Head to head · Assistant proactive · October 2026 research run

ZeroClaw vs Zo Computer

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Zo Computer's 43.1 (E), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.

Best AI personal assistants that act for one person · All 190 assistants comparisons

Which one, for what

ZeroClaw BB

Best 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 15
  • Schema & documentation, 82 against 73
  • Agent ergonomics, 72 against 34
  • Security & auth, 76 against 37
  • Payments & pricing, 60 against 40
  • Maintenance & community, 80 against 68

Also in its favour

  • Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
  • No key needed to call it
  • Free to start without a card
  • Open source

Watch for

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

Zo Computer E

Best for One person who wants a hosted assistant with its own Linux machine, reachable by text message and chat apps, and who accepts that the assistant acts on connected accounts without a documented approval step.

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
  • No incidents deducted, where ZeroClaw loses 3 points for them

Watch for

The access token for the API and MCP endpoint grants full access to the workspace, with no scoped or read-only token documented

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runZeroClawZo ComputerEdge
Reliability16%207415ZeroClaw +59
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28273ZeroClaw +9
Agent ergonomics13%16.27234ZeroClaw +38
Security & auth14%17.57637ZeroClaw +39
Payments & pricing10%12.56040ZeroClaw +20
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88068ZeroClaw +12
Transparency & trust7%8.86460ZeroClaw +4
Negative events≤15-30
TotalBB 70.2/100E 43.1/100

Facts side by side

FactZeroClawZo Computer
KindAgent harnessHTTP API
VendorZeroClaw LabsZo Computer Company
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.zo.computer/mcp
TransportsHTTP
AuthNoneAPI key
PricingFreeFreemium
x402nono
LicenceMIT OR Apache-2.0Proprietary service under Zo Computer Company's terms of service
Read-only variant documentedyesno
llms.txtyesyes
Last release2026-09-052026-09-14
Terms last updatedno document linked2025-08-08
Privacy policy last updatedno document linked2026-05-20
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the text
Popularity33k starsnone

Verdicts

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.

Zo Computer

Zo publishes an OpenAPI file, Markdown docs, plan prices and a named list of the providers that receive user content. One access token grants full access to the workspace, no approval step before sending or buying was found in the reviewed docs, and no status page, rate limit or SLA is published.

Before you call either

ZeroClaw

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

Zo Computer

  1. Send POST https://api.zo.computer/zo/ask with Authorization: Bearer zo_sk_... and an input string. The owner creates the token under Settings > Advanced
  2. Pass persona_id for a persona with a narrow tool set. The token itself carries every permission the owner has
  3. Set memory_mode to off to keep workspace memory out of a request. The field is in the OpenAPI file and absent from the API guide
  4. Do not retry /zo/ask blindly after a timeout. No idempotency key is documented and the request may already have sent a message
  5. Append .md to any guide or reference URL for Markdown

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, ZeroClaw or Zo Computer?

ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Zo Computer's 43.1 (E), and leads in every scored category.

Can an agent call ZeroClaw and Zo Computer without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for ZeroClaw. Zo Computer has a hosted endpoint at https://api.zo.computer/mcp.

Are ZeroClaw and Zo Computer open source?

ZeroClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0). No open-source release is listed for Zo Computer.

Other comparisons with ZeroClaw or Zo Computer

Machine-readable

For companies

Do agents find, use and choose your tools?

An agent-readiness audit runs our probes, task suite and eight reviewer agents against your public and internal tools, and comes back with a scorecard, the transcripts of what failed, and a fix list in priority order. From $2,500, re-run included. We never take payment to move a rank. We do help companies earn one.