Scale AI vs Labelbox Terra: which robotics data engine should you hire in 2026?
Answer in brief: Scale AI and Labelbox Terra sit side by side in this directory's teleoperation collection category. Both also capture egocentric human video. Both are fully managed: you describe the tasks, and they record, validate, annotate and ship the demonstrations. Pick Scale AI when raw throughput, running collection on your own robot hardware and enterprise compliance matter most. Pick Labelbox Terra when you have to show coverage across environments, objects and operators, want seven capture rigs writing one episode format, and want standardized policy evals in the same program. Neither publishes prices.
Top pick for high-volume humanoid and foundation-model programs: Scale AI. Scale says more than 1,000 hours of demonstration data are collected and uploaded to its platform every day. It will also operate your own hardware for you.
Runner-up, and the pick for coverage-driven programs: Labelbox Terra. A diversity engine counts every episode against your target distribution and steers collection toward the gaps.
This is independent research based on each company's public pages, read on 2026-11-09. We did not test either service or buy data. Volumes and certifications are the vendors' own claims. See the full category directory on our ranked list of robotics data companies.
The spec sheet, side by side
| Dimension | Scale AI (Physical AI Data Engine) | Labelbox Terra |
|---|---|---|
| Directory category | Teleoperation collection + egocentric video | Teleoperation collection + egocentric video |
| Who collects | Robotics data factories, at-home collectors around the world, and in-field commercial/industrial deployments. Collection cells are built in a San Francisco R&D lab, then rolled out to partners | The Alignerr network and specialist third-party partners, on rigs Labelbox supplies, in homes, workplaces and its San Francisco robotics lab |
| Hardware | Teleoperated bimanual manipulators, the robotless Scale Harness egocentric platform, or your own hardware run by Scale | Seven rigs: ego mono, ego stereo, ego trio, ego + wrist, trio + instrumented gripper, overhead, teleoperation |
| Published volume claim | 1,000+ hours of demonstration data per day | 1PB+ produced as of January 2026 |
| Diversity control | Data from different embodiments, environments and tasks | Every episode auto-tagged by environment, object, task and operator, then counted against a target distribution |
| Quality gate | Sensor calibration and data validation protocols. Datasets go through Scale's internal policy fine-tuning and evaluation before they are listed | Automated checks plus human review of edge cases. Failed episodes are re-recorded, not shipped |
| Policy evals for your model | Not described on its physical AI page | Standardized manipulation and navigation tasks with scoring rubrics, reported per environment |
| Security stated | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR/CCPA support, optional onshore processing | Not stated on the Terra page |
| Pricing | Custom, sales-led (starts with a demo) | Scoped and quoted per program from your task list |
Where Scale AI pulls ahead
- Throughput you can plan around. 1,000+ hours a day is the biggest daily volume claim from any vendor in our directory.
- Your robot, their operators. Scale's bespoke collection platforms mean your hardware, managed and operated by Scale. That matters if your policy has to learn your own embodiment's action space.
- Researchers on your spec. In-house roboticists help write the data spec for your program, backed by a dedicated engineering and operations team.
- Compliance up front. SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, plus optional onshore processing, shorten enterprise security reviews.
Where Labelbox Terra pulls ahead
- Coverage you can measure. Terra's own point is that ten thousand episodes in one kitchen add up to one episode. Its engine flags thin cells, such as pour in a retail setting, and redirects collection there.
- One format from pre-training to evals. Every rig writes the same episode format, so pre-training video, post-training demonstrations and eval episodes have the same shape.
- Evals included. Standardized tasks with scoring rubrics run against your policy and are reported per environment, so you buy data and a way to measure it from one vendor.
- Embodiment-agnostic. Labelbox says it does not build robots and works with your hardware or its own.
Pick Scale AI if…
- You are training a robot foundation model or humanoid policy and volume is the bottleneck.
- You need collection on your exact hardware, run by the vendor.
- Your security team needs SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 or onshore processing.
Pick Labelbox Terra if…
- Generalization across homes, offices, warehouses and retail is your main failure mode.
- You want to mix egocentric, gripper and teleop viewpoints in one program.
- You want per-environment policy eval reports from the same vendor that produced your data.
Pricing model: both are quote-only
Neither company publishes a rate card. Scale starts with a demo request. Labelbox scopes each program from a task list and target distribution, then shows you the first episodes. Budget for a paid pilot with either one, and compare cost per usable episode, not cost per raw hour. For the few public robotics data prices that exist, see our robotics data pricing guide.
FAQ
Is Scale AI or Labelbox bigger for robotics data?
Their claims use different units. Scale reports 1,000+ hours of demonstration data uploaded per day. Labelbox reports 1PB+ of Terra data produced as of January 2026. Neither figure is independently verified, and the two cannot be compared directly.
Can both vendors collect on my own robot?
Yes. Scale offers bespoke collection platforms (your hardware, managed and operated by Scale). Labelbox says Terra is embodiment-agnostic and works with your hardware or its own.
Who actually records Labelbox Terra data?
Labelbox says collection runs through its Alignerr network and specialist third-party partners, on rigs it supplies, in homes, workplaces and its San Francisco lab. Labelbox handles validation and turns the footage into training-ready datasets.
Do Scale AI or Labelbox publish prices?
No. Both quote per program after scoping.
Keep exploring
Scale AI review · Labelbox review · Scale AI vs Encord · Labelbox vs Encord · Alternatives to Scale AI · How to choose · Full directory
Want a single ranked shortlist rather than a category directory? Our sister guide bestroboticsdatacompanies.com covers that.
Sources
- scale.com/physical-ai
- labelbox.com/products/terra
Named on this page as a provider? Join the network for a linked profile, Visit buttons and featured placement.