head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs claude-forge
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. claude-forge has 871 stars, 183 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 45,106% (393,747 vs 871 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; claude-forge is written in Shell under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, claude-forge 21%. 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 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| OpenClaw | claude-forge | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 871 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 183 |
| 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 claude-forge if
- You want the claude-forge feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and claude-forge 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 claude-forge
⚡ New here? Walk through setup in 60 seconds → English · 한국어 · 中文 · setup guide in 13 languages oh my zsh for Claude Code — one install, full professional kit What is it? • Why bother? • Install • What's inside • How to use • Architecture • FAQ • 한국어 v4.3.0 (September 2026, latest) — session time report now reads Codex too. Same hook, same report; it detects whether a transcript is a Claude Code transcript or a Codex rollout log and counts either. Wiring for Codex is two entries you add to /.codex/hooks.json (how). v4.2.0 (September 2026) — Adds session time report (22nd hook)…
read the full claude-forge 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-forge more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and claude-forge has 871. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and claude-forge free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and claude-forge under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and claude-forge?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and claude-forge in Shell. 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-forge?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose claude-forge if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.