# IronClaw vs Town > IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) to Town's 48.7 (D) for proactive personal assistants. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-town - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-town.md (~3,450 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-town.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-town.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 Town's 48.7 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Town leads on security & auth. Both do proactive personal assistants. - 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 - Town: grade D, 48.7/100, rank #834 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/town.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/town.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 35 - Schema & documentation, 74 against 33 - Agent ergonomics, 69 against 49 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 30 - Maintenance & community, 74 against 60 - Transparency & trust, 75 against 63 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 ### Town (D) Good for: An owner who wants a mail and calendar assistant whose routines other systems can trigger. Ahead on: - Security & auth, 79 against 66 Also in its favour: - Free to start without a card Watch for: The privacy policy describes training with an opt-out and the trust page says training is opt-in. ## Score by category | Category | Weight | IronClaw | Town | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 67 | 35 | IronClaw +32 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 33 | IronClaw +41 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 49 | IronClaw +20 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 66 | 79 | Town +13 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 30 | IronClaw +30 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 74 | 60 | IronClaw +14 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 63 | IronClaw +12 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **66.7 · B** | **48.7 · D** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | IronClaw | Town | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Agent harness | Platform | | Vendor | NEAR AI | Town.com, Inc. | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | HTTP | HTTP | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Freemium | Freemium | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | MIT OR Apache-2.0 | Closed service under Town's Terms of Service (Town.com, Inc., updated 21 July 2026). | | Read-only variant documented | no | yes | | llms.txt | yes | no | | Last release | 2026-09-29 | 2026-10-10 | | 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. **Town.** Town is a hosted assistant that works across the owner's mail, calendar and work apps, and other systems can start its routines through per-routine webhooks with rotatable secrets, idempotency keys and documented errors. A caller can't read a run's result. The privacy policy and trust page disagree on whether training is on by default. ## 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 ### Town 1. Start a Town routine with POST to its webhook URL, Authorization Bearer whsec_ secret, and application/json or text/plain. Expect 202 only. 2. Send X-Town-Idempotency-Key with a stable event id on every retry so Town doesn't start a second run. 3. Treat 404 as wrong secret, disabled endpoint or missing endpoint alike, and ask the owner to check Routine Settings rather than retrying. 4. Send account_email only if the owner allowed the override. It must match a connected account in full and can't widen the routine's scope. 5. Ask the owner to keep routines that act on webhook input in approval-required mode, as Town's own docs advise. ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, IronClaw or Town? IronClaw scores 66.7 (B) on agent readiness against Town's 48.7 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Town leads on security & auth. ### Are IronClaw and Town open source? IronClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Town. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-town.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-town.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "ironclaw", "b": "town"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare ironclaw town` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/ironclaw.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/town.json ## Other comparisons with IronClaw or Town - [asaply vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-ironclaw.md) - [asaply vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-town.md) - [Asmi vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Asmi vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-town.md) - [Boba vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Boba vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-town.md) - [Brea vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Brea vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-town.md) - [Del vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Del vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-town.md) - [HireAlpha vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-ironclaw.md) - [HireAlpha vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-town.md) - [IronClaw vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openinstinct.md) - [IronClaw vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits.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) - [OpenInstinct vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-town.md) - [Orbits vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-town.md) - [Orchid vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-town.md) - [szn vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/szn-vs-town.md) - [Tab vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tab-bot-vs-town.md) - [Town vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/town-vs-zapia.md) - [AstrBot vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-ironclaw.md) - [AstrBot vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-town.md) - [Boski vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Boski vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-town.md) - [Caddy vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Caddy vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-town.md) - [CowAgent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-ironclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-town.md) - [folk vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-ironclaw.md) - [folk vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-town.md) - [GAIA vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-ironclaw.md) - [GAIA vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-town.md) - [Gemini Spark vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Gemini Spark vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-town.md) - [Grok Bot vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Grok Bot vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-town.md) - [Haven vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Haven vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-town.md) - [Hermes Agent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-town.md) - [Instinct vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Instinct vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-town.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 ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Leon vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-town.md) - [Lindy vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-town.md) - [nanobot vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-town.md) - [NanoClaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-town.md) - [Dots vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-town.md) - [OpenClaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-town.md) - [PicoClaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-town.md) - [Poke vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-town.md) - [QwenPaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwenpaw-vs-town.md) - [Town vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/town-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Town vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/town-vs-zo-computer.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) - [Natura tinyNature vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-town.md) - [Pally vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pally-vs-town.md) - [Tomo vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomo-vs-town.md) - [Town vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/town-vs-wajo.md) - [IronClaw vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-talorys.md) - [Talorys vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/talorys-vs-town.md) ## Disclosure - Town 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.