# Boba vs ZeroClaw

> ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) to Boba's 10.3 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.md (~3,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-13

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Boba's 10.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message.

- Boba: grade F, 10.3/100, rank #1004 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/boba.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/boba.json
- ZeroClaw: grade BB, 70.2/100, rank #161 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.json
- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md
- All 834 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Boba (F)

Good for: Groups who want a free assistant inside a shared chat for planning, drafting and images.

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where ZeroClaw loses 3 points for them

Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent.

### ZeroClaw (BB)

Good for: One person who wants an assistant on their own hardware that answers on Telegram, Discord, Matrix or email, asks before it writes or runs commands, and works with a local model.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 74 against 15
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 0
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 0
- Security & auth, 76 against 0
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 2
- Transparency & trust, 64 against 39

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: The docs state that command execution is not audited. `[security.audit]` records certificate events only, and tool receipts are opt-in and not durable


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Boba | ZeroClaw | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 15 | 74 | ZeroClaw +59 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 82 | ZeroClaw +82 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 72 | ZeroClaw +72 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 0 | 76 | ZeroClaw +76 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 60 | ZeroClaw +30 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 2 | 80 | ZeroClaw +78 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 39 | 64 | ZeroClaw +25 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **10.3 · F** | **70.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Boba | ZeroClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |
| Vendor | humans& ai, inc. | ZeroClaw Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Closed service under Boba's Terms of Service (humans& ai, inc., last updated 5 October 2026). | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | none | 2026-09-05 |
| Terms last updated |  | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated |  | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | none | 33k stars |

## Verdicts

**Boba.** Boba is a free texting assistant for one-to-one and group chats over iMessage, RCS and SMS, started by sending one message with no card or app. No outside agent can call it, its privacy notice uses inputs and outputs to train its models with no opt-out found, and no status page or security contact was found.

**ZeroClaw.** Supervised autonomy is the default, so tools outside a short read-only list wait for the owner's approval, and secrets are encrypted in the config file. The docs state that command execution is not written to an audit log, and the project publishes no privacy policy or terms.

## Before you call either

### Boba

1. Don't plan to call Boba from another agent. It answers only text messages in the Messages app.
2. Tell people in a group chat that messages sent to Boba may be used to train its models.

### ZeroClaw

1. Keep `[risk_profiles.<alias>] level = "supervised"`. `full` runs every tool not listed in `always_ask`, and the YOLO preset removes the sandbox and path rules too
2. Add sending and account tools such as `send_via`, `google_workspace` and `http_request` to `always_ask` so a session-level Always grant cannot skip the prompt
3. List senders in `[peer_groups.<name>] external_peers`. `["*"]` accepts anyone on that channel
4. Set `[web_fetch].allowed_domains` and `[http_request].allowed_domains`. Fetches run unprompted and the OS sandbox does not block egress
5. Run one-shot tasks with `zeroclaw agent -a <alias> -m "<task>"`. A cron or webhook turn has no prompt, so shell calls fall to the command policy

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Boba or ZeroClaw?

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Boba's 10.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Are Boba and ZeroClaw open source?

No open-source release is listed for Boba. ZeroClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "boba", "b": "zeroclaw"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare boba zeroclaw`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/boba.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.json

## Other comparisons with Boba or ZeroClaw

- [asaply vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-boba.md)
- [asaply vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Asmi vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-boba.md)
- [Asmi vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [AstrBot vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-boba.md)
- [Boba vs Boski](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-boski.md)
- [Boba vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-brea.md)
- [Boba vs Caddy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-caddy-app.md)
- [Boba vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-cowagent.md)
- [Boba vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-del.md)
- [Boba vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-folk-nozomio.md)
- [Boba vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-gaia.md)
- [Boba vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-grok-bot.md)
- [Boba vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-haven.md)
- [Boba vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-hermes-agent.md)
- [Boba vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-hirealpha.md)
- [Boba vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-instinct.md)
- [Boba vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-ironclaw.md)
- [Boba vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-lindy.md)
- [Boba vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot.md)
- [Boba vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanoclaw.md)
- [Boba vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-natura.md)
- [Boba vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openai-dots.md)
- [Boba vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openclaw.md)
- [Boba vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openinstinct.md)
- [Boba vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orbits.md)
- [Boba vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Boba vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-pally.md)
- [Boba vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-picoclaw.md)
- [Boba vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke.md)
- [Boba vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-qwenpaw.md)
- [Boba vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-szn.md)
- [Boba vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-tab-bot.md)
- [Boba vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-tomo.md)
- [Boba vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-town.md)
- [Boba vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zapia.md)
- [Boba vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zo-computer.md)
- [Brea vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Del vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [HireAlpha vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [OpenInstinct vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Orbits vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Orchid vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [szn vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/szn-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Tab vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tab-bot-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Zapia vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zapia-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [AstrBot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Boski vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Caddy vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [CowAgent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [folk vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [GAIA vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Gemini Spark vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Grok Bot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Haven vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Hermes Agent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Instinct vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [IronClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Leon vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Lindy vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [nanobot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Dots vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [OpenClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [PicoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Poke vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [QwenPaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwenpaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Town vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/town-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [ZeroClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zeroclaw-vs-zo-computer.md)
- [Natura tinyNature vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Pally vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pally-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Tomo vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomo-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Wajo (Fo) vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/wajo-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [Boba vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-gemini-spark.md)
- [Boba vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-leon.md)
- [Boba vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-talorys.md)
- [Boba vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-wajo.md)
- [Talorys vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/talorys-vs-zeroclaw.md)

## Disclosure

- Boba competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.