OpenClaw System Requirements

Minimum Specs for Running OpenClaw (RAM, CPU, Disk)

The Gateway normally sends model inference to a provider, so its baseline compute is modest. Disk and memory grow with transcripts, media, plugins, browser processes, and the number of agents.

macOS Requirements: Apple Silicon vs Intel

OpenClaw supports macOS through the installer and optional app. The official install guide does not publish separate minimum RAM or CPU rules for Apple Silicon and Intel. Both architectures need a supported Node runtime and enough memory for the tools used.

Apple Silicon usually has stronger performance per watt for an always-on local host, while an older Intel Mac may still be adequate for a cloud-model Gateway. iMessage requires a signed-in macOS Messages host and additional permissions. If the Mac runs local models, size the machine for the model's memory footprint rather than for OpenClaw alone.

Windows 11 Requirements and WSL2 Considerations

Windows users can start with the native Windows Hub, the PowerShell CLI installer, or a WSL2 Gateway. WSL2 is often convenient for Linux-oriented tools and systemd user services, but its filesystem, networking, and environment are separate from native Windows.

Choose one primary state location. Avoid installing one Gateway in Windows and another in WSL2 unless you intentionally manage separate profiles. Confirm that the service user sees the same model keys and channel tokens as the shell used during onboarding.

Linux Requirements: Ubuntu, Debian, FreeBSD

Ubuntu and Debian are documented installation paths, and the Linux server guides cover common service and cloud patterns. FreeBSD is not listed among the currently supported operating systems in OpenClaw's official install requirements. A community experiment may work through Node and manual service configuration, but it should not be described as an officially supported target without a current OpenClaw runbook.

For Linux, prefer a maintained 64-bit distribution, persistent storage, a non-root user, systemd user-service support where applicable, and a clear backup path for ~/.openclaw/.

Raspberry Pi: Can You Run OpenClaw on Pi 4 / Pi 5?

Yes. The official guide supports Pi 4 and Pi 5 with a 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS. Pi 5 with 4 or 8 GB is the recommended experience; Pi 4 with 2 GB can work with swap, while 1 GB is tight. Pi Zero 2 W is not recommended.

Use a 16 GB or larger card, preferably a USB SSD for frequent state writes. Cloud-hosted models are the practical choice because the Pi is acting as a Gateway, not an inference server. Check power, cooling, swap, storage wear, and network reliability before treating a Pi as an unattended production host.

Android and iOS: Is Mobile Hosting Practical?

OpenClaw provides Android and iOS companion node capabilities, but the phone is not the documented primary Gateway host. Nodes pair to the Gateway and expose selected device surfaces. iOS is more constrained by background execution; Android offers more device command families but still depends on a separate Gateway for the standard architecture.

Use mobile devices as clients or nodes, not as the only always-on host. A laptop, mini PC, Raspberry Pi, or VPS gives more predictable uptime, logs, storage, and recovery.

Requirements for Running Local Models Alongside OpenClaw

Local inference changes the hardware calculation completely. OpenClaw itself may fit in 1-2 GB, while a local model can require many gigabytes of RAM or VRAM. Requirements depend on parameter count, quantization, context length, concurrency, and the local provider runtime.

Before buying hardware, test the model directly with the chosen runtime and measure peak memory, tokens per second, and context behavior. Keep a cloud fallback if local inference cannot meet latency or reliability needs. On Raspberry Pi, official guidance recommends cloud models because meaningful local LLM inference is too slow for this use case.

If resources are constrained by several agent runs, review OpenClaw multi-agent configuration. If the expense is the deciding factor, use the TCO calculator.

In Verdent

Verdent is managed software, so users do not size a host for its service in the same way as a self-hosted OpenClaw Gateway. Local IDE and desktop performance still matters, but OpenClaw hardware planning should remain based on its own channels, tools, and inference path.

Sources: OpenClaw install guide, Node.js requirements, Raspberry Pi guide, and OpenClaw repository.