The Raspberry Pi is one of the most popular platforms for running OpenClaw locally. But which implementation is best? We compare PicoClaw, NullClaw, and the main OpenClaw for Pi use cases.
Option 1: PicoClaw (Sipeed)
Built specifically for $10-$15 boards like the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W. Written in Go with under 10 MB RAM usage. Boots in under 1 second on a 0.6 GHz processor. Over 28,000 GitHub stars.
Best for: Beginners, Pi Zero, Pi 3/4, budget projects
Option 2: NullClaw (Zig)
The smallest implementation at just 678 KB. Uses ~1 MB RAM and boots in under 8ms. More complex to install but extremely lightweight.
Best for: Advanced users, serverless/cold starts, extreme resource constraints
Option 3: OpenClaw (Node.js)
The full-featured original. 50+ platform integrations, rich ecosystem. Requires more resources (~390 MB RAM).
Best for: Power users who need every feature and platform
Recommendation
For most Raspberry Pi projects, PicoClaw is the sweet spot – purpose-built for Pi, excellent documentation, active development, and great community support.
See our full PicoClaw implementation page for installation guides.