head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs Sidekick
OpenClaw has 390,029 GitHub stars, 81,995 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped today. Sidekick has 3,312 stars, 148 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 11,676% (390,029 vs 3,312 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Sidekick is written in Swift under MIT. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Sidekick 4%. 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 | Sidekick | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 148 |
| 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 Sidekick if
- You want the Sidekick feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and Sidekick 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 Sidekick
Sidekick Chat with a local LLM that can respond with information from your files, folders and websites on your Mac without installing any other software. All conversations happen offline, and your data stays secure. Sidekick is a local first application –– with a built in inference engine for local models, while accommodating OpenAI compatible APIs for additional model options. Sidekick supports modern GGUF local models such as Qwen3.5 out of the box through its built in llama.cpp backend. Example Use Let’s say you're collecting evidence for a History paper about interactions between Aztecs and Spanish troops, an…
read the full Sidekick overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or Sidekick more popular?
OpenClaw has 390,029 GitHub stars and Sidekick has 3,312. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and Sidekick free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and Sidekick is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and Sidekick?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and Sidekick in Swift. 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 Sidekick?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (390,029 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Sidekick if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.