{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "picoclaw", "name": "PicoClaw", "vendor": "Sipeed", "vendorUrl": "https://picoclaw.io", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "PicoClaw is an open-source personal AI assistant from Sipeed, a single Go binary for small Linux boards, desktops and Android, reached through chat apps. Its last commit on the main branch was on 19 August 2026.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/picoclaw.json", "repo": "https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "oci", "name": "docker.io/sipeed/picoclaw" }, { "registry": "oci", "name": "ghcr.io/sipeed/picoclaw" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account with Sipeed. The owner supplies model provider keys, chat bot tokens and search keys, kept in `~/.picoclaw/.security.yml`. The web launcher asks for a password set on first run, stored as a bcrypt hash. Each channel's `allow_from` list decides who may talk to the assistant, and an empty list admits everyone.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under the MIT licence, with nothing to buy from the project. The owner pays their model provider by usage, or nothing with a local model through Ollama or vLLM. Search keys are optional, and DuckDuckGo search needs none.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the README, docs or source (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 30000, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.picoclaw.io", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "free", "no-card", "go", "docker", "pre-1.0" ], "lastRelease": "2026-07-03", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 46.1, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 879, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 11, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 22, "payments": 60, "reliability": 54, "schema": 51, "security": 51, "transparency": 56 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -7, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-04-25 to 2026-07-19. 15 advisories are listed for PicoClaw in the GitHub Advisory Database. Two are reviewed, CVE-2026-36045 (high, 7.3, command injection past the exec deny list, 0.1.2 and earlier) and CVE-2026-6987 (moderate, injection through the launcher's `/api/gateway/restart`, 0.2.4 and earlier), and 13 unreviewed entries of 10 to 19 July name versions up to 0.2.9. None lists a patched version, the project has published no advisory of its own, and it has no security policy. We read four of the fifteen. Several concern old versions and some fixes are in the git history, so -5. https://github.com/advisories?query=picoclaw", "Current behaviour, checked 2026-10-12. The repository's configuration guide says `tools.exec.allow_remote` defaults to `false`. The source at v0.3.1 and on main sets it to `true`, and the docs site calls fully open the default, so a remote chat can run shell commands on a default install. A misleading claim on a security default, the minimum, -2. https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/blob/main/docs/guides/configuration.md; https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/blob/main/pkg/config/defaults.go" ], "verdict": "Self-hosted under the MIT licence, with 19 documented chat channels, scheduled and heartbeat tasks, and local file memory. The repository has had no commit since 19 August 2026 and no release since 3 July, and 15 CVEs are listed against it with no advisory or security policy from the project.", "bestFor": "A person who wants a chat-app assistant on a cheap Linux board, an old Android phone or a home server, with reminders, web search and file memory, and who accepts running software its maker calls pre-production.", "strengths": [ "MIT licence, one Go binary for x86-64, ARM, RISC-V, MIPS and LoongArch, with Docker images and an Android APK", "Conversations, memory, scheduled jobs and credentials stay in files under `~/.picoclaw` on the owner's device", "File tools are limited to the workspace by default, and command jobs scheduled from remote chats are refused unless the chat is listed", "MCP client over stdio, SSE and HTTP, with optional search-based tool discovery to keep definitions out of context", "Credentials sit in a separate `.security.yml` with optional AES-256-GCM encryption, and are filtered from tool output before the model sees it" ], "weaknesses": [ "No commit on main since 19 August 2026 and no release since v0.3.1 on 3 July 2026. An issue of 6 October calls the repository unmaintained, with no reply", "15 CVEs are listed in the GitHub Advisory Database (25 April to 19 July 2026). The project has published no advisory and has no SECURITY.md", "No human approval step. The agent sends messages, writes files and runs shell commands without asking, and the hooks guide says waiting for a human reply is not supported", "Shell execution from remote chats is on by default in the source and on the docs site, while the repository's configuration guide says the default is off", "An empty `allow_from` list lets anyone who can message the bot use it, with only a warning in the log" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `allow_from` to the owner's user ID on every channel before starting the gateway. An empty list accepts messages from anyone", "Set `tools.exec.allow_remote` to `false` unless chats must run shell commands. The shipped default is `true`, whatever docs/guides/configuration.md says", "Set `isolation.enabled` to `true` on Linux (needs `bwrap`) or run in a container. The deny patterns do not inspect child processes", "Use `PICOCLAW_KEY_PASSPHRASE` for credential encryption. One docs page names `PICOCLAW_CREDENTIAL_PASSPHRASE`, which the source does not read", "Treat the README's ClawdChat line (read a remote skill file and follow it) as untrusted third-party instructions" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 46.