Modelpeers
OpenClaw charactervsClaude Code character

OpenClaw vs Claude Code: Do you need a personal agent or a coding agent?

Facts checked Oct 22, 2026. Every number links to its source.

Summary

Derived from sourced facts, not from builder opinions
  • They do different jobs. OpenClaw is a personal assistant you message from WhatsApp, Telegram or Slack. Claude Code is a coding agent for your terminal, editor and desktop.
  • OpenClaw is free and open source with no paid tier. You pay your model provider. Claude Code comes with paid Claude plans from $20 a month, with model use included, or bills per token through an Anthropic Console account.
  • OpenClaw works with any hosted or local model. Claude Code is built for Claude models.
  • Anthropic's terms bar third-party apps from routing requests through Free, Pro or Max credentials. OpenClaw's docs say Anthropic staff told them Claude CLI reuse is allowed.

Choose OpenClaw if

  • You want an assistant for email, calendar and errands that you message from chat apps.
  • You want to choose any model, including local ones, or use a ChatGPT sign-in.
  • You are comfortable running and securing software on your own machine.

Choose Claude Code if

  • Your main work is code.
  • You want model usage included in a subscription.
  • You want an agent with a published Terminal-Bench 4.0 result (64.85% with Opus 5.5).
  • You want an agent that asks before it edits files or runs most commands, without setting up a sandbox yourself.
OpenClaw
Claude Code

Follow both to get an email when either one changes its price, limits or behavior.

Best by task

Choice of models

OpenClaw

OpenClaw runs hosted or local models from any provider as swappable plugins. Claude Code is built for Claude models.

Use from chat apps

OpenClaw

OpenClaw works in WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, iMessage, Teams and 20+ more.

Model usage included in the price

Claude Code

Claude plans include Claude Code usage within limits. OpenClaw has no plan, so you pay a model provider.

Plans

OpenClaw plans

Open source
Free

No paid tier · model usage billed by your provider

Claude Code plans

Pro
$20/month

Claude Code included · billed $17/month annually

Max
$100/month

From $100: 5x or 20x Pro usage

Team Standard seat
$25/month

Per seat, monthly · $20 billed annually

Team Premium seat
$125/month

5x a standard seat · $100 billed annually

Enterprise
$20/month

Per seat billed annually, 20-seat minimum, plus usage at API rates

Subscription agents are priced per seat with usage limits, so this compares plans rather than dividing a subscription by a guessed number of tasks.

Side by side

OpenClawClaude Code
MakerOpenClaw Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3)
Anthropic
PriceFree and open source · no paid tier or hosted service · you pay your model provider
Not published
What it doesPersonal assistant that runs on your machine: inbox, email, calendar, flight check-in, from chat apps
Not published
Where you use itDiscord, iMessage, Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp and 20+ more chat apps · apps for macOS, iOS, Android, Windows and Linux
Not published
ModelsAny hosted or local model provider · Claude, Codex and local models are swappable plugins
Built for Claude models: aliases opus (Opus 5.5), sonnet (Sonnet 5.5), haiku (Haiku 5.5), fable (Fable 5.1, may bill usage credits) · third-party providers Bedrock, Google Cloud, Foundry
Subscription sign-inChatGPT/Codex sign-in supported · Claude sign-in through the Claude CLI, which OpenClaw says Anthropic staff allowed · API keys recommended for always-on hosts
Not published
Security defaultTools run on the host for the main session unless you set up sandboxing
Not published
Latest releasev2026.10.6 (macOS and Linux apps)
Not published
PlatformsNot publishedTerminal CLI, VS Code, JetBrains, desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux beta), web, iOS and Android app
PlansNot publishedNot in Free. Pro $20/month ($17 annual) · Max from $100 (5x or 20x Pro usage) · Team Standard $25/seat monthly ($20 annual), Premium $125 ($100 annual) · Enterprise $20/seat plus usage at API rates
Usage limitsNot publishedPer-seat 5-hour and weekly windows · weekly Claude Code limits 25% above pre-May 2026 levels since 2026-09-14 · no published per-plan numbers
Use with other toolsNot publishedSubscription OAuth may not be used to route requests for third-party products

Scores appear side by side only when both were published for the same test. Settings differ between sources, so small gaps can reverse under another harness.

Updates

OpenClaw

Security

OpenClaw 2026.10.9 patches vulnerable dependencies and masks credentials

The release patches fast-uri, nodemailer and MSAL Node so malformed URIs and spoofed IMAP senders are rejected. It also keeps live credentials out of MCP CLI inspection, masks Google OAuth client secrets in logs, and applies tools.fs.workspaceOnly to Gateway-built tools.

Who is affected:
Anyone running OpenClaw with MCP, IMAP, Microsoft Teams or Discord integrations is affected.
Action needed:
Update to OpenClaw 2026.10.9.

Security

OpenClaw 2026.9.36 closes Teams allowlist and workspace tool gaps

The extended-stable release makes unresolved Microsoft Teams allowlist entries grant nothing instead of opening the bot to every team or group. With tools.fs.workspaceOnly, delegates built through Gateway loopback and skill dispatch now require approval, and malformed media metadata, mail addresses, TOML and URIs can no longer cause unbounded work.

Before

Name-keyed Teams teams or groupAllowFrom entries that did not resolve could open the bot to every team or group.

After

Unresolved Teams allowlist entries now grant nothing.

Who is affected:
People running OpenClaw gateways on the extended-stable line, especially with Microsoft Teams allowlists or workspace-only tool restrictions.
Action needed:
Update to OpenClaw 2026.9.36 and check that any name-keyed Teams allowlist entries resolve.

Now available

OpenClaw 2026.9.35 adds Kimi K3.1 Pro controls

The extended-stable release gives moonshot/kimi-k3.1-pro, kimi/k3.1-pro and their Highspeed variants the K3 thinking, effort and video controls. K3.1 rejects off locally instead of returning a provider 400.

Who is affected:
OpenClaw users running Kimi K3.1 Pro on the 2026.9 extended-stable line.
What to do:
Update to 2026.9.35 to use Kimi K3.1 Pro controls.

Claude Code

27 recorded incidents in the last 90 days.

FAQ

Is OpenClaw free?

Yes. OpenClaw is open source with no paid tier or hosted service. You pay whichever model provider you connect.

Can I use my Claude subscription with OpenClaw?

OpenClaw's docs say Anthropic staff told them Claude CLI reuse is allowed. Anthropic's legal page says third-party developers may not route requests through Free, Pro or Max credentials. OpenClaw recommends an API key for production.

Can I use my ChatGPT subscription with OpenClaw?

Yes. OpenClaw's docs say ChatGPT and Codex sign-in is explicitly supported outside the Codex CLI, including in OpenClaw.

Can Claude Code use other models?

Its built-in choices are Claude models, through the opus, sonnet, haiku and fable aliases. Other makers' models need an API that accepts Anthropic's format, set up and billed separately.

What can OpenClaw do?

It is a personal assistant that runs on your machine and handles your inbox, email, calendar and flight check-in from chat apps.

Is OpenClaw safe to give access to my accounts?

Only with setup. By default its tools run on your computer for the main session unless you set up sandboxing.

Is Claude Code free?

No. It starts with Claude Pro at $20 a month, or $17 billed annually.

Related comparisons

OpenAI Codex vs Claude CodeCursor vs Claude CodeClaude Code vs GitHub CopilotClaude Code vs ChatGPTGoogle Antigravity vs Claude CodeGemini CLI vs Claude CodeOpenClaw pageClaude Code page

Sources and method

Prices, specs and limits come from each maker's own pages. Benchmark scores come from independent benchmark publishers and the makers' announcements, with the setting each was measured in. Changes come from changelogs, deprecation pages and status pages. The summary is written from these facts only.