{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "ironclaw", "name": "IronClaw", "vendor": "NEAR AI", "vendorUrl": "https://www.ironclaw.com", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "IronClaw is an open-source personal AI assistant written in Rust by NEAR AI. The owner runs it as a local service with a web interface, Slack and Telegram channels, Google and GitHub extensions, scheduled automations and persistent memory.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ironclaw", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ironclaw.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ironclaw.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ironclaw.json", "repo": "https://github.com/nearai/ironclaw", "license": "MIT OR Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "`ironclaw onboard` writes a bearer token to `~/.ironclaw/reborn/webui-token` and prints a login link that carries it as a `token` query parameter. The same token authorises the web interface and the Responses API with operator rights. Multi-user deployments can add Google or GitHub single sign-on and per-user API tokens with owner, admin or member roles. Connected accounts use OAuth (Google, Slack), a Telegram pairing code, or keys held in the encrypted secret store. The web interface binds to 127.0.0.1:3000 unless `--host` is changed (https://docs.ironclaw.com/using/webui.md).", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free to self-host under MIT or Apache-2.0, with model usage billed by whichever provider the owner selects, or nothing with Ollama. NEAR AI sells hosted instances on ironclaw.com as Starter (shown as $5 beside $0 a month, 1 agent, $5 credits), Basic at $20 a month (2 agents, $20 credits) and Pro+ at $200 a month (5 agents, $200 credits). The page does not say whether a card is needed. NEAR AI Cloud inference is priced per million tokens on near.ai/pricing (checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "$20 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the release notes (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 12648, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.ironclaw.com", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.ironclaw.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "rust", "wasm", "telegram", "slack", "gmail", "mcp", "hosted-option", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-29", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 66.7, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 288, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 5, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 69, "maintenance": 74, "payments": 60, "reliability": 67, "schema": 74, "security": 66, "transparency": 75 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-10-12. The ironclaw.com home page lists Discord and Signal among integrations, while the channel docs for the current release say Discord, Signal, WeChat and WeCom are not part of the 1.0 release, which shipped on 27 July 2026. The docs site also says it documents the latest stable release while its heartbeat, cron, shell and WASM pages name settings absent from the 1.4.1 source. A misleading claim, at the minimum, -2. https://www.ironclaw.com/; https://docs.ironclaw.com/channels/overview.md; https://github.com/nearai/ironclaw/blob/ironclaw-v1.4.1/docs/capabilities/routines/heartbeat.mdx" ], "verdict": "Credentials stay in an encrypted store and are injected at the host boundary, and extensions declare per-tool permissions, network targets and OAuth scopes. The global auto-approve setting defaults to on in the 1.4.1 source, so tools marked ask, such as `gmail.send_message`, run unprompted until the owner turns it off.", "bestFor": "One technical owner who wants a self-hosted assistant over Gmail, Calendar, Slack and Telegram with credentials kept out of the model's reach.", "strengths": [ "Dual MIT or Apache-2.0 licence, with installers for seven targets on GitHub releases and no account needed to run it", "Each extension tool declares a default permission, effects, network targets and OAuth scopes in `manifest.toml`. Gmail reads use `gmail.readonly` and sends use `gmail.send`", "Secrets are encrypted with AES-256-GCM per the README, with the master key in the OS keychain, and are injected into requests outside the sandbox", "No analytics library was found in the 1.4.1 source. Trace Commons is opt-in and has no default endpoint", "Six stable releases between 27 July and 29 September 2026, each with dated notes and upgrade steps" ], "weaknesses": [ "Global auto-approve defaults to on in the 1.4.1 source, so tools marked ask (send, trash, delete) run without a prompt. Only financial, approval and budget effects always ask", "The `main` branch has had no commit since 10 September 2026, and open reports filed since mid-September show no replies. 1,363 issues and 183 pull requests are open", "Docs pages for heartbeat, cron, shell and WASM limits name settings such as `HEARTBEAT_ENABLED` and `ALLOW_LOCAL_TOOLS` that do not appear in the 1.4.1 source", "No SECURITY.md, security.txt or published GitHub advisory was found", "The home page lists Discord and Signal integrations, while the channel docs say both are not part of the 1.0 release" ], "agentNotes": [ "Open Settings and turn off global auto-approve, or set send and delete tools to ask each time, before connecting mail or chat accounts", "Install with the release installer and run `ironclaw onboard`. 1.x does not migrate 0.29 data, so use a fresh home directory", "Call `POST /api/v1/responses` with the bearer token from `~/.ironclaw/reborn/webui-token`. Keep under 30 requests in 60 seconds", "Resolve approval and OAuth gates in the web interface. The Responses API fails the turn instead of surfacing them", "Connect MCP servers over HTTP only. The stdio transport is rejected" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 66.7 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 69, "maintenance": 74, "payments": 60, "reliability": 67, "schema": 74, "security": 66, "transparency": 79 }, "provenanceScore": 71 }, "connect": { "install": "IRONCLAW_RELEASE_TAG=ironclaw-v1.4.1\ncurl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf \"https://github.com/nearai/ironclaw/releases/download/${IRONCLAW_RELEASE_TAG}/ironclaw-installer.sh\" | sh\nironclaw onboard" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/ironclaw" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Hosted Basic plan (2 agents, $20 credits)", "unit": "month", "usd": 20, "note": "NEAR AI Cloud, per ironclaw.com" }, { "item": "Hosted Pro+ plan (5 agents, $200 credits)", "unit": "month", "usd": 