# LearnHarness vs OpenClaw

> OpenClaw scores 67.4 (B) to LearnHarness's 59.3 (C) for assistants that remember you. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/learnharness-vs-openclaw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/learnharness-vs-openclaw.md (~3,950 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/learnharness-vs-openclaw.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/learnharness-vs-openclaw.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
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-10-30

OpenClaw scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against LearnHarness's 59.3 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do assistants that remember you.

- LearnHarness: grade C, 59.3/100, rank #648 of 1239. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/learnharness.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/learnharness.json
- OpenClaw: grade B, 67.4/100, rank #288 of 1239. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openclaw.json
- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md
- All 1196 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md

## Which one, for what

### LearnHarness (C)

Good for: A tutor for one learner that keeps a local record of sessions and a graph of propositions and reasoning chains.

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card
- No incidents deducted, where OpenClaw loses 8 points for them

Watch for: The read, ls, find and grep tools resolve against the home directory with no allow list, and their output goes to the model provider

### OpenClaw (B)

Good for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine across many chat apps, with their choice of model and files they can read and delete.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 75 against 56
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 63
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 60
- Security & auth, 74 against 52
- Maintenance & community, 86 against 71
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 60

Watch for: Without configuration the default is full access. Host exec runs with no approval and sandboxing is off


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | LearnHarness | OpenClaw | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 56 | 75 | OpenClaw +19 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 63 | 84 | OpenClaw +21 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 60 | 77 | OpenClaw +17 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 52 | 74 | OpenClaw +22 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 71 | 86 | OpenClaw +15 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 72 | OpenClaw +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -8 | |
| **Total** | | **59.3 · C** | **67.4 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | LearnHarness | OpenClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Amos Blomqvist | OpenClaw Foundation |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | AGPL-3.0-only | MIT |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-12 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Popularity | 4.2k stars | 392k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**LearnHarness.** The in-app agent reads files but cannot change them or run commands, and a bundled skill gives other agents a documented read-only view of sessions and the knowledge graph. The project is 14 days old at 0.4.0, its file reads reach the whole home directory without approval, and it has no security policy.

**OpenClaw.** Self-hosted under the MIT licence, with state, memory and credentials kept on the owner's machine and no paid tier. A fresh install runs tools on the host with full access, no approval prompt and no sandbox, and the project has published 722 security advisories since January 2026, 14 of them critical.

## Before you call either

### LearnHarness

1. Use the bundled skill (`skills/learnharness/SKILL.md`) to read a learner's record. It needs Python 3.10 or later and writes nothing
2. Pass `--format json` before the subcommand, for example `python3 -B scripts/graph.py --format json propositions`
3. Treat stored answer keys and teacher prose as model-authored. A proposition in the graph is not evidence the learner understood it
4. Do not read `auth.json`, which sits one folder above the data folder and holds provider keys in plain text
5. Close the app or re-read when a stable snapshot matters. The readers do not lock files while the app writes

### OpenClaw

1. Set a session permission mode of `guarded` or `workspace`, or `tools.exec.mode`, before connecting mail. The default runs host commands without approval
2. Turn on `agents.defaults.sandbox` for any agent that reads mail, web pages or attachments. Sandboxing is off by default
3. Set `tools.message.crossContext.allowAcrossProviders` and `allowWithinProvider` to `false` to confine sends to the current conversation
4. Route incoming mail to a restricted reader agent, as the IMAP and Gmail guides show, and deny `gateway`, `cron`, `sessions_spawn` and `sessions_send` for it
5. Run `openclaw security audit` after setup, and treat the Gateway token as an owner credential. `POST /tools/invoke` accepts it with full operator access

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, LearnHarness or OpenClaw?

OpenClaw scores 67.4 (B) on agent readiness against LearnHarness's 59.3 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are LearnHarness and OpenClaw open source?

Yes. LearnHarness is open source (AGPL-3.0-only). OpenClaw is open source (MIT).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with LearnHarness or OpenClaw

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

---

Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp