OpenClaw Hosting
Last updated: February 16, 2026
OpenClaw hosting refers to running an OpenClaw AI assistant instance on infrastructure that is accessible to your team or end users. It encompasses the full spectrum of deployment approaches, from fully managed platforms that handle operations for you, to self-hosted setups on your own servers where you maintain complete control over the environment.
How It Works
An OpenClaw deployment has several core infrastructure requirements. Persistent storage is needed to retain configuration files, authentication credentials, conversation history, and workspace data across container restarts and redeployments. Environment variable configuration provides the mechanism for injecting secrets such as API keys, setup passwords, and gateway tokens without hardcoding them into the application. Port exposure makes the gateway accessible over the network, typically through a reverse proxy that handles TLS termination and public routing. AI provider API keys connect your instance to the language model provider that powers the assistant's responses.
Hosting options fall into three general categories. Managed platforms like Railway offer one-click deployment templates that pre-configure persistent volumes, environment variables, networking, and build pipelines. Self-hosted VPS deployments on providers like DigitalOcean or Hetzner give you a dedicated virtual machine where you install Docker, pull the OpenClaw image, and manage the infrastructure yourself. Local development setups run the assistant on your own machine, useful for testing but not suitable for team-wide or production access.
Why It Matters
The hosting approach you choose directly shapes your experience with OpenClaw across four dimensions. Cost varies widely, from free-tier managed platforms for light usage to dedicated servers for high-traffic deployments. Control determines whether you can customize networking, security policies, and resource limits to match your requirements. Uptime depends on the reliability of the underlying infrastructure and whether automated recovery mechanisms are in place. Maintenance burden ranges from near-zero on managed platforms to full operational responsibility on self-hosted setups. Evaluating these trade-offs against your team's technical capacity, budget, and reliability requirements is the most important step in getting an OpenClaw assistant into production.