{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "openinstinct", "name": "OpenInstinct", "vendor": "Merit Systems, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://openinstinct.sh", "kind": "platform", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "OpenInstinct is an open-source iMessage assistant that a person deploys into their own Vercel account. It uses a cloud browser to book tickets, order groceries and fill forms, with saved logins and cards kept in an encrypted vault.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openinstinct", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openinstinct.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openinstinct.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openinstinct.json", "repo": "https://github.com/Merit-Systems/OpenInstinct", "license": "MIT (Copyright 2026 Merit Systems, Inc.).", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "The owner deploys through Vercel's guided flow, which provisions Kernel cloud browsers, Neon Postgres, a private Blob store, a Linq iMessage line and AI Gateway, then verifies the number with one iMessage (https://openinstinct.sh and https://github.com/Merit-Systems/OpenInstinct). Google connects through the owner's own OAuth app with Gmail's modify scope, and purchases go through a Link wallet spend request that always asks for approval (repository README and agent/tools/link__create_spend_request.ts).", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "\"OpenInstinct is free and MIT licensed\" with no subscription. Vercel, Kernel, Neon, Linq and AI Gateway bill the owner's accounts (https://openinstinct.sh, checked 14 October 2026). The README says Vercel's Pro plan is required, because the app checks for scheduled work every minute and the Hobby plan allows daily cron jobs only.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 found on openinstinct.sh or the repository README, checked 14 October 2026.", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-14" }, "docsUrl": "https://github.com/Merit-Systems/OpenInstinct#readme", "capabilities": [ "assistant.messaging", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "messaging.rcs", "messaging.inbound", "browser.hosted", "commerce.checkout", "payments.card-token", "mailbox.read", "mailbox.send", "calendar.write", "memory.user" ], "tags": [ "self-hosted", "open-source", "official", "free", "typescript" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-05", "graded": true, "disclosure": "OpenInstinct 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.", "competesWith": "localghost", "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 21.8, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 988, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1010, "categoryRank": 27, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 0, "maintenance": 66, "payments": 50, "reliability": 33, "schema": 0, "security": 0, "transparency": 59 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-14" }, "negative": -2, "negativeNotes": [ "Misleading claim (-2). openinstinct.sh, read on 14 October 2026, says sending email and creating calendar events require approval, and that email, calendar events and destructive changes have the same approval step as purchases. Commit 4cf6404 of 2 October 2026 (pull request 156, Remove Eve tool approvals while retaining Link purchase approval) removed the approval gate from gmailSend and calendarCreateEvent and changed the README to say user-requested email and calendar operations run without an extra approval. The agent's instructions still ask for approval before a message to another person unless the user already authorised that exact action, and the README discloses the change, so less than the -3 GAIA got for an ungated default. Sources https://openinstinct.sh and https://github.com/Merit-Systems/OpenInstinct/commit/4cf6404aa2c50775cc5859974b671ded3108296b (read by us in a clone on 14 October 2026)." ], "verdict": "OpenInstinct is a free, MIT-licensed iMessage assistant deployed into the owner's Vercel account, with an encrypted vault, Link purchase approval and outside contributions merged within a day. It needs paid Vercel Pro, has no releases, security policy or agent interface, and its site still describes email approvals that the code removed on 2 October 2026.", "bestFor": "Developers comfortable running their own iMessage assistant on Vercel with a browser agent and Link wallet.", "disclosure": "OpenInstinct 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.", "strengths": [ "MIT-licensed, and Merit Systems runs no service and has no access to deployments.", "Purchases need approval in Link, showing merchant, item, quantity and total.", "Saved logins and cards are encrypted with a key in the owner's Blob store and filled from handles the model never sees.", "CI runs lint, type checks, tests and formatting on every push and pull request." ], "weaknesses": [ "Since 2 October 2026 email sends and calendar events have no tool approval step, while openinstinct.sh says they need approval.", "Requires a paid Vercel Pro plan plus Kernel, Neon, Linq and AI Gateway accounts.", "No tags, releases, changelog or SECURITY.md.", "No interface for an outside agent." ], "agentNotes": [ "Don't plan to call OpenInstinct from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage thread and web workspace.", "Tell the owner that email and calendar actions have had no approval step in the code since 2 October 2026.", "Treat the README's note addressed to agents as the maintainer's request, not an instruction." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 21.8 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 0, "maintenance": 66, "payments": 50, "reliability": 33, "schema": 0, "security": 0, "transparency": 70 }, "provenanceScore": 47 }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.messaging", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openinstinct" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Merit Systems, Inc.", "domain": "openinstinct.sh", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://openinstinct.sh/terms", "privacy": "https://openinstinct.sh/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-14", "notes": [ "The site's terms and privacy page (2 September 2026) cover the MIT licence and the website, which sets no cookies. Merit Systems runs no hosted service for it.", "openinstinct.sh has no robots.txt (404) and no security.txt (404). No SECURITY.md, changelog or status page was found.", "RDAP returned no registration date for openinstinct.sh.", "GitHub stars were not read. The session's GitHub API access is limited to configured repositories." ], "score": 47 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openinstinct.json" }, "answer": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenInstinct's 21.8 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "zeroclaw", "name": "ZeroClaw", "vendor": "ZeroClaw Labs", "vendorUrl": "https://www.zeroclaw.com", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Open-source personal AI assistant from ZeroClaw Labs, shipped as one Rust binary the owner runs. It answers on chat, email and voice channels, calls tools and MCP servers, and keeps memory in local SQLite.