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Tugboat Caregiving

Products, read honestly

Verdicts

Should you buy this for Mom. Each card gives the real first-year cost, who it is for and not for, and what to ask before paying. Written from public data, studies and our own reading. Nothing here is hands-on yet, and we say so on every card. Nothing here sells anything.

Compare two

Pick two and read them side by side. Same numbers and sources as the cards below, and the link in your address bar carries the pair.

Ato

Ato

CompanionNot yet a product

A screen-free voice speaker for an older adult that answers, reminds and checks in, with a family app on the other end.

Device
$179
Per year
$249
First-year cost
$428

The launch page lists membership at $20.75 a month, $249 a year. The product page lists $29 a month and a $399 bundle with a year of membership included. Ask which price applies before you order.

Source heyato.ai launch page, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • An older adult living alone who will not use a screen
  • A family two hours away that wants a daily check-in
  • Someone who has said no to cameras, there is none

Not for

  • Anyone who needs it before December 2026, that is when it ships
  • Anyone who wants to carry it room to room, it plugs in, has no battery and hears from about 10 feet
  • A family expecting coordination across relatives, aides and doctors, that layer is promised, not shipped

Ask first

  • Which membership price applies, the launch page and the product page differ
  • What the device still does if the membership lapses
  • What the 30-day trial covers and how a return works

Evidence. Pre-order only, ships December 2026 with a 1-year warranty. The company reports 2,500+ beta users, 1,300 devices shipped in early access, an average age of 82 and about 60 percent retention, all its own figures. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources heyato.ai launch page, heyato.ai product page, PRWeb release, April 29 2026

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ElliQ

Intuition Robotics

CompanionReported

A tabletop voice companion that speaks first, with check-ins and reminders through the day.

Device
$249
Per year
$360
First-year cost
$609

Low end of the index range, $30 to $40 a month, plus about $249 for the device. Ask your Area Agency on Aging what is covered where you live.

Source Tugboat price index, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • An older adult alone most of the day who will talk to a device
  • A family that wants something proactive rather than waiting for a call
  • A household already paying for hired hours and looking to fill the quiet stretches between them

Not for

  • Someone who wants a device with no monthly fee
  • A person who finds a talking device intrusive rather than company
  • Anyone expecting a proven change in memory, the evidence is modest

Ask first

  • What the monthly plan includes and what happens if it lapses
  • Whether the device price is refundable inside a trial period
  • What is covered where you live, ask your Area Agency on Aging

Evidence. Third-party evidence behind the Tugboat price index is real but modest, less agitation and anxiety, no proven effect on cognition or depression. We have not yet named and read a trial ourselves, so this stays short of studied. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources Tugboat price index, elliq.com

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Hyodol

Hyodol

CompanionStudied

A soft, child-shaped companion doll that talks, asks to be cared for and listens through the day.

Device
$1,150

Reported at 1.6 million won, about $1,150, in Korea, where units go mostly to municipalities. We could not confirm a US price or a US retail channel.

Source Rest of World, August 2025, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • An isolated older adult with mild or no cognitive impairment
  • Someone who responds to caring for something rather than being monitored
  • A family that can accept an always-on microphone

Not for

  • Moderate cognitive impairment, where the six-week trial found no measurable change
  • A family that wants voice data kept out of the cloud, the company stores it for three years
  • A US buyer this year, retail here is not confirmed

Ask first

  • Where the voice recordings go and who can hear them
  • What the six-month evidence shows, not the six-week number
  • Whether a family app is included and what it costs

Evidence. Peer-reviewed trials of this doll exist, Lee and colleagues in Journal of Applied Gerontology 2023 and Kim and colleagues in Assistive Technology 2025. Our take reads them as real but uneven gains that did not last. Rest of World reports more than 12,000 units in Korean homes, the company's figure. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources Rest of World, August 2025, PubMed, Hyodol trials

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Figure 03

Figure

RobotNot yet a product

A general-purpose humanoid robot, shown on the company's own campus, aimed at homes someday.

Price not verified

Not for sale. The company has floated a monthly lease in interviews. Nothing has shipped to a family.

