head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs Athena-Public
OpenClaw has 390,029 GitHub stars, 81,995 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped today. Athena-Public has 589 stars, 78 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 66,119% (390,029 vs 589 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Athena-Public is written in Python under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Athena-Public 13%. 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 | ★ 390K | ★ 589 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 78 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenClaw if
- You weight community size — 390K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other 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 is an open source, self hosted AI assistant in the AI & Machine Learning / AI Interaction & Interfaces category that runs on hardware the user controls and meets them inside the messaging channels they already use, for individuals who want a personal assistant on a laptop and teams that want a shared deployment.
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 · Contributin…
read the full Athena-Public overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or Athena-Public more popular?
OpenClaw has 390,029 GitHub stars and Athena-Public has 589. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and Athena-Public free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and Athena-Public is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
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 (390,029 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Athena-Public if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.