--- title: "OpenClaw review: the free self-hosted AI agent · AgentDots" description: "OpenClaw profiled: the MIT-licensed agent that lives on hardware you control, runs any model, answers in Telegram or WhatsApp, and needs securing by you." url: https://agentdots.org/agents/openclaw/ lang: en --- OpenClaw Foundation · November 24, 2025 # OpenClaw The open-source agent asks nothing of your wallet and a good deal of your attention: you choose the model, host the gateway and answer for its security. OpenClaw answers in chat apps including Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, Signal, Slack, iMessage, Matrix, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat, and it has its own apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, Android and iOS. OpenClaw is free agent software you run yourself, whether on a spare laptop, a server at home or a machine you rent. It launched on 24 November 2025 and is looked after by the OpenClaw Foundation, a non-profit answerable to no lab. Its MIT licence comes with no premium edition and no hosted version, so the only bills are for the model you plug in and, if the agent does not live at home, a small VPS, usually $5 to $20 a month. It runs wherever Node.js does. ## A gateway on your own desk Technically, OpenClaw is one gateway program acting as a go-between for your messaging apps and an AI agent. Put it on a laptop, a machine under the stairs or a rented VPS, connect a model, and from then on you simply write to it in Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal, Slack or any other of its 29 supported channels. It can handle email, calendars, files and travel on your behalf. What it remembers, the credentials it holds and its working state all remain on your own equipment, and the brain can be GPT, Claude or Gemini, or a locally hosted model with no need for the internet at all. ## The case for owning it No vendor account, no subscription and no company holding your memories. You pick the brain and settle up with its provider directly, either by the token or via a plan you already pay for, and a local model can work entirely offline. It speaks through more chat channels than any rival and works in countries that no managed agent serves, which makes it the legitimate fallback for people in places such as Russia. Rules sit in plain files, openclaw.json and AGENTS.md, and every tool carries its own setting: allowed, ask first, or denied. ## The price of freedom Every installation, update and security choice falls to you. Early builds contained a bug that let an attacker run code with a single click; internet scans counted gateways sitting open in their tens of thousands, plenty of them spilling API keys and tokens; and booby-trapped skills have done the rounds. An outside audit has since been passed, yet every release before 2026.4.22 carries known critical flaws. Bills can surprise as well: because an agent sends its lengthy context again at each step, a runaway loop can inflate model charges fast. Onboarding presumes you are at ease in a terminal. ## You are the security desk Straight after installation the gateway accepts connections from the local machine alone, insists on a token and keeps secondary sessions in a sandbox. Leave those defaults alone. Connect from elsewhere through Tailscale or an SSH tunnel instead of exposing a port, make every shell command wait for your say-so, keep the list of skills short and trusted, and run openclaw security audit after each change. Pair it with a local model and nothing need leave your machine, a promise no managed agent can make, but that privacy lasts only as long as the configuration protecting it holds. ### Suits - Developers and confident tinkerers - People who want to pick their own model - Telegram, Signal and WhatsApp users - Countries no managed agent serves ### Look elsewhere for - Anyone unwilling to maintain a server - People who put off software updates - Beginners hoping for polished onboarding OpenClaw is the most flexible agent in the almanac and the only one you truly own, paid for in maintenance rather than money. It repays the effort if a command line holds no fears for you, or if no managed agent is sold in your country. MakerOpenClaw Foundation ModelAny: Claude, GPT, Gemini or local LaunchedNovember 24, 2025 FromFree Set-up time[about 30 minutes](https://agentdots.org/setup/openclaw/) Official site[openclaw.ai](https://openclaw.ai/) ## Prices - OpenClaw (self-hosted)Free No subscription and no paid edition: the software is free, and your monthly bill is whatever the connected model and the machine running it happen to cost. [Prices →](https://agentdots.org/pricing/openclaw/) ## Compare - [OpenClaw vs Dots](https://agentdots.org/compare/dots-vs-openclaw/) - [OpenClaw vs Muse](https://agentdots.org/compare/muse-vs-openclaw/) - [OpenClaw vs Gemini Spark](https://agentdots.org/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openclaw/) - [OpenClaw vs Claude](https://agentdots.org/compare/claude-vs-openclaw/) ## The agents at a glance | The agents at a glance | [OpenClaw](https://agentdots.org/agents/openclaw/) | | --- | --- | | Keeps working when you log off Carries on with long or scheduled tasks after you close the app. | Yes | | Takes the initiative Suggests or starts useful work without being asked. | Partly | | Its own computer in the cloud Runs on a machine the provider hosts, not on your laptop. | No | | Lives in chat apps Reachable from messaging apps you already use. | Yes | | Talks by voice You can speak to it and hear answers. | Partly | | Buys things Can complete purchases or bookings for you. | Partly | | Standing rules Has a place for instructions that apply to every task. | Yes | | Choose the AI model Lets you decide which language model does the thinking. | Yes | | Run it yourself Runs on a laptop, home server or rented machine that you control. | Yes | | Free to start Has a free tier with the agent included. | Yes | | Built for teams Sold on business plans with admin controls. | Partly | A full dot means yes, a half dot means partly, an empty ring means no. ## News September 29, 2026 [GPT-6.1 Sol halves cached input, cutting the cost of long agent tasks](https://agentdots.org/news/gpt-6-1-sol-price/) ## Incidents April 23, 2026 [Claw Chain: four linked OpenClaw flaws end in takeover](https://agentdots.org/incidents/openclaw-claw-chain/) February 10, 2026 [OpenClaw gateways left open by the tens of thousands](https://agentdots.org/incidents/openclaw-exposed-gateways/) January 30, 2026 [CVE-2026-25253: a web page that hijacks OpenClaw](https://agentdots.org/incidents/openclaw-cve-2026-25253/) ## Questions readers ask ### Does OpenClaw cost anything? Not for the software, which is MIT-licensed with nothing to upgrade to. The costs sit elsewhere: the model provider bills you per token, or via a plan you are already paying for, and a server adds a small fee unless the agent runs at home. A modest VPS tends to cost between $5 and $20 a month. ### What models can OpenClaw run on? GPT, Claude and Gemini are all supported, and so are local models that work without any internet connection. If you choose a cloud model, make sure that provider actually serves your country. ### How do I set up OpenClaw with Telegram? Telegram support ships with OpenClaw. Make a bot through BotFather, paste its token when OpenClaw's onboarding asks for it, then message the bot yourself and approve the pairing code that appears for your account. ### Is OpenClaw safe to self-host? It can be, provided you run the newest release, leave the gateway listening on loopback only, make shell commands wait for approval and add skills sparingly from sources you trust. The serious incidents so far have mostly involved gateways exposed to anyone online or builds older than 2026.4.22.