Is OpenClaw Free?
Yes. OpenClaw is free and open-source under the MIT licence. The software costs nothing; you only pay for the server it runs on and your LLM API usage, typically under $100/month combined.
OpenClaw itself is genuinely free. It is released under the MIT licence, one of the most permissive open-source licences, which means you can run, modify, and even commercialise it without paying for the software. With 15,000+ GitHub stars and 200+ contributors, it is a maintained community project, not a freemium funnel.
“Free software” is not the same as “free to operate”, though. There is no licence fee, but running an always-on agent has two unavoidable running costs: somewhere to host it and the LLM it thinks with.
How it works
OpenClaw is downloaded and run on infrastructure you control. The two cost lines are:
- Hosting. A small VPS meeting the minimum specs (roughly 2 cores, 2 GB RAM). Low-cost managed hosts like OneClaw or Blink Claw run ~$12–22/month if you would rather not manage a server.
- LLM API usage. OpenClaw is LLM-agnostic, so you pay your provider (Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek) for what the agent consumes.
Combined, infra plus LLM API typically lands under $100/month. There is also a time cost: roughly 1–3 hours/month of maintenance that does not show up on any invoice. For the full breakdown see how much OpenClaw costs to run.
Worked example
| Line item | Cost | Free? |
|---|---|---|
| OpenClaw software (MIT) | $0 | Yes |
| Hosting (VPS or cheap managed) | ~$12–100/month | No |
| LLM API usage | Pay-as-you-go | No |
| Your maintenance time | ~1–3 hrs/month | No |
So the answer is “free to download, not free to run”. For most people the meaningful cost is the LLM usage plus the hours of upkeep.
Try this in Liv
If you want predictable pricing and no upkeep, Liv runs the OpenClaw agent loop as a managed service for a flat monthly fee.
- Start a 14-day free trial at app.liv4all.com, no credit card.
- Message Liv on Telegram, the default channel.
- Connect Gmail and Calendar via Google OAuth.
- Optionally link WhatsApp (invite-only, needs a dedicated eSIM).
Liv is Pro $79/mo or Max $149/mo. Onboarding is early access and batched.
Common questions
Does OpenClaw have a paid tier?
No. The project is fully MIT-licensed and free. Costs come only from hosting and LLM usage.
What’s the cheapest way to run it?
A small VPS or a low-cost managed host (~$12–22/month), plus modest LLM usage.
How much does running it actually cost?
Infra plus LLM API usually stays under $100/month. See the full cost breakdown.
Are there hidden costs?
The main one is your time: roughly 1–3 hours/month of maintenance.
Is Liv free?
Liv has a 14-day free trial with no card, then Pro $79/mo or Max $149/mo. It is an independent managed service built on OpenClaw.
Can I commercialise something built on OpenClaw?
Yes. The MIT licence permits commercial use, which is exactly how managed services are built on top of it.