PurposeIn the era of minimal-invasive surgery, the introduction of robotic liver surgery (RS) was accompanied by concerns about the increased financial expenses of the robotic technique in comparison to the established laparoscopic (LS) and conventional open surgery (OS). Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of RS, LS and OS for major hepatectomies in this study.MethodsWe analyzed financial and clinical data on patients who underwent major liver resection for benign and malign lesions from 2017 to 2019 at our department. Patients were grouped according to the technical approach in RS, LS, and OS. For better comparability, only cases stratified to the Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) H01A and H01B were included in this study. Financial expenses were compared between RS, LS, and OS. A binary logistic regression model was used to identify parameters associated with increased costs.ResultsRS, LS and OS accounted for median daily costs of 1,725 €, 1,633 € and 1,205 €, respectively (p< 0.0001). Median daily (p= 0.420) and total costs (16,648 € vs. 14,578 €,p= 0.076) were comparable between RS and LS. Increased financial expenses for RS were mainly caused by intraoperative costs (7,592 €,p< 0.0001). Length of procedure (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.7–16.9,p= 0.004), length of stay (HR [95% CI] = 8.8 [1.9–41.6],p= 0.006) and development of major complications (HR [95% CI] = 2.9 [1.7–5.1],p< 0.0001) were independently associated with higher costs.ConclusionsFrom an economic perspective, RS may be considered a valid alternative to LS for major liver resections.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00423-023-02953-x.