# NanoClaw vs OpenClaw

> Side-by-side comparison of two projects in the OpenClaw ecosystem.

Canonical HTML: https://shelldex.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw/
JSON: https://shelldex.com/api/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw.json

| Field | NanoClaw | OpenClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tagline | Security-first, radically minimal | The OG self-hosted AI super-agent |
| Language | typescript | typescript |
| Status | active | active |
| Stars | 29k | 369k |
| Forks | 12769 | 76104 |
| Open issues | 801 | 7307 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Last commit | 2026-05-06T18:13:18Z | 2026-05-06T19:42:42Z |
| 7d growth | 177 | 1935 |
| MCP support | no | yes |
| Requires LLM | yes | yes |
| Platforms | server | server |
| Categories | security, lightweight | reference, self-hosted |
| Health score | 80/100 | 95/100 |
| Leaderboard rank | #7 | #1 |

## Key differences

- OpenClaw has 13x more stars (369k vs 29k), indicating significantly broader adoption.
- OpenClaw is growing faster with +1.9k stars this week vs +177 for NanoClaw.
- NanoClaw has a higher fork-to-star ratio (45% vs 21%), suggesting more active contributor participation.
- OpenClaw has MCP (Model Context Protocol) support while NanoClaw does not.
- NanoClaw focuses on security, lightweight while OpenClaw targets reference, self-hosted.
- OpenClaw scores higher on project health (maintenance activity, issue management, release cadence).

## Descriptions

### NanoClaw

Five files, one process, OS-level container isolation. NanoClaw strips the agent down to its secure essentials.

### OpenClaw

The original. Self-hosted AI super-agent platform. Formerly Clawdbot, then Moltbot. The project that started it all.