# Del vs OpenClaw > OpenClaw scores 67.1 (B) to Del's 20.6 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openclaw - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openclaw.md (~3,300 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openclaw.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openclaw.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 OpenClaw scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Del's 20.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message. - Del: grade F, 20.6/100, rank #991 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/del.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/del.json - OpenClaw: grade B, 67.1/100, rank #270 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openclaw.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 ### Del (F) Good for: People who want tasks, notes, reminders and Gmail handled by text on the channel they already use. Also in its favour: - Free to start without a card - No incidents deducted, where OpenClaw loses 8 points for them Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent. ### OpenClaw (B) Good for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine across many chat apps, with their choice of model and files they can read and delete. Ahead on: - Reliability, 75 against 25 - Schema & documentation, 84 against 10 - Agent ergonomics, 77 against 0 - Security & auth, 74 against 0 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 30 - Maintenance & community, 86 against 60 - Transparency & trust, 68 against 57 Also in its favour: - Open source Watch for: Without configuration the default is full access. Host exec runs with no approval and sandboxing is off ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Del | OpenClaw | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 75 | OpenClaw +50 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 10 | 84 | OpenClaw +74 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 77 | OpenClaw +77 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 0 | 74 | OpenClaw +74 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 60 | OpenClaw +30 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 86 | OpenClaw +26 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 57 | 68 | OpenClaw +11 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -8 | | | **Total** | | **20.6 · F** | **67.1 · B** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Del | OpenClaw | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Platform | Agent harness | | Vendor | Human Interface, Inc. | OpenClaw Foundation | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Paid | Free | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Closed service under Del's Terms of Service (Human Interface, Inc., a Delaware corporation, last updated 5 August 2026). | MIT | | Read-only variant documented | no | yes | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-12 | | 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 | 392k stars | ## Verdicts **Del.** Del is a hosted texting assistant and task workspace across iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, Discord and Slack, with a near-daily public changelog and a card-free 14-day trial. No outside agent can call it, no status page or security contact was found, and recent updates let some email actions skip approval. **OpenClaw.** Self-hosted under the MIT licence, with state, memory and credentials kept on the owner's machine and no paid tier. A fresh install runs tools on the host with full access, no approval prompt and no sandbox, and the project has published 722 security advisories since January 2026, 14 of them critical. ## Before you call either ### Del 1. Don't plan to call Del from another agent. It answers only the owner's messaging threads and web workspace. 2. Tell the owner web browsing tasks are limited to five a month on Standard and unlimited on Pro. ### OpenClaw 1. Set a session permission mode of `guarded` or `workspace`, or `tools.exec.mode`, before connecting mail. The default runs host commands without approval 2. Turn on `agents.defaults.sandbox` for any agent that reads mail, web pages or attachments. Sandboxing is off by default 3. Set `tools.message.crossContext.allowAcrossProviders` and `allowWithinProvider` to `false` to confine sends to the current conversation 4. Route incoming mail to a restricted reader agent, as the IMAP and Gmail guides show, and deny `gateway`, `cron`, `sessions_spawn` and `sessions_send` for it 5. Run `openclaw security audit` after setup, and treat the Gateway token as an owner credential. `POST /tools/invoke` accepts it with full operator access ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Del or OpenClaw? OpenClaw scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Del's 20.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. ### Are Del and OpenClaw open source? No open-source release is listed for Del. OpenClaw is open source (MIT). ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openclaw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openclaw.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "del", "b": "openclaw"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare del openclaw` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/del.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openclaw.json ## Other comparisons with Del or OpenClaw - [asaply vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-del.md) - [asaply vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-openclaw.md) - [Asmi vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-del.md) - [Asmi vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-openclaw.md) - [AstrBot vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-del.md) - [Boba vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-del.md) - [Boba vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openclaw.md) - [Boski vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-del.md) - [Brea vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-del.md) - [Brea vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openclaw.md) - [Caddy vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-del.md) - [CowAgent vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-del.md) - [Del vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Del vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-gaia.md) - [Del vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-grok-bot.md) - [Del vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-haven.md) - [Del vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Del vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-hirealpha.md) - [Del vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-instinct.md) - [Del vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Del vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-lindy.md) - [Del vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-nanobot.md) - [Del vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Del vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-natura.md) - [Del vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openai-dots.md) - [Del vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openinstinct.md) - [Del vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-orbits.md) - [Del vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Del vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-pally.md) - [Del vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Del vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-poke.md) - [Del vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Del vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-szn.md) - [Del vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Del vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-tomo.md) - [Del vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-town.md) - [Del vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-zapia.md) - [Del vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Del vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-zo-computer.md) - [HireAlpha vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-openclaw.md) - [OpenClaw vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-openinstinct.md) - [OpenClaw vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orbits.md) - [OpenClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [OpenClaw vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-szn.md) - [OpenClaw vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-tab-bot.md) - [OpenClaw vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zapia.md) - [AstrBot vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openclaw.md) - [Boski vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-openclaw.md) - [Caddy vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-openclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openclaw.md) - [folk vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openclaw.md) - [GAIA vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openclaw.md) - [Gemini Spark vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openclaw.md) - [Grok Bot vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openclaw.md) - [Haven vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openclaw.md) - [Instinct vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openclaw.md) - [Leon vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openclaw.md) - [Lindy vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openclaw.md) - [nanobot vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openclaw.md) - [NanoClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw.md) - [Dots vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw.md) - [OpenClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-picoclaw.md) - [OpenClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-poke.md) - [OpenClaw vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [OpenClaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-town.md) - [OpenClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [OpenClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Del vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-gemini-spark.md) - [Del vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-leon.md) - [Del vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-wajo.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-openclaw.md) - [OpenClaw vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-pally.md) - [OpenClaw vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-tomo.md) - [OpenClaw vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-wajo.md) - [Del vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-talorys.md) - [OpenClaw vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-talorys.md) ## Disclosure - Del 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.