head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs catai
OpenClaw has 390,029 GitHub stars, 81,995 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped today. catai has 500 stars, 39 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 77,906% (390,029 vs 500 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; catai is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, catai 8%. 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 | catai | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 500 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-11-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 39 |
| 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 catai if
- You want the catai feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and catai 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 catai
Catai 🚀 Exciting Updates Coming Soon! New UI , Function Calling , and more amazing features are on the way! Stay tuned for updates. Run GGUF models on your computer with a chat ui. Your own AI assistant runs locally on your computer. Inspired by Node Llama Cpp, Llama.cpp Installation & Use Make sure you have Node.js ( download current ) installed. Features Auto detect programming language 🧑💻 Click on user icon to show original message 💬 Real time text streaming ⏱️ Fast model downloads 🚀 CLI Install command Cross platform You can use it on Windows, Linux and Mac. This package uses node llama cpp which suppor…
read the full catai overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or catai more popular?
OpenClaw has 390,029 GitHub stars and catai has 500. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and catai free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and catai is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and catai?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and catai in TypeScript. 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 catai?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (390,029 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose catai if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.