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 22, "payments": 60, "reliability": 54, "schema": 51, "security": 51, "transparency": 58 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "git clone https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw.git \u0026\u0026 cd picoclaw \u0026\u0026 docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile launcher up # or download a binary from https://picoclaw.io/download/ and run: picoclaw onboard", "headless": { "command": "picoclaw agent -m \"$TASK\"" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/picoclaw" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Sipeed", "domain": "picoclaw.io", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The docs footer reads Copyright 2026 Sipeed and the site says PicoClaw is open-source software by Sipeed. The `LICENSE` file names PicoClaw contributors. No registered company name or address was on the pages read.", "No terms of service or privacy policy is linked from picoclaw.io, docs.picoclaw.io or the repository, so both fields are left out and the MIT licence stands in.", "picoclaw.io/.well-known/security.txt and picoclaw.io/llms.txt answered 403 with a storage Access Denied body, read as absent. docs.picoclaw.io/llms.txt answered 404.", "The repository has no SECURITY.md, and GitHub's policy page says none is set up.", "Self-hosted software with no hosted endpoint. The registration date of picoclaw.io was not looked up." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw.json" }, "answer": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Poke's 37.6 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Poke leads on maintenance \u0026 community.", "b": { "slug": "poke", "name": "Poke", "vendor": "The Interaction Company of California Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://poke.com", "kind": "platform", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Hosted personal assistant from The Interaction Company of California, reached by text on Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS. It works across the owner's Gmail or Outlook mail, calendar, contacts and connected apps.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/poke", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/poke.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/poke.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/poke.json", "license": "Proprietary service under Poke's Terms of Service. The `poke` npm package (CLI and Node.js SDK) declares MIT", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "poke" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "A person signs up at poke.com and connects a Google or Microsoft account. The Poke API takes `Authorization: Bearer \u003ckey\u003e` with a V2 key created in Kitchen under API Keys. Keys are named, shown once, revocable one at a time and have no scopes. Older `pk_` keys work only on the deprecated endpoint. The CLI signs in with a browser device code and stores credentials in `~/.config/poke/credentials.json`. Third-party MCP servers are connected with an API key or OAuth (https://poke.com/docs/api; https://poke.com/docs/mcp-servers; https://poke.com/docs/creating-recipes).", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free at $0 with no card. Pro is $19 a month and Ultra $199 a month on monthly billing. Free and Pro have a refilling usage allowance, with no figures published, and Poke continues in a lighter mode past it. Ultra includes a monthly credit pool (1 credit is $1 of usage), with top-ups and optional auto-reload. Poke Human is included with Ultra, with real-world expenses charged at cost. Model usage is not billed separately (https://poke.com/pricing; https://poke.com/docs/usage-and-resets; https://poke.com/faq, checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "$19 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, llms.txt or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://poke.com/docs", "llmsTxt": "https://poke.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "closed-source", "messaging", "imessage", "whatsapp", "telegram", "gmail", "outlook", "mcp-client", "api-key", "free-tier", "status-page", "llms-txt", "trains-on-data-by-default" ], "lastRelease": "2026-06-25", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 37.6, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 955, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 15, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 30, "maintenance": 31, "payments": 30, "reliability": 51, "schema": 42, "security": 24, "transparency": 58 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Hosted assistant that answers in Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS and acts in Gmail, Outlook, calendars and MCP servers. Plan prices and a status page are public. No approval settings, credential storage, model providers or retention periods are documented, and customer content trains models unless Maximum Privacy is selected.", "bestFor": "One person who wants an assistant in their text messages that reads and drafts mail, manages a calendar and reaches other apps through MCP.", "strengths": [ "Answers on Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS, with the channel chosen in settings, per the docs welcome page and FAQ", "Free plan with no card, Pro at $19 a month and Ultra at $199 a month, all published without a sign-in", "Connects any remote MCP server by URL, with API key or OAuth, and OAuth servers with Dynamic Client Registration need no setup", "status.poke.com lists App, Email, Integrations, three messaging channels and API, with two incidents from July to 12 October 2026", "Named API keys are created in Kitchen, shown once and revoked one at a time" ], "weaknesses": [ "No documented setting for which actions need approval before Poke sends, deletes or spends. Release notes mention email draft approval only in passing", "Customer content, including email contents, may train AI models unless the user selects Maximum Privacy, per the privacy notice of 11 September 2026", "Model providers, sub-processors, hosting locations and where account tokens are