OpenClaw alternatives, self-hosted and hosted
We make Ara, one of the five here. Ara is hosted and not open source, so if you want to run it yourself, start with the first group.
Why teams look for an alternative
- Someone has to run it. OpenClaw is one self-hosted Gateway on your own machine or server, and the project has no hosted tier of its own. Read its site
- One gateway is one trust boundary. Its docs list one shared gateway or agent used by mutually untrusted users as not supported. Read its trust model
- The controls are yours to configure: allowlists, mention rules and per-agent tool profiles. Read its security docs Read its tool permissions
Stay on OpenClaw if
You are comfortable running software, you want your data on your own hardware, you want to choose or run your own model, or you need to read and change the code. It is also the better fit for a personal assistant across your own apps.
Alternatives you run yourself
Hermes Agent
An open-source agent from Nous Research that creates skills from experience and keeps its own memory. It works with the model provider you choose.
- Where you reach it
- Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal and the command line, from one gateway process.
- Cost
- Free under the MIT license. You pay for your model and any server.
- Pick it if
- You want to run your own agent, switch models freely and have it build up skills as it works.
NanoClaw
An open-source assistant with a small codebase meant to be read, running each agent in its own Linux container. Its README says it is built for the individual user.
- Where you reach it
- WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Microsoft Teams, iMessage and others, added as you need them.
- Cost
- Free under the MIT license. You pay for your model and any server.
- Pick it if
- You want to understand all the code you run, and you want container isolation between agents.
Alternatives hosted for you
Ara
Ours. A hosted AI employee a team shares in the chat it already uses. It is not open source, and it is free only for the starting credits.
- Where you reach it
- Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, SMS, Google Chat, Discord, plus the web dashboard and the API.
- Cost
- Free to start with 20 credits and no card. 1 credit per completed run plus external data lookups; failed runs cost nothing. Business is quoted.
- Pick it if
- You run a team, nobody should have to babysit a server, and several people need to share one employee with their own accounts and limits.
Viktor
The closest match to Ara: an AI employee in team chat that hands back finished files.
- Where you reach it
- Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord and its web app.
- Cost
- Free with up to $100 in credits and no card. Team from $50 a month for 20,000 shared credits, $100 for 40,000. Credits pass through model costs with no platform markup. Enterprise is custom.
- Pick it if
- Your buyers or your security team ask for SOC 2 now, you live in Slack or Teams, you depend on a long tail of integrations, or you want confirmation before risky actions without configuring it.
Lindy
An AI employee across Slack, iMessage and email, with enterprise controls Ara lacks today.
- Where you reach it
- Slack, iMessage and email. Microsoft Teams appears on its site as an integration, not as a channel.
- Cost
- Free with $50 in credits for 7 days and no card. Team from $29.99 a month for 3,000 pooled credits; monthly credits do not roll over. Enterprise is custom.
- Pick it if
- You need SSO, SCIM or a BAA, you want an assistant in iMessage and your inbox, or you want a clear low monthly entry price.
We read each product's own site, docs or repository on 2026-11-04. This is not every option, only the ones we read. Products change: if something is wrong, tell us
Hand Ara the job you keep putting off.
Bring your team's first AI employee into the chat you already use and give it one job. It comes back finished. Free to start, no card.