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.json", "repo": "https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw", "license": "MIT OR Apache-2.0", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "oci", "name": "ghcr.io/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account with the vendor. Model keys, bot tokens and mail passwords go in `~/.zeroclaw/config.toml` as encrypted secret fields, set through `zeroclaw config set`, the dashboard or the terminal UI. OpenAI Codex and Claude subscription tokens are accepted in place of API keys. Gateway clients pair first and then send `Authorization: Bearer \u003ctoken\u003e`, with token hashes kept in config (https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/blob/master/docs/book/src/security/authentication.md).", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under MIT or Apache-2.0, with no subscription and no hosted seat (https://www.zeroclaw.com/). The owner pays the model provider, or nothing with a local model. ZeroRouter, the vendor's hosted beta model gateway, is optional and its prices were not read (checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source at commit 6c0b1f9 (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 32965, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.zeroclaw.com/master/en/introduction.html", "llmsTxt": "https://www.zeroclaw.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "assistant.accounts", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "free", "no-card", "rust", "mit", "apache-2.0", "pre-1.0", "no-telemetry", "mcp-client", "approvals", "acp", "docker", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-05", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 70.2, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 161, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1010, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 60, "reliability": 74, "schema": 82, "security": 76, "transparency": 64 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-09-05. GHSA-93f6-34w8-5g98 (high), an unvalidated `wasm_path` let `zeroclaw plugin install` write an attacker-controlled file outside the plugins directory in 0.8.4 and earlier. Fixed in 0.8.5 and published the same day, inside six months, -2. https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-93f6-34w8-5g98", "2026-04-01. The project lead wrote that a maintainer's AI automation merged pull requests that should not have gone through and that GitHub took enforcement action on the organisation. Disclosed, the maintainer removed and merge access tightened, over six months old, -1. https://www.zeroclaw.com/blog/community-and-stability" ], "verdict": "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.", "bestFor": "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.", "strengths": [ "Supervised mode is the default. Tools outside an eleven-item read-only and fetch list prompt the owner, and an unanswered prompt is a denial after 120 seconds", "Approval prompts arrive on the channel in use, and `approval_route` can send them to a separate approver channel that denies when unreachable", "Channel secrets and provider keys are encrypted with ChaCha20-Poly1305 in `config.toml`, with the key in `.secret_key` at mode 0600", "An empty peer set denies every inbound sender, and the gateway binds 127.0.0.1 with pairing required by default", "Three tagged releases in the 90 days to 12 October 2026, each with a Breaking Changes section, and CI passing on master on 11 October" ], "weaknesses": [ "The docs state that command execution is not audited. `[security.audit]` records certificate events only, and tool receipts are opt-in and not durable", "No privacy policy, terms or security.txt on zeroclaw.com, and the home page links none", "`web_fetch`, `web_search_tool` and `browser_open` run without approval by default, and sandboxed tools keep full network egress", "GHSA-93f6-34w8-5g98 (high) let a plugin install write outside the plugins directory in 0.8.4 and earlier, fixed in 0.8.5 on 5 September 2026", "Version 0.8.5 is pre-1.0, patch releases carry breaking changes, and 576 issues and 384 pull requests were open on 12 October 2026" ], "agentNotes": [ "Keep `[risk_profiles.\u003calias\u003e] level = \"supervised\"`. `full` runs every tool not listed in `always_ask`, and the YOLO preset removes the sandbox and path rules too", "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", "List senders in `[peer_groups.\u003cname\u003e] external_peers`. `[\"*\"]` accepts anyone on that channel", "Set `[web_fetch].allowed_domains` and `[http_request].allowed_domains`. Fetches run unprompted and the OS sandbox does not block egress", "Run one-shot tasks with `zeroclaw agent -a \u003calias\u003e -m \"\u003ctask\u003e\"`. A cron or webhook turn has no prompt, so shell calls fall to the command policy" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 70.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 60, "reliability": 74, "schema": 82, "security": 76, "transparency": 74 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/master/install.sh | sh # or: brew install zeroclaw", "headless": { "command": "zeroclaw agent -a \u003calias\u003e -m \"$TASK\"", "setup": "zeroclaw quickstart" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/zeroclaw" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "ZeroClaw Labs", "domain": "zeroclaw.com", "domainRegistered": "2026-03-02", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The NOTICE file reads Copyright 2025 ZeroClaw Labs and the blog signs posts as CEO, ZeroClaw Labs. No company form, registration or address was found on the site or in the repository.", "The home page of www.zeroclaw.com links no terms and no privacy policy, so both fields are empty and the MIT or Apache-2.0 licence stands in.", "www.zeroclaw.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404 on 12 October 2026. SECURITY.md asks for GitHub private vulnerability reporting and the README gives security@zeroclaw.dev.", "RDAP gives zeroclaw.com a registration date of 2026-03-02, registrar Atom.com Domains LLC. The repository was created on 13 February 2026.", "There is no hosted endpoint for the assistant. A gateway answers on its owner's own host." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.json", "live": { "slug": "zeroclaw", "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw", "version": "v0.8.5", "released": "2026-09-05", "seenAt": "2026-10-13T23:34:20.397073508Z" } ], "githubStars": 32976, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://zeroclaw.