stored are not named in the pages read", "An API key message is processed with full access to email, calendar and integrations. Keys have no scopes", "No security.txt, disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification was found on poke.com", "The terms forbid automated access for scraping and use for benchmarking or competitive analysis. This matters before any probe is run" ], "agentNotes": [ "POST JSON to `https://poke.com/api/v1/inbound/api-message` with a Bearer key from Kitchen. Legacy `pk_` keys work only on the deprecated `/api/v1/inbound-sms/webhook`", "Expect only `{\"success\": true}` back. Poke's answer goes to the owner's message thread, not to the caller", "Do not retry a POST blindly. No idempotency key is documented, and a repeated message may make Poke act twice", "Treat an API key as full access to the owner's mail, calendar and integrations. Create one key per automation and revoke it when done", "Avoid the prefilled integration link with `apiKey` in the query string for real secrets. Enter the key in the form or use `npx poke@latest mcp add -k`" ], "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": 37.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 30, "maintenance": 31, "payments": 30, "reliability": 51, "schema": 42, "security": 24, "transparency": 34 }, "provenanceScore": 81 }, "connect": { "install": "npx poke@latest login", "http": "curl 'https://poke.com/api/v1/inbound/api-message' \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY\" \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"message\": \"test\"}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/poke" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Pro", "unit": "month", "usd": 19, "note": "billed monthly, refilling usage allowance with no published figure" }, { "item": "Ultra", "unit": "month", "usd": 199, "note": "billed monthly, includes a monthly credit pool and Poke Human" }, { "item": "Ultra top-up credit", "unit": "credit", "usd": 1, "note": "1 credit is $1 of usage" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "The Interaction Company of California Inc.", "domain": "poke.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-03-26", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://poke.com/terms", "privacy": "https://poke.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.poke.com", "changelog": "https://poke.com/docs/release-notes", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The privacy notice (last updated 11 September 2026) names The Interaction Company of California Inc. and gives 169 Waverley St Apt B, Palo Alto, CA 94301 as the controller's address. The terms (last modified 17 March 2026) name The Interaction Company of California d/b/a Poke.", "Cognition announced on 23 July 2026 that The Interaction Company of California was joining it. The terms and privacy notice read on 12 October 2026 do not name Cognition.", "poke.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404. poke.com/robots.txt also answered 404, so the host publishes no crawl rules.", "RDAP for poke.com gives a registration date of 1997-03-26 and NameCheap, Inc. as registrar.", "The API answers at poke.com/api/v1, on the vendor's domain." ], "score": 81 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/poke.json", "live": { "slug": "poke", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.poke.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-12T18:57:01.261625139Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-12T18:57:01.261625139Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Platform", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Sipeed", "b": "The Interaction Company of California Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "Proprietary service under Poke's Terms of Service. The `poke` npm package (CLI and Node.js SDK) declares MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-07-03", "b": "2026-06-25", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "2026-03-17", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "2026-09-11", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "30k stars", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Poke's 37.6 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Poke leads on maintenance \u0026 community.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, PicoClaw or Poke?" }, { "answer": "PicoClaw is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Poke.", "question": "Are PicoClaw and Poke open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 51 against 42", "Agent ergonomics, 66 against 30", "Security \u0026 auth, 51 against 24", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 30" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Free to start without a card", "Open source" ], "goodFor": "A person who wants a chat-app assistant on a cheap Linux board, an old Android phone or a home server, with reminders, web search and file memory, and who accepts running software its maker calls pre-production.", "slug": "picoclaw", "watchFor": "No commit on main since 19 August 2026 and no release since v0.3.1 on 3 July 2026. An issue of 6 October calls the repository unmaintained, with no reply" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Maintenance \u0026 community, 31 against 22" ], "also": [ "No incidents deducted, where PicoClaw loses 7 points for them" ], "goodFor": "One person who wants an assistant in their text messages that reads and drafts mail, manages a calendar and reaches other apps through MCP.", "slug": "poke", "watchFor": "No documented setting for which actions need approval before Poke sends, deletes or spends. Release notes mention email draft approval only in passing" } ], "job": { "capability": "assistant.proactive", "name": "Assistant proactive" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "AstrBot vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-poke.json", "title": "AstrBot vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "CowAgent vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-poke.json", "title": "CowAgent vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-poke.json", "title": "GAIA vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-poke.