Best Hosting for OpenClaw: 7 Providers Compared (2026)
Hosting & Deployment · 14 min read
Best Hosting for OpenClaw in 2026 (Tested and Compared)
Last updated: February 2026 · Reading time: 10 minutes
OpenClaw needs a server that stays on. If you're running it on your laptop, your AI assistant dies every time you close the lid. That's fine for testing, but useless if you actually want reminders at 7am or emails handled while you sleep.
The fix is a cloud server — a small virtual machine that runs 24/7 and costs less than a coffee per week. But which one should you pick?
We tested OpenClaw on five popular hosting providers over the past few months. Here's what we found.
The Quick Answer
Short on time? Here's the summary.
Best overall: DigitalOcean — 1-click OpenClaw deployment, clean dashboard, $6/month for the right droplet. New accounts get $200 in free credit, which covers roughly 6+ months of hosting.
Best value: Hetzner — Half the price of everything else. Their €3.79/month ARM server runs OpenClaw beautifully. No 1-click installer though, so you'll need to follow a setup guide.
Best if you're already using it: Vultr, AWS Lightsail, or Railway — All work. None are better than the top two for this specific use case.
What OpenClaw Actually Needs From a Server
Before we compare providers, it helps to understand what you're running. OpenClaw is surprisingly lightweight. It's a Node.js application that mostly sits idle, wakes up when you send a message, calls an AI API, and sends the response back.
Minimum requirements:
- 1 CPU core
- 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended)
- 20 GB storage
- A stable internet connection
- Linux (Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 works best)
That's it. You don't need a powerful server. You don't need GPU. The heavy computation happens at Anthropic's or OpenAI's end — your server is just the middleman.
This means the cheapest tier on almost any hosting provider will work. The differences come down to ease of setup, reliability, pricing transparency, and data center locations.
1. DigitalOcean — Best Overall
Starting price: $6/month (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD) Recommended plan: $12/month (1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD) Data centers: New York, San Francisco, London, Amsterdam, Singapore, Bangalore, Sydney, Frankfurt Free trial: $200 credit for new accounts
DigitalOcean is the default recommendation for OpenClaw hosting, and there's a good reason for that. They have a 1-click deployment in their marketplace. You literally click a button, wait two minutes, SSH into your server, and run openclaw onboard. That's the entire setup.
What we liked:
The dashboard is clean and straightforward. Creating a droplet takes about 90 seconds. The 1-click OpenClaw image comes pre-configured with Node.js 22 and all dependencies, so you skip the most tedious part of server setup. Monitoring is built in — you can see CPU, RAM, and bandwidth usage without installing anything extra.
Their documentation is excellent too. If something goes wrong, there's almost certainly a DigitalOcean tutorial covering it.
What we didn't:
The $6/month droplet works but feels tight with only 1 GB of RAM. If you're running browser tools or handling lots of media files, you'll want the $12 plan. Also, DigitalOcean isn't the cheapest option — you're paying a premium for convenience.
Who this is for: Anyone who wants the fastest, easiest path from zero to a running OpenClaw instance. Especially if you've never managed a server before.
→ Get $200 free credit on DigitalOcean
2. Hetzner — Best Value
Starting price: €3.29/month (2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 20 GB SSD — x86) Recommended plan: €3.79/month (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 20 GB SSD — ARM/Ampere) Data centers: Nuremberg, Falkenstein, Helsinki, Ashburn (US), Hillsboro (US), Singapore Free trial: None, but they do offer occasional promotions
Hetzner is the open secret of the self-hosting community. For the price of a single DigitalOcean droplet, you get double or triple the specs.
Their ARM-based CAX11 server at €3.79/month gives you 2 vCPUs and 4 GB of RAM — that's more than OpenClaw will ever need, with room to spare for other projects. The x86 CX22 at €3.29/month is even cheaper, with 2 vCPUs and 2 GB RAM.
What we liked:
The value is unbeatable. Period. The same performance that costs $12/month on DigitalOcean costs under €4 on Hetzner. Their network is fast, uptime has been rock solid in our testing, and they recently expanded to US data centers (Ashburn and Hillsboro), which matters if you're not in Europe.
The interface is minimal but functional. Server provisioning takes about 30 seconds.
What we didn't:
No 1-click OpenClaw deployment. You'll need to install Node.js and set up OpenClaw manually — it takes about 15 minutes if you follow a guide, but it's a real barrier if you've never touched a command line.
Support is more limited than DigitalOcean. If something breaks at 2am, you're mostly on your own.
Who this is for: Anyone comfortable with (or willing to learn) basic server setup, and anyone who wants to keep costs as low as possible.
3. Vultr — Solid All-Rounder
Starting price: $6/month (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD) Recommended plan: $12/month (1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB SSD) Data centers: 32 locations worldwide Free trial: $100 credit for new accounts
Vultr sits in the middle ground between DigitalOcean's polish and Hetzner's pricing. Their big advantage is data center coverage — 32 locations across every continent. If you need a server close to you in a region the others don't cover, Vultr probably has one.
What we liked:
The sheer number of locations. If you're in South America, Africa, or Southeast Asia, Vultr likely has a data center closer to you than either DigitalOcean or Hetzner, which means lower latency when your assistant responds.
Pricing is transparent and comparable to DigitalOcean. The dashboard is straightforward.
