head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs mercury-agent
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars, 81,978 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mercury-agent has 3,153 stars, 340 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 12,269% (389,982 vs 3,153 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; mercury-agent is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, mercury-agent 11%. 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.
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Side by side
| OpenClaw | mercury-agent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 3.2K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 340 |
| 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 mercury-agent if
- You want the mercury-agent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and mercury-agent 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 mercury-agent
mercury agent is an open source AI agent written in TypeScript and licensed under MIT. It lives in the AI & Machine Learning / AI Interaction & Interfaces ecosystem, with topics ai agent, ai assistant, and llm. The project provides a soul driven agent that uses tools, keeps memory, and connects through CLI, Telegram, or Web.
read the full mercury-agent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or mercury-agent more popular?
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars and mercury-agent has 3,153. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and mercury-agent free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and mercury-agent is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and mercury-agent?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and mercury-agent 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 mercury-agent?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (389,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose mercury-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.