# nanobot vs QwenPaw

> nanobot and QwenPaw score within a point of each other for assistant proactive, 62.4 and 62.2 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-qwenpaw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-qwenpaw.md (~2,500 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-qwenpaw.min.md (~480 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-qwenpaw.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: 2026-10-12

nanobot and QwenPaw score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.4 (B) and 62.2 (B). QwenPaw leads on transparency & trust. Both do assistant proactive.

- nanobot: grade B, 62.4/100, rank #446 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanobot.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanobot.json
- QwenPaw: grade B, 62.2/100, rank #454 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/qwenpaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/qwenpaw.json
- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md
- All 190 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md

## Which one, for what

### nanobot (B)

Good for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine across many chat apps, with file-based memory and a free choice of model.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 77 against 68
- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 67
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 73

Watch for: No per-action approval was found in the docs or source. The agent sends messages, runs shell commands and edits files without asking

### QwenPaw (B)

Good for: One person who wants an assistant on Chinese and Western chat apps with scheduled digests, a consumer mailbox and file-based memory, on their own machine and with a model of their choice.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 56 against 48

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine

Watch for: Usage data is on by default, `qwenpaw init --defaults` accepts it without a prompt, and the opt-out variable is absent from the README and docs


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | nanobot | QwenPaw | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 70 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 68 | nanobot +9 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 67 | nanobot +7 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 63 | 60 | nanobot +3 |
| 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) | 82 | 73 | nanobot +9 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 48 | 56 | QwenPaw +8 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **62.4 · B** | **62.2 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | nanobot | QwenPaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | HKUDS | AgentScope |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-11 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 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 | 49k stars | 36k stars |

## Verdicts

**nanobot.** nanobot runs on the owner's machine under the MIT licence, with no telemetry found in its source and memory kept as files the owner can read and restore. No per-action approval step was found, and the shell sandbox and workspace restriction are off by default. Five security advisories were published between March and September 2026, all with fixes.

**QwenPaw.** Mail tools ask for approval by default, automatic mail handling may not delete permanently, and the security docs list what each sandbox backend fails to enforce. Usage data is sent by default, the default approval level passes every tool call no rule flags, and no privacy policy or security advisory is published.

## Before you call either

### nanobot

1. Set `tools.restrictToWorkspace` to true and `tools.exec.sandbox` to `bwrap` or `seatbelt` before giving it real accounts. Both are off by default
2. Run 0.3.0 or later. Earlier versions carry the published SSRF flaw in web fetch (GHSA-vc5v-6vwm-wf9m)
3. Keep `allowFrom` narrow on every channel and never set `["*"]` on Email, which has no pairing
4. Write secrets as `${VAR}` references in `~/.nanobot/config.json`. Plain values are stored in clear text
5. Use `nanobot -m "..."` for a one-shot run, and keep `nanobot gateway` running for channels, schedules and heartbeat

### QwenPaw

1. Set `QWENPAW_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=true` before `qwenpaw init --defaults` or `qwenpaw app`. Both send usage data without asking
2. Set `approval_level` to `STRICT` or `SMART` in `agent.json`. The default `AUTO` runs every tool call no guard rule flags
3. Set `dm_policy` and `group_policy` to `allowlist` with `allow_from` on each channel. Both default to `open`
4. Set `QWENPAW_AUTH_ENABLED=true` before binding beyond 127.0.0.1. Requests from localhost skip login even then
5. Keep mail tools on `ask` for `send_message`, `delete_message` and `delete_thread`, and turn on Mail Access Control with automatic handling

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, nanobot or QwenPaw?

nanobot and QwenPaw score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 62.4 (B) and 62.2 (B). QwenPaw leads on transparency & trust.

### Are nanobot and QwenPaw open source?

Yes. nanobot is open source (MIT). QwenPaw is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

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