How to Run OpenClaw for Free: Complete Cost Guide (2026)

OpenClaw is free software, but the AI models behind it are not. Here is how to eliminate every cost and run a fully functional personal AI agent for $0 per month.

You can run OpenClaw completely free by combining free hosting (your own computer or Oracle Cloud's Always Free Tier) with free local AI models through Ollama. OpenClaw is a free, open-source AI agent created by Peter Steinberger (originally Clawdbot, later Moltbot) released under the MIT license. The software costs nothing. The only expenses are hosting and AI model access, and both can be eliminated.

Most guides skip this part. They tell you OpenClaw is "free" without mentioning that the AI models powering it can cost $30–800+ per month depending on usage. As of February 2026, OpenClaw has over 157,000 GitHub stars and a growing ecosystem of 5,700+ skills on ClawHub. This guide breaks down every cost and shows you exactly how to get to $0.

The Three Costs of OpenClaw

Running OpenClaw involves three separate expenses. Understanding each one is the key to minimizing your total cost.

The software is always free. Your job is to minimize or eliminate the other two.

Free Hosting Options

OpenClaw needs a computer that stays on. Here are three ways to get that for free (or close to it).

Option 1: Your own computer

The simplest approach. Run OpenClaw on your laptop, Mac Mini, or an old desktop you already own. There is no monthly cost, just the electricity your computer already uses.

• Pros: Zero cost, full control, lowest latency
• Cons: Must stay powered on, uses your computer's resources, not truly "always on" if you close your laptop
• Best for: Testing OpenClaw or light usage where 24/7 uptime is not critical

Option 2: Oracle Cloud Always Free Tier

This is the best free option for running OpenClaw 24/7. Oracle's Always Free Tier gives you resources that would cost $50–100/month elsewhere, completely free with no time limit.

With 24 GB of RAM, you can run OpenClaw plus Ollama with 7B parameter models comfortably, and even quantized 13B models. For comparison, AWS and Google Cloud free tiers only offer 1 GB RAM, which is nowhere near enough.

• Pros: Truly free forever, 24/7 uptime, 24 GB RAM is generous, runs Ollama alongside OpenClaw
• Cons: Requires some technical setup (Docker, Nginx), ARM architecture (most models support it), occasional availability issues during signup
• Best for: Anyone who wants a permanent, free OpenClaw setup

Option 3: Raspberry Pi

A Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB RAM is a one-time purchase of $75–100 (board plus power supply and SD card). After that, it runs 24/7 for pennies in electricity.

• Pros: One-time cost, always on, low power consumption, full physical control
• Cons: Limited RAM for local models, requires external AI API for best results, initial hardware cost
• Best for: Users who want a dedicated, physical OpenClaw device at home

Free AI Models

AI model access is where most OpenClaw users spend the bulk of their money. Here is how to pay nothing.

Ollama with local models

Ollama officially launched OpenClaw integration in February 2026. You install both tools, run ollama launch openclaw, select your models, and configure your messaging integrations. Everything runs locally on your machine.

Recommended free local models:

• Llama 3 (8B) — Meta's open model, strong general performance
• Mistral 7B — Excellent reasoning for its size
• Qwen 2.5 (7B) — Strong multilingual and coding capabilities

Local models are completely free, run offline, and keep all your data private. The tradeoff is that they are less capable than cloud models like Claude or GPT-4. For routine tasks (messaging, scheduling, simple automations), they work well. For complex reasoning, you may want a hybrid approach.

Google AI Studio free tier

Google AI Studio provides free API access to Gemini models. You can use Gemini 2.5 Pro with up to 100 requests per day at no cost. No credit card required.

• Cost: $0
• Limit: ~100 requests/day for Gemini 2.5 Pro
• Quality: Very capable, good for most OpenClaw tasks

Groq free tier

Groq offers extremely fast inference (hundreds of tokens per second) with a free tier. No credit card needed. Rate limits apply but are generous enough for personal use.

• Cost: $0
• Limit: Rate-limited by requests and tokens per minute
• Quality: Runs Llama, Mistral, and other open models at incredible speed

OpenRouter free models

OpenRouter aggregates multiple AI providers and offers a collection of permanently free models. These include Llama 4 Maverick, Llama 4 Scout, Nemotron Nano 8B, and Gemini 2.5 Pro experimental.

• Cost: $0 for free-tier models
• Limit: Varies by model
• Quality: Range from basic to quite capable

KIMI K2.5 free

Moonshot AI's KIMI K2.5 is available completely free through multiple providers, including NVIDIA's API and OpenClaw's direct integration. OpenClaw made KIMI K2.5 its first free premium model, not a limited trial but full API access.

• Cost: $0
• Limit: Rate limits apply
• Quality: Premium-tier model, competitive with Claude and GPT-4 on many benchmarks

AMD Developer Cloud

AMD gives new developers $100 in free cloud credits for their Instinct MI300X accelerators (192 GB GPU memory). That is enough for approximately 50 hours of inference. Not permanently free, but a substantial starting bonus.

