OpenClaw is the core AI assistant gateway created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger. Originally published as Clawdbot in November 2025, renamed to Moltbot on January 27 2026, then renamed to OpenClaw three days later after Anthropic raised trademark concerns.
Running as a single Node.js Gateway process on 127.0.0.1:18789, OpenClaw connects to 50+ messaging platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage, WeChat, Matrix, and many more. It is one of the fastest-growing open-source repositories in history, reaching 100,000 stars in just two days.
The project was transferred to the OpenClaw Foundation in February 2026. As of late March 2026 it has approximately 337,000 GitHub stars and 66,000 forks, with the current version being 2026.3.24.
Licensed under MIT. Supported platforms include macOS, Linux, and Windows (WSL2).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is OpenClaw and how does it work?
OpenClaw is an open-source AI gateway that runs as a local Node.js process on your machine. It connects to over 50 messaging platforms — WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, iMessage, and more — and routes your messages to AI models like Claude, GPT-4, and Gemini. You install it once and it works everywhere you already chat.
How many GitHub stars does OpenClaw have?
As of late March 2026, OpenClaw has approximately 337,000–338,000 GitHub stars and 66,000 forks, making it one of the fastest-growing open-source repositories in history. It reached 100,000 stars in just two days after launch.
Is OpenClaw free to use?
Yes, OpenClaw itself is free and MIT-licensed. You do need API keys for the AI providers you want to use (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.), which have their own costs. There is no cost for the OpenClaw software itself.
What operating systems does OpenClaw support?
OpenClaw runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows (via WSL2). It requires Node.js and can be installed via npm. There are also community ports for Android via Termux, and lighter alternatives like PicoClaw and ZeroClaw for embedded systems.
How is OpenClaw different from ZeroClaw or NullClaw?
OpenClaw is the original full-featured gateway written in TypeScript/Node.js — it supports 50+ platforms and has the most integrations, but uses ~390 MB RAM. ZeroClaw is a Rust reimplementation at 3.4 MB with under 5 MB RAM. NullClaw is a Zig implementation at 678 KB and ~1 MB RAM. The tradeoff is features vs. footprint. See our full comparison guide for details.