You need a small cloud server to run OpenClaw 24/7. Think of it as a tiny computer in the cloud that's always on.
AWS Lightsail
$5-10/month
Easiest AWS option. Skip the full EC2 complexity.
Recommended
Hostinger VPS
$5-10/month
Simple, affordable, great for beginners.
DigitalOcean
$6-12/month
Developer-friendly with good docs.
What to select when creating the server:
- OS: Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 LTS
- Size: 2 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)
- Region: Wherever you are (US East, etc.)
Once it's created, you'll get an IP address and a way to connect via SSH (terminal access).
💡 New to SSH? On Mac, open Terminal and type: ssh ubuntu@YOUR_IP_ADDRESS. On Windows, use PowerShell or download PuTTY. Your VPS provider will have a guide for this.
SSH into your server and run these commands:
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
npm install -g openclaw@latest
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
The onboard wizard will walk you through everything interactively. It'll ask for:
- Your AI provider API key (Step 3 below)
- Which chat apps you want to connect (Step 4 below)
- A name for your agent
✅ That's it for installation. The wizard handles the rest. It sets up the background service so OpenClaw runs automatically, even if you close your terminal or the server restarts.
This is what powers the AI brain. Anthropic makes Claude, which is the model I recommend.
Go to console.anthropic.com →
- Create an account (or sign in)
- Go to Settings → API Keys
- Click "Create Key"
- Copy the key (starts with
sk-ant-...)
- Subscribe to the Build Plan ($99/month): go to Settings → Plans and select the Build plan. This gives you higher rate limits and priority access. Worth it if you're using it daily.
⚠️ Cost: The Build plan is $99/month and includes API credits + higher rate limits. You'll also pay per usage on top of the plan, but typical usage is manageable. This is the recommended setup for daily use.
When the OpenClaw onboard wizard asks for your provider and API key, select Anthropic and paste the key.
The recommended model is Claude Sonnet 4 (good balance of speed and quality) or Claude Opus 4 (most capable, costs more per message).
Now let's create a Discord bot and connect it to OpenClaw.
Go to Discord Developer Portal →
Create the Bot:
- Click "New Application" → name it whatever you want
- Go to the "Bot" tab on the left
- Click "Reset Token" → copy the token (save this!)
- Scroll down to "Privileged Gateway Intents"
- Enable: Message Content Intent ✅
- Enable: Server Members Intent ✅
- Click Save Changes
Invite the Bot to Your Server:
- Go to the "OAuth2" tab on the left
- Under "OAuth2 URL Generator", check the "bot" scope
- Under "Bot Permissions", check:
- Send Messages
- Read Message History
- Attach Files
- Use Slash Commands
- Add Reactions
- Copy the generated URL at the bottom
- Open that URL in your browser → select your Discord server → Authorize
Connect to OpenClaw:
During the onboard wizard (or after setup), it'll ask for your Discord bot token. Paste the token you copied earlier.
openclaw configure --section discord
✅ You're live. Go to your Discord server and message the bot. It should respond. If it doesn't, make sure the bot is online and has permissions in the channel.
- VPS created (Ubuntu, 2+ GB RAM)
- SSH access working
- Node.js installed
- OpenClaw installed (
npm install -g openclaw@latest)
- Onboard wizard completed (
openclaw onboard --install-daemon)
- Anthropic API key created and funded ($10-20)
- Discord bot created with Message Content Intent enabled
- Bot invited to your Discord server
- Bot token pasted into OpenClaw config
- Sent first message and got a response 🎉
VPS Hosting
$5-10/mo
Your server running 24/7
Anthropic API
$99/mo + usage
Build plan (recommended)
Discord
Free
No cost for bot hosting
Total: ~$110-140/month for a personal AI assistant you can message from anywhere.