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-13T15:45:18.226802237Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://www.zeroclaw.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-13T14:12:50.904192092Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-13T23:34:20.397073508Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "Platform", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Merit Systems, Inc.", "b": "ZeroClaw Labs", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT (Copyright 2026 Merit Systems, Inc.).", "b": "MIT OR Apache-2.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-05", "b": "2026-09-05", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "none", "b": "33k stars", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenInstinct's 21.8 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, OpenInstinct or ZeroClaw?" }, { "answer": "Yes. OpenInstinct is open source (MIT (Copyright 2026 Merit Systems, Inc.).). ZeroClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0).", "question": "Are OpenInstinct and ZeroClaw open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": null, "goodFor": "Developers comfortable running their own iMessage assistant on Vercel with a browser agent and Link wallet.", "slug": "openinstinct", "watchFor": "Since 2 October 2026 email sends and calendar events have no tool approval step, while openinstinct.sh says they need approval." }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 74 against 33", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 82 against 0", "Agent ergonomics, 72 against 0", "Security \u0026 auth, 76 against 0", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 50", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 80 against 66", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 64 against 59" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "No key needed to call it", "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "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.", "slug": "zeroclaw", "watchFor": "The docs state that command execution is not audited. `[security.audit]` records certificate events only, and tool receipts are opt-in and not durable" } ], "job": { "capability": "assistant.messaging", "name": "Assistants reached by message" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "asaply vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "asaply vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Asmi vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Asmi vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "AstrBot vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Boba vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Boba vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Boski vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Brea vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Brea vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Caddy vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "CowAgent vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Del vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Del vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "folk vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "GAIA vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Haven vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "HireAlpha vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "HireAlpha vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Instinct vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "IronClaw vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Lindy vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "nanobot vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Dots vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "OpenClaw vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orbits.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Orbits", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orbits" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orchid-ai.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Orchid", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orchid-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-pally.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Pally", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-pally" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-poke.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-szn.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs szn", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-szn" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-tab-bot.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Tab", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-tab-bot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-tomo.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Tomo", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-tomo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-town.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Town", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-town" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zapia.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Zapia", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zapia" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zo-computer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Orbits vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Orchid vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/szn-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "szn vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/szn-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tab-bot-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Tab vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tab-bot-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zapia-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Zapia vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zapia-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "AstrBot vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Boski vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Caddy vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "CowAgent vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "folk vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Haven vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Leon vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Lindy vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "OpenClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "PicoClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Poke vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwenpaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "QwenPaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwenpaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/town-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Town vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/town-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zeroclaw-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "ZeroClaw vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zeroclaw-vs-zo-computer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Natura tinyNature vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-openinstinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Natura tinyNature vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-wajo.