NanoClaw vs OpenClaw
We give NanoClaw a 3.2 GPA and OpenClaw a 3.4, out of 4.0. OpenClaw grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
OpenClaw
Open-source personal AI agent you run yourself and message in chat
Free
How we grade them
| 3.2GPANanoClawVery good | 3.4GPAOpenClawVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIt costs nothing. NanoClaw is free and open source under the MIT license, with no paid plan at all. What you do pay for is the AI model behind it, billed by the provider you connect, unless you run local Ollama models. | AIt costs nothing. OpenClaw is MIT licensed, with no paid version and no hosted tier to be sold up to. You do pay for the AI model, billed by whichever provider you connect. Local models through Ollama or LM Studio work too. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe whole product is free, with nothing held back for a paid tier. You bring the computer it runs on and your own AI provider account. | AThe whole product is free: the Gateway, the desktop and phone apps, the chat channels and the plugins. Nothing is held back. You bring the machine and your own model access. |
| Features | AMessage it from the terminal or from WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage and Teams. Each session runs in its own Docker container, API keys sit in a vault outside it, and jobs can repeat on a schedule. Templates stamp out a ready-made agent with its skills. | AIt browses the web, fills in forms, reads and writes files and runs shell commands, in a sandbox if you'd rather. It remembers people and projects between chats, answers on 29 channels, and runs jobs on a schedule or when a webhook fires. It can even write its own skills. |
| Ease of use | DYou host it yourself. Installing means git and a terminal, Docker is the only container runtime it supports, and your computer has to stay on for it to answer. There's no graphical app either: you talk to it in the terminal or in a chat app. | DYou host it yourself. There's no hosted service, so you install, run and update the Gateway on your own computer or server. The desktop apps do install it for you, which helps. You still bring your own model access. |
| Platforms and integrations | BIt runs on Mac, Linux and Windows, though Windows only through WSL2. It has no phone app of its own, so on a phone you reach it through a chat app you've connected: WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage or Microsoft Teams. | ADesktop apps for Mac, Windows and Linux, phone apps for iPhone and Android, and chat channels from WhatsApp to iMessage, plus Gmail and GitHub. One catch: the phone apps are companions, and need a Gateway running on another machine. |
| Best for | a self-hosted agent kept inside containers | a free agent on your own hardware, reached by chat |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: NanoClaw and OpenClaw. How we grade
Where they differ
- NanoClaw is free. OpenClaw is free.
- Only OpenClaw lists a web app.
- Only OpenClaw lists iOS and Android apps.
- NanoClaw also covers templates.
In commonFree planmacOSLinuxWindowsOpen sourceSelf-hostableChat assistantWorkflow automationAI agents
At a glance
| NanoClaw | OpenClaw | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The whole product is free and open source under the MIT license. You supply the computer it runs on and your own AI provider account, which the provider bills separately. | The whole product is free and MIT licensed, with no paid version or hosted tier. You supply the machine it runs on and your own model access, which the model provider bills separately. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | NanoCo | OpenClaw Foundation |
| Price read from | nanoclaw.dev | openclaw.ai |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
NanoClaw
- People who want a personal agent running on hardware they control
- Developers who want a small codebase they can read and fork
- Giving an agent shell access inside a container instead of on the host
OpenClaw
- Developers and power users who want an assistant on their own hardware
- Reaching one agent from WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack or iMessage
- Teams sharing a single gateway with sessions everyone can open
Worth knowing
NanoClaw
- There is no hosted version: you install it yourself with git and a terminal, and the computer must stay on for the agent to respond.
- The software is free, but hosted model usage is billed by the provider you connect, through a subscription or an API key.
- Docker is the only supported container runtime, and Windows is supported only through WSL2.
- The site lists no graphical app of its own: you talk to it in the terminal or through the messaging channels you connect.
OpenClaw
- There is no hosted service: you install, run and update the Gateway yourself on a computer or server.
- The software is free, but model usage is billed by whichever provider you connect, through an API key or an existing subscription.
- The iOS and Android apps are companion nodes and need a Gateway running on another machine.
- The macOS desktop app requires macOS 15 or later, and the Linux desktop app is x64 only.
Key features
NanoClaw
- Messaging channels
- Talk to agents in the terminal or connect WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage, Microsoft Teams and other channels, each installed on demand with an /add- skill.
- Container isolation
- Every active session runs in its own unprivileged Docker container and sees only the files you mount, so shell commands run inside the container rather than on your host.
- Credential vault
- By default agents never hold raw API keys: outbound requests pass through OneCLI's Agent Vault, which injects credentials at request time and applies per-agent policies and rate limits.
- Scheduled tasks
- Ask an agent in chat for a reminder or a recurring job and it creates a task on a cron-style schedule. Tasks can also be listed, paused and cancelled with the ncl admin CLI.
- Choice of model provider
- Claude is the default, Codex can be chosen during setup, and OpenCode or local Ollama models can be added later. Each agent group can use a different provider.
- Templates and skills
- A template stamps out a prebuilt agent with a persona, skills, MCP servers and paused recurring tasks, while skills add channels, providers or tools to your own fork.
OpenClaw
- Self-hosted Gateway
- One Gateway process on your own machine or server handles sessions, routing and channel connections. Desktop apps for macOS, Windows and Linux install it for you.
- Chat channels
- Message the agent from WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, iMessage and other channels, 29 in all, in direct messages and group chats.
- Bring your own model
- Works with hosted providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI and Google, with gateways such as OpenRouter, and with local models through Ollama or LM Studio.
- Persistent memory
- Remembers preferences, projects and people from one conversation to the next, with state stored on your machine rather than in a vendor cloud.
- System access and sandboxing
- Can browse the web, fill in forms, read and write files and run shell commands, with a choice between full access and a sandbox.
- Skills, plugins and automation
- Skills and plugins extend the agent, and it can write its own skills. Cron jobs, hooks and webhooks run work on a schedule or in response to events.
Plans
NanoClaw
NanoClaw (MIT licensed)Free
The complete self-hosted agent, with channels, providers and tools added as skills. Model usage is billed by the provider you connect, unless you run local Ollama models.
OpenClaw
OpenClaw (MIT licensed)Free
The complete product: Gateway, desktop and mobile apps, chat channels and plugins. Model usage is billed separately by the provider you connect.
