🛠️ Recommended Stack

Tools and services we actually use to run OpenClaw, deploy AI agents, and automate workflows. Only things we've tested ourselves.

☁️ VPS / Cloud Hosting

Where to deploy OpenClaw. A $5-10/month VPS is all you need to get started.

🟢 Vultr — Best Value for AI Workloads

Global data centers, hourly billing, excellent API. Their Cloud Compute plans start at $6/month with dedicated vCPU options for heavier workloads. Great for OpenClaw deployments.

✅ 32 locations worldwide
✅ Hourly billing — only pay for what you use
✅ GPU instances available for local AI inference
💰 New users get $100 free credit

→ Get $100 free credit on Vultr

🔵 DigitalOcean — Simplest Setup

Clean UI, excellent docs, one-click apps. If you want the easiest path from zero to running OpenClaw, this is it. Their $6/month Droplet handles most personal automation needs.

✅ Best-in-class documentation
✅ App Platform for one-click deploys
✅ Managed databases if needed later
💰 New users get $200 free credit (60 days)

→ Get $200 free credit on DigitalOcean

🌐 Domain & DNS

Cloudflare — Free DNS + CDN + Pages

This very site runs on Cloudflare Pages. Free tier includes DNS, CDN, SSL, Web Analytics, and Pages hosting. No reason not to use it.

✅ Free tier covers 99% of personal/small project needs
✅ Fastest DNS in the world
✅ Built-in DDoS protection

→ cloudflare.com

🤖 AI Model APIs

OpenClaw supports multiple AI providers. Here's what we recommend for different use cases.

Anthropic Claude — Best for Agent Tasks

Claude excels at following complex instructions, using tools, and maintaining context — exactly what you need for autonomous agents. Claude Sonnet is our daily driver; Opus for heavy reasoning tasks.

✅ Best tool-use and instruction following
✅ 200K context window
✅ Strong safety guardrails

→ console.anthropic.com

OpenAI GPT — Widest Ecosystem

GPT-4o and o1 are solid alternatives with the widest API ecosystem. Good as fallback models in OpenClaw's multi-model setup.

→ platform.openai.com

Google Gemini — Best Free Tier

Gemini offers generous free API quotas. Excellent as a fallback model to reduce costs. The Flash variants are fast and cheap for less critical tasks.

→ ai.google.dev

🔧 Development Tools

Cursor — AI-Native Code Editor

VS Code fork with deep AI integration. If you're building skills or customizing OpenClaw, Cursor makes it 2-3x faster. The Pro plan ($20/month) is worth it for serious development.

→ cursor.com

GitHub — Code + CI/CD

Version control, Actions for CI/CD, and Issues for project management. Free tier is generous. Essential for any OpenClaw project.

→ github.com

💡 Getting started? Read our What is OpenClaw? guide first, then check Deployment & Pricing Guide for cost estimates.