OpenClaw

OpenClaw is the open-source, model-agnostic personal agent framework that defined the category, the one affectionately known as the lobster. It began in late 2025, took the name OpenClaw in January 2026, and reached version 2.0 on August 30, 2026, with more than 250,000 stars on GitHub. There is no vendor cloud behind it: OpenClaw runs on your own machine or a host you choose, with the model provider you plug in.

Overview

OpenClaw runs as a long-lived gateway on your hardware and connects your agent to the chat apps you already use, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal and iMessage. From a simple message it can clear your inbox, send emails, manage your calendar, check you in for flights and run background work on a schedule. Your context, memory and skills live on your computer rather than in a walled garden, and a large community builds skills you can install from ClawHub. The project was created by Peter Steinberger and is now stewarded by a foundation.

Key Features

• Self-hosted and open source – Run the whole agent on your own machine or server, with your data under your control.
• Model-agnostic – Plug in the provider you prefer, from hosted models like Claude or GPT to local models, and switch without changing agents.
• Lives in your chat apps – One gateway reaches WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, iMessage and more.
• Persistent memory – Context and persona persist around the clock, so the agent builds on everything it has done for you.
• Proactive by default – Cron jobs, reminders, heartbeats and background tasks keep work moving without being asked.
• Extensible skills – Thousands of community skills, and the agent can build new tools and skills for itself on request.

💳 Pricing

OpenClaw is completely free software. The only costs are yours: the model usage you plug into it, whether that is a hosted model subscription, an API bill or a local model, plus whatever machine or VPS you choose to host it on.

Who Is It For

OpenClaw is for developers and power users who want a personal agent they fully own: hackable, hostable on-prem, and independent of any single model vendor or cloud.