• Cost: $0 (first $100 of usage)
• Limit: $100 credit, then paid
• Quality: Enterprise-grade hardware, supports models up to 139B parameters

Step-by-Step: $0/Month OpenClaw Setup

Here is the exact setup to run OpenClaw for free, permanently, using Oracle Cloud's Always Free Tier and Ollama.

Step 1: Create an Oracle Cloud account

Sign up at cloud.oracle.com. Select your home region (choose one close to you for lower latency). You will need a credit card for verification, but it will not be charged. Select the "Always Free" tier.

Step 2: Provision an ARM instance

Create a new compute instance. Choose the Ampere A1 shape with 4 OCPUs and 24 GB RAM. Select Ubuntu 22.04 as the operating system. This entire instance is free tier eligible.

Step 3: Install Docker and Ollama

SSH into your instance and install Docker and Ollama:

# Install Docker
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

# Install Ollama
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

# Pull a model (Llama 3 8B recommended for 24GB RAM)
ollama pull llama3:8b

Step 4: Install OpenClaw

Run the OpenClaw installer and connect it to your local Ollama instance:

# Install OpenClaw
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

# Launch with Ollama
ollama launch openclaw

# Select your model and configure integrations
# Follow the interactive setup for WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.

Step 5: Configure Nginx and SSL (optional)

If you want webhook-based integrations (WhatsApp, Telegram bots), set up Nginx as a reverse proxy with free SSL via Let's Encrypt:

sudo apt install -y nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx
# Configure your domain and generate SSL certificate
sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

Hybrid Approach: Mostly Free

Local models are free but less capable than cloud models. If you want better quality without breaking the bank, consider a hybrid approach.

The $20/month sweet spot: Run OpenClaw on free hosting (Oracle Cloud or your own computer) and use a Claude Pro subscription at $20/month instead of API keys. Claude Pro gives you generous usage limits and access to Claude Opus 4.6 for a flat monthly fee.

This is often cheaper than API usage. API costs are unpredictable and can spike. A $20 subscription gives you budget certainty plus access to one of the most capable AI models available.

Cost Optimization Tips

Whether you go fully free or spend a little, these tips will keep costs down.

1. Use smaller models for simple tasks

Not every OpenClaw action needs a frontier model. Use Haiku-class models (fast and cheap) for simple tasks like message routing, scheduling, and basic lookups. Save the powerful models for complex reasoning.

2. Set token limits

Configure maximum token limits per request in OpenClaw's settings. This prevents runaway context windows from burning through your budget. Most tasks need fewer tokens than the default limits.

3. Avoid runaway automations

The most common cost explosion is an automation that triggers in a loop. An agent that keeps retrying a failed task, or two agents that trigger each other, can burn through hundreds of dollars in hours. Set rate limits and monitoring alerts.

4. Use batching for non-urgent tasks

If you use Claude's API, the Batch API provides a 50% discount for non-urgent processing. Email summaries, daily reports, and background research can all be batched at half price.

5. Cache aggressively

Claude's prompt caching reduces costs by 90% for repeated context. If your agent frequently accesses the same system prompts or reference documents, caching pays for itself immediately.

Real Cost Examples

FAQ

Can you run OpenClaw completely for free?

Yes. OpenClaw is free open-source software. Eliminate hosting costs by running on your own computer or Oracle Cloud's Always Free Tier (4 ARM CPUs, 24 GB RAM, forever free). Eliminate AI model costs by using Ollama with local models like Llama 3 or Mistral. Total cost: $0 per month.

What is the cheapest way to run OpenClaw?

Oracle Cloud Always Free Tier running Ollama with local 7B parameter models. This costs $0/month with no credit card charges. Alternatively, run on your own computer with free API tiers from Google AI Studio or Groq for $0/month, though your computer must stay on.

How much does OpenClaw cost per month with Claude API?

Most users spend $30–70/month on Claude API costs. Light users can keep it to $10–30/month by using Haiku for simple tasks and setting token limits. Heavy users with multiple automations can reach $150–800+/month. A Claude Pro subscription ($20/month) is usually more cost-effective than API for individual users.

Can you use OpenClaw with Ollama?

Yes. Ollama launched official OpenClaw integration in February 2026. Install both, run ollama launch openclaw, select your models, and configure integrations. With 24 GB RAM you can run 7B models comfortably and even quantized 13B models.

Is Oracle Cloud Free Tier really free forever for OpenClaw?

Yes. Oracle Cloud's Always Free Tier includes 4 ARM Ampere A1 CPUs, 24 GB RAM, 200 GB storage, and 10 TB/month bandwidth. These are free indefinitely, not a trial. This is enough to run OpenClaw plus Ollama with local models. AWS and Google Cloud free tiers only offer 1 GB RAM, which is insufficient.

Related Guides

• What Is OpenClaw? — complete introduction to the AI agent
• OpenClaw Pricing Guide — full cost breakdown for every tier
• How to Install OpenClaw — step-by-step setup on any platform
• OpenClaw WhatsApp & Telegram Setup — connect messaging channels after installation
• OpenClaw Skills & ClawHub Guide — extend your agent with 5,700+ free skills
• How to Reduce Claude Code Costs — cost optimization tips for AI coding tools
• Claude Code Pricing Guide — compare pricing with a managed alternative