Compare facts only, no winner
Claude Cowork vs OpenClaw
Facts only, side by side. Listed as alternatives to each other. No winner: which one fits depends on your country, plan and what you need it to do.
Facts checked up to
Claude Cowork : Available in 185 countries, not in Hong Kong , From $20/mo (Pro) , macOS, Windows, Web, iOS, Android
OpenClaw : Available worldwide , Free , macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Self-host, WhatsApp, Slack
Main differences (from vendor pages)
| Fact | Claude Cowork | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From $20/mo (Pro) | Free |
| Where | Available in 185 countries, not in Hong Kong | Available worldwide |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Web, iOS, Android | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Self-host, WhatsApp, Slack |
| — | Yes | |
| Calendar | — | Yes |
| Phone calls | — | Yes |
Access
10 rows| Fact | Claude Cowork | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Claude Cowork: Anthropic anthropic.com | OpenClaw: OpenClaw Foundation openclaw.ai |
| Kind | Claude Cowork: Work agent | OpenClaw: Self-hosted |
| Status | Claude Cowork: Available "Generally available on all paid plans" (Apr 9, 2026). Since Sep 16, 2026 Cowork and chat are merging into one Claude, rolling out to Pro and Max first; cloud sessions and web/mobile are in beta on Team and Enterprise. claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available Stable releases ship continuously; latest stable v2026.10.6 published 2026-10-22 (v2026.10.10 in beta). github.com · checked |
| Launched | Claude Cowork: Jan 12, 2026 support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Nov 24, 2025 api.github.com · checked |
| Where | Claude Cowork: 185 countries, not in Hong Kong See all 185Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo - Brazzaville, Congo - Kinshasa, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestinian Territories, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé & Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe | OpenClaw: Worldwide openclaw.ai · checked |
| Excluded | Claude Cowork: None stated | OpenClaw: None stated |
| Platforms | Claude Cowork: macOS, Windows, Web, iOS, Android support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Self-host, WhatsApp, Slack openclaw.ai · checked |
| Requires | Claude Cowork: Paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise) support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Node 24.22.1+ or 26.12.1+ (installer and desktop apps install it for you) plus your own model provider account or local model. github.com · checked |
| Minimum age | Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Not stated |
| Price from | Claude Cowork: $20/month Pro claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Free Open source (MIT) openclaw.ai · checked |
What it can do
15 rows
| Fact | Claude Cowork | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Yes Gmail integration: read, draft and manage email; homepage: "Organizes your inbox, sends emails". openclaw.ai · checked | |
| Calendar | Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Yes "Manages your calendar" (OpenClaw site). openclaw.ai · checked |
| Browses the web | Claude Cowork: Yes Opens sites, reads pages, clicks, types and fills forms in a browser built into Claude Desktop, or in your Chrome via Claude in Chrome. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Yes Browses the web and fills forms in an OpenClaw-managed browser. openclaw.ai · checked |
| Makes purchases | Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Partly No built-in checkout; a community showcase on the official site shows an assistant "ordering things" via browser/skills. openclaw.ai · checked |
| Phone calls | Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Yes Voice Call plugin places outbound and accepts inbound calls via Twilio, Telnyx or Plivo. docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
| Files | Claude Cowork: Yes On desktop reads and writes local files in folders you connect; produces Excel files with formulas, PowerPoint decks and formatted documents. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Yes Reads and writes files and runs shell commands, with full access or sandboxed. openclaw.ai · checked |
| Writes / runs code | Claude Cowork: Yes Runs code and shell commands in an isolated environment on Anthropic's servers. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Yes Runs shell commands; GitHub integration for issues and pull requests. openclaw.ai · checked |
| Messages you first | Claude Cowork: Partly Only tasks you schedule (a report daily, weekly or monthly) that you check in on, including from your phone; no briefs, alerts or messages sent to you are described. claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Yes Setup adds a "Proactive check" job that runs every 30 minutes and delivers to your DM; you can edit its schedule, prompt and delivery. docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
| Memory | Claude Cowork: Yes In cloud sessions Claude starts from what it remembers from your chats; can be turned off per task. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Yes Remembers preferences, projects and people across sessions; stored on your machine. docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
| Multiple agents | Claude Cowork: Yes Breaks complex work into subtasks and coordinates parallel sub-agents. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Yes Multi-agent routing with separate agents bound to channel accounts. docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
| Runs when app is closed | Claude Cowork: Yes Cloud sessions keep working when you close your laptop; scheduled tasks run with no device online. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Yes Gateway scheduler runs scheduled jobs, webhooks and Gmail PubSub triggers while the host is running. docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
