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How to install OpenClaw in 2026

Short answer

You install OpenClaw with one command on macOS, Linux or Windows, and a wizard picks the model and starts the Gateway on port 18789. It needs Node.js 24.16+ or 26.1+. The MIT licence costs nothing, and at 300 tasks a month the server, the model and 2 hours of maintenance a week come to about €332 a month, of which a person's time is €302.

How we workDetails ↓

  1. 01Call30 minutes with an engineer, free
  2. 02PrototypeA working system on your process and data, free
  3. 03ImplementationTarget and fixed price in the contract; 50% at signing
  4. 04Acceptance50% once the agreed target is met
net per agent for one process, paid once
from €3,000
from signing the contract to acceptance
6–16 weeks
free prototype on your cases
€0
Book a free process review (30 min)

We belong to the OpenAI and Anthropic partner programmes and learn through their official courses. What this means ↓

Author: Syntalith · 3 min read

Example: the morning request inbox
Agent · ready

Statistics

OpenClaw in numbers: statistics 2026

€332

a month for a working OpenClaw agent at 300 tasks: a Hetzner CX23 server, the Claude Sonnet 5.5 model and 2 hours of maintenance a week. Licence €0. Scenario.

Figures checked: 22 October 2026

OpenClaw requirements in October 2026

The OpenClaw installation documentation requires Node.js 24.16+ or 26.1+ and recommends Node 26. When Node is missing, the installer adds Node 26 on macOS and Node 24 LTS on Linux. The program runs on macOS, Linux and Windows, and pnpm is needed only when building from source. The requirements changed several times within a year, so check the current page before you install.

A VPS is not required. Your own computer is enough for tests and for work while it is switched on. A server makes sense for round-the-clock running, for example when the agent answers on Telegram, and it adds duties: the network, updates, backups and protecting secrets.

How to install OpenClaw in three steps

From zero to the first conversation
  1. 01InstallermacOS, Linux and WSL2: curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh, run through bash
  2. 02Wizardchoosing the model provider, authentication and Gateway configuration
  3. 03Background serviceopenclaw gateway install, then openclaw gateway status
  4. 04Panelopenclaw dashboard opens the Control UI in the browser

On Windows the simplest route is the Windows Hub app or the installer in PowerShell:

iwr -useb https://openclaw.ai/install.ps1 | iex

According to the getting started guide, installation and the first conversation take about 5 minutes. The wizard detects an existing Claude Code or Codex CLI sign-in or an API key and checks it with a real request. By default the Gateway runs in the terminal until you press Ctrl+C, and the command openclaw gateway install installs it as a service: a LaunchAgent on macOS, a systemd unit on Linux and WSL2, or a scheduled task on Windows. Once it is running, openclaw gateway status should show it listening on port 18789.

When something does not work, openclaw triage runs read-only checks and prepares a description of the problem without secrets, and openclaw doctor shows the results directly.

What to set before company data

Run the first test in the Control UI without connecting production email, drives or messengers. OpenClaw assumes one trust boundary per Gateway: one operator, or a team whose members trust each other. Tool isolation is off by default, so commands can run directly on the server.

Five things before you connect data
  • Who can write to the agent: pairing, an allowlist, group rules
  • Where commands run: an isolated container for sessions that read outside content
  • Which files and secrets the process can see: a separate system account and narrow folders
  • Which actions need approval: sending, changing a record, deleting a file
  • What the history records: the tool, the effect and the person's decision, without whole documents

After every configuration change, run openclaw security audit. The settings are covered in detail in the article on OpenClaw security.

What a working agent costs

Scenario: OpenClaw at 300 tasks a month
MIT licence
€0
Hetzner CX23 server
€5.49
Model, 300 tasks × 10 calls, Claude Sonnet 5.5
€24.10
Maintenance 2 h a week × 4.33
8.66 h = €302

€332 a month in total, 91% of it a person's time

The number of tasks, calls and maintenance hours are the scenario's assumptions. €34.90 an hour is the EU average hourly labour cost for 2025 according to Eurostat. Model: 2,000 input tokens and 500 output tokens per call at Anthropic's rates, converted at the ECB rate of 1.1205 USD per euro on 22 October 2026. Server at Hetzner's price list.

