head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs HuixiangDou
OpenClaw has 393,664 GitHub stars, 82,735 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HuixiangDou has 2,499 stars, 181 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 15,653% (393,664 vs 2,499 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; HuixiangDou is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, HuixiangDou 7%. OpenClaw was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (assistant), 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 | HuixiangDou | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2025-11-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 181 |
| 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 HuixiangDou if
- You want the HuixiangDou feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and HuixiangDou 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 HuixiangDou
🎚️ Upgrade HuixiangDou2(ACL25) is a GraphRAG solution whose effectiveness has been demonstrated in the plant science domain and that contributed to the cover paper in Cell X0008 8) Molecular Plant. If you work outside computer science, give the new release a try. English 简体中文 HuixiangDou1 is a professional knowledge assistant based on LLM. Advantages: 1. Design three stage pipelines of preprocess, rejection and response chat in group copes with group chat scenario, answer user questions without message flooding, see 2401.08772, 2405.02817, Hybrid Retrieval and Precision Report chat with repo for real time…
read the full HuixiangDou overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or HuixiangDou more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,664 GitHub stars and HuixiangDou has 2,499. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and HuixiangDou free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and HuixiangDou under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and HuixiangDou?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and HuixiangDou in Python. 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 HuixiangDou?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,664 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose HuixiangDou if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.