head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs odysseus
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. odysseus has 94,935 stars, 1,862 forks, 1,233 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 315% (393,747 vs 94,935 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; odysseus is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, odysseus 2%. 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 | odysseus | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 95K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| 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 odysseus if
- You want the odysseus feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and odysseus 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 odysseus
A self hosted AI workspace for chat, agents, research, documents, email, notes, calendar, and local model workflows. Quick Start · Setup Guide · Contributing · Roadmap Quick Start dev is the default branch and gets the newest changes first. Use main if you want the more curated branch. Open when the containers are healthy. The first admin password is printed in docker compose logs odysseus . Native installs, GPU notes, Windows/macOS instructions, HTTPS, and configuration live in the setup guide. Features Chat + Agents — local/API models, tools, MCP, files, shell, skills, and memory. Cookbook — hardware aware…
read the full odysseus overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or odysseus more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and odysseus has 94,935. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and odysseus free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and odysseus under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and odysseus?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and odysseus 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 odysseus?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose odysseus if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.