OpenClaw: What Is Clawdbot and Why It’s Taking Over

The open-source AI assistant formerly known as Clawdbot hits 100k GitHub stars

SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / February 2, 2026 / If you’ve spent any time on tech Twitter or Hacker News this month, you’ve probably seen it: Clawdbot, the open-source personal AI assistant that went from obscure side project to 100,000+ GitHub stars in under a month. Now

So what is Clawdbot exactly? And why are developers calling it a game-changer?

The Short Version

Clawdbot started as a personal project, then briefly rebranded to Moltbot after a trademark discussion with Anthropic. The project now operates under its permanent name: OpenClaw. Same codebase, same team, cleaner branding.

The Clawdbot GitHub repository has become one of the fastest-growing open-source projects this year. Here’s what’s driving that growth.

What Makes the Clawdbot AI Assistant Different

Message It Like a Friend

OpenClaw lives inside the apps you already use. WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, iMessage-pick your channel. Ask it to do something the same way you’d text a real person. No separate dashboard, no new interface to learn. The Clawdbot WhatsApp integration has been a major draw for non-technical users.

It Actually Does Things

This isn’t another chatbot that just talks. OpenClaw executes real actions: schedule meetings, triage your inbox, fill out forms, run scripts, book reservations. The project supports an expanding library of skills and MCP integrations built by the community.

Always On, Always Yours

Most users run OpenClaw on a dedicated device-an old laptop, a Mac mini, a cheap VPS-keeping it online 24/7. It monitors tasks in the background and pings you when something needs attention. Daily recaps, price alerts, deadline reminders. It reaches out first.

Local Models, Lower Costs

OpenClaw works with Ollama and other local inference stacks. Run smaller models on your own hardware, skip the API fees, keep sensitive data off external servers. Privacy-conscious users have made this a popular setup.

How to Get Started

The Traditional Route:

Self-hosting means installing Docker, configuring API keys, setting up environment variables, and managing your own server. Expect 30-60 minutes of terminal work, plus ongoing maintenance.

The Faster Way:

Hosted platforms like openclawd.ai let you skip the infrastructure entirely:

Sign up and choose your plan

One-click deploy-your instance is live in under 60 seconds

Connect your apps (Telegram, Slack, Gmail) and start delegating

No Docker. No terminal. No server babysitting.

The answer to “what is Clawdbot AI” is simple: an assistant that lives where you chat, acts on your behalf, and never clocks out.

Media Contact

Denny
media@openclawd.ai

SOURCE: Openclawd AI

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