Open Claw
OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant for self-hosting: runs on your hardware, responds via WhatsApp, Telegram, or Slack.
OpenClaw is an open-source framework for a personal AI assistant that you host yourself: It runs on your computer or server and responds to you on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and more than ten other channels. The project by Viennese developer Peter Steinberger became a GitHub phenomenon within weeks at the end of 2025.
You use OpenClaw as a constantly available assistant: summarizing emails, managing calendars, initiating research, controlling your smart home – all via chat message from your phone. Its strength lies in the combination of data sovereignty and free model choice, from Claude to local models.
Unlike Manus or Lindy, you don't get a ready-made platform, but rather a project to operate yourself: installation, updates, API keys, and especially security are your responsibility. A sloppily configured assistant with mail and shell access is a real security risk.
Right for developers and power users who want an assistant with full control. If you're not keen on terminals and configuration files, you're better off with Manus or ChatGPT.
Functions
- MIT License: open source and free, you only pay for the model API
- More than ten messaging channels as user interfaces
- Full data sovereignty: history and memory remain on your machine
- Active community with hundreds of contributors and rapid releases
- Runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows, extensible via Node.js
Core Functions
- Personal AI Assistant on your own hardware, from Mac mini to server
- Integration with WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, and more channels
- Flexible model selection: Claude, GPT, Gemini, or local models
- Long-term memory via files in your own file system
- Skills and plugins for tasks from calendar to smart home
Links
Alternatives to
Open Claw
Grok
Grok is xAI's AI assistant with real-time access to X: available on the web at grok.com, via app, and directly on the X platform.
Manus AI
Manus AI is an autonomous AI agent: You set a goal, and Manus researches, plans, and delivers results such as reports or websites.
Mistral
Mistral AI is Europe's best-known AI lab: open and commercial models, plus its assistant Le Chat, hosted in the EU.
Open Claw
OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant for self-hosting: runs on your hardware, responds via WhatsApp, Telegram, or Slack.