# OpenClaw vs ZeroClaw

> ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) to OpenClaw's 67.1 (B) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.min.md (~530 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.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

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenClaw's 67.1 (B), and leads in 1 of 7 scored categories. OpenClaw leads on agent ergonomics and maintenance & community. Both do assistant proactive.

- OpenClaw: grade B, 67.1/100, rank #270 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openclaw.json
- ZeroClaw: grade BB, 70.2/100, rank #161 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.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

### 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:
- Agent ergonomics, 77 against 72
- Maintenance & community, 86 against 80

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

### ZeroClaw (BB)

Good for: One person who wants an assistant on their own hardware that answers on Telegram, Discord, Matrix or email, asks before it writes or runs commands, and works with a local model.

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No key needed to call it
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The docs state that command execution is not audited. `[security.audit]` records certificate events only, and tool receipts are opt-in and not durable


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | OpenClaw | ZeroClaw | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 75 | 74 | OpenClaw +1 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 84 | 82 | OpenClaw +2 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 72 | OpenClaw +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 74 | 76 | ZeroClaw +2 |
| 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) | 86 | 80 | OpenClaw +6 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 64 | OpenClaw +4 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -8 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **67.1 · B** | **70.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | OpenClaw | ZeroClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | OpenClaw Foundation | ZeroClaw Labs |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-12 | 2026-09-05 |
| 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 | 392k stars | 33k stars |

## 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.

**ZeroClaw.** Supervised autonomy is the default, so tools outside a short read-only list wait for the owner's approval, and secrets are encrypted in the config file. The docs state that command execution is not written to an audit log, and the project publishes no privacy policy or terms.

## 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

### ZeroClaw

1. Keep `[risk_profiles.<alias>] level = "supervised"`. `full` runs every tool not listed in `always_ask`, and the YOLO preset removes the sandbox and path rules too
2. Add sending and account tools such as `send_via`, `google_workspace` and `http_request` to `always_ask` so a session-level Always grant cannot skip the prompt
3. List senders in `[peer_groups.<name>] external_peers`. `["*"]` accepts anyone on that channel
4. Set `[web_fetch].allowed_domains` and `[http_request].allowed_domains`. Fetches run unprompted and the OS sandbox does not block egress
5. Run one-shot tasks with `zeroclaw agent -a <alias> -m "<task>"`. A cron or webhook turn has no prompt, so shell calls fall to the command policy

## Questions

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

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenClaw's 67.1 (B), and leads in 1 of 7 scored categories. OpenClaw leads on agent ergonomics and maintenance & community.

### Are OpenClaw and ZeroClaw open source?

Yes. OpenClaw is open source (MIT). ZeroClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with OpenClaw or ZeroClaw

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