200, "note": "NEAR AI Cloud, per ironclaw.com" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Jasnah, Inc. d/b/a NEAR AI", "domain": "ironclaw.com", "domainRegistered": "2018-01-04", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "https://near.ai/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/nearai/ironclaw/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The NEAR AI terms of service (updated 24 September 2026) name Jasnah, Inc. d/b/a NEAR AI under Delaware law and cover NEAR AI Cloud and its API. They do not mention IronClaw or agent hosting, so no terms link is set and the MIT or Apache-2.0 licence stands in for the self-hosted software.", "The privacy policy (updated 4 September 2026) lists ironclaw.com, agent.near.ai, the IronClaw framework and IronHub among what it covers.", "The ironclaw.com home page says Built by Near Foundation and its footer says by NEAR AI.", "security.txt answered 404 on www.ironclaw.com, docs.ironclaw.com and near.ai.", "RDAP for ironclaw.com gives a registration date of 2018-01-04 and Cloudflare, Inc. as registrar, last changed 2026-04-20.", "A self-hosted instance answers on its owner's own host. Hosted instances answer at \u003cinstance-id\u003e.agents.near.ai per the quickstart." ], "score": 71 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ironclaw.json" }, "answer": "IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "openai-dots", "name": "Dots", "vendor": "OpenAI", "vendorUrl": "https://chatgpt.com", "kind": "platform", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Dots is OpenAI's always-on agent inside ChatGPT, in beta. Each dot has a cloud computer and browser, keeps notes, works between conversations across connected apps, and answers in ChatGPT, by voice call, Slack and Teams.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.json", "license": "Proprietary hosted service. The governing terms were not read", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "A person signs in to ChatGPT on an eligible plan and creates a dot in the mobile app, desktop app or a desktop browser. No API key or other credential for outside programs was found. Apps are reached through plugins connected to the ChatGPT account, each with its own connected account and allowed actions. Website logins go through a private form to the cloud browser outside the conversation, sessions last until sign-out or expiry, and reusing a saved login needs confirmation. A local computer is connected with Allow access and removed with Revoke access. Where tokens and saved passwords are stored is not stated (https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/computers-and-apps; https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/getting-started).", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "Included with ChatGPT Pro at $100, $200 or $500 a month, Business Premium (price not found on the pages read) and Enterprise through sales. Conversations with a dot do not count towards ChatGPT usage limits. Tasks it starts in ChatGPT Work or Codex count towards those limits. The plan includes an allowance for deeper work with no figure given, extended for the first month after launch. No free tier or trial for dots was found (https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots#access; https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing, checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "$100 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Dots docs, the admin guide or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots", "llmsTxt": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory", "assistant.messaging" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "closed-source", "beta", "chatgpt", "slack", "teams", "voice", "cloud-browser", "approvals", "paid", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-09", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 28.3, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 973, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 17, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 22, "maintenance": 38, "payments": 10, "reliability": 3, "schema": 41, "security": 58, "transparency": 31 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read.", "bestFor": "A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.", "strengths": [ "An automatic review checks each action that could affect accounts or share information against instructions, permissions and custom rules before it runs", "Custom rules have four settings, from acting without asking to handing the step to the owner, and app permissions can allow reading mail without sending", "Proactive research uses tools that cannot send messages, change app content or control a browser or computer, per the docs", "Website passwords are entered in a private form outside the conversation, and reusing a saved login needs the owner's confirmation", "Six docs pages with Markdown twins listed in llms.txt, and a dated release note for dots on 9 October 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha", "No way to view or delete individual saved notes is documented. The admin guide's link to reset options lands on the section for deleting the whole dot", "Custom rules are described as instructions the dot tries to follow and can get wrong, and an authorised write can run without a prompt where policy allows", "Pro consumer accounts in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are excluded, and the plan's allowance for deeper work has no published figure", "No status page, service terms or privacy policy is linked from the Dots docs, and openai.com and help.openai.com refused our reader", "No API, MCP endpoint or other documented way for an outside program to message a dot was found" ], "agentNotes": [ "Say what may be sent. Asking a dot to draft replies does not permit sending them, and an action outside a stated scope needs another decision", "Stop three things separately. Pause stops the main task only, delegated tasks stop in Activity and recurring tasks in Scheduled, and completed actions are not undone", "Connect each thing separately. A messaging channel grants no access to an inbox, an app or a computer", "Sign out of websites and disconnect apps yourself when removing access. Revoking dots access or disconnecting an app does not delete information already obtained", "Keep the connected computer online with the ChatGPT app open for local work. Only one personal computer can be connected at a time" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 28.