Where to run OpenClaw: VPS, Mac mini, Pi or managed (2026)

For most people the best place to run OpenClaw is a small Linux VPS, from about $6.49 a month, because the Gateway has to stay on for the heartbeat, scheduled jobs and chat replies to work. Use a Mac only if you need iMessage, a Raspberry Pi 5 if you want a cheap always-on box at home, and a managed host if you don’t want to look after a server; for a first try, the computer you already have is enough.

We haven’t installed OpenClaw on any of these machines. This guide draws on OpenClaw’s install docs, each host’s own pricing page, and Apple’s and Raspberry Pi’s published prices, all read in October 2026; see how we work.

The short answer

Your situation	Best home	Cost, as of October 2026
Trying it out	The computer you already have (macOS, Linux or Windows)	$0
Always on, with an API model	A small VPS: Hetzner CX23 or Hostinger KVM 2	$6.49/mo; or $8.99/mo intro, renewing at $14.99
You need iMessage	A Mac signed in to Messages, such as a Mac mini	$899 for a new Mac mini M6
A cheap always-on box at home	Raspberry Pi 5 with 4 GB or more	About $110 for the 4 GB board, plus power supply and SSD
No server to look after	A managed host: Hostinger’s managed OpenClaw or Elestio	$4.99/mo intro (renews at $11.99); Elestio from $16/mo
You want a local model	A desktop with a large GPU, or a rented GPU	See OpenClaw with local models

The price table at the top of this page lists the VPS plans we track. The server is the small part of the bill; the model usually costs more, as what OpenClaw costs to run shows.

Why OpenClaw needs a machine that stays on

OpenClaw runs as one long-lived process, the Gateway, which owns every chat connection (architecture). While it’s off, nothing answers your Telegram or WhatsApp messages, the heartbeat (a check-in every 30 minutes by default) doesn’t run, and neither do scheduled jobs: the Gateway “must be running for schedules to fire” (automations).

A laptop that sleeps is fine for trying OpenClaw, not for a 7am email digest. Hence the FAQ calls a Mac mini “a popular always-on host choice”, adding that “a small VPS, home server, or Raspberry Pi-class box works too” (FAQ).

OpenClaw system requirements

The Gateway is a Node.js app (Node 24.16+ or 26.1+) for macOS, Linux or Windows (install). With an API model it needs little, and no GPU:

	CPU	RAM	Disk
Absolute minimum (FAQ)	1 vCPU	1 GB	About 500 MB
Recommended (FAQ)	1–2 vCPU	2 GB or more, for logs, media and several channels	Not stated
Building the Docker image from source	Not stated	At least 6 GB	“Enough disk for images and logs”

• Docker. The 6 GB applies only to building the image yourself. Pre-built images, ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw or openclaw/openclaw on Docker Hub, “avoid this build requirement” (Docker).
• Small servers. The DigitalOcean guide runs on 1 GB with a 2 GB swap file, while the Fly.io guide says “512MB is too small” and “2GB is recommended” (DigitalOcean guide, Fly.io guide). The FAQ recommends Ubuntu LTS.
• Windows. It runs natively, through the PowerShell installer or the Windows Hub app, or in WSL2, “the most Linux-compatible Gateway runtime on Windows”. For always-on use, note a known WSL regression that “idle-terminates the distro 15-20 seconds after the last client exits” (Windows).
• macOS. The Gateway runs on macOS 13.5 or later, but the menu bar app needs macOS 26.2 (macOS). The openclaw.ai homepage says “macOS 15+”, so the two pages disagree.

The options, one by one

Your own computer

It’s free and the quickest way to try OpenClaw: one install command, then openclaw onboard, which the docs say takes “about 5 minutes” (getting started). The catch is the one above: it works only while the computer is awake. And for your main session, tools run directly on the computer unless you turn on sandboxing, which is off by default (sandboxing), so don’t install it on a machine holding things you wouldn’t hand to a new assistant (is OpenClaw safe?).

