Best OpenClaw Hosting in 2026: An Honest Provider-to-Provider Comparison

OpenClaw has exploded. 170,000+ GitHub stars, dozens of hosting providers popping up overnight, and a flood of "Best OpenClaw Hosting" articles written by affiliate sites that have never actually run the software. Most of those articles rank providers by commission rate, not quality.

This one is different. We're a hosting provider ourselves, so we know what actually matters — and we know where our competitors genuinely beat us. We signed up for every provider we could, tested setup flows, audited security configurations, and calculated the true cost of ownership including the parts most reviews conveniently skip.

Whether you want a managed service that works in 60 seconds or a $4/month VPS you configure yourself, this comparison covers 12 providers across both categories with real pricing, honest pros and cons, and a clear recommendation for each use case.

TL;DR — Quick Comparison Table

Here's every provider we reviewed at a glance. Scroll down for the detailed breakdowns.

Security scores are our assessment based on: default authentication configuration, container isolation, patch speed, skill vetting, and network exposure. ●●●●● = we couldn't find a flaw. ●○○○○ = significant gaps. Self-managed VPS providers score based on defaults, not what's possible with expertise.

What to Look for in OpenClaw Hosting

Before diving into individual providers, here are the five criteria that actually matter. Most comparison articles skip half of these because they're hard to evaluate without actually using the service.

Security (The #1 Factor)

This isn't theoretical. Over 42,000 OpenClaw instances are currently exposed on the public internet without proper authentication. The ClawHavoc campaign planted malware in 341 ClawHub skills — about 12% of the marketplace. CVE-2026-25253 enabled one-click remote code execution through share links, and fewer than 30% of self-hosted instances have patched it a month after the fix was available.

When evaluating a hosting provider, ask: Does it auto-patch security updates? Does it use container isolation? Does it vet skills, or does it blindly connect to ClawHub? If the provider can't answer these questions clearly, that tells you everything.

Setup Time & Complexity

There's a massive gap between "60 seconds to a working AI assistant" and "3 hours of Docker, Nginx, SSL, and DNS configuration." Neither is wrong — but you need to know which you're signing up for. Managed providers handle everything. VPS providers give you a blank server and documentation. The "1-click install" marketing from VPS providers like Hostinger and Contabo is genuine, but it gets you a running container — configuring messaging channels, API keys, and security still takes another hour or two.

Included vs. BYOK Model Access

This is the hidden cost most comparison articles ignore. Almost every provider except Clawer uses a BYOK (Bring Your Own Keys) model — you need separate API accounts with OpenAI, Anthropic, or others. Those API costs add $20–100/month on top of your hosting fee depending on usage. Hostinger recently introduced "AI Tokens" you can buy through their panel, which is a nice middle ground — not free, but at least you don't need to manage separate provider accounts.

When comparing prices, always add estimated API costs to the hosting fee. A $4/month VPS with $60/month in API costs isn't cheaper than a $49/month managed service that includes models.

Channel Support (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack)

OpenClaw supports 10+ messaging channels, but actually connecting them varies enormously in difficulty. Telegram is the easiest — create a bot with BotFather, paste the token, done. WhatsApp requires a Meta Business account and API setup, which can take hours and has ongoing compliance requirements. Slack and Discord need OAuth app configuration.

Managed providers like xCloud and Clawer pre-configure these channels so you connect with a QR code or OAuth flow. Self-hosted setups require manual webhook configuration, port forwarding, and SSL certificates for each channel. If you primarily want WhatsApp, this alone might justify managed hosting.

Pricing Transparency

The total cost of running OpenClaw is not the number on the pricing page. It's: hosting fee + AI model API costs + your time for setup and maintenance. A VPS at €3.79/month sounds great until you add $50/month in API costs and 5 hours of your time. A managed service at $49/month sounds expensive until you realize it includes model access and zero maintenance. We'll calculate total cost of ownership for each provider below.

Best Managed OpenClaw Hosting Providers

Managed providers handle the server, security, updates, and usually channel configuration. You sign up and get a working AI assistant. The tradeoff is less control and higher monthly cost — but for most users, the time savings more than justify the premium.

1. Clawer.ai — Best for Zero-Setup with Models Included

Pricing: Free tier (100 total messages, web chat only) | Pro $49/month (500 messages/day, AI Teams, all channels) | Enterprise: custom

Setup time: Under 60 seconds to a working instance

Models: Included — GPT-4o-mini on Free, smart model routing on Pro (Claude, GPT-4o, MiniMax M2.5)

Clawer's main differentiator is that AI model access is included in the price. Every other managed provider uses a BYOK model, meaning you need your own OpenAI/Anthropic API keys on top of the hosting fee. We handle model routing, so your assistant automatically uses the best model for each task — fast models for quick answers, powerful models for complex reasoning.