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 22, "maintenance": 38, "payments": 10, "reliability": 3, "schema": 41, "security": 58, "transparency": 26 }, "provenanceScore": 36 }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openai-dots" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Pro 100", "unit": "month", "usd": 100, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan, includes dots with an allowance for deeper work that has no published figure" }, { "item": "Pro 200", "unit": "month", "usd": 200, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan" }, { "item": "Pro 500", "unit": "month", "usd": 500, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "", "domain": "chatgpt.com", "domainRegistered": "2022-11-30", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/whats-new", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "No page we read names the legal entity or the documents that govern Dots. The docs footer links https://openai.com/policies, which answered 403 to our reader, so `terms` and `privacy` are left out. OpenAI's other listings here link https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/ and https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/. Neither was read today, and whether the consumer Terms of Use govern Pro accounts was not established.", "No status page is linked from the Dots docs, the admin guide, the pricing page or the release notes we read.", "learn.chatgpt.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404. chatgpt.com is closed to Anthropic agents by its robots.txt and openai.com answered 403 on the one page requested, so neither host's security.txt was requested.", "The .com registry's RDAP record gives 30 November 2022 as the registration date of chatgpt.com, registrar MarkMonitor Inc.", "learn.chatgpt.com/robots.txt answered 200 and allows every path. help.openai.com/robots.txt allows the article paths, and four linked articles answered 403 with a JavaScript check. cdn.openai.com/robots.txt answered 404." ], "score": 36 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Platform", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "NEAR AI", "b": "OpenAI", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Paid", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT OR Apache-2.0", "b": "Proprietary hosted service. The governing terms were not read", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-29", "b": "2026-10-09", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no date given", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "13k stars", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, IronClaw or Dots?" }, { "answer": "IronClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Dots.", "question": "Are IronClaw and Dots open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 67 against 3", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 74 against 41", "Agent ergonomics, 69 against 22", "Security \u0026 auth, 66 against 58", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 10", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 74 against 38", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 75 against 31" ], "also": [ "Open source" ], "goodFor": "One technical owner who wants a self-hosted assistant over Gmail, Calendar, Slack and Telegram with credentials kept out of the model's reach.", "slug": "ironclaw", "watchFor": "Global auto-approve defaults to on in the 1.4.1 source, so tools marked ask (send, trash, delete) run without a prompt. Only financial, approval and budget effects always ask" }, { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.", "slug": "openai-dots", "watchFor": "Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha" } ], "job": { "capability": "assistant.proactive", "name": "Assistant proactive" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "AstrBot vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "AstrBot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "CowAgent vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "CowAgent vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "GAIA vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "Haven vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Haven vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Instinct vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-leon.json", "title": "IronClaw vs Leon", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-leon" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-lindy.json", "title": "IronClaw vs Lindy", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-lindy" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "IronClaw vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-poke.json", "title": "IronClaw vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "IronClaw vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zo-computer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Leon vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Lindy vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "nanobot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.json", "title": "Dots vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "Dots vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "Dots vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 64, "edge": "ironclaw", "ironclaw": 67, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "openai-dots": 3, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 33, "edge": "ironclaw", "ironclaw": 74, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "openai-dots": 41, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 47, "edge": "ironclaw", "ironclaw": 69, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "openai-dots": 22, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 8, "edge": "ironclaw", "ironclaw": 66, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "openai-dots": 58, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 50, "edge": "ironclaw", "ironclaw": 60, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "openai-dots": 10, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 36, "edge": "ironclaw", "ironclaw": 74, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "openai-dots": 38, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 44, "edge": "ironclaw", "ironclaw": 75, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "openai-dots": 31, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.", "verdicts": { "ironclaw": "Credentials stay in an encrypted store and are injected at the host boundary, and extensions declare per-tool permissions, network targets and OAuth scopes. The global auto-approve setting defaults to on in the 1.4.1 source, so tools marked ask, such as `gmail.send_message`, run unprompted until the owner turns it off.", "openai-dots": "Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.min.md" }, "markdown": "IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.