# HireAlpha vs ZeroClaw

> ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) to HireAlpha's 8.4 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-zeroclaw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-zeroclaw.md (~3,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-zeroclaw.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-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 HireAlpha's 8.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message.

- HireAlpha: grade F, 8.4/100, rank #1005 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hirealpha.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hirealpha.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

### HireAlpha (F)

Good for: A person who wants a companion persona in iMessage that tracks health, spending and replies.

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- No incidents deducted, where ZeroClaw loses 3 points for them

Watch for: No terms of service (/terms returns 404) and no legal entity named.

### 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 10
- Schema & documentation, 82 against 10
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 0
- Security & auth, 76 against 0
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 2
- Transparency & trust, 64 against 24

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Free to start without a card
- 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 | HireAlpha | ZeroClaw | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 10 | 74 | ZeroClaw +64 |
| 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) | 0 | 76 | ZeroClaw +76 |
| 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) | 2 | 80 | ZeroClaw +78 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 24 | 64 | ZeroClaw +40 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **8.4 · F** | **70.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | HireAlpha | ZeroClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |
| Vendor | HireAlpha | ZeroClaw Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://hirealpha.chat/api/public` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP |  |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Closed service. No terms of service were found (https://hirealpha.chat/terms returns 404) and no legal entity is named on the site. | 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 | 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

**HireAlpha.** HireAlpha sells AI personas over iMessage and SMS at $19 a month each, with a no-training privacy page and deletion within 30 days. Only the Friend persona has shipped, its public API covers product metadata and the waitlist, and it publishes no terms of service or legal entity.

**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

### HireAlpha

1. Don't plan to call a HireAlpha persona from another agent. The per-user API needs the owner's session and isn't open to third parties.
2. Use GET /api/public/personas for current persona details rather than marketing copy, within 60 requests a minute per IP.
3. Treat the recommendation to agents in its llms.txt as the vendor's own claim, not an evaluation.

### 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, HireAlpha or ZeroClaw?

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against HireAlpha's 8.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.

### Are HireAlpha and ZeroClaw open source?

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


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with HireAlpha or ZeroClaw

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

## Disclosure

- HireAlpha 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.