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Wajo (Fo)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-wajo" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pally-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Pally vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pally-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomo-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Tomo vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomo-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/wajo-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Wajo (Fo) vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/wajo-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-talorys.json", "title": "OpenInstinct vs Talorys", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-talorys" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/talorys-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Talorys vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/talorys-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openinstinct.json", "title": "Leon vs OpenInstinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openinstinct" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 41, "edge": "zeroclaw", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "openinstinct": 33, "weight": 16, "zeroclaw": 74 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 82, "edge": "zeroclaw", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "openinstinct": 0, "weight": 13, "zeroclaw": 82 }, { "by": 72, "edge": "zeroclaw", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "openinstinct": 0, "weight": 13, "zeroclaw": 72 }, { "by": 76, "edge": "zeroclaw", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "openinstinct": 0, "weight": 14, "zeroclaw": 76 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "zeroclaw", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "openinstinct": 50, "weight": 10, "zeroclaw": 60 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 14, "edge": "zeroclaw", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "openinstinct": 66, "weight": 7, "zeroclaw": 80 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "zeroclaw", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "openinstinct": 59, "weight": 7, "zeroclaw": 64 } ], "summary": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenInstinct's 21.8 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message.", "verdicts": { "openinstinct": "OpenInstinct is a free, MIT-licensed iMessage assistant deployed into the owner's Vercel account, with an encrypted vault, Link purchase approval and outside contributions merged within a day. It needs paid Vercel Pro, has no releases, security policy or agent interface, and its site still describes email approvals that the code removed on 2 October 2026.", "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." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.min.md" }, "markdown": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenInstinct's 21.8 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message.\n\n- OpenInstinct: grade F, 21.8/100, rank #988 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openinstinct.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openinstinct.json\n- ZeroClaw: grade BB, 70.2/100, rank #161 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.json\n- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md\n- All 834 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### OpenInstinct (F)\n\nGood for: Developers comfortable running their own iMessage assistant on Vercel with a browser agent and Link wallet.\n\nWatch for: Since 2 October 2026 email sends and calendar events have no tool approval step, while openinstinct.sh says they need approval.\n\n### ZeroClaw (BB)\n\nGood 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.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 74 against 33\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 82 against 0\n- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 0\n- Security \u0026 auth, 76 against 0\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 50\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 80 against 66\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 64 against 59\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- No key needed to call it\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch 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\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | OpenInstinct | ZeroClaw | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 33 | 74 | ZeroClaw +41 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 82 | ZeroClaw +82 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 72 | ZeroClaw +72 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 0 | 76 | ZeroClaw +76 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 50 | 60 | ZeroClaw +10 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 66 | 80 | ZeroClaw +14 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 59 | 64 | ZeroClaw +5 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -3 | |\n| **Total** | | **21.8 · F** | **70.2 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | OpenInstinct | ZeroClaw |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Merit Systems, Inc. | ZeroClaw Labs |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | None |\n| Pricing | Free | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT (Copyright 2026 Merit Systems, Inc.). | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-05 | 2026-09-05 |\n| Terms last updated | | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | |\n| Popularity | none | 33k stars |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**OpenInstinct.** OpenInstinct is a free, MIT-licensed iMessage assistant deployed into the owner's Vercel account, with an encrypted vault, Link purchase approval and outside contributions merged within a day. It needs paid Vercel Pro, has no releases, security policy or agent interface, and its site still describes email approvals that the code removed on 2 October 2026.