OpenClaw Server Requirements: VPS Specs, RAM, and OS Guide 2026

If you want to run OpenClaw on your own infrastructure, the first question you need to answer is: what kind of server do you actually need? The answer depends entirely on what you're doing with it. A lightweight text agent checking a Telegram channel needs something very different from a browser-automating research agent juggling five communication channels and running Python scripts.

This guide breaks down the exact specifications you need, organized by use case. We cover the absolute minimums, the recommended configurations, the best VPS providers for self-hosting OpenClaw, and when it starts making more sense to skip the server entirely and use managed hosting instead.

OpenClaw Minimum Server Requirements 2026

These are the floor requirements for running OpenClaw at all. Below these specs, you will encounter performance degradation, Docker instability, or outright failures during skill loading and browser sessions.

The important caveat here: "minimum" means the agent will start and run. It does not mean it will run well under load. On a 2 vCPU / 4GB server, you should expect:

• Slow cold starts when loading skills
• Higher latency on concurrent requests from multiple channels
• Chromium crashes or OOM errors if browser automation is enabled
• Limited headroom for log retention and workspace file accumulation

For a single-channel, text-only agent that does not run browser automation or Python environments, 2 vCPU and 4GB RAM is genuinely fine. For anything more complex, keep reading.

Recommended Specs by Use Case

OpenClaw's resource footprint scales dramatically depending on what skills and channels you enable. The table below gives practical recommendations based on real deployment patterns, not theoretical maximums.

A few things worth understanding about why these numbers look the way they do:

Chromium is the biggest wildcard. OpenClaw's browser automation routes to a locally installed Chromium instance. A single browser session with a few tabs open can easily consume 2-4GB of RAM. On a 4GB server, that leaves almost nothing for the rest of the stack. This is why browser automation effectively doubles the RAM requirement.

Python environments accumulate fast. When OpenClaw installs packages into a Python sandbox, those environments persist on disk and consume RAM when active. A server running multiple Python-heavy skills will see storage grow over weeks and RAM pressure during active skill execution.

Multi-channel concurrency is CPU-bound. When five channels (Telegram, Slack, email, WhatsApp, Discord) are all active simultaneously and a user message comes in on each at the same time, OpenClaw spawns concurrent work. More vCPU means lower latency on those concurrent requests.

Operating System Requirements for OpenClaw

OpenClaw is a Linux-native application. It runs inside Docker containers and requires a Linux host. Here is how the major OS options stack up:

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is the de facto standard for good reason. Docker's own installation documentation uses Ubuntu as its primary example. Community forum posts, GitHub issues, and troubleshooting guides are overwhelmingly written against Ubuntu. When something breaks at 2 AM, you want to be on the most-documented platform.

If you are provisioning with cloud-init or a VPS template, select Ubuntu 22.04 x64 and you will not have to think about OS compatibility again.

Storage Requirements: How Much Disk Space OpenClaw Needs

Storage requirements for OpenClaw are not static - they grow over time as your agent accumulates logs, workspace files, Python environments, and Docker image layers. Plan for growth from day one.

Base installation: The OpenClaw Docker image and its dependencies consume approximately 8-12 GB on first pull. Add the OS overhead and you are looking at 15-20 GB before your agent does anything.

Workspace data: Files the agent creates, downloads, and processes accumulate in the workspace directory. For an active agent processing documents, images, and outputs daily, plan for 1-5 GB per month of workspace growth.

Python environments: Each pip install creates a persistent environment. A few heavy data-processing libraries (pandas, numpy, requests, BeautifulSoup) can push 500MB-2GB per environment. Multiple skill environments multiply this.

Logs: OpenClaw generates structured logs for every tool call, session, and model interaction. Without log rotation configured, this can grow to several gigabytes over months. Configure logrotate or set Docker logging limits early.

The 40 GB minimum gets you started. For any agent you plan to run for more than a few months, 80 GB gives comfortable headroom. If you are running browser automation or expecting to accumulate significant workspace files, 80-100 GB from the start prevents a painful disk expansion procedure down the road.

Best VPS for OpenClaw Self-Hosting in 2026

Choosing the best VPS for OpenClaw depends on your priorities: raw cost, performance per dollar, data residency, or support quality. There is no single right answer. Here is a comparison of the most commonly used providers:

Notes on specific providers:

Contabo offers extraordinary specs per dollar, but the tradeoffs are real: shared networking infrastructure, slower support response times, and a reputation for variable network performance. It works, but you will notice the difference during peak hours. Good for development or budget-constrained non-critical agents.

Hetzner CPX31 is the clear winner on performance-per-euro for European deployments. Dedicated AMD EPYC vCPUs, NVMe storage, and a solid network with multiple European DCs. If GDPR compliance is a concern and you need EU data residency, Hetzner's German infrastructure makes it an easy choice. The CPX21 is fine for basic agents; the CPX31 is the one we would actually recommend for production.

Vultr and DigitalOcean are the standard US choices. Both offer decent performance, good API access, and reliable support. DigitalOcean has a slightly more mature ecosystem and better documentation. Vultr tends to be marginally cheaper for equivalent specs and has faster provisioning times via their API.

Hostinger KVM looks attractive on the spec sheet but uses shared vCPUs. For CPU-intensive workloads like browser automation or sustained Python execution, shared vCPUs mean your performance depends on your neighbors. Fine for light agents, not for production.