A Mac mini, and iMessage

You don’t need one. Asked exactly that, the FAQ answers: “No. OpenClaw runs on macOS or Linux (Windows via WSL2).” What a Mac adds is iMessage: “OpenClaw supports iMessage through imsg only”, a tool that runs on a Mac signed in to Messages (iMessage setup), and “BlueBubbles support was removed” (iMessage). The Gateway can live on a Linux server and reach imsg on a Mac over SSH (deployment), so any Mac that stays on will do.

The Mac mini rush. In late January 2026, Business Insider reported people buying Mac minis to run the agent full time, and creator Peter Steinberger wrote “Please don’t buy a Mac Mini” (via Slashdot). In April, TechCrunch reported the base model sold out on Apple’s site, with open-box units on eBay at $715 to $795 (TechCrunch). On Apple’s earnings call in May, Tim Cook said “the Mac mini and the Mac Studio may take several months to reach supply-demand balance” (Yahoo Finance) and called them “amazing platforms for AI and agentic tools” (Sherwood News).

Price and power today. The $599 M4 of those reports is no longer the base model: Apple now starts the Mac mini at $899, for the M6 with 16 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage (Apple). Apple lists it at 4 W idle and 70 W maximum, measured at the wall (Apple Support). At the US average of 18.31 cents per kWh, 4 W around the clock costs about $6.40 a year and 70 W about $112; actual draw depends on load.

A Mac mini makes sense if you need iMessage or will use it as a computer too. Bought only to host OpenClaw with an API model, it costs far more than a VPS, as the chart below shows.

A Raspberry Pi

OpenClaw’s Raspberry Pi guide sets a minimum of “1 GB RAM, 1 core, 500 MB free disk, 64-bit OS” and recommends 2 GB or more, a 16 GB+ SD card or a USB SSD, and Ethernet. Its verdict by model:

Model	The docs say
Pi 5, 4 or 8 GB	“Fastest, recommended”
Pi 4, 4 GB	“Sweet spot for most users”
Pi 4, 2 GB	“Add swap”
Pi 4, 1 GB	“Possible with swap, minimal config”
Pi 3B+, 1 GB	“Works but sluggish”
Pi Zero 2 W, 512 MB	“Not recommended”

Use 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, the official power supply, swap on 2 GB or less, and a USB SSD, because “SD cards are slow and wear out”. And use an API model: “do not run local LLMs on a Pi”.

The docs put the cost at “$35-80 one-time”, but that predates a year of memory-driven price rises. Raspberry Pi 5 list prices as of October 2026:

Pi 5 memory	Price	How we got it
1 GB	$45	Confirmed: stated as unchanged on October 1, 2026
2 GB	$77.50	Confirmed: stated on October 1, 2026
4 GB	$110	Computed: $70 (December 2025) + $15 (February 2026) + $25 (April 2026)
8 GB	$175	Computed: $95 + $30 + $50
16 GB	$305	Computed ($145 + $60 + $100); the product page shows the same

Sources: Raspberry Pi’s price posts (Dec 2025, Feb 2026, Apr 2026, Oct 2026) and the Pi 5 page. Budget extra for a USB SSD and the 27W power supply Raspberry Pi suggests.

A VPS

A small Linux server is the default answer: it’s on 24/7, there’s nothing to buy, and the docs have setup guides for more than a dozen hosts, from Hetzner and DigitalOcean to GCP, Azure and Oracle Cloud (VPS hub). Treat the FAQ’s 2 GB as the floor; 4 GB leaves headroom. Our picks, at prices checked in October 2026:

• Hetzner CX23: 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 40 GB NVMe for $6.49/mo, billed hourly, in Germany and Finland. The cheapest for the spec; prices exclude VAT and the IPv4 address.
• Hostinger KVM 2: 2 vCPU, 8 GB, 100 GB NVMe for $8.99/mo intro, paid upfront, renewing at $14.99. US locations and an OpenClaw template.
• DigitalOcean: OpenClaw’s own guide uses the $6 1 GiB Droplet with swap; 2 GiB costs $12 and 4 GiB $24, billed per second.
• Vultr: 2 GB for $10/mo or 4 GB for $20/mo, billed hourly.

