If you came across Moltbot before OpenClaw and are wondering how they relate — or if you're currently using Moltbot and considering a switch — this is the breakdown.
The History: Moltbot Came First
Moltbot was among the first self-hosted AI agents to popularise the idea of connecting an LLM to your personal messaging apps. At its peak, it had a dedicated community, particularly among Telegram users who wanted a persistent AI available 24/7.
The core concept was solid: run a process on your server, connect it to Telegram, give it an API key to an LLM, and you had a personal AI in your pocket. Moltbot proved the idea worked.
Its limitations were real, though:
- Primarily Telegram-focused (WhatsApp integration was fragile)
- Limited integration library (no native Gmail, GitHub, Notion, etc.)
- Memory was basic — keyword retrieval, not contextual conversation history
- Plugin system was minimal
- Development was driven by a small team
What OpenClaw Changed
OpenClaw took the same foundational idea and rebuilt it with significantly more ambition:
| Feature | Moltbot | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging platforms | Telegram (primary), others limited | WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Signal, iMessage, Teams |
| Integrations | ~10 | 50+ (Gmail, GitHub, Notion, Spotify, Calendar, and more) |
| Memory system | Basic keyword-based | Full contextual memory, locally stored, unlimited history |
| Personality config | System prompt per session | SOUL.md — persistent, cross-channel personality |
| LLM support | OpenAI only (initially) | Any: OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Grok, local models |
| Plugin/skill system | Minimal | Full skill framework with community library |
| GitHub stars | ~15k (peak) | 200k+ |
| Active development | Slowed significantly | Highly active |
| Community | Small | Large and growing |
The gap isn't subtle. OpenClaw is a substantially more capable system.
Where Moltbot Still Has an Edge
Simplicity. Moltbot's smaller feature set means less to configure. For users who only wanted a Telegram bot with basic LLM access, Moltbot's setup was faster and its footprint smaller.
Stability. A less-developed codebase changes less. Some users preferred Moltbot's predictability over OpenClaw's faster release cadence, which occasionally introduces regressions.
Lighter resource usage. Moltbot uses less RAM and CPU than OpenClaw on a running basis. On very constrained hardware (512MB RAM VPS), Moltbot could run where OpenClaw struggles.
Who Should Still Use Moltbot
Honestly, not many people. The use cases where Moltbot wins are narrow:
- You only need a simple Telegram bot with no integrations and minimal memory
- You're on extremely constrained hardware
- Your existing Moltbot setup is stable and working; the migration cost outweighs the benefits
For everyone else — especially anyone starting fresh — OpenClaw is the better choice.
Migrating from Moltbot to OpenClaw
The migration isn't plug-and-play, but it's not difficult either:
1. Export your Moltbot config Note your current LLM provider, API key, and any custom system prompts.
2. Set up OpenClaw fresh Follow the OpenClaw getting started guide. Don't try to reuse Moltbot's config files directly — the formats differ.
3. Translate your system prompt to SOUL.md
Your Moltbot personality instructions become a SOUL.md file. The concepts map directly; you're just reformatting.
4. Reconnect integrations Re-add your Telegram bot. Add WhatsApp if you want it. Reconnect any other integrations.
5. Import conversation history (optional) This requires scripting against OpenClaw's memory API. The community has migration scripts available on GitHub.
The Verdict
If you're deciding between them today: use OpenClaw. The development momentum, community, feature set, and support ecosystem are orders of magnitude ahead of Moltbot's current state.
Moltbot was an important early project that proved the self-hosted personal AI agent concept worked. OpenClaw is what that concept looks like when executed at scale with serious community investment.
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