For

  • Nobody yet, there is nothing to buy
  • A family that wants to watch the space and check back at year end

Not for

  • Anyone deciding this year
  • A home with a frail person, no humanoid is a validated eldercare product
  • Anyone reading the lease number as a price you can pay today

Ask first

  • Has a unit worked unsupervised in a home it had never seen
  • What the lease includes and when a family could sign
  • Who is liable when it falls in a hallway

Evidence. Announced and demonstrated only. Humanoids Daily reported a floated lease and a Never Fall initiative in May 2026, and CEO Brett Adcock predicted unsupervised work in unfamiliar homes during 2026. No shipped home unit. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources figure.ai, Humanoids Daily, May 2026, Interesting Engineering, January 2026

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Stretch 4

Hello Robot

RobotReported

A wheeled base with a telescoping arm, not a humanoid, that fetches and reaches for things in a real home.

Device
$29,950

Listed as available now at $29,950. Reporting in June 2026 put it at about $30,000 with the first production run sold out.

Source hello-robot.com, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • A household with one specific, repeated task, reaching, fetching, carrying
  • A person with limited mobility who can direct it
  • A family that can spend the price of a car and wants something shipping now

Not for

  • Most family budgets this year
  • Anyone expecting a companion, it is a tool
  • A home with stairs between the rooms it would work in, it rolls

Ask first

  • What setup and support come with the price
  • What it does reliably today in a home like yours, not in a lab
  • What happens when it needs repair, and who pays

Evidence. TechCrunch profiled Hello Robot in June 2026 and WBUR reported on a New Hampshire couple, Brian and Brenda Marquis, using Stretch 4 at home. No trial data. The price is from the maker's own site. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources hello-robot.com, WBUR, June 2026, TechCrunch, June 2026

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Hero pill dispenser

Hero Health

MedicationClaimed

An automatic dispenser that holds a schedule of medications, releases each dose and sends an alert when one is missed.

Device
$100
Per year
$360
First-year cost
$460

Low end of the index range, $30 to $60 a month, plus about $100 for the device. Hero's own site lists $29.99 a month on a 12-month prepaid plan.

Source Tugboat price index, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • Someone who takes several medications on a schedule and misses doses
  • A family that wants an alert when a dose is skipped
  • Early memory trouble, with a person nearby who acts on the alerts

Not for

  • Beyond early-stage dementia, the dispenser cannot confirm a pill was swallowed
  • A tight budget, free pharmacy blister packs do most of the job
  • Medications that do not fit a dispenser, ask the pharmacist

Ask first

  • What the monthly plan covers and whether the device works without it
  • Who receives the missed-dose alert and what they do next
  • Whether your pharmacy will pack the same schedule for free

Evidence. Company pages and the Tugboat price index only. We have not seen an independent trial of this dispenser. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources Tugboat price index, herohealth.com

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MedMinder

MedMinder

MedicationClaimed

An automatic pill dispenser on a monthly plan, with alerts when a dose is missed.

Per year
$1,500

The index lists about $125 a month and no separate device price. Confirm whether an upfront charge applies.

Source Tugboat price index, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • Someone whose doses need to come out one at a time, on schedule
  • A family that would rather pay monthly than buy a device
  • A home where a caregiver checks in, but not every day

Not for

  • A tight budget, it costs several times what Hero does per month
  • Beyond early-stage dementia, no dispenser can confirm swallowing
  • Someone who will unplug a box they did not ask for

Ask first

  • Whether there is any upfront charge beyond the monthly plan
  • Whether it needs home internet or has its own connection
  • What the cancellation terms are

Evidence. Company pages and the Tugboat price index only. We have not seen an independent trial of this dispenser. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources Tugboat price index, medminder.com

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Medical alert with fall detection

Category, several makers

Medical alertReported

A wearable help button connected to a 24/7 response center, with automatic fall detection as an add-on.

Per year
$336

Low end of the index range, $28 to $65 a month. Fall detection usually adds $8 to $15 a month. Little or no device cost.

Source Tugboat price index, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • Someone who lives alone and can press a button
  • A family that wants a human on the line, day or night
  • A person who will actually wear it

Not for

  • Anyone who will take it off, a button on the dresser helps no one
  • A family expecting every fall caught, real-world detection catches roughly 70 to 80 percent
  • Anyone who expects the sensor alone to be the safety net, the response center is

Ask first

  • Whether the plan is cellular or needs a landline
  • What the response center does when nobody answers
  • Whether fall detection is included or an add-on, and what it costs

Evidence. Third-party data behind the Tugboat price index puts real-world fall detection at roughly 70 to 80 percent of falls. The response center is the safety mechanism, not the sensor. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources Tugboat price index

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GPS locator for wandering

Category, several makers

LocatorReported

A wearable, insole or tag that shows a family where a loved one is, on a phone.

