Is the Litter-Robot 4 worth $700+ over cheaper alternatives?

Per the verified Good Housekeeping review and the r/litterrobot long-term-ownership consensus, the LR4 trades on reliability, multi-cat tracking via the built-in scale, app polish, and Whisker's customer support, not on cleaning a fundamentally different way than $300 competitors. Owners who've cross-shopped say the premium is justified if you value years of uptime and warranty coverage; budget-minded buyers report being satisfied with mid-tier alternatives that handle the same core job.