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-poke.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Haven vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-poke.json", "title": "Haven vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-poke.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke.json", "title": "Instinct vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-poke.json", "title": "IronClaw vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Leon vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-poke.json", "title": "Leon vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Lindy vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-poke.json", "title": "Lindy vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke.json", "title": "nanobot vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.json", "title": "Dots vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "OpenClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-poke.json", "title": "OpenClaw vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "PicoClaw vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "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/picoclaw-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "PicoClaw vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zo-computer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "Poke vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "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/poke-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "Poke vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 3, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "picoclaw": 54, "poke": 51, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 9, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "picoclaw": 51, "poke": 42, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 36, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "picoclaw": 66, "poke": 30, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 27, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "picoclaw": 51, "poke": 24, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 30, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "picoclaw": 60, "poke": 30, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 9, "edge": "poke", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "picoclaw": 22, "poke": 31, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 2, "edge": "poke", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "picoclaw": 56, "poke": 58, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Poke's 37.6 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Poke leads on maintenance \u0026 community. Both do assistant proactive.", "verdicts": { "picoclaw": "Self-hosted under the MIT licence, with 19 documented chat channels, scheduled and heartbeat tasks, and local file memory. The repository has had no commit since 19 August 2026 and no release since 3 July, and 15 CVEs are listed against it with no advisory or security policy from the project.", "poke": "Hosted assistant that answers in Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS and acts in Gmail, Outlook, calendars and MCP servers. Plan prices and a status page are public. No approval settings, credential storage, model providers or retention periods are documented, and customer content trains models unless Maximum Privacy is selected." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke.min.md" }, "markdown": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Poke's 37.6 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Poke leads on maintenance \u0026 community. Both do assistant proactive.\n\n- PicoClaw: grade D, 46.1/100, rank #879 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/picoclaw.json\n- Poke: grade F, 37.6/100, rank #955 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/poke.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/poke.json\n- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md\n- All 190 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### PicoClaw (D)\n\nGood for: A person who wants a chat-app assistant on a cheap Linux board, an old Android phone or a home server, with reminders, web search and file memory, and who accepts running software its maker calls pre-production.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 51 against 42\n- Agent ergonomics, 66 against 30\n- Security \u0026 auth, 51 against 24\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 30\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Free to start without a card\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: No commit on main since 19 August 2026 and no release since v0.3.1 on 3 July 2026. An issue of 6 October calls the repository unmaintained, with no reply\n\n### Poke (F)\n\nGood for: One person who wants an assistant in their text messages that reads and drafts mail, manages a calendar and reaches other apps through MCP.