head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs Dive
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars, 81,978 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dive has 1,827 stars, 175 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 21,245% (389,982 vs 1,827 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Dive is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Dive 10%. 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| OpenClaw | Dive | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-07-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 175 |
| 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 Dive if
- You want the Dive feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Dive 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 Dive
Dive is an open source desktop application that acts as a Model Context Protocol host for large language models that support function calling. It lives in the AI and machine learning ecosystem for AI interaction interfaces, and it is a TypeScript project under the MIT license. It connects users to ChatGPT, Anthropic, Ollama, and OpenAI compatible models while supporting MCP servers through stdio and SSE modes.
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 Dive more popular?
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars and Dive has 1,827. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and Dive free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and Dive is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and Dive?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and Dive 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 Dive?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (389,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Dive if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.