OpenClaw Hardware Requirements
Don’t overcomplicate it. OpenClaw is surprisingly lightweight for an AI assistant. This page covers what you actually need — from bare minimum to running local AI models.Quick answer: what do you need?
Minimum
1 vCPU · 1 GB RAM · 10 GB
Messaging only.
Recommended
2+ vCPU · 4 GB+ RAM · 20 GB
Full features + browser automation.
Power User
4+ cores · 16 GB+ RAM · GPU
Local AI models.
Minimum requirements
- 4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)
- Modern x86_64 or ARM64 CPU
- Node.js 20+
- Always-on internet connection
- Runs on Linux, macOS, or Windows
Detailed tiers
Minimum — messaging only
- Specs: 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 10 GB storage, 1 Mbps+
- Can do: Telegram/WhatsApp messaging, simple text commands, basic API integrations, scheduled messages
- Can’t do: browser automation, local AI models, multiple concurrent tasks, image processing
- Examples: $5/mo VPS · Raspberry Pi 4 (2 GB) · old laptop
Recommended — full features (most users)
- Specs: 2+ vCPU, 4 GB+ RAM, 20 GB+ storage, 10 Mbps+, Linux preferred
- Can do: full browser automation (Playwright), web scraping & research, multiple messaging platforms, image analysis via API, complex workflows, voice messages
- Can’t do: large local AI models, real-time video
- Examples: $10–20/mo VPS · Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB) · ClawBox Connect · Mac Mini
Power User — local AI models
- Specs: 4+ cores, 16 GB+ RAM, 100 GB+ SSD, 25 Mbps+, NVIDIA GPU, Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
- Can do: everything above, plus local LLMs (7B–13B), local image generation, on-device speech recognition, fully offline operation, multiple browser instances
- Can’t do: 70B+ models need more VRAM → see ClawBox Workstation
- Examples: ClawBox Connect (67 TOPS) · gaming PC with GPU · ClawBox Workstation (DGX Spark)
Why dedicated hardware?
Running OpenClaw on dedicated hardware vs a shared VPS or your daily-use laptop:| Dedicated (ClawBox) | Shared VPS / your laptop |
|---|---|
| 24/7 uptime — heartbeats, schedules, monitoring never stop | Stops when your laptop sleeps or restarts |
| No resource competition — 100% dedicated CPU/GPU/RAM | Browser, Slack, IDE fight for memory |
| Consistent performance — no noisy neighbors | Unpredictable slowdowns |
| Lower long-term cost — €549 once vs €20–40/mo VPS | €720–2,880 over 3 years |
| True privacy — data stays on your hardware | Cloud provider has access |
Local model performance (ClawBox Connect, 67 TOPS)
| Model | Speed | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.1 8B (Q4) | ~3.5 tok/s | Excellent |
| Mistral 7B (Q4) | ~4.2 tok/s | Excellent |
| Qwen2.5 7B (Q4) | ~4.0 tok/s | Excellent |
| Phi-3 Mini (Q4) | ~6.8 tok/s | Good |
| Gemma 2B (Q4) | ~9.1 tok/s | Fast |
| TinyLlama 1B (Q4) | ~15.3 tok/s | Basic |
For larger models, use your own cloud API key (Claude, GPT, Gemini) — see
Choose Your AI Provider. For large models fully local,
see ClawBox Workstation (128 GB unified memory, up to ~200B params).
Skip the DIY
Get ClawBox — pre-configured, ready in 5 minutes
ClawBox ships with Recommended+ specs, OpenClaw pre-installed, dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Manual DIY setup is typically 2–4+ hours (plus waiting for hardware).