Question 1

Can we not just install it ourselves?

Accepted Answer

You can - it is free and quick to install. The day that matters is the one spent deciding what it may touch and what must never happen without a yes. Left at its defaults it acts without asking, which is fine on one person's laptop and wrong on a company machine wired into a shared inbox. That day is what you are paying for, along with someone to call when it behaves oddly six weeks later.

Question 2

Is OpenClaw free?

Accepted Answer

The software is, under an open licence, and it stays free whatever happens to us or to the project. Two things do cost money: the computer it runs on, which can be one you already own, and the AI it thinks with, billed by whichever provider you pick. For most small teams the AI runs to a few tens of euros a month. We put real numbers to both before you commit to anything.

Question 3

Where does our data go?

Accepted Answer

Nowhere you have not chosen. OpenClaw runs on a computer you own, and your messages, files and history stay on it - nothing is uploaded to us, and we hold no copy. The one thing that does leave is whatever the assistant sends to the AI provider in order to think. We agree which provider that is up front, and if the work is sensitive enough we can run the AI on your own hardware too, so nothing leaves the building at all.

Question 4

Will it run on Windows?

Accepted Answer

Yes - Mac, Windows and Linux are all supported. What matters more than the operating system is that the machine can stay switched on, because the assistant is only reachable while it is running. A laptop that closes at six will not answer at nine. Most teams use a spare desktop, a small office machine, or a cheap rented server.

Question 5

How long before it is actually useful?

Accepted Answer

One to two weeks to set up, and it does real work from the first week. You approve everything at the start, which feels slow for a few days and is the point - you are teaching it where your lines are. The corrections tail off as it settles into how you work, and most people stop approving the routine things by the end of the first month.

Question 6

Can more than one person use it?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You name who is allowed to talk to it and it ignores everyone else, including in group chats, where it stays quiet unless spoken to directly. Most teams start with one or two people, watch how it behaves for a fortnight, then widen it. You can give different people different limits.

Question 7

What happens when it gets something wrong?

Accepted Answer

You see it before anyone else does, because the things that reach a client are the things we hold for approval. When a draft is wrong you correct it and tell us if it keeps happening - usually it means a limit is set in the wrong place, which we adjust. The history is readable in plain language, so working out what it did and when is not a forensic exercise.

Question 8

What if we want to stop working with you?

Accepted Answer

Everything keeps running. The computer, the accounts and the software are yours, the software is open, and there is no licence for us to withdraw or a hosted service for us to switch off. We will hand over the configuration and what it has learned so somebody else can pick it up.

Task	Agent	You
Catching you up on a thread and flagging what needs a decision
Drafting the reply in Gmail
Copying invoice totals into your spreadsheet
Sending anything to a client
Paying, or changing anything live

OpenClaw setup, on a machine you own.

What is OpenClaw?

What an OpenClaw agent does, and what stays with you

Which apps does OpenClaw work with?

Is OpenClaw safe?

We make it ask first

Only the people you name

Only the accounts you connect

OpenClaw, Hermes or Grok Bot?

How do you get OpenClaw set up?

A call

Setup

Live

After

Common questions about OpenClaw