What we didn't:
No 1-click OpenClaw deployment. The dashboard feels a bit dated compared to DigitalOcean. The $6 plan has the same 1 GB RAM limitation.
Who this is for: Users in regions where DigitalOcean and Hetzner don't have nearby data centers, or anyone who wants a reliable alternative with good global coverage.
→ Get $100 free credit on Vultr
4. AWS Lightsail — For the AWS Crowd
Starting price: $5/month (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD) Recommended plan: $10/month (1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM, 60 GB SSD) Data centers: All AWS regions (20+) Free trial: 3 months free on select plans
If you already live in the AWS ecosystem, Lightsail makes sense. It's Amazon's simplified VPS product — none of the usual AWS complexity, just straightforward virtual machines with fixed monthly pricing.
What we liked:
Predictable pricing in a world where AWS bills are usually terrifying. Good integration if you're already using Route 53, S3, or other AWS services. The 3-month free trial is generous enough to test OpenClaw thoroughly before committing.
What we didn't:
The interface is clunky compared to DigitalOcean or Hetzner. You're still inside the AWS console, which can feel overwhelming if you're not used to it. And once you outgrow Lightsail, migrating to regular EC2 is a headache.
Who this is for: People who already have an AWS account and don't want to manage another hosting provider.
5. Railway — Easiest If You Know Git
Starting price: Usage-based, roughly $5-10/month for OpenClaw Data centers: US West Free trial: $5 free credit
Railway is different from the others — it's a Platform-as-a-Service, not a traditional VPS. You connect your GitHub repo (or use a template), and Railway handles the deployment, scaling, and infrastructure. No SSH, no server management.
What we liked:
If you're a developer who hates managing servers, Railway removes that entire layer. Deployments happen automatically when you push code. Logs, metrics, and environment variables are all handled through a clean web interface.
What we didn't:
The usage-based pricing is unpredictable. Our test instance fluctuated between $5 and $14/month depending on activity. You can set spending caps, but it's still less predictable than a fixed $6/month droplet. Also, only one US data center location.
Who this is for: Developers who want zero server management and don't mind variable pricing.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| DigitalOcean | Hetzner | Vultr | AWS Lightsail | Railway | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $6/mo | €3.29/mo | $6/mo | $5/mo | ~$5-10/mo |
| Recommended plan | $12/mo | €3.79/mo | $12/mo | $10/mo | Variable |
| RAM (recommended) | 2 GB | 4 GB | 2 GB | 2 GB | Auto |
| 1-click OpenClaw | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Beginner friendly | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Value for money | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Data centers | 8 regions | 6 regions | 32 regions | 20+ regions | 1 region |
| Free credits | $200 | None | $100 | 3 months | $5 |
| Best for | Easiest setup | Lowest cost | Global coverage | AWS users | Developers |
How We Tested
We ran the same OpenClaw configuration on each provider for four weeks. The setup was identical: Claude Opus 4.6, Telegram channel, browser tools enabled, cron jobs for daily email summaries.
We tracked response times (how fast the assistant replied after sending a message), uptime, and any issues that came up. Honestly, all five performed well — none had meaningful downtime and response times were within 100ms of each other. The AI API call is the bottleneck, not the server.
The differences that actually mattered were pricing, ease of setup, and how quickly you can go from "I just signed up" to "my assistant is responding on WhatsApp."
Our Recommendation
If you want the easiest experience, go with DigitalOcean. The 1-click marketplace deployment eliminates the hardest part of the process, and the $200 free credit means you won't pay anything for months.
→ Deploy OpenClaw on DigitalOcean (with $200 free credit)
If you want the best value, go with Hetzner. You'll get a more powerful server for less money. You just need to be comfortable running a few terminal commands — or follow our OpenClaw setup guide which covers the manual installation step by step.
Still not sure? Start with DigitalOcean using the free credit. If you later decide you want to save money, migrating to Hetzner takes about an hour. Your OpenClaw config is just a JSON file — copy it to the new server and you're done.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I run OpenClaw on a Raspberry Pi?
Technically yes, if it's a Pi 4 or 5 with at least 2 GB RAM. But it's not ideal. The SD card can wear out, and if your home internet goes down, so does your assistant. A $4/month cloud server is more reliable.
Do I need a static IP address?
Not necessarily. OpenClaw connects outbound to messaging platforms, so it works behind NAT. But if you want to use webhooks (for Telegram or email triggers), a static IP or a tool like Tailscale Funnel helps.
Can I run other things on the same server?
Absolutely. OpenClaw uses minimal resources when idle. A 2 GB RAM server can comfortably run OpenClaw alongside a small website, a database, or other lightweight services.
What about Oracle Cloud's free tier?
Oracle offers an always-free ARM instance with 4 CPUs and 24 GB RAM, which is absurdly powerful for OpenClaw. The catch: availability is limited (instances are often "out of capacity" in popular regions), the signup process rejects many people, and Oracle's interface is confusing. If you can get one, it's unbeatable on price. But don't count on it.
Will my hosting provider charge extra for bandwidth?
Probably not, for normal OpenClaw use. Text messages are tiny. Even with browser tools and image handling, you'd struggle to exceed 1 TB/month, which is within the included bandwidth on all five providers we tested.
Running into issues with your hosting setup? Check our complete setup guide for step-by-step instructions, or our Docker deployment guide for containerized setups.