\n\n- IronClaw: grade B, 66.7/100, rank #288 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ironclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ironclaw.json\n- Dots: grade F, 28.3/100, rank #973 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.json\n- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md\n- All 190 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### IronClaw (B)\n\nGood for: One technical owner who wants a self-hosted assistant over Gmail, Calendar, Slack and Telegram with credentials kept out of the model's reach.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 67 against 3\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 74 against 41\n- Agent ergonomics, 69 against 22\n- Security \u0026 auth, 66 against 58\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 10\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 74 against 38\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 75 against 31\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: Global auto-approve defaults to on in the 1.4.1 source, so tools marked ask (send, trash, delete) run without a prompt. Only financial, approval and budget effects always ask\n\n### Dots (F)\n\nGood for: A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.\n\nWatch for: Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | IronClaw | Dots | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 3 | IronClaw +64 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 41 | IronClaw +33 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 22 | IronClaw +47 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 58 | IronClaw +8 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 10 | IronClaw +50 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 38 | IronClaw +36 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 31 | IronClaw +44 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **66.7 · B** | **28.3 · F** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | IronClaw | Dots |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Platform |\n| Vendor | NEAR AI | OpenAI |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT OR Apache-2.0 | Proprietary hosted service. The governing terms were not read |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-10-09 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | |\n| Popularity | 13k stars | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**IronClaw.** Credentials stay in an encrypted store and are injected at the host boundary, and extensions declare per-tool permissions, network targets and OAuth scopes. The global auto-approve setting defaults to on in the 1.4.1 source, so tools marked ask, such as `gmail.send_message`, run unprompted until the owner turns it off.\n\n**Dots.** Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### IronClaw\n\n1. Open Settings and turn off global auto-approve, or set send and delete tools to ask each time, before connecting mail or chat accounts\n2. Install with the release installer and run `ironclaw onboard`. 1.x does not migrate 0.29 data, so use a fresh home directory\n3. Call `POST /api/v1/responses` with the bearer token from `~/.ironclaw/reborn/webui-token`. Keep under 30 requests in 60 seconds\n4. Resolve approval and OAuth gates in the web interface. The Responses API fails the turn instead of surfacing them\n5. Connect MCP servers over HTTP only. The stdio transport is rejected\n\n### Dots\n\n1. Say what may be sent. Asking a dot to draft replies does not permit sending them, and an action outside a stated scope needs another decision\n2. Stop three things separately. Pause stops the main task only, delegated tasks stop in Activity and recurring tasks in Scheduled, and completed actions are not undone\n3. Connect each thing separately. A messaging channel grants no access to an inbox, an app or a computer\n4. Sign out of websites and disconnect apps yourself when removing access. Revoking dots access or disconnecting an app does not delete information already obtained\n5. Keep the connected computer online with the ChatGPT app open for local work. Only one personal computer can be connected at a time\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, IronClaw or Dots?\n\nIronClaw scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Are IronClaw and Dots open source?\n\nIronClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Dots.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"ironclaw\", \"b\": \"openai-dots\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare ironclaw openai-dots`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ironclaw.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.json\n\n## Other comparisons with IronClaw or Dots\n\n- [AstrBot vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [AstrBot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [CowAgent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [GAIA vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Haven vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [Haven vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Instinct vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [IronClaw vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-leon.md)\n- [IronClaw vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-lindy.md)\n- [IronClaw vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [IronClaw vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-poke.md)\n- [IronClaw vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zo-computer.md)\n- [Leon vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Lindy vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [nanobot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Dots vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.md)\n- [Dots vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [Dots vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zo-computer.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-12", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "IronClaw vs Dots", "url": "" } ], "description": "IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) to Dots's 28.3 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "IronClaw B 66.7", "Dots F 28.3", "scores" ], "h1": "IronClaw vs Dots", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.png", "path": "/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "IronClaw vs Dots for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2550, "slim": 530 }, "version": 1 }