Deployment Options

Deployment Comparison

Platform	Cost	Deploy Time	Complexity	Best For
Local (5min)	$0	5 min	Easy	Testing, Development
Docker (Hetzner)	$4-6/mo	10 min	Medium	Production
Oracle Cloud Free	$0	20 min	Medium	Budget
DigitalOcean	$5-6/mo	15 min	Easy	Quick Start
AWS Bedrock	$10-20/mo	30 min	Hard	Enterprise

Method 1: Local Install (Fastest)

Use Case: Testing, development, personal use

# 1. Install
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash

# 2. Onboard
openclaw onboard --install-daemon

# 3. Verify
openclaw gateway status

Result: Local gateway as systemd service at ~/.openclaw

Method 2: Docker on VPS (Production)

Cost: $4-6/month (Hetzner) + API costs. Use Case: 24/7 production, multiple agents

# SSH into VPS
ssh root@vps.example.com

# Install Docker
apt-get update && apt-get install docker.io -y

# Pull OpenClaw
docker pull openclaw/openclaw:latest

# Run container
docker run -d \
  --name openclaw-gateway \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -v /root/.openclaw:/root/.openclaw \
  -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY \
  openclaw/openclaw:latest

Method 3: Kimi Claw (Cloud-Hosted)

Kimi Claw is Moonshot AI's cloud-hosted OpenClaw alternative (launched Feb 2026).

Pros

No hardware/setup required
40GB cloud storage
5,000+ pre-installed skills
24/7 cloud hosting

Cons

Closed-source (not MIT)
Data hosted by Moonshot
China-based provider
No local-first control

Recommendation: Stick with self-hosted OpenClaw for full control and privacy.

Security Best Practices

NEVER expose port 18789 directly to the internet
Use SSH tunnel: ssh -L 18789:localhost:18789 user@vps.example.com
Or set up nginx reverse proxy with basic auth
Update immediately: openclaw update --yes (CVE-2026-25253 patched)
Audit all skills before installation (26% contain vulnerabilities)