A free licence does not mean a free agent. Updates, renewing tokens, reacting to a channel failure and reviewing the history of actions take time, which in this scenario costs more than the server and the model together. The detailed count is in the article is OpenClaw free.

When to install it yourself

Installing it yourself makes sense when someone in the team is responsible for the server, updates and incidents. Start with test data, one channel and a small set of tools. If the agent is to work on personal data, perform financial operations or write to customers from day one, you first need a data map and approval rules. We build an agent for a team, with integrations, approvals and a history of actions, as part of AI agents from €3,000 net, and in a free process review we work out whether installing it yourself is enough.

This is how we implement it in companies

All case studies →

Client results.

All projects →
foap.comcustomer service

foap.com customer service: 95% of replies are sent automatically.

Users from several countries write to foap.com, in several languages. The system reads the entire conversation and the terms of that person, and then sends a response in that person's language. Questions about money and exceptions go to the team with a ready draft, so they have to check and send them.

the system sends the answers itself, without human typing
95%
time from the arrival of the e-mail to the ready response (median)
30 s
e-mails that require a response receive a ready-made draft
100%
less work for every 1000 answers (estimate)
47 h

Data from foap.com production, October 20-21, 2026. Estimate: 3 minutes for handwritten response.

How foap.com customer service works →
Sample messages. Money matters always come to the person.

Other implementations

jaktako.design

studio projektowe

−87%

Time to look for new customers, every day

4 hours → 30 min

approx. 73 hours less per month (21 days of work)

according to the studio

How the agent loop works →
Signature Estates

real estate

approx. −90%

Operator time spent browsing portals, per day

2–3 hours → 20 min

approx. 45 hours less per month (21 days of work)

respect · contact the seller 5 minutes after the announcement

How the agent finds property listings →
Kuba Koziej, CEO and co-founder of MoreGrowth and board member at Natu.Care

Kuba Koziej

CEO and co-founder, MoreGrowth

„We started with my own AI agent. During the training that followed, I learned to build new applications myself. Today I am bringing this way of working with AI into my business. Working with Syntalith gave me exactly the skills and tools I needed.”

View the original training review on LinkedIn ↗

See the agent on your own cases before you commit.Book a free process review (30 min) →

How we build automation and agents

From a conversation to a working system in four steps.

  1. 01 · 30 min

    Free process review

    €0

    You're talking to an engineer. You receive the written plan within 2 business days.

  2. 02 · 5 days

    Free prototype

    €0

    The system works on 20-100 cases that your team has already handled. You see every result.

  3. 03 · 2–16 weeks

    Build

    50%

    Fixed price and goal written in the contract. First installment upon signing.

  4. 04 · after reaching the goal

    Reception

    50%

    You pay the second installment when the system reaches its target on your cases.

How a free prototype is created

Mon.

We set a goal

What result do you consider good?

Tue–Wed

The system is working

It goes through your affairs, one by one.

Thu

We compare

We check every difference with the team's work.

Fri

Result and price

List of errors and fixed implementation price.

You choose the matters. We anonymize them upon request, they stay in the EU and we delete them after the test.

On the market, such a test usually costs from PLN 3,000 to PLN 8,000.

Book a free process review (30 min)

We establish a prototype during a free analysis.

Data checked on October 21, 2026.

„Is my data safe?”

Yes. You choose where they go: from your company account to the model on your server.

  1. 00Employee's private account

    Customer and company data ends up in an account that the company cannot see or control. There is no data processing agreement, so it is a violation of the GDPR. When an employee leaves, the chat history goes with them.

  2. 01ChatGPT or Claude corporate account

    The provider does not use your data to train models. A copy of the queries remains in his logs for up to 30 days.

  3. 02API with zero retention (ZDR)

    The provider processes the request and does not save anything. It requires his consent, we prepare the application together.

  4. 03Processing in the EU

    Queries are counted and stored in Europe: OpenAI in the EU region, Claude via clouds with the EU region.

  5. 04Model at your place

    The open model runs on your server or in your cloud in the EU. The data does not go outside the company.

What we do with every implementation

  • Confidentiality agreement and data processing agreement before we receive any data.
  • You choose the cases for the prototype and we anonymize them upon request.
  • The data stays in the EU and we delete it after the test.
  • Corporate accounts with an administrator on your side.

