# folk vs ZeroClaw

> ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) to folk's 19.8 (F) for proactive personal assistants. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zeroclaw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zeroclaw.md (~3,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zeroclaw.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-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 folk's 19.8 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do proactive personal assistants.

- folk: grade F, 19.8/100, rank #993 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/folk-nozomio.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/folk-nozomio.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

### folk (F)

Good for: People who want a texting companion for habits, workouts, study and money goals, with a free tier.

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 25
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 10
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 0
- Security & auth, 76 against 3
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 30
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 35

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 | folk | ZeroClaw | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 74 | ZeroClaw +49 |
| 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) | 3 | 76 | ZeroClaw +73 |
| 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) | 35 | 80 | ZeroClaw +45 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 67 | 64 | folk +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **19.8 · F** | **70.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | folk | ZeroClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Nozomio, Inc. | 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 folk's terms (Nozomio, Inc., last updated 8 September 2026). | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-12 | 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

**folk.** folk is a texting accountability assistant with its own cloud computer, a free tier with no card and a privacy policy that rules out training on user data. No outside agent can call it, no status page or changelog was found, and its llms.txt and pricing file disagree on free limits and Max's price.

**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

### folk

1. Don't plan to call folk from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage, Telegram or WhatsApp thread and iPhone app.
2. Quote limits and prices from pricing.md and the terms, and note that llms.txt gives different free-tier limits.

### 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, folk or ZeroClaw?

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against folk's 19.8 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are folk and ZeroClaw open source?

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


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with folk or ZeroClaw

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

## Disclosure

- folk 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.