# OpenClaw vs TinyClaw

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

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

| Field | OpenClaw | TinyClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tagline | The OG self-hosted AI super-agent | Your self-improving AI companion |
| Language | typescript | typescript |
| Status | active | active |
| Stars | 372k | 247 |
| Forks | 77049 | 36 |
| Open issues | 7041 | 11 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Last commit | 2026-05-15T16:50:31Z | 2026-05-11T23:59:31Z |
| 7d growth | 3106 | 4 |
| MCP support | yes | no |
| Requires LLM | yes | yes |
| Platforms | server | server |
| Categories | reference, self-hosted | companion, social |
| Health score | 95/100 | 55/100 |
| Leaderboard rank | #1 | #40 |

## Key differences

- OpenClaw has 1507x more stars (372k vs 247), indicating significantly broader adoption.
- OpenClaw is growing faster with +3.1k stars this week vs +4 for TinyClaw.
- OpenClaw uses the MIT license while TinyClaw uses GPL-3.0.
- OpenClaw has MCP (Model Context Protocol) support while TinyClaw does not.
- OpenClaw focuses on reference, self-hosted while TinyClaw targets companion, social.
- OpenClaw scores higher on project health (maintenance activity, issue management, release cadence).

## Descriptions

### OpenClaw

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

### TinyClaw

Self-improving AI companion with a personality system called Heartware. The friendliest claw in the sea.