Types of Multirotor Drones

Multirotors come in many flavors, and the number of rotors isn’t just for show. Each configuration represents a different set of trade-offs between cost, payload capacity, flight time, and safety.

Let’s walk through the main types, from the simplest to the most capable.

Tricopter (3 Rotors)—The Rare Breed

The tricopter is the odd one out. With only three rotors, it’s the simplest multirotor design — and the least common.
How it works: Unlike quadcopters that cancel torque with counter-rotating pairs, a tricopter uses a servo to tilt one of its rear motors. This provides yaw control.

Pros:

• Easy and affordable to build
• Reduced airframe drag
• Better maneuverability than other multirotors

Cons:

• Less stable than quadcopters or hexacopters
• No motor redundancy — one failure means a crash
• More difficult to balance the center of gravity

Where you’ll find them: Tricopters were more popular in the early days of DIY drone building when brushless motors were scarce and expensive. Today, they’re a niche curiosity—interesting from an engineering perspective, but rarely used in commercial or industrial applications.

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Quadcopter (4 Rotors)—The Industry Standard

The quadcopter is the drone configuration you’ve seen a thousand times. Four rotors, arranged in a square or X pattern, with two spinning clockwise and two counterclockwise. It’s the default choice for everything from $50 toys to $20,000 enterprise platforms.

Why it dominates: The quadcopter hits a sweet spot. It’s mechanically simple, relatively affordable, and performs well across a wide range of tasks.

Pros:

• Simple design, easy to build and maintain
• Lightweight and portable
• Affordable—commercial quads typically range from $2,000 to $20,000
• Good wind stability (5-7 level wind resistance)
• Flight time around 30 minutes with a typical payload

Cons:

• No redundancy—if one motor or ESC fails, the quadcopter crashes. Period. There is no recovery.
• Limited payload capacity compared to hexacopters or octocopters

Best for: Aerial photography, lightweight inspections, rapid deployment, and any mission where portability and cost matter more than payload or redundancy.

Configurations: Quadcopters come in two main layouts: the X configuration (front between two arms — the most common, seen on DJI Phantoms) and the + configuration (front on an arm, favored by some acrobatic pilots).

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Hexacopter (6 Rotors)—The Professional’s Choice

Add two more rotors, and you get a hexacopter. Six motors are arranged in a hexagonal pattern, three spinning clockwise and three counterclockwise.

What makes it special? The hexacopter is the first configuration on this list that offers motor redundancy—if one motor fails, the flight controller can compensate and the drone can still fly (or at least execute a controlled landing).

Pros:

• Motor redundancy — can fly with five of six motors
• Higher payload capacity than quadcopters
• More stable and smoother in flight
• Better suited for heavy mission payloads like LiDAR, thermal sensors, and multispectral cameras

Cons:

• More expensive—roughly 40–60% higher cost than an equivalent quad
• Heavier (+20–30%)
• More complex to build and maintain
• Slightly less efficient due to the weight of extra motors and ESCs

The payload math: A hexacopter with six motors producing 1.2 kg of thrust each delivers 7.2 kg total thrust. An equivalent quad with four of the same motors delivers only 4.8 kg. For payloads above 500 g, the hexacopter actually becomes more efficient than a quad—the extra motors are carrying their own weight and more.

Best for: Professional cinematography, LiDAR mapping, public safety, agriculture, and any mission where you’re carrying expensive payloads and can’t afford to crash. The JOUAV PH-20 is a strong example—a heavy-lift hexacopter with a 10 kg payload, 55 min flight time with full capacity, and IP45-rated durability for industrial missions.

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Octocopter (8 Rotors)—Maximum Redundancy, Maximum Payload

Eight rotors. Eight motors. Eight ESCs. The octocopter is the heavy lifter of the multirotor world.

Pros:

• Dual motor redundancy—can continue flying even after two motor failures
• Highest payload capacity—some platforms carry 50–70 kg
• Exceptional stability
• Excellent handling in high wind

Cons:

• Expensive
• Heavy and less efficient
• Complex maintenance
• Higher battery requirements

Real-world examples: The ATLAS 8 octocopter carries 50–60 kg payloads for cargo delivery. The Malloy T-150 is used by militaries to deliver ammunition and medical supplies to frontline positions. ASW’s Heavy Lift Multirotor (HLM) octocopter carries 66 lbs (30 kg) and is built from aircraft-grade carbon fiber.

Best for: Heavy-lift cargo delivery, military logistics, firefighting, and any mission that demands maximum payload capacity and redundancy.

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X8 Coaxial—The Compact Heavy Lifter

The X8 looks like a quadcopter—four arms—but each arm carries two motors, one on top and one on bottom, spinning in opposite directions. That’s eight motors total, packed into a quadcopter-sized frame.

Why choose X8 over a flat octocopter? The X8 delivers the lift and redundancy of an octocopter in a more compact package. It’s ideal when you need heavy-lift capability but can’t accommodate the physical footprint of eight separate arms.

Pros:

• Increased lift in a compact frame
• Motor redundancy
• Superior handling in high wind

Cons:

• Efficiency loss of ~15–30%—the lower propeller operates in the prop wash of the upper propeller, reducing its effectiveness
• More complex to build and tune
• Doubled failure points—more motors means more things that can break

Where you’ll find X8s: Almost exclusively in professional, heavy-lift applications such as aerial cinematography and industrial cargo transport.

Quick Reference: Which Multirotor Should You Choose?