OpenClaw Dedicated Server Requirements

Most OpenClaw deployments do not require bare metal dedicated servers. A VPS with dedicated vCPUs covers the vast majority of use cases, including high-volume production. The distinction matters more in specific scenarios:

When a dedicated server makes sense:

• You are running multiple concurrent browser automation sessions (each requiring 2-4GB RAM), and a VPS with 16GB is no longer sufficient
• You have compliance or data isolation requirements that prohibit shared hardware at the hypervisor level
• You are running GPU-accelerated workloads alongside OpenClaw (local model inference, image generation)
• CPU performance consistency is non-negotiable and you cannot tolerate any noisy-neighbor effects

For dedicated server deployments, the minimum meaningful configuration would be:

Providers to consider for dedicated hardware include Hetzner's Robot marketplace (excellent European pricing), OVHCloud (global coverage), and Vultr bare metal (US-focused). For most teams reading this guide, a 4 vCPU / 8GB dedicated vCPU VPS from Hetzner or Vultr will be the pragmatic choice.

OpenClaw VPS Recommendations by Budget

Here is a practical breakdown of the best OpenClaw VPS options at each price tier:

Under $10/month: Contabo VPS S ($4.99, 4 vCPU shared / 8GB RAM) or Hetzner CX22 (~$4, 2 vCPU shared / 4GB RAM). These are adequate for basic text-only agents on one or two channels with no browser automation. Expect some performance variability due to shared vCPUs. Do not run Chromium on these.

$10-20/month: Hetzner CPX21 (~$6, 3 dedicated vCPU / 4GB) or CPX31 (~$11, 4 dedicated vCPU / 8GB). This is the best value tier for OpenClaw self-hosting. Dedicated vCPUs mean consistent performance. The CPX31 at $11 is the single best option for production agents that need browser automation or multi-channel support. If you are on this budget and want to run OpenClaw well, this is the answer.

$20-40/month: DigitalOcean General Purpose 4GB ($24/mo) or Vultr High Performance 4GB ($24/mo). Comparable performance to Hetzner CPX31 with US data centers, stronger managed service ecosystems (managed databases, object storage), and better support channels. Worth paying for if you are already in the DO or Vultr ecosystem.

$40+/month: AWS t3.large ($60/mo, 2 vCPU / 8GB), GCP e2-standard-4 ($97/mo, 4 vCPU / 16GB), or Azure B4ms ($130/mo). Enterprise reliability, SLAs, and global availability zones. Makes sense if you already have cloud credits, enterprise agreements, or compliance requirements that mandate hyperscaler infrastructure. For running a single OpenClaw agent, this is significant overkill on cost.

Network Requirements: Bandwidth and Port Considerations

OpenClaw's network requirements are modest by modern standards, but there are some important configuration considerations for self-hosted deployments.

Bandwidth: For a typical agent processing text-based tasks and API calls, monthly bandwidth usage is low - generally under 50 GB/month. If your agent handles significant file transfers, downloads, or browser automation that pulls large web pages and assets, bandwidth can climb to 100-200 GB/month. Most VPS providers include 2-4 TB of monthly bandwidth at the price points listed above, so this is rarely a constraint.

Latency: Matters more than raw bandwidth for conversational agents. Each LLM API call involves a round trip to an external provider (OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI). Choose a VPS region geographically close to your primary API provider's endpoints. For US-based API providers, a US East or US West VPS. For EU providers, a Frankfurt or Amsterdam DC.

Port configuration after hardening: A properly hardened OpenClaw deployment should have a minimal public attack surface:

OpenClaw's gateway should be bound to loopback (127.0.0.1) only. Exposing port 18789 publicly, even with authentication enabled, dramatically increases your attack surface. External access should be routed through a tunnel (Cloudflare Tunnel, Tailscale, or a reverse proxy with TLS and rate limiting).

This is one of the less obvious self-hosting requirements: getting the networking right is not just about opening firewall rules. It requires understanding how OpenClaw's gateway binding works, configuring UFW or iptables correctly, setting up a secure tunnel for remote access, and keeping all of this maintained as Docker restarts and network interfaces change. It is doable, but it is non-trivial work. See our OpenClaw setup guide for the full walkthrough, or read our comparison of managed vs self-hosted OpenClaw to understand the ongoing maintenance burden.

When to Skip the Server Entirely

There is a version of this guide where we walk through provisioning a Hetzner CPX31, installing Ubuntu 22.04, hardening SSH, installing Docker 24, configuring UFW, setting up a Cloudflare Tunnel, deploying the OpenClaw Docker stack, configuring log rotation, setting up monitoring, managing SSL certificates, and then doing all of it again when you need a second agent.

That is the reality of self-hosting OpenClaw well. It is not just picking the right VPS. It is the ongoing responsibility of:

• OS security patches (CVEs do not wait for business hours)
• Docker version upgrades and image rebuilds
• Certificate rotation and tunnel health monitoring
• Disk space management as workspace and logs accumulate
• Incident response when the agent goes down at 11 PM
• Backup and recovery strategy for workspace data
• Security hardening as OpenClaw and its dependencies release updates

For teams where this is worth the engineering time - either because you need the control, have specific compliance requirements, or have the infrastructure expertise on staff - self-hosting is a valid path. The specs in this guide will set you up correctly.

For everyone else, the fully managed alternative removes all of this from your plate. You get a dedicated VPS provisioned and hardened automatically, the OpenClaw stack deployed and configured, all channels available from day one, ongoing security updates applied automatically, and monitoring and incident response handled for you.

If you have read this far and realized that choosing the right VPS is only the beginning of the self-hosting journey, that is an accurate read of the situation. The server requirements above are correct. The ongoing maintenance burden is real. Managed hosting exists precisely because running secure, reliable AI agent infrastructure is a full-time problem for most teams, not a one-afternoon project.