head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs Athena-Public
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Athena-Public has 620 stars, 84 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 63,408% (393,747 vs 620 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; Athena-Public is written in Python under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Athena-Public 14%. OpenClaw was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| OpenClaw | Athena-Public | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 620 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 84 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenClaw if
- You weight community size — 394K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Athena-Public if
- You want the Athena-Public feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Athena-Public fits your workflow better
About OpenClaw
OpenClaw 🦞 — Your assistant, on your devices, in your chats OpenClaw is an open source AI assistant that runs on your own computer and meets you in the channels you already use: Discord, iMessage, Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp, and 20+ more, plus native apps for macOS, iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux. One Gateway runs it as a personal assistant on a laptop or as a shared team deployment; configuration is the only difference. Yours, with no catch. State, memory, and credentials live on your hardware. Models and agent harnesses (Claude, Codex, local models) are plugins you can swap without changing anything…
read the full OpenClaw overview →
About Athena-Public
Project Athena A local first agentic PKM that helps you make better decisions with your own context. Capture what you learn, retrieve it when relevant, and carry your context between models — a local first memory, reasoning, and governance layer for any LLM, across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and whatever you switch to next. Own the state. Rent the intelligence. Platforms forget. Athena doesn't. Most assistants remember you so they can agree with you faster. Athena remembers you so it can tell you when you're wrong. Quickstart · How It Works · Scheduled Tasks & Self RSI · llms.txt · Docs · FAQ · Safety ·…
read the full Athena-Public overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or Athena-Public more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and Athena-Public has 620. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and Athena-Public free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and Athena-Public under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and Athena-Public?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and Athena-Public in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, OpenClaw or Athena-Public?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Athena-Public if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.