Our AI Teams feature lets you run multiple specialized agents that collaborate: a researcher, a writer, a fact-checker, working together on complex tasks. This is genuinely hard to replicate on self-hosted setups, which is why we built it. Channel configuration is dashboard-based — connect WhatsApp with a QR code, Telegram with a token paste, Slack with OAuth.

Security is where we're most confident: container isolation per user, curated skill allowlists (no ClawHub connection), automatic same-day patching, and no publicly exposed instance surfaces. When CVE-2026-25253 dropped, every Clawer instance was patched within 2 hours.

Strengths:

• Only managed provider with AI models included in price
• AI Teams for multi-agent workflows
• Fastest setup we've seen (60 seconds, genuinely)
• Strongest security posture of any provider reviewed
• All messaging channels pre-configured

Weaknesses (being honest):

• Newer provider — less track record than xCloud or Hetzner
• Free tier is limited (100 total messages) — competitors offer more free usage
• Pro at $49/month is more expensive than xCloud's $24/month if you already have API keys
• No self-hosting option if you want full server control
• Curated skills marketplace is smaller than ClawHub

Best for: Non-technical users who want everything to work immediately, teams wanting multi-agent workflows, anyone who doesn't want to manage API keys.

2. xCloud — Best Fully Managed Alternative

Pricing: From $24/month

Setup time: About 5 minutes

Models: BYOK (bring your own API keys)

xCloud is the most established managed OpenClaw provider and, honestly, they do a lot of things right. They're a hosting platform trusted by 10,000+ servers with 280+ five-star Trustpilot reviews — that's a track record we can't match yet. Their OpenClaw hosting runs on a dedicated VM (not a shared container), which gives you full system access for the AI agent to install tools and build apps autonomously.

Their dashboard handles one-click deployment, automatic security hardening (encrypted tokens, auto SSL, firewall rules), seamless updates without SSH, and integrated monitoring. They offer 30+ global server locations. The one-click repair and recovery feature is a nice touch — if something breaks, you can restore it without touching a terminal.

Where xCloud falls short compared to Clawer is the BYOK model requirement. You need your own OpenAI or Anthropic API keys, which means managing separate accounts, billing, and rate limits. They also don't offer multi-agent team capabilities. But at $24/month, they're nearly half the price of our Pro tier — and if you already have API keys, that's a significant savings.

Strengths:

• Most established managed provider with strong reputation
• Dedicated VM per user (not shared containers)
• 30+ global locations
• One-click repair and recovery
• $24/month is competitive for managed hosting

Weaknesses:

• BYOK — add $20–100/month for API costs
• No multi-agent teams feature
• Messaging channel support currently focused on Telegram and WhatsApp
• Headless-only option exists but UI toggle could be clearer

Best for: Users who already have API keys and want reliable, no-fuss managed hosting from an established provider.

3. OpenClaw AWS Hosting — Best for Teams on AWS

Pricing: Base $29/mo | Pro $49/mo | Business $149/mo | Agency $399/mo (+ AWS server costs)

Setup time: About 10 minutes (need AWS account first)

Models: BYOK

OpenClaw AWS Hosting takes a different approach — they manage OpenClaw deployment on your own AWS infrastructure. This means your data stays on servers you control (important for compliance), and you can scale with AWS's full toolset. Their platform handles provisioning, configuration, and deployment while you maintain ownership of the AWS account.

The pricing structure is notable: their management fee is separate from AWS server costs. So the $29/month Base plan is on top of whatever your AWS instances cost (typically $15–50/month for a reasonable setup). This makes them one of the more expensive options, but they're targeting teams and agencies, not individual users. The Business plan supports up to 50 managed servers with 5 teams, and the Agency plan offers unlimited everything with white-label features.

Strengths:

• Your data stays on your AWS infrastructure
• Strong team and agency plans
• All platform connections included
• Analytics dashboard on Pro+
• White-label on Agency tier

Weaknesses:

• Management fee + AWS costs = expensive total
• Requires an AWS account (added complexity)
• BYOK for AI models
• Overkill for individual users

Best for: Teams and agencies already on AWS who need managed OpenClaw with data sovereignty and multi-server deployments.

