# OpenClaw vs Town > OpenClaw scores 67.1 (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/openclaw-vs-town - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-town.md (~3,500 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-town.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-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 OpenClaw scores 67.1 (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. - 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 - 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 ### 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 35 - Schema & documentation, 84 against 33 - Agent ergonomics, 77 against 49 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 30 - Maintenance & community, 86 against 60 - Transparency & trust, 68 against 63 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 ### 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 74 Also in its favour: - Free to start without a card - No incidents deducted, where OpenClaw loses 8 points for them 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 | OpenClaw | Town | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 35 | OpenClaw +40 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 33 | OpenClaw +51 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 49 | OpenClaw +28 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 74 | 79 | Town +5 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 30 | OpenClaw +30 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 60 | OpenClaw +26 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 63 | OpenClaw +5 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **67.1 · B** | **48.7 · D** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | OpenClaw | Town | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Agent harness | Platform | | Vendor | OpenClaw Foundation | Town.com, Inc. | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | HTTP | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Free | Freemium | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | MIT | Closed service under Town's Terms of Service (Town.com, Inc., updated 21 July 2026). | | Read-only variant documented | yes | yes | | llms.txt | yes | no | | Last release | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-10 | | 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. **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 ### 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 ### 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, OpenClaw or Town? OpenClaw scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Town's 48.7 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Town leads on security & auth. ### Are OpenClaw and Town open source? OpenClaw is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Town. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-town.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-town.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "openclaw", "b": "town"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare openclaw town` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openclaw.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/town.json ## Other comparisons with OpenClaw or Town - [asaply vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-openclaw.md) - [asaply vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-town.md) - [Asmi vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-openclaw.md) - [Asmi vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-town.md) - [Boba vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openclaw.md) - [Boba vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-town.md) - [Brea vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openclaw.md) - [Brea vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-town.md) - [Del vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openclaw.md) - [Del vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-town.md) - [HireAlpha vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-openclaw.md) - [HireAlpha vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-town.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) - [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 OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openclaw.md) - [AstrBot vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-town.md) - [Boski vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-openclaw.md) - [Boski vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-town.md) - [Caddy vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-openclaw.md) - [Caddy vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-town.md) - [CowAgent vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openclaw.md) - [CowAgent vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-town.md) - [folk vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openclaw.md) - [folk vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-town.md) - [GAIA vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openclaw.md) - [GAIA vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-town.md) - [Gemini Spark vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openclaw.md) - [Gemini Spark vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-town.md) - [Grok Bot vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openclaw.md) - [Grok Bot vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-town.md) - [Haven vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openclaw.md) - [Haven vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-town.md) - [Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-town.md) - [Instinct vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw.md) - [Instinct vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-town.md) - [IronClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openclaw.md) - [IronClaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-town.md) - [Leon vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openclaw.md) - [Leon vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-town.md) - [Lindy vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openclaw.md) - [Lindy vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-town.md) - [nanobot vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openclaw.md) - [nanobot vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-town.md) - [NanoClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw.md) - [NanoClaw vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-town.md) - [Dots vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw.md) - [Dots vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-town.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 ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [OpenClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zo-computer.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) - [Natura tinyNature vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-openclaw.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-town.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) - [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) - [OpenClaw vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-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.