Oracle’s free tier, with a catch. OpenClaw’s Oracle guide promises “up to 4 OCPU, 24 GB RAM, 200 GB storage” free. Oracle’s own page says the allowance equals 2 OCPUs and 12 GB, and that “Idle Always Free compute instances may be reclaimed by Oracle” after 7 days under 20% use (Oracle). A mostly idle agent could qualify, so treat it as an experiment.

One-click and managed OpenClaw

There’s no official hosted OpenClaw: the project says “No subscription. No hosted tier.” (openclaw.ai). Hosts fill the gap with one-click templates, which install OpenClaw on a VPS you then run, and managed plans, where the host also handles updates.

• Hostinger’s VPS template. Its OpenClaw VPS page showed KVM 2 at $8.79/mo intro on October 20, renewing at $14.99, and Hostinger says “For OpenClaw, a KVM2 or greater is recommended” (Hostinger guide). Our general VPS data, which this site’s calculators use, has KVM 2 at $8.99, from Hostinger’s main VPS page.
• Hostinger’s managed OpenClaw. $4.99/mo intro, renewing at $11.99/mo, paid upfront (Hostinger). It lists “Pre-configured AI credits”, a ChatGPT login option and Telegram pairing, but no CPU or RAM, and doesn’t say how far the credits go.
• DigitalOcean 1-Click. DigitalOcean’s pages conflict: its Marketplace FAQ says one-click Droplets “start as low as $12/month”, but its requirements table starts at 4 GB and 2 CPUs, the $24 Droplet (Marketplace docs), and an engineering post says the image “currently necessitates a minimum $24/month Droplet” (DigitalOcean blog). It listed OpenClaw 2026.9.3 or 2026.9.4, behind the current 2026.10.5, so update after deploying.
• AWS Lightsail. AWS offers an OpenClaw blueprint and recommends the 4 GB plan at $24/mo (AWS News Blog, pricing). It defaults to Claude Sonnet 4.6 on Amazon Bedrock, with tokens billed on top (Lightsail guide).
• Elestio. Fully managed OpenClaw “starting at $16/mo” (its $11 plan in the table above is for other apps), billed hourly, with backups and updates (Elestio), and a 3-day trial with $20 of credit.
• xCloud. Managed, on a dedicated VPS with your own API key: 6 GB for $9.99/mo at first purchase, renewing at $19.99 (xCloud).
• KiloClaw, Kilo Code’s hosted OpenClaw, seems to be gone: its pages now redirect to Kilo’s homepage, and Kilo Code’s v7.7.3 release notes list “Remove KiloClaw” (GitHub). We couldn’t confirm whether the service still runs.
• Cloudflare. Its Moltworker is “a proof of concept, not a Cloudflare product”; the repo estimates about $34.50 a month always on (Cloudflare, GitHub). OpenClaw’s own Cloudflare Containers guide estimates “roughly 40 to 50 US dollars per month” (Cloudflare guide). Either costs several times a small VPS.

One-click, managed and cloud options

Where else you can run OpenClaw, and what it costs

Starting prices from each provider's own page, read October 20, 2026. None of these is run by the OpenClaw project.

