OpenClaw vs Sauna

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

Sauna

• People who want to message an agent from iMessage, Slack or email
• Small teams that want one agent sharing context and memory
• Recurring briefings and follow-ups that should run while you are offline

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.

Sauna

• The Lite plan runs only on the Sauna Lite model; access to all LLMs starts at Basic for $99 a month.
• Billing is monthly only, with no annual option and no trial period on paid plans.
• Usage is metered in credits with no published per-operation rates, and unused daily and monthly allowances do not roll over.
• Shared folders need Pro, and Brain Access and browser automation are listed only on the $999 Team plan.

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.

Sauna

One agent on several surfaces

The same agent and memory are available in the web app and iOS app and by iMessage, Slack, email and Superhuman, including by forwarding a message or copying Sauna on a thread.

Persistent memory

Keeps workspace notes for lasting preferences and conventions alongside a searchable history of past conversations, so a new session starts with context.

Scheduled tasks

A saved prompt can run once, hourly, daily, on weekdays or weekly, with the result delivered to the web dashboard, iMessage or email.

Connections

A library of thousands of apps that allows several accounts per app, plus custom connections added with an API key or an MCP server URL.

Spaces, Brain Access and Shared Folders

Spaces are shared project workspaces. Brain Access opens your whole Sauna to one person, and Shared Folders share one slice of your knowledge, read-only or read and write.

Apps

Sauna builds small custom apps, such as a CRM or an expense approvals tool, on top of your connected data, with a docked chat for changes and sharing through Spaces.

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.

Sauna

• Free$0

  100 credits per day, or 200 with a verified payment card on file, and no monthly allowance.

• Lite$29

  per month, billed monthly

  Runs on the Sauna Lite model, with iMessage and Slack connect, 3,000+ integrations, cloud storage and persistent memory.

• Basic$99

  per month, billed monthly

  Everything in Lite plus access to all LLMs. Sauna's guide and terms both list 6,000 credits a month.

• Pro$299

  per month, billed monthly

  Everything in Basic plus shared folders and custom models. The guide lists 24,000 credits a month; the terms list 18,000.

• Team$999

  per month, billed monthly

  Everything in Pro plus Brain Access, expanded custom models and browser automation, with 60,000 credits a month shared across the team.

OpenClaw

No public discounts listed.

Sauna

• Other savings

  1,000 credits for each accepted invite

  Sauna's terms say that when someone you invite creates an account and accepts, you and the recipient each receive 1,000 credits in your balance.