4. OpenClawd AI — The New Entrant

Pricing: Not yet publicly available

Setup time: Estimated ~5 minutes based on their launch announcement

OpenClawd AI just launched and made Yahoo Finance with a press release about removing deployment barriers for non-technical users. It's too early to give them a full review — we haven't been able to test the platform in depth, and their pricing isn't publicly available yet. But the market is clearly hungry for more managed options, and competition is good for everyone.

We'll update this section once we've had time to properly evaluate their offering. If you've tried them, let us know your experience.

Best for: Worth watching if the other managed options don't fit your needs. Check back for our update.

Best VPS Providers for Self-Hosting OpenClaw

If you're comfortable with Docker and Linux command-line basics, self-hosting on a VPS gives you full control at a fraction of the managed hosting price. The tradeoff is real: you're responsible for security, updates, backups, and channel configuration. But for developers and tinkerers, this is often the right call.

Minimum VPS specs for OpenClaw: 2 vCPUs, 4GB RAM, 40GB SSD. Recommended: 4 vCPUs, 8GB RAM for multiple agents. If running local models with Ollama, you'll want 16–24GB RAM.

5. Hostinger — Best 1-Click VPS for Beginners

Pricing: From $4.99/mo (KVM 1) | $6.99/mo recommended (KVM 2: 2 vCPU, 8GB RAM)

Setup time: ~15 minutes with 1-click Docker template

Hostinger has done something genuinely smart: they built a dedicated OpenClaw Docker template with a 1-click installer. You pick your VPS plan, select the OpenClaw template, and you have a running instance in minutes — not hours. They also offer "AI Tokens" you can purchase directly through their hPanel control panel, which eliminates the need to set up separate API provider accounts. It's not as seamless as Clawer's included models, but it's a huge step up from the typical BYOK experience.

The AMD EPYC processors with NVMe SSD storage give you solid performance, and built-in DDoS protection is a nice default security layer. Their documentation for the OpenClaw setup is excellent — clearly written with non-developers in mind. The $6.99/month KVM 2 plan (8GB RAM) is our recommended starting point; the KVM 1 (4GB) works but gets tight with heavy usage.

Strengths:

• True 1-click OpenClaw Docker template
• AI Tokens purchasable through control panel (no separate API accounts)
• Excellent OpenClaw-specific documentation
• AMD EPYC + NVMe for solid performance
• DDoS protection included

Weaknesses:

• Still requires configuring messaging channels yourself
• Security hardening is your responsibility after initial setup
• Renewal prices jump ($6.99 → $12.99/mo on KVM 2)
• Support primarily English (limited for some markets)

Best for: Semi-technical users who want the cheapest path to OpenClaw without full manual Docker setup. The 1-click template and AI Tokens make this the most accessible VPS option.

6. Hetzner — Community Favorite, Best Price-to-Performance

Pricing: From €3.79/mo (CX22: 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM)

Setup time: 2–3 hours (manual Docker setup)

Ask in any OpenClaw community forum which VPS to use, and Hetzner wins by a landslide. It's the de facto recommendation in r/selfhosted, the OpenClaw Discord, and most setup tutorials. The reasons are simple: German engineering, GDPR compliance, ISO 27001 certification, and prices that undercut nearly everyone.

At €3.79/month for 2 vCPUs and 4GB RAM, Hetzner offers the best price-to-performance ratio in this comparison. The OpenClaw documentation officially references Hetzner in their deployment guides, which means you'll find the most community support and troubleshooting help for this setup. German and Finnish data centers are a plus for European users concerned about data sovereignty.

The downside is that Hetzner offers no OpenClaw-specific tooling. No 1-click installer, no Docker template, no hand-holding. You get a blank Ubuntu server and you're on your own with Docker Compose. If you've done this before, it's fine. If you haven't, budget 2-3 hours for the first setup.

Strengths:

• Best price-to-performance ratio
• GDPR compliant with German/Finnish data centers
• ISO 27001 certified
• Most community support and tutorials available
• Officially referenced in OpenClaw documentation

Weaknesses:

• No 1-click OpenClaw installer
• Fully manual setup required
• No AI token integration — pure BYOK
• European data centers only (higher latency from Americas/Asia)

Best for: Developers comfortable with Docker who want the cheapest reliable VPS. Particularly strong for European users needing GDPR compliance.

7. DigitalOcean — Best Developer Experience

Pricing: From $8/mo (2 vCPU, 2GB RAM) | $16/mo recommended (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM)

Setup time: 1–2 hours with security-hardened Droplet image

DigitalOcean offers a security-hardened OpenClaw Droplet image in their marketplace — a pre-configured image with sensible security defaults already applied. This is a meaningful advantage over Hetzner and Contabo, where you're responsible for security configuration from scratch. Their documentation is consistently excellent, and the $200 credit for new users lets you test OpenClaw extensively before committing.

