head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs Pearl
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pearl has 1,097 stars, 181 forks, 40 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 35,793% (393,747 vs 1,097 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; Pearl is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Pearl 16%. 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 | Pearl | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-04-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 181 |
| 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 Pearl if
- You want the Pearl feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Pearl 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 Pearl
Bubble Lab Open core workflow engine powering Bubble Lab — and fully runnable, hostable, and extensible on its own. Use Bubble Lab Platform • View Demos • Documentation Editing Workflows Running Workflows 📋 Overview Bubble Lab is a Slack native AI operator platform that helps teams automate operational work directly inside Slack using Pearl, its AI assistant. Instead of switching between tools, teams can ask Pearl to execute workflows, access systems, and perform tasks across their stack. This repository contains the open core workflow engine that powers the Bubble Lab platform . It is the same execution engine…
read the full Pearl overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or Pearl more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and Pearl has 1,097. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and Pearl free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and Pearl under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and Pearl?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and Pearl 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 Pearl?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Pearl if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.