When data cannot leave the company

The open model runs on your server or in your cloud in the EU. To choose from:

White-tailed eagle
Polish model, SpeakLeash and ACK Cyfronet AGH
PLLUM
Polish model, HIVE consortium commissioned by the Ministry of Digitization
Qwen
Alibaba
GLM
Zhipu AI
DeepSeek
DeepSeek

We select a model for the task and check it on your cases. We run it, tune it and maintain it.

Source: Bielik and PLLuM, ACK Cyfronet AGH ↗ · PLLuM, Ministry of Digitization ↗

Do you have a lot of your own data? We will fine-tune the small model.

  1. 1 Your examples
  2. 2 tuning
  3. 3 test on new cases
  4. 4 model at your place

When you have thousands of similar emails, documents or reports, we teach a small open model based on your examples. It works for you, responds quickly and costs less to maintain than a large model. We measure quality on issues that the model has not seen while learning.

Przemysław and Piotr did it in large programming and consulting companies. Artem did it before and does it today at Syntalith. It's about models on your own infrastructure, tuning and quality measurement.

Private AI models →

Source: OpenAI, training on data from private accounts ↗ · OpenAI, who sees conversations ↗ · Anthropic, changes for private accounts (August 2025) ↗ · OpenAI, data in API ↗ · AWS Bedrock, EU profile ↗

You choose the protection level during the interview. We sign the data processing agreement before we see any data.Schedule a free analysis →

AI agents

See the agent on your own cases before you commit.

The agent takes the case through the next steps in your systems, and the actions take effect until the consent of the indicated person is obtained. A prototype for 20-100 cases that your team has already handled costs €0. We write down the purpose and test set in the contract.

See AI agents →
net per agent for one process, paid once
from €3,000
from signing the contract to acceptance
6–16 weeks
free prototype on your cases
€0
Book a free process review (30 min)

or call+48 888 78 48 78WhatsAppMon–Fri 9:00–17:00 CET

Questions

  • How do you install OpenClaw?

    On macOS, Linux and WSL2 with the command curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash, and on Windows with the PowerShell installer or the Windows Hub app. The script checks Node.js, installs the program and starts the wizard.

  • What are the requirements for OpenClaw?

    Node.js 24.16+ or 26.1+, with Node 26 recommended. The installer adds Node when it is missing. pnpm is needed only when building from source.

  • Does OpenClaw need a VPS?

    No. Your own computer is enough for tests and for work while it is switched on. A server makes sense for round-the-clock work, and it adds updates, backups and protecting secrets.

  • How much does OpenClaw cost?

    The MIT licence is free. A Hetzner CX23 server costs €5.49 a month, the model for 300 tasks about €24, and the biggest item is the time of the person who maintains the agent.

  • When should you install it yourself?

    When someone in the team is responsible for the server, updates and incidents. At Syntalith we build an agent for a team, with integrations, approvals and a history of actions, from €3,000 net.

Let's talk

Just write, call or choose a date.

We work fast because we hate corporate cotton wool. We don't have salespeople or managers to keep an eye on managers. You talk immediately to engineers who then build your system. We respect each other's time and yours too.

We will accept 3 more companies by the end of the year.

Write
contact@syntalith.ai
Call
+48 888 78 48 78
WhatsApp
write on WhatsApp

Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00 CET

What our OpenAI and Anthropic partnerships mean for you.

OpenAI makes ChatGPT and Anthropic makes Claude. We belong to the partnership programs of both companies, so we work with their tools every day and learn from the creators themselves.

OpenAI Select PartnerClaude Partner Network
01We will select a tool for the task
We implement both ChatGPT and Claude. We check both on your documents, and you choose the one that makes fewer corrections and saves more time.
02Knowledge straight from the creators
We learn from official OpenAI and Anthropic courses and materials. Your team learns about the features and settings that work today.
03Licenses without our margin
You buy accounts directly from OpenAI or Anthropic and receive an invoice from them. We do not add anything to the license.
04Certified engineers
On the team, we have an AWS certification in machine learning and an Anthropic certification in systems architecture on Claude.

Participation in programs does not mean that OpenAI or Anthropic endorses our services.