# OpenClaw vs Orbits > OpenClaw scores 67.1 (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/openclaw-vs-orbits - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orbits.md (~3,350 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orbits.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-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 OpenClaw scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Orbits's 15.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message. - OpenClaw: grade B, 67.1/100, rank #270 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openclaw.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 ### 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 15 - Schema & documentation, 84 against 10 - Agent ergonomics, 77 against 0 - Security & auth, 74 against 0 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 20 - Maintenance & community, 86 against 54 - Transparency & trust, 68 against 43 Also in its favour: - Open source Watch for: Without configuration the default is full access. Host exec runs with no approval and sandboxing is off ### Orbits (F) Good for: Families who want one shared assistant for calendars, lists, meals, chores and household email. Also in its favour: - No incidents deducted, where OpenClaw loses 8 points for them Watch for: No public agent API, as llms.txt states. ## Score by category | Category | Weight | OpenClaw | Orbits | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 15 | OpenClaw +60 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 10 | OpenClaw +74 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 0 | OpenClaw +77 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 74 | 0 | OpenClaw +74 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 20 | OpenClaw +40 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 54 | OpenClaw +32 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 43 | OpenClaw +25 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **67.1 · B** | **15.6 · F** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | OpenClaw | Orbits | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Agent harness | Platform | | Vendor | OpenClaw Foundation | Nemus AI, Inc. | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Free | Paid | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | MIT | Closed service under the Orbits Terms of Service (Nemus AI, Inc.). | | Read-only variant documented | yes | no | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | Last release | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-13 | | Terms last updated | no document linked | | | Privacy policy last updated | 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 | 392k stars | none | ## Verdicts **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. **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 ### 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 ### 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, OpenClaw or Orbits? OpenClaw scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Orbits's 15.6 (F), and leads in every scored category. ### Are OpenClaw and Orbits open source? OpenClaw is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Orbits. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orbits.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orbits.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "openclaw", "b": "orbits"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare openclaw orbits` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openclaw.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orbits.json ## Other comparisons with OpenClaw or Orbits - [asaply vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-openclaw.md) - [asaply vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-orbits.md) - [Asmi vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-openclaw.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 OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openclaw.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 OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openclaw.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 OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openclaw.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 OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-openclaw.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 Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orbits.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 OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-openinstinct.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) - [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 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) - [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 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 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) - [Gemini Spark vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-orbits.md) - [Leon vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-orbits.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-openclaw.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-orbits.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) - [Orbits vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-wajo.md) - [OpenClaw vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-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.