# OpenInstinct vs ZeroClaw (slim)

> 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.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.md (~3,600 tokens) · this version ~580 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-zeroclaw
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-13

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.

- OpenInstinct: F 21.8, rank #988 of 1010 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openinstinct.min.md
- ZeroClaw: BB 70.2, rank #161 of 1010 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.min.md
- OpenInstinct, good for Developers comfortable running their own iMessage assistant on Vercel with a browser agent and Link wallet.
- ZeroClaw, 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. Ahead on Reliability, 74 against 33; Schema & documentation, 82 against 0; Agent ergonomics, 72 against 0; Security & auth, 76 against 0; Payments & pricing, 60 against 50; Maintenance & community, 80 against 66; Transparency & 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.

| Category | OpenInstinct | ZeroClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 33 | 74 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 0 | 82 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 0 | 72 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 0 | 76 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 50 | 60 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 66 | 80 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 59 | 64 |

| Fact (where they differ) | OpenInstinct | ZeroClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Merit Systems, Inc. | ZeroClaw Labs |
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Licence | MIT (Copyright 2026 Merit Systems, Inc.). | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-05 | 2026-09-05 |
| Terms last updated |  | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated |  | no document linked |
| Popularity | none | 33k stars |