All 16Managed 5One-click VPS 3Cloud platforms 7Free tier 1

Offer	Type	From	Watch out for
Hostinger managed OpenClaw	Managed	$4.99/mo intro, renews at $11.99	Paid upfront; CPU and RAM not listed
Hostinger OpenClaw VPS template	One-click VPS	KVM 2: $8.79/mo intro, renews at $14.99	Paid upfront; Hostinger recommends KVM 2 or larger
DigitalOcean 1-Click	One-click VPS	$12 or $24/mo	DigitalOcean's pages conflict on the minimum size
AWS Lightsail blueprint	One-click VPS	$24/mo for the recommended 4 GB	Bedrock model tokens billed on top
Elestio	Managed	$16/mo	Billed hourly; size not stated on the OpenClaw page
xCloud	Managed	6 GB: $9.99/mo, renews at $19.99	Bring your own model API key
Agent 37	Managed, usage-based	$4.76 for a 2 vCPU, 4 GB sandbox running a full month (its example)	Model tokens metered separately unless you bring your own keys
Fly.io	Cloud platform	$13.39/mo for the recommended 2 GB	No free tier for new organizations
Render	Cloud platform	$7/mo Starter (512 MB)	Fly.io's guide calls 512 MB too small; 2 GB Standard is $25/mo
Railway	Cloud platform	$5/mo Hobby plan, with $5 of usage	Community template; RAM about $10 per GB a month
Northflank	Cloud platform	1 GB: $12/mo; 2 GB: $24/mo	The template states no size
Azure	Cloud platform	About $55/mo for the guide's VM	Azure Bastion adds about $38 to $140/mo
Cloudflare Containers	Cloud platform	About $40 to $50/mo always on (OpenClaw docs)	Needs the Workers Paid plan
Cloudflare Moltworker	Proof of concept	About $34.50/mo always on (repo estimate)	"Not a Cloudflare product"; may break without notice
Oracle Cloud Always Free	Free tier	$0	Oracle's limits are lower than the OpenClaw guide says; idle instances may be reclaimed
KiloClaw	Managed	Unknown	Pages redirect; Kilo Code removed it from its app in September

Showing all 16.

Prices in US dollars as of October 2026, before tax. The Azure and Cloudflare Containers figures are the estimates in OpenClaw's own guides; the rest are from each provider's pricing page. Model costs are extra unless stated.

A managed plan trades money for upkeep. Either way the host holds your API keys and chat logins, so the security steps below still apply.

Mac mini vs a VPS over three years

The chart adds up each option’s cost over time: the upfront price, plus the monthly plan or the electricity. The assumptions:

• Mac mini M6: $899, drawing 4 W, Apple’s idle figure; actual draw depends on load.
• Hetzner CX23 and Hostinger KVM 2: plan prices from our hosting data. We assume Hostinger’s $8.99 intro price covers a 24-month upfront term, then $14.99, since Hostinger doesn’t print the term; a 12-month term would add about $72 over three years.
• Raspberry Pi 5, 4 GB: $110 for the board alone, drawing 5 W, which is our assumption, not a published figure.
• Electricity: 18.31 cents per kWh, the US average residential price for July 2026. Change it to your rate.

Cost over time

Cumulative cost of each way to keep OpenClaw running: the upfront price plus the monthly plan or electricity. Server prices come from our hosting data.

Mac mini M6 (16 GB)Hetzner CX23Hostinger KVM 2Raspberry Pi 5 (4 GB)

Months: 36Electricity, cents per kWhUS average residential price, July 2026 (EIA)

Option	Upfront	Per month	Total

• Mac mini M6 (16 GB): $899 at Apple in October 2026. 4 W is Apple's measured idle figure and 70 W its maximum (Apple Support); actual draw depends on load.
• Hetzner CX23: 2 vCPU, 4 GB, 40 GB NVMe. Excludes VAT and the IPv4 address.
• Hostinger KVM 2: 2 vCPU, 8 GB. Intro price for an assumed 24-month upfront term (Hostinger doesn't print the term), then the renewal price.
• Raspberry Pi 5 (4 GB): Board only, computed from Raspberry Pi's price announcements; power supply and SSD not included. 5 W is our assumption, not a published figure.

