not bolted on at the end. If you're comparing who scopes tooling as part of a working system, see our companion guide to assembly integrators.
Ten questions to ask before choosing a gripper.
- Which grip type suits my parts — parallel, vacuum, adaptive, or magnetic?
- Is payload and grip force sized with a safety factor for my fastest motion?
- Does the stroke range span all the part sizes I need to hold?
- What is the realistic cycle speed with this gripper on my parts?
- Electric or pneumatic — do I have air, and do I need programmable force?
- Plug-and-play cobot kit or a custom industrial gripper for my volume?
- How much part-to-part variation must a single gripper cover?
- What does a changeover to a new part or tool actually take?
- What is the all-in cost beyond the gripper itself?
- Where is support, and what is the spare-parts and response plan?
We select and integrate the tooling, not just spec a gripper.
Relling selects and integrates end-of-arm tooling as part of a qualified workcell — the gripper matched to your part geometry, weight, and cycle, then combined with vision, fixturing, safety, and programming and validated as one system. Closed-loop vision adapts the grip to each part, so high-mix work becomes a software reconfiguration instead of a re-tool. If you'd rather deploy a qualified cell than integrate tooling yourself, that's what we do.
See how the Relling workcell works →Frequently asked questions.
What is the best robot gripper in 2026?
There is no single best robot gripper — the right end-of-arm tooling depends on your part geometry, weight, and cycle. Robotiq and OnRobot lead the collaborative EOAT space with broad plug-and-play parallel, adaptive, and vacuum ranges, while Schunk is the industrial gripper standard. For irregular or delicate parts, soft grippers from Piab and Soft Robotics are common. Match the gripper to the part, not to a brand.
What types of robot grippers are there?
The main families are two-finger parallel grippers for rigid, well-defined parts; three-finger and adaptive grippers that conform to varied shapes; vacuum grippers for flat, smooth, or boxed items; soft and food-grade grippers for delicate or irregular parts; and magnetic or gecko-adhesion grippers for thin, flat, or ferrous parts. Most cells use one family, but multi-gripper and tool-change setups are common in high-mix work.
How do I choose a robot gripper?
Start from the part, not the catalog: its geometry, weight, surface, and how much it varies. Rigid, consistent parts suit parallel grippers; varied shapes suit adaptive or three-finger; flat or smooth surfaces suit vacuum; delicate or irregular items suit soft grippers. Then factor in cycle speed, environment (food, washdown, cleanroom), and whether you want a plug-and-play cobot kit or a custom industrial gripper.
Electric vs pneumatic grippers — which is better?
Electric grippers offer programmable position, force, and speed, need no compressed air, and are easy to integrate with cobots — ideal for precise, high-mix, or clean environments. Pneumatic grippers are simple, fast, and deliver high force per dollar, but require an air supply and give coarser control. Choose electric for flexibility and precision, pneumatic for high-force, high-cycle, cost-sensitive handling where air is already available.
What gripper is best for irregular or delicate parts?
Soft and adaptive grippers are best for irregular or delicate parts. Soft grippers such as Piab piSOFTGRIP and Soft Robotics mGrip use compliant, food-grade fingers that conform to and gently cradle produce, baked goods, and oddly shaped items. Adaptive and three-finger grippers like the OnRobot 3FG15 also handle shape variation well by wrapping around parts, without the tuning that rigid parallel jaws would need.
How much do robot grippers cost?
Robot grippers typically cost roughly $1,000 to $10,000 or more depending on type. Simple pneumatic parallel grippers sit at the low end; programmable electric parallel, adaptive, and vacuum cobot grippers commonly run a few thousand dollars; and specialized soft, food-grade, or multi-part tooling can exceed $10,000. Remember the gripper is only part of the cell — integration, sensing, and programming add to the total.
Editorial buyer's guide compiled by Relling for manufacturers evaluating robot grippers. Products are grouped by family and listed alphabetically, not ranked; inclusion is not an endorsement. Specifications are nominal manufacturer-published figures and vary by variant — verify current datasheets and pricing directly with each manufacturer. Relling builds turnkey robotic cells and is described on that basis.
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