| App connectors | Claude Cowork: Yes Connectors to your tools (e.g. Microsoft 365, Amplitude) and plugins that bundle skills, connectors and sub-agents. claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Yes Skills and plugins (ClawHub), 29 chat channels; smart home: Hue integration controls lights from chat. openclaw.ai · checked |
| Voice | Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Yes Talk mode in the iOS/Android apps; realtime voice on phone calls via the Voice Call plugin. openclaw.ai · checked |
| Books travel | Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Partly The OpenClaw site lists checking you in for flights; booking travel is not described. openclaw.ai · checked |
| Smart home | Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Yes Philips Hue integration: control your lights from chat. openclaw.ai · checked |
Safety (as stated by the vendor)
6 rows
| Fact | Claude Cowork | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Data it can access | Claude Cowork: Claude reads and writes only in folders you connect and uses the connectors you enable. Cloud sessions reach your computer only through the Claude Desktop app while it is open, and only for connected folders. Computer use can click and type in apps you allow and takes screenshots. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Whatever you connect — chat channels, Gmail, GitHub, MCP servers, plus shell/files/browser on the host unless sandboxed. Credentials are stored under ~/.openclaw (config, credentials/, SQLite stores). docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
| Asks before sensitive actions | Claude Cowork: Depends on your settings Depends on the mode: Manual asks before each action; Auto (default on Pro, Max and Team) lets Claude decide and screens each action for safety; Skip approves everything. Permanently deleting files always needs your Allow. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Depends on your settings Host commands run only when policy + allowlist + (optional) user approval agree; modes include deny, allowlist, ask, auto and full. docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
| Sees your passwords | Claude Cowork: Not stated | OpenClaw: Not stated |
| Trains on your data | Claude Cowork: Yes, unless you opt out Anthropic lists model training as "Opt-out" on Free, Pro and Max; Team and Enterprise: "No model training on your content by default". claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Not clearly stated Not published: OpenClaw makes no statement on whether prompts are used for model training. Its site says "Bring hosted, subscription-backed, gateway, or local models" and "State lives on your machine, not a vendor cloud", and that by default an install sends the Foundation "nothing but a daily version check", which you can turn off. openclaw.ai · checked |
| Isolation | Claude Cowork: Cloud sessions run in an isolated, temporary environment on Anthropic's servers, created for that session, unable to reach your home or company network, and removed when the session ends. Isolation does not limit what Claude can read or do through access you grant. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Runs on your own machine. Tool sandboxing (Docker, Podman, SSH, OpenShell and other backends) is off by default and set via agents.defaults.sandbox; the Gateway process itself stays on the host. Docs: "not a perfect security boundary". docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
| Retention | Claude Cowork: A deleted task leaves your task history immediately and Anthropic's back-end storage within 30 days. Cloud sessions and their files are saved to your Claude account. support.claude.com · checked | OpenClaw: Session transcripts (which can contain private messages and tool output) stay on your machine in ~/.openclaw until you delete them. Docs advise full-disk encryption and 600/700 file permissions. docs.openclaw.ai · checked |
By country
25 rows
| Fact | Claude Cowork | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Canada | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| United Kingdom | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Ireland | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Australia | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| New Zealand | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Germany | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| France | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Spain | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Italy | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Netherlands | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Switzerland | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| India | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Pakistan | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| United Arab Emirates | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| South Africa | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Philippines | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Vietnam | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Indonesia | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Malaysia | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Hong Kong | Claude Cowork: Not listed anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Singapore | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Japan | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Brazil | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
| Mexico | Claude Cowork: Paid plan only anthropic.com · checked | OpenClaw: Available openclaw.ai · checked |
Freshness
1 row
| Fact | Claude Cowork | OpenClaw |
|---|---|---|
| Last fact checked | Claude Cowork: Oct 23, 2026 | OpenClaw: Oct 23, 2026 |
Full details, FAQ and change history: Claude Cowork · OpenClaw. Where sources disagree, both claims are on the agent page.