Hugging Face has announced the launch of its open-source Reachy Mini App Store, featuring over 200 community-built applications for its affordable desktop robot, Reachy Mini, which costs $299. This initiative aims to democratize robotics by allowing users without a technical background to create and customize robot applications using the AI toolkit, ML Intern, which translates plain English commands into functional code. Since its debut in July 2025, approximately 10,000 units of Reachy Mini have been sold, representing a significant shift in accessibility for robotics development, where historically, technical expertise has been essential. The platform not only supports easy app installation and modification but also includes a browser-based simulator, enabling those without physical devices to engage with robotics software.
Joel Cohen: Joel Cohen is a retired marketing executive with no robotics or coding background. He exemplifies the app store’s accessibility by using AI agents to develop a ‘VP of Future Thinking’ facilitator app for his CEO peer groups on the Reachy Mini robot. Despite physical challenges like colorblindness, he assembled the hardware and described needs in plain English to create the functional application.
Hugging Face: Hugging Face is a New York City-based open-source platform serving as the primary hub for hosting, sharing, and deploying AI models, agents, and applications collaboratively. It launched the Reachy Mini App Store for its open-source desktop robot, acquired via Pollen Robotics, to host community-built apps and enable easy customization through AI agents. This move aims to make robotics accessible to non-experts by using natural language to generate functional software.
Clément Delangue: Clément Delangue is the co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, steering its focus on open AI and now robotics initiatives. In this news, he discussed the Reachy Mini App Store’s launch, noting how AI agents simplify app creation for testing robotics capabilities of new models. He personally built an office receptionist app to demonstrate the platform’s ease of use.
`json
{
“App Store Features”: “Hosts forkable apps with one-click installation, search functionality, and a browser-based simulation for testing without needing physical Reachy Mini hardware.”,
“Agentic Development”: “AI toolkit converts plain English descriptions into robot code, managing firmware requirements for a broad range of model-agnostic intelligence engines.”,
“Community Engagement”: “Diverse creators without robotics experience contribute apps such as emotional chess opponents, language tutors, and race commentators using the ML Intern tool.”
}
`