Deployment · Free hosting

Free OpenClaw hosting: 6 ways to run OpenClaw for $0 (2026)

Compiled 2026-08-05 from official documentation and pricing pages (sources linked inline). Hands-on re-verification of each platform is in progress — free-tier policies change fast, so check the linked page before you commit.

Before you start

• Node.js: OpenClaw supports Node 22.22.3+, 24.15+, or 25.9+; Node 26 is recommended. The install script below handles this for you on macOS/Linux/WSL2.
• RAM: the official docs treat 1 GB as the floor (Raspberry Pi guide), 2 GB+ as comfortable. Anything capped at 512 MB is below the recommended minimum.
• A model provider: an API key or subscription for the model you want OpenClaw to use. Hosting can be free; model tokens usually are not.
• Persistent state: OpenClaw keeps state under ~/.openclaw/. Platforms with ephemeral filesystems will lose it on every redeploy.

Method 1 — A device you already own (laptop, Raspberry Pi, NAS)

The most reliable free hosting is the machine you already have. An old laptop, a Raspberry Pi (1 GB minimum, 2 GB+ recommended per the official Pi guide), or a home NAS that stays on 24/7 costs nothing extra and keeps full control of your data. This is also the fastest path: no signup, no card, no quota.

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

Trade-off: your bot goes down when the device sleeps or your home network drops. For a personal assistant that is often acceptable; for a shared team bot it usually is not.

Method 2 — Oracle Cloud Always Free (best free always-on VM)

Oracle's Always Free tier is the only mainstream cloud offer that gives you a real VM with no sleep and no monthly hour cap. As of mid-2026 it includes an Ampere A1 ARM VM (2 OCPU / 12 GB RAM total — reduced from 4/24 in June 2026) plus two AMD micro VMs (1 GB each), 200 GB storage, and 10 TB egress. That is far more than OpenClaw needs.

• Sign up at Oracle Cloud (a credit/debit card is required for identity verification; Always Free resources are not billed).
• Create a VM.Standard.A1.Flex instance with Ubuntu, then SSH in and run the install command above.
• Honest caveats: signup fraud checks reject some applicants (repeatedly reported by users registering from mainland China); "out of host capacity" errors are common in popular regions; idle instances can be reclaimed if CPU/network/memory all stay under 20% for 7 days — a lightly used OpenClaw bot normally generates enough baseline activity, but check the current reclaim policy.

Method 3 — Zeabur free plan

Zeabur lists a $0/mo plan and is popular in Chinese-speaking communities, with Asia regions that keep latency low. Third-party reports describe a small monthly compute credit on the free plan, but we could not confirm the exact current limits from official pages — treat the numbers as unverified until you check Zeabur pricing yourself.

Method 4 — Render free (testing, not 24/7)

Render's free web service gives 512 MB RAM, 0.1 CPU, and 750 instance-hours/month — just enough hours for one always-on service. Two hard limits: the service spins down after 15 minutes without inbound traffic (with a ~1 minute cold start), and 512 MB is below OpenClaw's recommended floor. Fine for a demo, frustrating for a daily driver.

Method 5 — Koyeb free (hobby only)

Koyeb's free instance is 512 MB RAM / 0.1 vCPU / 2 GB SSD, one per organization. The catch: free instances scale to zero after 1 hour without traffic and cannot be run as worker services. Same verdict as Render — usable for evaluation, not for an always-on assistant.

Method 6 — GitHub Codespaces (try before you host)

Personal GitHub accounts get 120 core-hours and 15 GB storage per month free. On the default 2-core machine that is about 60 hours of runtime — enough to install OpenClaw, connect a channel, and decide whether you like it. Codespaces stop on idle (30-minute default timeout), so this is a test drive, not hosting.

Platforms to skip (and why)

• ClawCloud Run — shutting down: VPS/VDS and related services terminated June 30, 2026. Despite the name, ClawCloud has no relation to Clawdbot/OpenClaw.
• Sealos — only a 7-day free trial; no ongoing free tier.
• Railway — the free plan is now a $1/month credit, which does not cover an always-on Node process.
• Fly.io — no ongoing free tier for new accounts; only a 2-hour/7-day trial remains.

Verify your deployment

Whichever method you picked, confirm the gateway is alive before connecting channels:

openclaw status

Expected result: the gateway reports as running. Then send yourself a test message from your connected channel. If anything looks off, work through the troubleshooting command ladder before changing config.

The honest limits of free hosting

• Sleep / scale-to-zero (Render, Koyeb, Codespaces): your bot simply stops answering until something wakes it.
• RAM ceilings: 512 MB containers sit below OpenClaw's recommended minimum; expect OOM kills under load.
• Ephemeral state: container platforms without persistent volumes will wipe ~/.openclaw/ on redeploy.
• Policy drift: free tiers shrink without warning — Oracle halved its ARM allowance in June 2026, and ClawCloud shut down entirely. Recheck this page's "last verified" date before relying on any of it.
• Model costs are separate: free hosting does not include model tokens. A chatty bot on a frontier model can cost more than a VPS.

When to upgrade to a paid VPS

Move off free hosting when any of these become true: you connect always-on channels for other people, you hit OOM or sleep limits weekly, or you need uptime you can promise. A basic 1–2 GB VPS from DigitalOcean or Vultr runs about $4–6/month and removes every limit listed above. We are preparing a full OpenClaw server buyer's guide (free tiers vs $4–6 VPS, with measured memory usage) — until it ships, the deployment hub has the operational checklist.

Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Recommendations are based on independent testing and real-world use.

Common errors

For MCP-specific errors after the gateway is up, check the MCP error index or paste your config into the config checker.

FAQ

Can I run OpenClaw for free 24/7?

Yes — on your own always-on device or an Oracle Cloud Always Free VM. Free PaaS tiers sleep or scale to zero, which breaks a long-running gateway.

How much RAM does OpenClaw need?

Officially 1 GB minimum (Raspberry Pi guide), 2 GB+ recommended, 4 GB described as plenty. 512 MB free containers are below the recommended floor.

Is ClawCloud Run still a free option?

No. ClawCloud is unrelated to OpenClaw despite the name, and its VPS/VDS services shut down June 30, 2026.

Next steps

Once OpenClaw is running, follow the getting started guide to add your first MCP servers, then connect a messaging channel.