head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs claude-code.nvim
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars, 81,978 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. claude-code.nvim has 2,098 stars, 70 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 18,488% (389,982 vs 2,098 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; claude-code.nvim is written in Lua under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, claude-code.nvim 3%. 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| OpenClaw | claude-code.nvim | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 70 |
| 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 claude-code.nvim if
- You want the claude-code.nvim feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and claude-code.nvim 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 claude-code.nvim
claude code.nvim is a Neovim plugin that runs the Claude Code CLI inside a terminal buffer in the editor, giving Neovim users a single keypress interface to Anthropic's Claude Code AI assistant without leaving their session.
read the full claude-code.nvim overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More AI Interaction & Interfaces projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Interaction & Interfaces field.
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or claude-code.nvim more popular?
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars and claude-code.nvim has 2,098. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and claude-code.nvim free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and claude-code.nvim is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and claude-code.nvim?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and claude-code.nvim in Lua. 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 claude-code.nvim?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (389,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose claude-code.nvim if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.