head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs mercury-agent
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mercury-agent has 3,768 stars, 388 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 10,350% (393,747 vs 3,768 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; mercury-agent is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, mercury-agent 10%. 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 | ★ 394K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 388 |
| 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 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 🦞 — 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 mercury-agent
Soul driven AI agent with permission hardened tools, token budgets, and multi channel access. Remembers what matters. Asks before it acts. Runs 24/7 from CLI, Telegram, or Web. 31 built in tools, Kanban boards, extensible skills, SQLite backed Second Brain memory. 🔖 Current Stable: v1.2.3 English 简体中文 Quick Start One liner install (no Node.js required) — downloads the latest standalone binary for your OS: Or via npm if you already have Node.js 20+: Or install the npm package globally: First run triggers the setup wizard (name, provider, optional Telegram). After setup, Mercury opens the Ink TUI startup screen…
read the full mercury-agent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or mercury-agent more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and mercury-agent has 3,768. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and mercury-agent free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and mercury-agent under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
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 (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mercury-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.