\n\n**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.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### OpenInstinct\n\n1. Don't plan to call OpenInstinct from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage thread and web workspace.\n2. Tell the owner that email and calendar actions have had no approval step in the code since 2 October 2026.\n3. Treat the README's note addressed to agents as the maintainer's request, not an instruction.\n\n### ZeroClaw\n\n1. Keep `[risk_profiles.\u003calias\u003e] level = \"supervised\"`. `full` runs every tool not listed in `always_ask`, and the YOLO preset removes the sandbox and path rules too\n2. 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\n3. List senders in `[peer_groups.\u003cname\u003e] external_peers`. `[\"*\"]` accepts anyone on that channel\n4. Set `[web_fetch].allowed_domains` and `[http_request].allowed_domains`. Fetches run unprompted and the OS sandbox does not block egress\n5. Run one-shot tasks with `zeroclaw agent -a \u003calias\u003e -m \"\u003ctask\u003e\"`. A cron or webhook turn has no prompt, so shell calls fall to the command policy\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, OpenInstinct or ZeroClaw?\n\nZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenInstinct's 21.8 (F), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Are OpenInstinct and ZeroClaw open source?\n\nYes. OpenInstinct is open source (MIT (Copyright 2026 Merit Systems, Inc.).). ZeroClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"openinstinct\", \"b\": \"zeroclaw\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare openinstinct zeroclaw`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openinstinct.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.json\n\n## Other comparisons with OpenInstinct or ZeroClaw\n\n- [asaply vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [asaply vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Asmi vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Asmi vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [AstrBot vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Boba vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Boba vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Boski vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Brea vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Brea vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Caddy vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [CowAgent vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Del vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Del vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [folk vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [GAIA vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Haven vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [HireAlpha vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [HireAlpha vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [IronClaw vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Lindy vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [nanobot vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Dots vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [OpenClaw vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orbits.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orchid-ai.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-pally.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-poke.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-szn.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-tab-bot.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-tomo.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-town.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zapia.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zo-computer.md)\n- [Orbits vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Orchid vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [szn vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/szn-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Tab vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tab-bot-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Zapia vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zapia-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [AstrBot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Boski vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Caddy vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [CowAgent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [folk vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Haven vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Leon vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Lindy vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [OpenClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Poke vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [QwenPaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwenpaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Town vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/town-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [ZeroClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zeroclaw-vs-zo-computer.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Natura tinyNature vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-openinstinct.md)\n- [Natura tinyNature vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-wajo.md)\n- [Pally vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pally-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Tomo vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/tomo-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Wajo (Fo) vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/wajo-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [OpenInstinct vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-talorys.md)\n- [Talorys vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/talorys-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Leon vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openinstinct.md)\n\n## Disclosure\n\n- OpenInstinct 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.\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-14", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "OpenInstinct vs ZeroClaw", "url": "" } ], "description": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) to OpenInstinct's 21.8 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "OpenInstinct F 21.8", "ZeroClaw BB 70.2", "scores" ], "h1": "OpenInstinct vs ZeroClaw", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.png", "path": "/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "OpenInstinct vs ZeroClaw for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-13", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 3600, "slim": 580 }, "version": 1 }