OpenClaw vs Cicada
OpenClaw is a free, open-source agent you install on your own machine or server, wire to your chat apps and keep running yourself. Cicada is hosted for you: agents for every person on your team, in iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack and email, your apps and your meetings, from the moment you sign up.
Pick Cicada if you want agents a whole team can use with nothing to host, apps connected in one click and a lock on each that any member can set. Pick OpenClaw if you're technical and want free, open-source software on your own hardware, with any model you choose.
What Cicada does that OpenClaw doesn't.
Nothing to install or keep running
Sign up, link your phone with a code, connect your apps in one click, and the agents are working. With OpenClaw you run the gateway, pair each chat app, add your model keys and keep it updated, and its docs say tools run on your machine unless you sandbox them.
Safe to share with a team
OpenClaw's docs call a gateway one trust domain and say to run one gateway per tenant for people who don't trust each other. In Cicada every person gets their own agents in one workspace, shared apps are connected once, and personal logins like your inbox stay yours.
A lock on each app, no config
Any member can set each connected app to Full, Ask first or Read-only, and it holds for every agent on every channel. OpenClaw's approval modes, allowlists and sandboxes are powerful, and you set them up yourself.
1,000+ apps in one click
Connect your inbox, CRM or store from a list of 1,000+ apps, plus any MCP server, and teammates use the shared ones without setting anything up. In OpenClaw you add skills and plugins from ClawHub and configure each MCP server yourself.
- What it is
- A free, open-source AI assistant you install on your own machine or server and reach from the chat apps you already use. Made by the OpenClaw Foundation.
- Where it works
- 29 chat apps, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal and iMessage, in DMs and group chats
- What it costs
- Free and open source (MIT), with no hosted or paid tier; you pay for your model, your machine and any extra services
- Worth knowing
- You install, secure and update it yourself, there is no hosted version, and its docs say people who don't trust each other need separate gateways.
Checked against OpenClaw's own pages on 31 October 2026. See every OpenClaw alternative.
A team of agents for a team of people.
OpenClaw runs one gateway per trust domain and its docs say mutually untrusted people need separate gateways. Cicada is a workspace built for a team.
Agents for every person
Each person in your workspace gets their own agents. The apps the team shares are connected once; personal ones, like your inbox, stay under your own login.
A coordinator and specialists
A big job is split between specialists that work at the same time, and you get one answer back from the agent you asked.
Agents that work together
Teammates' agents know what each other covers, use each other's fresh figures and check with each other through the apps you share, never through anyone's private notes. Ask yours to message someone who uses Cicada, at your company or another, and their answer comes back to you.
Know-how the whole team shares
What one agent learns about the business, every agent in the workspace knows, and a skill one agent proves is shared with the rest.
Cicada and OpenClaw, feature by feature.
| Feature | Cicada | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Agents across your team | Every person gets their own agents, a coordinator running specialists, and they work together across the team | Several agents per gateway; team mode for people who trust each other, one gateway per team |
| Hosting | Hosted for you: sign up and it's running | You install and run it on your own Mac, Windows or Linux machine or server |
| Where you use it | iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, email and a web app | About 30 chat apps, incl. WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage (through a Mac) and Teams |
| Works on its own | Schedules, app events and proactive checks | Reminders, intervals, cron, inbound webhooks and an email trigger |
| Joins your meetings | Yes, Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex, notes by text | Transcripts through browser participants and a meeting-notes plugin |
| Connected apps | 1,000+ connected in one click, plus any MCP server | Skills and plugins from ClawHub, plus any MCP server you configure |
| Choose the model | Run on the tier you pick (Lite, Standard or Genius) | Any of 72 providers or a local model, with your own keys |
| Permissions | Per app: Full, Ask first or Read-only, plus the autonomy level you set | Command approvals, allowlists and sandboxing that you configure |
| Access and price | 300 free credits to start with a card at sign-up, then $25 for 200 credits when you run low, or plans from $99 a month. Credits are shared across the workspace and roll over. | Free and open source (MIT); you pay your model provider, hosting and any phone or browser services |
OpenClaw details checked against its own site and docs on 29 October 2026. Products change fast; see the sources below.
Running it, or using it
OpenClaw is software you install: you run the gateway, pair your chat apps, add your model keys and keep it updated, and its own docs say tools run on your machine unless you sandbox them. Cicada is hosted: you sign up, link your phone with a code, connect your apps in one click, and the agents are working.
One operator, or a whole team
OpenClaw's team mode is for people who trust each other on one gateway; separate teams need separate gateways. Cicada is a workspace: every person gets their own agents, shared apps are connected once, personal logins stay personal, and teammates' agents check with each other through the apps you share.
Control without configuration
In Cicada any member can set each connected app to Full, Ask first or Read-only for every agent, and messages to other people wait for a 👍 in the chat. OpenClaw gives a technical operator fine-grained control (approval modes, allowlists, sandboxes) that you set up yourself.
Where Cicada is stronger
- Nothing to install, host or keep running.
- Every person on the team gets their own agents, and they work together.
- 1,000+ apps connected in one click, with a Read-only or Ask-first lock on each.
- A coordinator splits big jobs between specialists that work at the same time.
- What one agent learns about the business, every agent in the workspace knows.
- A notetaker that joins your meetings and texts you the notes.
Choose Cicada if you want agents a whole team can use in iMessage, WhatsApp and Slack, with nothing to host and a lock on each app any member can set.
Where OpenClaw fits
- Free and open source: your hardware, your data, no licence cost.
- Any model, including local ones, with your own keys.
- More chat channels (Signal, Matrix, Discord, Telegram and others) and deep operator controls.
OpenClaw may suit you if you're technical, want to run the agent on your own hardware with the model of your choice, and are happy to maintain it.
OpenClaw vs Cicada, answered.
Is Cicada an OpenClaw alternative?
Yes, if you'd rather not host it. OpenClaw is open-source software you run yourself; Cicada is hosted agents for a whole team, in your messages, apps and meetings.
Is OpenClaw free?
The software is free and MIT-licensed. You pay for the model you connect, the machine it runs on, and any phone or browser services you add. Cicada starts with 300 free credits.
Can a whole team use OpenClaw?
Its docs describe a team mode for people who trust each other on one gateway, and say mutually untrusted users need separate gateways. Cicada gives every person their own agents in one workspace.
Is OpenClaw an OpenAI product?
No. Its site says it is stewarded by the independent OpenClaw Foundation, which OpenAI supports as a donor.
Sources, checked 29 October 2026
- OpenClaw homepage
- OpenClaw on GitHub
- OpenClaw channels
- OpenClaw teams
- OpenClaw security
- OpenClaw model providers
- OpenClaw privacy policy
Spotted something out of date? Tell us at support@cicadalabs.io and we'll fix it.
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