Updated 3 October 2026. Cloud free tiers have changed a lot since this guide first came out in March. AWS replaced its 12-month free tier for new accounts, and Oracle's always-free ARM allowance is smaller than most guides still say. Everything below was re-checked against each provider's own documentation.
OpenClaw is free and open source. You still need two things to run it: somewhere for it to live, and an AI model for it to think with. Both can be free, with trade-offs. Here is every realistic route.
Option 1: Run OpenClaw on Your Own Computer
The simplest free option. The official installer sets everything up, including Node.js if you don't have it. Docker is optional, not required.
# macOS, Linux or WSL2
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
# Windows PowerShell
iwr -useb https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iexThe installer then launches openclaw onboard, which walks you through choosing a model and a chat app. On Windows, WSL2 is still the most compatible way to run the gateway, but you no longer need it just to get started.
How much computer: very little. We measured live OpenClaw agents at a median of about 374 MB of memory, with busy ones peaking around 1.4 GB, so 2 GB of free RAM is comfortable. See our system requirements guide for the numbers.
The catch: your bot is offline whenever your computer sleeps. For a Telegram bot you would like to answer at 3am, that matters.
Option 2: Free Cloud Tiers
Oracle Cloud Always Free (the best free server)
- Ampere ARM instances: Oracle's documentation now describes the always-free allowance as 1,500 OCPU hours and 9,000 GB-hours a month, which is 2 OCPUs and 12 GB of memory running all month. That is plenty for OpenClaw.
- Two small AMD instances (1/8 OCPU, 1 GB each) are also included.
- 200 GB of block storage.
- You must add a credit card to verify your identity. Oracle says it is not charged unless you upgrade.
Watch out: Oracle says idle always-free instances "may be reclaimed". It counts an instance as idle when, over 7 days, the 95th percentile of CPU use is under 20%, network use is under 20% and, on ARM instances, memory use is under 20%. A quiet personal bot can look exactly like that. Check Oracle's current policy and keep backups.
Google Cloud Free Tier
- One e2-micro instance free each month, in us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1.
- 30 GB of standard disk and 1 GB of outbound traffic a month.
- e2-micro has 1 GB of memory, which is the minimum for OpenClaw with a cloud model. Busy agents can go over it, so keep the bot simple.
AWS Free Tier (changed for new accounts)
- New accounts now get up to $200 in credits on a free plan.
- The free plan account closes 6 months after you open it, or when the credits run out, whichever comes first. You can upgrade to a paid plan to keep it.
- The old "750 hours of t2.micro or t3.micro for 12 months" offer is for accounts opened before July 15, 2025, so most guides that quote it are out of date.
Azure Free Account
- 750 hours a month of a small burstable VM (B1S, B2pts v2 or B2ats v2) for 12 months.
- $200 of credit to use in the first 30 days.
Option 3: Free AI Models
Free hosting is only half of it. You also need a model. The genuinely free routes today are OpenRouter's free models, the Gemini and Mistral free tiers, Groq's free plan, and running your own model with Ollama. Each has a real catch, from daily caps to your prompts being used for training. We compare them all in free AI models for OpenClaw.
One note on local models: they need far more memory and processing power than OpenClaw itself, so a small free server is rarely enough. OpenClaw's own docs advise against local models on a Raspberry Pi, because "even small models are too slow to be useful".
Option 4: Managed Hosting From $3
If you want OpenClaw running 24/7 without managing a server, OpenClaw Launch starts with a free 30-minute trial. It needs no card and runs a real agent on free models. After that, Lite is $3 for the first month for new customers, then $6 a month. That includes:
- Your own isolated container (1 vCPU, 2 GB), with no server to maintain
- Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, WeChat, Feishu and web chat
- $1 a month of model credit, or bring your own key
- Set up from a dashboard, with no command line
It is not free. What you are paying to skip is the server setup, the updates, and the risk of a free instance being reclaimed.
Comparison
| Option | Cost | Always on? | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own computer | Free | Only while it is on | Sleeps when you do |
| Oracle Always Free | Free | Yes, unless reclaimed as idle | Card to sign up, idle instances can be reclaimed |
| Google Cloud e2-micro | Free | Yes | 1 GB of memory, US regions only |
| AWS free plan | Free for up to 6 months | Yes, while the plan lasts | Account closes at 6 months unless you upgrade |
| Azure free account | Free for 12 months | Yes, while the plan lasts | Then normal pricing |
| Budget VPS (Hetzner, DigitalOcean and others) | About $5–$12/mo | Yes | You maintain it |
| OpenClaw Launch | Free 30-min trial, then $3 and $6/mo | Yes | Paid after the trial |
Free tier terms are from each provider's own documentation on 3 October 2026. They change often, so check before you sign up.
Common Pitfalls
- Memory: 1 GB is the minimum for OpenClaw with a cloud model, and 2 GB is the comfortable figure, because busy agents can go over 1 GB. A local model needs much more on top.
- You probably don't need HTTPS: OpenClaw talks to Telegram by long polling by default, so a free server does not need a domain or a certificate for that. You only need HTTPS if you choose webhook mode or want to reach the web gateway from outside.
- Reclaimed instances: keep a backup of your
~/.openclawfolder somewhere else, so you can restore your bot on another server if a free one is taken back. - When the free period ends: an AWS free-plan account closes after 6 months unless you upgrade it to a paid plan, and Azure's free services last 12 months. If you upgrade anything to pay-as-you-go, set a billing alert on day one.
Which Should You Choose?
- Just trying OpenClaw: your own computer, or the OpenClaw Launch trial.
- Free and always on: Oracle's ARM instance, with backups.
- Completely free, models included: your own computer with Ollama, accepting that it is offline when the machine is.
- No server to manage: OpenClaw Launch, $3 for the first month.
Comparing paid options too? See OpenClaw pricing: every option compared.