\n\nAhead on:\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 31 against 22\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No incidents deducted, where PicoClaw loses 7 points for them\n\nWatch for: No documented setting for which actions need approval before Poke sends, deletes or spends. Release notes mention email draft approval only in passing\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | PicoClaw | Poke | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 54 | 51 | PicoClaw +3 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 51 | 42 | PicoClaw +9 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 30 | PicoClaw +36 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 51 | 24 | PicoClaw +27 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 30 | PicoClaw +30 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 22 | 31 | Poke +9 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 56 | 58 | Poke +2 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -7 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **46.1 · D** | **37.6 · F** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | PicoClaw | Poke |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Platform |\n| Vendor | Sipeed | The Interaction Company of California Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | HTTP |\n| Auth | None | API key |\n| Pricing | Free | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT | Proprietary service under Poke's Terms of Service. The `poke` npm package (CLI and Node.js SDK) declares MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-07-03 | 2026-06-25 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | 2026-03-17 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2026-09-11 |\n| Customer content may train models | | yes |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | yes |\n| Popularity | 30k stars | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**PicoClaw.** Self-hosted under the MIT licence, with 19 documented chat channels, scheduled and heartbeat tasks, and local file memory. The repository has had no commit since 19 August 2026 and no release since 3 July, and 15 CVEs are listed against it with no advisory or security policy from the project.\n\n**Poke.** Hosted assistant that answers in Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS and acts in Gmail, Outlook, calendars and MCP servers. Plan prices and a status page are public. No approval settings, credential storage, model providers or retention periods are documented, and customer content trains models unless Maximum Privacy is selected.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### PicoClaw\n\n1. Set `allow_from` to the owner's user ID on every channel before starting the gateway. An empty list accepts messages from anyone\n2. Set `tools.exec.allow_remote` to `false` unless chats must run shell commands. The shipped default is `true`, whatever docs/guides/configuration.md says\n3. Set `isolation.enabled` to `true` on Linux (needs `bwrap`) or run in a container. The deny patterns do not inspect child processes\n4. Use `PICOCLAW_KEY_PASSPHRASE` for credential encryption. One docs page names `PICOCLAW_CREDENTIAL_PASSPHRASE`, which the source does not read\n5. Treat the README's ClawdChat line (read a remote skill file and follow it) as untrusted third-party instructions\n\n### Poke\n\n1. POST JSON to `https://poke.com/api/v1/inbound/api-message` with a Bearer key from Kitchen. Legacy `pk_` keys work only on the deprecated `/api/v1/inbound-sms/webhook`\n2. Expect only `{\"success\": true}` back. Poke's answer goes to the owner's message thread, not to the caller\n3. Do not retry a POST blindly. No idempotency key is documented, and a repeated message may make Poke act twice\n4. Treat an API key as full access to the owner's mail, calendar and integrations. Create one key per automation and revoke it when done\n5. Avoid the prefilled integration link with `apiKey` in the query string for real secrets. Enter the key in the form or use `npx poke@latest mcp add -k`\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, PicoClaw or Poke?\n\nPicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Poke's 37.6 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Poke leads on maintenance \u0026 community.\n\n### Are PicoClaw and Poke open source?\n\nPicoClaw is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Poke.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"picoclaw\", \"b\": \"poke\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare picoclaw poke`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/picoclaw.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/poke.json\n\n## Other comparisons with PicoClaw or Poke\n\n- [AstrBot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [AstrBot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-poke.md)\n- [CowAgent vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-poke.md)\n- [GAIA vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-poke.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-poke.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-poke.md)\n- [Haven vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Haven vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-poke.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-poke.md)\n- [Instinct vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke.md)\n- [IronClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-poke.md)\n- [Leon vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Leon vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-poke.md)\n- [Lindy vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Lindy vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-poke.md)\n- [nanobot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke.md)\n- [Dots vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.md)\n- [OpenClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [OpenClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-poke.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zo-computer.md)\n- [Poke vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [Poke vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Poke vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zo-computer.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-12", "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": "PicoClaw vs Poke", "url": "" } ], "description": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) to Poke's 37.6 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "PicoClaw D 46.1", "Poke F 37.6", "scores" ], "h1": "PicoClaw vs Poke", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-picoclaw-vs-poke.png", "path": "/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "PicoClaw vs Poke for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2600, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }