head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs OpenHands
OpenClaw has 390,029 GitHub stars, 81,995 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped today. OpenHands has 88,352 stars, 11,607 forks, 713 open issues and last shipped today. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 341% (390,029 vs 88,352 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; OpenHands is written in TypeScript under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, OpenHands 13%. 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 | OpenHands | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 88K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 12K |
| 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 OpenHands if
- You want the OpenHands feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and OpenHands 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 OpenHands
OpenHands is an open source platform that provides a self hosted control center—Agent Canvas—for managing and orchestrating autonomous AI coding agents. It lives in the developer tools and AI assisted coding ecosystem, designed to turn local or remote agents into a persistent, automated engineering team. The platform supports multiple agent backends and integrates with third party services to enable scheduled or event driven automation workflows.
read the full OpenHands overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or OpenHands more popular?
OpenClaw has 390,029 GitHub stars and OpenHands has 88,352. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and OpenHands free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and OpenHands is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and OpenHands?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and OpenHands 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 OpenHands?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (390,029 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose OpenHands if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.