# Brea vs ZeroClaw

> ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) to Brea's 12.9 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zeroclaw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zeroclaw.md (~3,350 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zeroclaw.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-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 Brea's 12.9 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message.

- Brea: grade F, 12.9/100, rank #1001 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/brea.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/brea.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

### Brea (F)

Good for: An iPhone user who wants an assistant across many apps and websites with per-action approval.

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 10
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 0
- Security & auth, 76 against 7
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 4
- Transparency & trust, 64 against 48

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 | Brea | 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) | 10 | 82 | ZeroClaw +72 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 72 | ZeroClaw +72 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 7 | 76 | ZeroClaw +69 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 60 | ZeroClaw +40 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 4 | 80 | ZeroClaw +76 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 48 | 64 | ZeroClaw +16 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **12.9 · F** | **70.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Brea | ZeroClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Brea AI LLC | ZeroClaw Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Closed service under Brea's terms (Brea AI LLC, last updated 2 July 2026). | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | 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

**Brea.** Brea is an iMessage assistant with a free plan that needs no card, approval by reply before it sends, deletes or pays, and one-time Link cards for purchases. No outside agent can call it, paid prices sit inside the app, and no changelog or subprocessor list 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

### Brea

1. Don't plan to call Brea from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage thread.
2. Tell the owner that replying ALWAYS stops Brea asking again for that action.

### 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, Brea or ZeroClaw?

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Brea's 12.9 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Are Brea and ZeroClaw open source?

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


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Brea or ZeroClaw

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

## Disclosure

- Brea 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.