What is OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is an innovative open-source personal AI assistant designed to function as an autonomous digital teammate. Unlike conventional chatbots, it operates 24/7 on your local machine—Mac, Windows, or Linux—ensuring true data sovereignty and privacy. Its core value lies in bridging the gap between imagination and execution by having 'eyes and hands.' This means it can perform real-world actions like browsing the web, reading and writing files, running shell commands, and interacting with your applications. You communicate with it through the chat apps you already use daily, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, or Slack, making it a seamless extension of your workflow. It is built to be proactive, assessing how to help you in the background, managing tasks from clearing your inbox to checking flight statuses, all while keeping your sensitive data on your hardware.

Main Features

1. Local Sovereignty: Runs entirely on your personal computer, keeping all your data, context, and conversation history private and under your control.

2. Ubiquitous Chat Interface: Integrates with popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, and iMessage for convenient interaction.

3. Proactive Automation: Operates 24/7 with background tasks, cron jobs, and heartbeat systems to autonomously manage workflows without constant prompting.

4. Full System Access: Can read/write local files, execute terminal commands, and run code in a secure sandbox for comprehensive automation.

5. Advanced Browser Control: Capable of web browsing, form filling, data extraction, and even managing cloud service consoles.

6. Hackable Skills Framework: Users can build custom skills or use community plugins. The assistant can even write its own skills based on instructions or video references.

7. Persistent Memory: Remembers user context, personal preferences, and history across conversations for personalized assistance.

8. Multi-Model Flexibility: Supports various AI models including Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, local models via Ollama, and others.

Use Cases

1. Personal Productivity: Automatically clear your email inbox, manage your calendar, send emails, and check in for flights via simple chat commands.

2. Software Development: Assist with coding, run tests, capture and resolve errors via webhooks, open GitHub pull requests, and create specification files.

3. Health & Administration: Fill out health reimbursement forms, find and book doctor appointments, and monitor personal biomarker data from devices like WHOOP.

4. Content & Knowledge Management: Summarize conversations from different channels, manage content pipelines, and interact with personal knowledge bases like Obsidian notes.

5. Automated Task Management: Handle background cron jobs, send reminders, monitor applications, and execute automated workflows like tax preparation.

6. Research & Data Extraction: Browse the web to gather information, extract data from websites, and compile research into actionable documents.

Supported Languages

1. The user interface and primary documentation for OpenClaw are in English.

2. The assistant itself can interact and process information in the languages supported by its underlying AI models (e.g., the chosen Claude, GPT, or local model), which typically include major global languages.

Pricing Plans

1. Monthly Plan: Priced at $39.9 per month. This is a flexible month-to-month subscription that can be canceled anytime. It includes one dedicated OpenClaw Gateway instance, support for mainstream AI models, all chat platforms, persistent conversation history & memory, and priority customer support.

2. Annual Pass: Offers a 40% discount compared to the monthly plan. The exact annual price is not explicitly listed with a numeric value on the provided webpage.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Q: What exactly is OpenClaw and why is it different?

A: OpenClaw is a 24/7 open-source personal AI assistant that lives on your own machine. Unlike standard chatbots, it has 'eyes and hands'—it can browse the web, read/write files, and run shell commands autonomously as a teammate.

2. Q: How does the privacy and 'Local Sovereignty' work?

A: Privacy is core. It runs on your Mac, Windows, or Linux hardware, so sensitive data stays with you. You can use cloud model APIs or run completely local models, keeping everything under your control.

3. Q: Which models and platforms does OpenClaw support?

A: It supports leading LLMs like Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, and local models via Ollama. You can interact via WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, and iMessage.

4. Q: What are 'Skills' and can I build my own?

A: Skills are repeatable workflows. You can build your own using Markdown or TypeScript, use community skills, or even ask OpenClaw to build a new skill for itself by talking to it or providing a reference.

5. Q: How does the 'Proactive' background worker system function?

A: It uses a heartbeat system and cron jobs. It doesn't just respond