head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs SocratiCode
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars, 82,755 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SocratiCode has 3,364 stars, 429 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 11,605% (393,747 vs 3,364 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; SocratiCode is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, SocratiCode 13%. 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 | SocratiCode | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 394K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 429 |
| 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 SocratiCode if
- You want the SocratiCode feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and SocratiCode 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 SocratiCode
SocratiCode = 18.17" "There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance." — Socrates Your AI reads code. SocratiCode understands it. The open source codebase context engine: give any AI instant automated knowledge of your entire codebase (and infrastructure) — at scale, zero configuration, fully private, completely free. Kindly sponsored by Altaire Limited 🛡️ Need MCP governance together with codebase context? See our sibling project JanuScope — the local first MCP policy proxy: tool blocking, SQL mutation gate, PII redaction, audit, rate limit. If SocratiCode has been useful to you, please ⭐ star this…
read the full SocratiCode overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or SocratiCode more popular?
OpenClaw has 393,747 GitHub stars and SocratiCode has 3,364. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and SocratiCode free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and SocratiCode under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and SocratiCode?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and SocratiCode 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 SocratiCode?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (393,747 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose SocratiCode if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.