Over three years the Pi comes to about $134, Hetzner about $234, Hostinger about $396 and the Mac mini about $918. A Mac mini bought only for OpenClaw would take more than 12 years to cost less than the Hetzner server. It does more, though: it’s a full computer, it handles iMessage, and its 16 GB meets the memory floor of the docs’ two smallest local-model recipes.

Securing OpenClaw on a VPS

A VPS sits on the public internet, so setup matters more than at home. OpenClaw’s defaults are sound; keep them:

1. Keep the Gateway on loopback. By default it listens only on 127.0.0.1:18789 and requires a token even there. Never set the auth mode to none on anything reachable from outside (Gateway).
2. Watch Docker. The security docs warn that “container images default to an exposed bind” (security). Publish the port on 127.0.0.1 only, because ports Docker publishes bypass UFW rules, as our self-hosted AI agents guide explains.
3. Use a tunnel for the dashboard. The docs prefer Tailscale or a VPN; an SSH tunnel also works: ssh -N -L 18789:127.0.0.1:18789 user@your-server, then open http://127.0.0.1:18789/ (architecture).
4. Run openclaw security audit, which checks for drift from the secure defaults.
5. Update often, and vet images. CVE-2026-25253, a one-click token theft rated CVSS 8.8, worked even with a loopback-only bind; it was fixed in 2026.1.29 (The Hacker News). OpenClaw’s DigitalOcean guide also says to avoid “third-party Marketplace 1-click images unless you have reviewed their startup scripts and firewall defaults.”

Add the basics for any server: a firewall that allows only SSH, key-only logins and a separate user for the agent. Is OpenClaw safe? covers the rest, from skills to prompt injection.

Which one should you choose?

Answer six questions. The scoring follows the documented differences above.

Decision helper

Where should you run OpenClaw?

Pick one answer per question. Each answer adds points to the homes it suits, for the reason shown with the result.

1. Do you need iMessage?

   YesNo
2. Should it answer and run jobs around the clock?

   Yes, 24/7Only while I'm at my computer
3. How do you want to pay?

   Nothing extraA few dollars a monthOnce, for hardware
4. How do you feel about running a Linux server?

   Comfortable with SSHI prefer a desktop appI don't want to manage anything
5. Do you want to run the AI model locally?

   YesNo, an API model is fine
6. Where should your data live?

   On hardware I ownA rented server is fine

Answer 6 more to see a suggestion.

This follows the documented differences explained in this article, not a hands-on test. Change any answer to see how the suggestion moves.

FAQ

Do I need a Mac mini for OpenClaw?

No. The FAQ says OpenClaw runs on macOS or Linux, and Windows via WSL2, and that a small VPS, home server or Raspberry Pi works too. You need a Mac, any Mac signed in to Messages, only for iMessage.

What VPS specs does OpenClaw need?

The FAQ’s minimum is 1 vCPU, 1 GB of RAM and about 500 MB of disk; it recommends 1–2 vCPU and 2 GB or more. You need 6 GB only to build the Docker image yourself, which the pre-built image avoids.

Can OpenClaw run on Windows?

Yes, natively through the PowerShell installer or the Windows Hub app, or in WSL2, which the docs call the most Linux-compatible option. For always-on use, watch the known WSL issue that shuts the distro down 15 to 20 seconds after the last client exits.

Can OpenClaw run on a Raspberry Pi?

Yes. The docs recommend a Pi 5 with 4 or 8 GB, or a Pi 4 with 4 GB, on 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS with a USB SSD. Use an API model: the docs say not to run local models on a Pi.

Is Hostinger’s OpenClaw plan worth it?

The managed plan ($4.99/mo intro, $11.99 on renewal) is among the cheapest ways to have OpenClaw run and updated for you, but Hostinger doesn’t list its CPU or RAM, and you pay upfront. If you’re comfortable with Linux, its KVM 2 template gives you 8 GB and full control for $8.79 intro ($14.99 on renewal), and a Hetzner CX23 costs less still.