The developer experience is where DigitalOcean shines. Their API, CLI tools, and dashboard are best-in-class. If you're running multiple services alongside OpenClaw, their Kubernetes and App Platform offerings give you room to grow. They're pricier than Hetzner for equivalent specs, but the better tooling and security defaults may justify the premium.

Strengths:

• Security-hardened OpenClaw Droplet image
• $200 new user credit
• Best-in-class developer tools (API, CLI, dashboard)
• Excellent documentation
• Global data centers

Weaknesses:

• More expensive than Hetzner for equivalent specs
• $8/mo base plan only has 2GB RAM (tight for OpenClaw)
• No integrated AI tokens
• Still requires manual channel configuration

Best for: Developers who value good tooling and want a security-conscious starting point without fully managed pricing.

8. Contabo — Most RAM for the Money

Pricing: From €4.50/mo (4 vCPU, 8GB RAM)

Setup time: 2–3 hours

Contabo's selling point is raw specs per dollar. Their entry-level plan at €4.50/month gives you 4 vCPUs and 8GB RAM — that's double the RAM you get from Hetzner at a similar price. If you're planning to run local AI models with Ollama alongside OpenClaw, Contabo's generous RAM allocation makes it the obvious budget choice. They also offer a 1-click OpenClaw installer, which saves time on initial setup.

The tradeoff is everywhere else. Contabo's network performance is inconsistent, support response times can stretch into days, and there's no backup option on the basic plan. Their security defaults are minimal — you're fully responsible for firewall configuration, fail2ban, and everything else. For experienced self-hosters who know how to lock down a server, Contabo's specs-per-dollar are unbeatable. For everyone else, the savings aren't worth the risk.

Strengths:

• Best RAM-per-dollar ratio (8GB at €4.50/mo)
• 1-click OpenClaw installer
• Ideal for running local models (Ollama)
• Multiple data center locations

Weaknesses:

• Slowest support of any provider we tested
• No backups on basic plan
• Minimal security defaults
• Inconsistent network performance

Best for: Experienced self-hosters who want maximum specs for minimum cost, especially for running local AI models.

9. Vultr — Best Global Coverage

Pricing: From $6/mo (1 vCPU, 2GB RAM) | $12/mo recommended (2 vCPU, 4GB RAM)

Setup time: 1–2 hours

Vultr's standout feature is 32 global data center locations — more than any other provider on this list. If you need your OpenClaw instance close to your users for low-latency messaging (especially for voice features), Vultr's geographic coverage is unmatched. They offer hourly billing, so you can spin up instances to test and tear them down without committing to a monthly plan.

NVMe storage across all plans ensures fast performance, and their API is clean and well-documented. The main drawback is no OpenClaw-specific tooling — no 1-click template, no Docker images, no special documentation. You're working with a general-purpose cloud provider, which is fine for experienced users but adds setup friction compared to Hostinger or DigitalOcean.

Strengths:

• 32 global data center locations
• Hourly billing
• NVMe storage on all plans
• Clean API and good documentation

Weaknesses:

• No OpenClaw-specific tooling or templates
• Interface less beginner-friendly
• Base plan (2GB RAM) is tight for OpenClaw
• Pricier than Hetzner/Contabo for equivalent specs

Best for: Users who need a specific geographic location for low-latency messaging or need to scale across regions.

10. LumaDock — Cheapest Entry Point

Pricing: From $3.29/mo

Setup time: 1–2 hours

LumaDock offers the lowest starting price of any paid provider at $3.29/month, and they've created OpenClaw-specific tutorials to help new users get started. For budget-conscious users who want a VPS slightly cheaper than Hetzner, LumaDock is worth a look.

However, they're a smaller provider with less track record and fewer data center locations than the major players. If uptime and support are critical to you, the extra $0.50/month for Hetzner buys you significantly more reliability and community support. LumaDock is fine for experimentation and non-critical setups.

Best for: Budget experimentation. If you're trying OpenClaw for the first time and want the cheapest possible VPS.

11. Oracle Cloud Free Tier — Best Free Option

Pricing: Free forever (Always Free tier)

Setup time: 3+ hours (account approval can take days)

Oracle Cloud's Always Free tier is genuinely remarkable: 4 ARM-based CPUs, 24GB RAM, and 200GB storage — completely free, forever. That's enough to run OpenClaw with local AI models via Ollama, meaning you can have a fully functional AI assistant for $0/month total. The Cognio Labs guide for this setup is excellent and walks through every step.

