head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs sim
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sim has 29,974 stars, 3,879 forks, 336 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 1,214% (393,747 vs 29,974 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; sim is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, sim 13%. sim 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 | sim | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 30K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 3.9K |
| 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 sim if
- You want the sim 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 sim 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 sim
A workspace to build, deploy and manage AI agents and workflows. Quickstart Cloud hosted: sim.ai Self hosted Open Desktop: macOS macOS 12+, Apple Silicon and Intel. See the desktop docs to point it at a self hosted deployment. Capabilities Connect 1,000+ integrations and every major LLM Add Slack, Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, databases, and more Build agents visually, conversationally, or with code Ingest files, knowledge bases, and structured table data Monitor runs, logs, schedules, and workflow activity One workspace, every surface Chat and workflows are just the start — tables, files, and knowledge all live…
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or sim more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and sim has 29,974. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and sim free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and sim under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and sim?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and sim 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 sim?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose sim if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.