head to head · open source
OpenClaw vs ophel
OpenClaw has 392,703 GitHub stars, 82,539 forks, 6,671 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ophel has 986 stars, 60 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. OpenClaw leads on adoption by 39,728% (392,703 vs 986 stars). OpenClaw is written in TypeScript under MIT; ophel is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. OpenClaw has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, ophel 6%. 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 | ophel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 393K | ★ 986 |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-21 | 2026-10-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 83K | ⑂ 60 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick OpenClaw if
- You weight community size — 393K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ophel if
- You want the ophel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and ophel 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 ophel
Ophel Atlas 🚀 Turn AI chats into documents you can read, navigate, and reuse Language: English 简体中文 ✨ Turn Conversations into Knowledge, Not Just History ✨ No more getting lost in endless scroll. Clarify context with real time Outlines, Build your system with Chat Folders, Refine experience with the Prompt Library, Let sparkling thoughts flow freely in order. 👇 Demo: From "Infinite Scroll" to "Navigable AI Documents" Making AI chat a truly organizeable workflow for the first time No matter which of these platforms you use, Ophel lets you organize conversations into reusable workflows with a consistent, unified…
read the full ophel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is OpenClaw or ophel more popular?
OpenClaw has 392,703 GitHub stars and ophel has 986. OpenClaw has the larger community by that measure.
Are OpenClaw and ophel free?
Both are open source. OpenClaw is licensed under MIT and ophel under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between OpenClaw and ophel?
OpenClaw is written in TypeScript and ophel 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 ophel?
Choose OpenClaw if you want the larger community (392,703 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ophel if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.