About

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

At a Glance

Runs On

Server / VPS / Docker

LLM Required

Yes — needs API key

MCP Support

Yes

Ecosystem Role

Reference Implementation

On a rocket ship full of stars. The one that started the molt.

Editorial Take

OpenClaw is the reference point for the rest of the ecosystem and remains the benchmark every other project is measured against. It is written in TypeScript and currently shows 356k GitHub stars, which gives a quick sense of where it fits between experimentation and mainstream adoption.

OpenClaw is still the broadest and most battle-tested option in this directory. It earns that position through sheer ecosystem gravity, but that breadth also creates room for smaller projects to specialize where the original is intentionally general.

Operationally, this project targets general self-hosted agent deployments. MCP support improves interoperability with modern tool ecosystems. Its deployment surface spans Server / VPS / Docker.

Best For

General self-hosted agent deployments

+ A large GitHub footprint (356k stars) gives it more tutorials, contributors, and social proof than most projects in the ecosystem.
+ MCP support makes it easier to integrate external tools and data sources without custom glue code.
+ Its category focus on reference and self-hosted makes the product direction easier to understand than generic agent frameworks.

Tradeoffs

What to understand before choosing OpenClaw over another project in the ecosystem.

- It still depends on an external LLM provider, so token spend and vendor reliability remain part of the operating model.
- Its specialization around reference can be a limitation if you need a broader, more general-purpose assistant runtime.

GitHub Stats

#1 of 54 on the leaderboard →

Stars

★ 356k

+6.0k this week

Forks

72k

Open Issues

18k

Last Commit

0d ago

License: MIT Latest release: v2026.4.12

OpenClaw momentum

+6.0k4.4x ecosystem avg

2026-03-19 to 2026-04-13

What People Are Saying

"Here's my conversation with Peter Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent that has taken the Internet by storm, with now over 180,000 stars on GitHub."

Lex Fridman on X Feb 20, 2026

OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI

TechCrunch on TechCrunch Feb 15, 2026

"good breakdown of the architecture behind OpenClaw/Clawdbot, and also makes it perfectly clear that our operating systems are overdue for reimagination."

Scott Belsky on X Jan 28, 2026