Per year
$540

Low end of the index range, $45 to $65 a month all in. Device cost varies. Representative picks in the index are AngelSense at about $769 for the first year and Jiobit at about $130 for the device plus $9 a month.

Source Tugboat price index, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • A person with dementia who has wandered once already
  • A family that needs to know where, not just that
  • Someone who will keep a device on, in a shoe, on a belt or on a wrist

Not for

  • Someone who removes anything unfamiliar, ask about insoles and sewn-in tags
  • A family expecting it to prevent wandering, it locates, it does not stop
  • Anyone without a phone that can run the app

Ask first

  • Battery life in real days, and who charges it
  • What happens when the device is out of cellular range
  • Whether the monthly fee covers unlimited location checks

Evidence. Category pricing from the Tugboat price index, verified mid-2026 from public sources. We have not read an independent trial of a specific locator yet. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources Tugboat price index

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Radar monitoring, no camera, no wearable

Category, several makers

MonitoringReported

A small sensor that reads movement and presence in a room by radar, with no camera and nothing to wear.

Device
$250
Per year
$468
First-year cost
$718

Low end of the index range, about $250 to $300 for the device and about $39 a month. A representative pick in the index is Cherish Serenity.

Source Tugboat price index, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • A loved one who will not wear a device
  • A family that wants to know about a fall or a long stillness without a camera
  • A private person who has said no to video

Not for

  • Anyone who wants to see and speak, this senses, it does not show
  • A tight budget where a $28 a month alert button would do
  • A person who will unplug anything they do not understand

Ask first

  • What exactly it alerts on, and how many false alarms families report
  • Whether the alert goes to a phone or to a 24/7 center
  • Whether the device works without the monthly plan

Evidence. Category pricing from the Tugboat price index, verified mid-2026 from public sources. We have not read an independent trial of radar sensing in a home yet. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources Tugboat price index

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Wyze Bulb Cam

Wyze

MonitoringClaimed

A camera that screws into a standard light socket, so there is nothing to charge and nothing for the older adult to remember.

Device
$49.98

Regular price, on sale for less when we checked. Records to a microSD card. Cloud features need a paid Wyze plan.

Source wyze.com product page, checked 2026-09-03

For

  • A family that has had the consent conversation and the older adult said yes
  • A porch or a hallway where a quick look answers the worry
  • A fixed income, the microSD path keeps it a one-time cost

Not for

  • Anyone who has not asked the person being watched
  • A bedroom or a bathroom, ever
  • A family that wants alerts to go to a response center, this goes to your phone

Ask first

  • Have you asked, and did they say yes
  • Where the video is stored and who can see it
  • What the socket is on, a wall switch that is off means a camera that is off

Evidence. The maker's product page only. Our Tech Plan knowledge base lists it as the cheapest check-in camera as of August 2026. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources wyze.com product page

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WeCareAdvisor

Drexel University researchers

AppStudied

A web app that walks a caregiver through a dementia behavior, step by step, toward a response that does not rely on medication.

Price not verified

Used in a research trial. We could not confirm it is open to families outside a study, or what it would cost.

For

  • A family living with dementia behaviors, wanting one workable answer in the moment
  • A caregiver who will open a tool once a month, not every day
  • Anyone offered a place in a future study or pilot

Not for

  • Someone who needs it tonight, availability is not confirmed
  • A crisis, it is a guide, not a hotline
  • Anyone expecting it to remove a behavior, the measured effect was on caregiver distress

Ask first

  • Is the app open to the public yet, and where
  • What it costs, if anything
  • Whether the daily tips are part of the app or were only in the trial

Evidence. A randomized controlled trial led by Drexel, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in August 2026, found lower caregiver distress. Caregivers opened the app about once a month. Not hands-on. Last checked 2026-09-03.

Sources Medical Xpress, August 2026, Drexel News, August 2026

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How we grade

Every card carries one of four evidence grades. The grade is about what is known, not about whether we like the product.

Studied
Peer-reviewed or independent trial data on this product or this exact category.
Reported
Independent journalism or third-party data, including company figures that a named outlet covered.
Claimed
The company's own pages only.
Not yet a product
Announced, leased or on pre-order with no shipped unit in a family's home.

The hands-on rule. No card is called a review until we have held the product and used it for real. Until then every card says so, and every number links to the page it came from with the date we checked it. Prices drift, so confirm before you buy.

Not medical, legal or financial advice. For your situation, your Area Agency on Aging is a free first call. The kinds on this page are companion, robot, medication, medical alert, locator, monitoring, app, service.

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