head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs magentic
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. magentic has 2,428 stars, 133 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 16,117% (393,747 vs 2,428 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; magentic is written in Python under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, magentic 5%. 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.
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Side by side
| OpenClaw | magentic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 133 |
| 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 magentic if
- You want the magentic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and magentic 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 magentic
magentic Seamlessly integrate Large Language Models into Python code. Use the @prompt and @chatprompt decorators to create functions that return structured output from an LLM. Combine LLM queries and tool use with traditional Python code to build complex agentic systems. Features [Structured Outputs] using pydantic models and built in python types. [Streaming] of structured outputs and function calls, to use them while being generated. [LLM Assisted Retries] to improve LLM adherence to complex output schemas. [Observability] using OpenTelemetry, with native [Pydantic Logfire integration]. [Type Annotations] to…
read the full magentic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or magentic more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and magentic has 2,428. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and magentic free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and magentic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and magentic?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and magentic 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 magentic?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose magentic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.