head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs wechaty
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars, 81,978 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. wechaty has 23,269 stars, 2,879 forks, 198 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 1,576% (389,982 vs 23,269 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; wechaty is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, wechaty 12%. 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 | wechaty | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 390K | ★ 23K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2025-12-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 82K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| 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 wechaty if
- You want the wechaty 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 wechaty 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 wechaty
Wechaty is an open source conversational RPA (Robotic Process Automation) SDK for chatbot makers, written in TypeScript and released under the Apache 2.0 license. It lives in the Node.js and npm ecosystem, and it presents itself as a universal interface to messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and WeChat, with support for additional platforms. The project has been developed for roughly ten years, carries more than 23,000 stars and 2,800 forks on GitHub, and its documentation and community hub live at wechaty.js.org.
read the full wechaty overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or wechaty more popular?
OpenClaw has 389,982 GitHub stars and wechaty has 23,269. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and wechaty free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw has no licence declared in this registry, and wechaty is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and wechaty?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and wechaty 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 wechaty?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (389,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose wechaty if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.