The catch? Getting an instance. Oracle's free tier is so popular that capacity is frequently exhausted in most regions. You may need to try multiple times over days or weeks before an ARM instance becomes available. The account approval process can also be finicky. And once you're set up, you're fully responsible for security — with 42,000+ exposed instances, most of them are on free-tier VPS providers where users don't invest in hardening.

Strengths:

• Completely free — forever, not a trial
• 4 ARM CPUs + 24GB RAM (enough for local AI models)
• 200GB storage
• Can run Ollama for $0/month total cost

Weaknesses:

• Getting an instance is extremely difficult (capacity limits)
• Account approval can be rejected or delayed
• ARM architecture has some Docker compatibility quirks
• Fully manual setup — most complex of all options
• Security is entirely your responsibility

Best for: Technical users willing to invest significant setup time for a truly free OpenClaw deployment with local AI models.

Self-Hosted vs. Managed: Which Is Right for You?

This is the most important decision, and it's not about which is "better" — it's about which is better for you. Here's a framework to decide.

Choose self-hosted if:

• You're a developer comfortable with Docker and Linux administration
• You want to run local AI models (Ollama) to avoid API costs entirely
• You need full data sovereignty with no third-party access
• You're forking or heavily customizing OpenClaw itself
• You genuinely enjoy infrastructure management

Choose managed if:

• You want a working AI assistant, not an infrastructure project
• Security matters to you but you don't have a security team
• Your time is worth more than $10/hour
• You want messaging channels (especially WhatsApp) configured automatically
• You don't want to worry about patching CVEs and updating Docker images

For a deeper dive into this decision, see our article on why managed OpenClaw hosting eliminates the Docker tax.

OpenClaw Hosting Security: What Most Reviews Miss

Security is the section that affiliate review sites consistently skip, because it's hard to evaluate and doesn't generate commissions. But it's the most important factor for anyone trusting an AI assistant with their data, conversations, and API keys.

The numbers are stark: 42,000+ OpenClaw instances are exposed on the public internet without proper authentication. The ClawHavoc campaign infected 341 skills on ClawHub — roughly 12% of the marketplace — with crypto wallet theft, SSH key harvesting, and persistent backdoors. CVE-2026-25253 enabled one-click remote code execution through crafted share links, and most self-hosted instances remain unpatched weeks after the fix.

When evaluating any hosting provider, demand clear answers to these questions:

1. How fast are security patches applied? Same-day is the only acceptable answer for a managed provider. Self-hosted is on you.
2. Is the instance isolated? Container isolation means a compromised skill can't access your host system or other users' data.
3. How are skills vetted? Open ClawHub access means 12% malware risk. Curated allowlists eliminate this.
4. Is the instance publicly accessible? It shouldn't be — all access should go through authenticated gateways.
5. Are credentials encrypted at rest? Your API keys and tokens should never be stored in plain text environment variables.

For the complete security picture, read our OpenClaw Security Guide: Why 42,000+ Instances Are Exposed.

How We Tested

We signed up for every provider we could access during January and February 2026. For managed providers, we went through the full signup-to-working-assistant flow and timed it. For VPS providers, we deployed OpenClaw from scratch using each provider's recommended method and documented the experience.

Our evaluation criteria:

• Setup time: From signup to a working AI conversation (timed, not estimated)
• Security audit: Default authentication, container isolation, patch cadence, skill vetting
• Pricing verification: Confirmed all prices directly on provider websites, added API cost estimates
• Channel testing: Attempted to connect Telegram, WhatsApp, and Slack on each platform
• Documentation quality: Evaluated onboarding docs, troubleshooting guides, and community resources

We didn't accept affiliate compensation from any provider listed here. Prices and features are accurate as of February 2026 — hosting prices change frequently, so verify current pricing on each provider's website before purchasing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict: Our Honest Recommendations

After testing every provider on this list, here's where we landed. We've tried to be fair, including to ourselves.

The OpenClaw hosting market is young and moving fast. We'll update this comparison quarterly as providers launch, change pricing, and add features. If you think we've been unfair to any provider (including ourselves), reach out — we'd rather be corrected than wrong.

Last updated: February 18, 2026. Prices and features verified directly on provider websites. We re-verify quarterly.

Clawer.ai is an independent managed OpenClaw hosting provider. We are not affiliated with the OpenClaw open-source project. We respect the project and its maintainers, and we're grateful for the open-source foundation they've built.