Skydio vs Zipline: Drones & aerial compared

November 2026 edition · assessment by Frontier Tech Intelligence

Zipline ranks 66 on the Robotics 100 with a score of 81; Skydio ranks 69 with 80. Skydio is ahead on production and commercials. Zipline is ahead on progress and firepower. Level on deployment, technology, positioning and leverage. Skydio is based in San Mateo, United States, Zipline in South San Francisco, United States. Skydio: Private, founded 2014. Skydio is named in 4 signals and Zipline in 51.

Skydio →

San Mateo, California, United States · Robotics · Systems / Drones & aerial · Private · founded 2014 · www.skydio.com

Skydio builds and sells autonomous drones, including the Skydio X10, for aerial operations in low-light and other environments.

Robotics 100 · rank 69 · score 80

Scores, Robotics (of 10)

Deployment8
Production8
Commercials8
Progress8
Technology8
Positioning8
Firepower8
Leverage8

Darker bar: ahead of the other company on that measure.

Positioning

Skydio is a US drone maker (60,000 cumulative units, the largest US drone factory, a $3.5B expansion announced) with nine-figure annual revenue, serving 1,200+ public-safety agencies and 45 of 51 state DOTs. It raised a $110M Series F at a $4.4B valuation (April 2026), won a $52M US Army order for 2,500+ X10D drones, and signed a CentralSquare DFR partnership, though it lost the Minneapolis DFR contract (July 2026). Revenue is estimated at 100-500m.

Latest signals

  • L3Harris Technologies and Skydio are integrating tactical radio technology into U.S. military drones.Interesting Engineering
  • Skydio introduces the F10 drone modelIEEE Spectrum Robotics
  • Encord’s platform supports multimodal data workflows for more than 300 AI teams.EU-Startups

4 signals name Skydio.

Facts, with sources

  • Series F; $4.4B valuation; US manufacturing pushskydio.com
  • [object Object]skydio.com
  • 201-1000 (est)skydio.com

9 facts on file.

Zipline →

South San Francisco, California, United States · Robotics · Systems / Drones & aerial · flyzipline.com

Zipline builds autonomous drone-delivery systems and operates them for healthcare and commercial deliveries. Its core business is the design and deployment of aerial robotic systems.

Robotics 100 · rank 66 · score 81

Scores, Robotics (of 10)

Deployment8
Production6
Commercials4
Progress10
Technology8
Positioning8
Firepower10
Leverage8

Darker bar: ahead of the other company on that measure.

Positioning

Zipline is a US drone-delivery company that passed 2M+ commercial deliveries by January 2026 with 15% week-over-week US growth, and raised a $600M round at a $7.6B valuation in January 2026. It signed a strategic Uber Eats partnership plus an Uber investment (August 2026) targeting 1M deliveries a day by 2029, and launched in Houston and Phoenix, growing businesses on the platform 13x in H1-26. Revenue is undisclosed (delivery scale is the proxy).

Latest signals

  • Family offices are seeking late-stage exposure to deals involving Zipline, Vast, and Atoms.All-In Podcast
  • Zipline surpassed 2.5 million cumulative autonomous deliveries.ARK Invest
  • Walmart surpassed 1 million autonomous drone deliveries.ARK Invest

51 signals name Zipline.

Facts, with sources

  • [object Object]a16z — 2026-09-18
  • AI-driven autonomous drones for medical delivery in areas of needa16z — 2026-09-18
  • Partnership with Uber on drone deliveryTechCrunch

14 facts on file.

More comparisons

Questions this page answers

Skydio or Zipline: which is ahead in robotics?

Zipline ranks 66 on the Robotics 100 with a score of 81; Skydio ranks 69 with 80. Skydio is ahead on production and commercials. Zipline is ahead on progress and firepower. Level on deployment, technology, positioning and leverage. Skydio is based in San Mateo, United States, Zipline in South San Francisco, United States. Skydio: Private, founded 2014. Skydio is named in 4 signals and Zipline in 51.

How do Skydio and Zipline compare?

Zipline ranks 66 on the Robotics 100 with a score of 81; Skydio ranks 69 with 80. Skydio is ahead on production and commercials. Zipline is ahead on progress and firepower. Level on deployment, technology, positioning and leverage. Skydio is based in San Mateo, United States, Zipline in South San Francisco, United States. Skydio: Private, founded 2014. Skydio is named in 4 signals and Zipline in 51. Both company files carry the scores on eight measures, the facts with sources and the latest signals.

Every comparison here comes from the same files members use every day.

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