How to Use OpenClaw for Free: Complete 2026 Free Tier Guide

Is OpenClaw Free?

Yes — the OpenClaw framework is 100% free and open-source (MIT license). You can download, use, modify, and deploy it without paying anything.

The only potential costs come from two external services you choose to use:

1. Server hosting (to keep OpenClaw running 24/7)
2. AI model API (the model that processes your conversations)

Both of these have free or near-free options.

Option 1: MiniMax Free Tier (Recommended for Getting Started)

MiniMax is a Chinese AI model provider that gives every new account a free token quota upon registration — enough to get started without spending anything.

Setup Steps

1. Register a free account at platform.minimax.io
2. Copy your API Key
3. Configure in openclaw.json:

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "minimax": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.minimax.io/anthropic",
        "apiKey": "${MINIMAX_API_KEY}",
        "api": "anthropic-messages",
        "models": [{ "id": "MiniMax-M2.1", "name": "MiniMax M2.1" }]
      }
    }
  }
}

Cost Estimate

MiniMax's free quota covers most light-to-moderate usage. Top-up pricing is also very competitive.

Option 2: Ollama Local Models (Completely Free)

Ollama lets you run open-source models entirely on your local machine — zero API fees, fully offline.

Requirements

Setup Steps

1. Install Ollama: curl -fsSL https://ollama.ai/install.sh | sh
2. Download a model: ollama pull llama3.3:70b (or a smaller model for less powerful hardware)
3. Configure OpenClaw to use Ollama:

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "ollama": {
        "baseUrl": "http://localhost:11434/v1",
        "models": [{ "id": "llama3.3:70b", "name": "Llama 3.3 70B" }]
      }
    }
  }
}

Model Recommendations by Hardware

Option 3: DeepSeek Free Tier

DeepSeek offers a generous free tier with direct access in China — no VPN required.

• Free quota sufficient for light daily use
• Excellent Chinese language capability
• Strong math and coding performance

Option 4: Cloudflare Workers Free Tier for Hosting

Instead of a paid VPS, you can run a lightweight OpenClaw instance on Cloudflare Workers' free tier:

• 100,000 requests/day free
• No server to manage
• Slight limitations on long-running processes (use for webhook-based interactions)

Minimizing Server Costs

If you do want 24/7 availability, the cheapest reliable options:

Oracle Cloud Always Free is the most generous free tier for persistent hosting — 4 ARM CPU cores and 24 GB RAM with no time limit. Ideal for running OpenClaw + Ollama on a free server.

Complete Zero-Cost Setup

The theoretical fully-free setup:

1. Hosting: Oracle Cloud Always Free (4 ARM cores / 24 GB RAM)
2. Model: Ollama + Qwen2.5 32B (local, no API fees)
3. Framework: OpenClaw (free and open-source)
4. Channel: Telegram Bot (free)

Total monthly cost: $0

This setup works well for moderate daily usage. The trade-off is that Ollama models on ARM cores are slower than GPU-accelerated cloud models.

FAQ

How much does the average user actually spend per month?

Most light users (a few dozen conversations per day) spend $0–2/month on API costs when using MiniMax or DeepSeek. Moderate users (automated tasks, 200–500 messages/day) typically spend $2–5/month.

Is the free Ollama setup as capable as paid cloud models?

Quality depends on which local model you run and your hardware. On modern hardware (Apple M2/M3, 32+ GB RAM), Llama 3.3 70B is genuinely impressive. For most daily tasks it's sufficient. For very complex reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-4o still outperform.

Will OpenClaw ever charge for using the framework itself?

OpenClaw is MIT licensed. The framework will remain free forever. Anthropic, OpenAI, and other model providers charge for API usage — that cost is independent of OpenClaw.