# IronClaw vs Orbits > IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) to Orbits's 15.6 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits.md (~3,350 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits.min.md (~530 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits.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 IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Orbits's 15.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message. - IronClaw: grade B, 66.7/100, rank #288 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ironclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ironclaw.json - Orbits: grade F, 15.6/100, rank #997 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orbits.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orbits.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 ### IronClaw (B) Good 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. Ahead on: - Reliability, 67 against 15 - Schema & documentation, 74 against 10 - Agent ergonomics, 69 against 0 - Security & auth, 66 against 0 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 20 - Maintenance & community, 74 against 54 - Transparency & trust, 75 against 43 Also in its favour: - Open source Watch 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 ### Orbits (F) Good for: Families who want one shared assistant for calendars, lists, meals, chores and household email. Watch for: No public agent API, as llms.txt states. ## Score by category | Category | Weight | IronClaw | Orbits | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 15 | IronClaw +52 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 10 | IronClaw +64 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 0 | IronClaw +69 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 0 | IronClaw +66 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 20 | IronClaw +40 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 54 | IronClaw +20 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 43 | IronClaw +32 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **66.7 · B** | **15.6 · F** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | IronClaw | Orbits | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Agent harness | Platform | | Vendor | NEAR AI | Nemus AI, Inc. | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | HTTP | | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Freemium | Paid | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | MIT OR Apache-2.0 | Closed service under the Orbits Terms of Service (Nemus AI, Inc.). | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-10-13 | | Terms last updated | no document linked | | | Privacy policy last updated | no date given | | | 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 | 13k stars | none | ## 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. **Orbits.** Orbits is a family household app whose assistant, Bit, runs shared calendars, lists and meals, reads household email and places restaurant calls after approval, with iOS releases every week or two. No outside agent can call it, prices appear only as App Store in-app purchases, and no status page, security contact or named subprocessors were found. ## Before you call either ### IronClaw 1. Open Settings and turn off global auto-approve, or set send and delete tools to ask each time, before connecting mail or chat accounts 2. Install with the release installer and run `ironclaw onboard`. 1.x does not migrate 0.29 data, so use a fresh home directory 3. Call `POST /api/v1/responses` with the bearer token from `~/.ironclaw/reborn/webui-token`. Keep under 30 requests in 60 seconds 4. Resolve approval and OAuth gates in the web interface. The Responses API fails the turn instead of surfacing them 5. Connect MCP servers over HTTP only. The stdio transport is rejected ### Orbits 1. Don't plan to call Orbits from another agent. llms.txt says no public agent API is offered. 2. Tell the owner the assistant needs an Orbits subscription bought in the app, and that any trial appears only at purchase. ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, IronClaw or Orbits? IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Orbits's 15.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. ### Are IronClaw and Orbits open source? IronClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Orbits. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "ironclaw", "b": "orbits"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare ironclaw orbits` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ironclaw.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orbits.json ## Other comparisons with IronClaw or Orbits - [asaply vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-ironclaw.md) - [asaply vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-orbits.md) - [Asmi vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Asmi vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-orbits.md) - [AstrBot vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-orbits.md) - [Boba vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Boba vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orbits.md) - [Boski vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-orbits.md) - [Brea vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Brea vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-orbits.md) - [Caddy vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-orbits.md) - [CowAgent vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orbits.md) - [Del vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Del vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-orbits.md) - [folk vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-orbits.md) - [GAIA vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-orbits.md) - [Grok Bot vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-orbits.md) - [Haven vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-orbits.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orbits.md) - [HireAlpha vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-ironclaw.md) - [HireAlpha vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-orbits.md) - [Instinct vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-orbits.md) - [IronClaw vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openinstinct.md) - [IronClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [IronClaw vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-szn.md) - [IronClaw vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-tab-bot.md) - [IronClaw vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zapia.md) - [Lindy vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-orbits.md) - [nanobot vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orbits.md) - [NanoClaw vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-orbits.md) - [Dots vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-orbits.md) - [OpenClaw vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orbits.md) - [OpenInstinct vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orbits.md) - [Orbits vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Orbits vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-pally.md) - [Orbits vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Orbits vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-poke.md) - [Orbits vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Orbits vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-szn.md) - [Orbits vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Orbits vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-tomo.md) - [Orbits vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-town.md) - [Orbits vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zapia.md) - [Orbits vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Orbits vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zo-computer.md) - [AstrBot vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Boski vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Caddy vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-ironclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-ironclaw.md) - [folk vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-ironclaw.md) - [GAIA vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Gemini Spark vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Grok Bot vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Haven vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Instinct vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-leon.md) - [IronClaw vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-lindy.md) - [IronClaw vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanobot.md) - [IronClaw vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.md) - [IronClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-poke.md) - [IronClaw vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [IronClaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-town.md) - [IronClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Gemini Spark vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-orbits.md) - [IronClaw vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-natura.md) - [IronClaw vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-pally.md) - [IronClaw vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-tomo.md) - [IronClaw vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-wajo.md) - [Leon vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-orbits.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-orbits.md) - [Orbits vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-wajo.md) - [IronClaw vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-talorys.md) - [Orbits vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-talorys.md) ## Disclosure - Orbits 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.