head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs ChatUI
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ChatUI has 4,462 stars, 426 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 8,724% (393,747 vs 4,462 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; ChatUI is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, ChatUI 10%. OpenClaw was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | ChatUI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 4.5K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 426 |
| 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 ChatUI if
- You want the ChatUI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and ChatUI 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 ChatUI
The UI design language and React library for Conversational UI Website： English 简体中文 Features 😎 Best Practices : The best practice for chat interaction based on our experience of Alime Chatbot 🛡 TypeScript : Written in TypeScript with predictable static types 📱 Responsive : Responsive design to adapt automatically to whatever device ♿ Accessibility : Accessibility support and get the certification from Accessibility Research Association 🎨 Theming : Powerful theme customization in every detail 🌍 International : Internationalization support for dozens of languages Environment Support Modern browsers (support…
read the full ChatUI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or ChatUI more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and ChatUI has 4,462. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and ChatUI free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and ChatUI under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and ChatUI?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and ChatUI 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 ChatUI?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ChatUI if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.