Many of us have long thought that creating a custom AI assistant is something that is only possible for large businesses with a high budget and access to tech whizzes, but that is not the case.
OpenClaw is becoming accessible to individuals and businesses of all sizes, and its popularity is rapidly growing as people see the potential it has to offer.
What is OpenClaw?
OpenClaw is a personal AI assistant that is designed to help users automate both personal and work tasks that take up a lot of their time. It integrates with your apps and files to be able to act as a personal assistant that becomes familiar with the tasks that need to be done.
It was initially launched in late November 2025 under the name Clawdbot, but it has since rebranded to OpenClaw in January 2026, which is said to be its final name.
Unlike other well-known AI agents, OpenClaw runs on VPS (virtual private servers). This means users have full control over its performance and privacy since it is run from an isolated server, giving the owner full control over its resources. This is one of the main advantages of using a VPS for OpenClaw, and many find that it achieves the best results.
Nowadays, the platform has over 27 million visitors every month, and this number continues to grow at a rapid rate. As well as showing just how much interest OpenClaw is generating, the average session time is 45 minutes across its user base, showing an incredibly high engagement rate.
Best Uses for OpenClaw
OpenClaw is a versatile platform that suits those who are looking for more control over their workflows, since it gives more customization options. Let’s discuss some of the best uses for OpenClaw:
- Personal admin. OpenClaw can help you keep track of your daily tasks on a personal level. You can program an AI assistant to do certain tasks, like making a to-do list from WhatsApp messages, summarizing the contents of an inbox, controlling smart devices around the house, or making a meal plan based on your dietary needs. Once the assistant learns about your routine and preferences, it can carry out daily tasks and save you hours of time.
- Website development. OpenClaw is a popular tool for developers as it can be used to inform coding agents. It is able to produce code, suggest functionality improvements, troubleshoot problems, and debug existing code. Since it’s run on a VPS for OpenClaw, it is able to test more complex code since it will not be interrupted by other scripts on the server.
- Customer service. An AI assistant can be set up to handle customer inquiries, providing a quick personalized response to their question or concern at any time of day. The assistant will be trained on the product or service that your business offers, and it can then be used to automatically reply to any incoming emails or live chats, freeing up customer service personnel to work on tasks that require human input.
- Research projects. Since it can analyze large amounts of data in a short period of time, OpenClaw is a great assistant for research projects. It can collect and sort through many different sources of information to make a summary of the results and make them fit the needs of the project. For large-scale research projects, having an AI assistant that is familiar with the earlier stages of the research will speed up the process and require less detailed commands once it is trained.
- Content creation. Many creators are using OpenClaw to help them create custom content. Whether that be articles, marketing copy, email content, or video scripts, you can train an AI assistant to understand your business, topics, products, and tone of voice. This can also act as a great brainstorming tool when having to produce a large amount of content, overcoming writer’s block.
Preparing Your VPS for OpenClaw
Before jumping straight into launching OpenClaw, you need to make sure that you have a secure VPS set up.
Using a reliable OpenClaw VPS hosting provider means your OpenClaw AI assistant can operate effectively and securely, using a server that provides the necessary processing power, memory, and security protection.
The key is to pick a VPS hosting plan that offers enough memory and power for the nature of the tasks you will be running. If you are just looking for an AI assistant to help manage your emails and save you time on admin, you won’t require as much capacity as if you were to be coding for a large-scale project.
If you have been on the same plan for some time, make sure that your server is using an up-to-date operating system that can handle the installation of new software. This will ensure that they are compatible and will run as efficiently as possible.
Finally, you need to have strong security protection in place before you start using OpenClaw to help with confidential projects. Switch out traditional password logins to SSH key authentication, install a firewall, and set up regular backups to ensure you don’t lose important files.
How to Set Up an AI Assistant
Now that you’re ready to get going with your VPS for OpenClaw, let’s run through the process so you can get your AI assistant up and running in no time.
Establish the purpose of the AI assistant
Everyone has a different goal when using OpenClaw, and to achieve the best results you need to start off with a strong idea of what you are trying to achieve. Start working on one workflow at a time, configuring the assistant until it is able to work independently before you move on to the next.
Set up Docker
Make sure that Docker is installed on your computer. This is an open platform that is used to develop and run applications, helping you manage your infrastructure much more efficiently. To do so, download Docker and then run the installer, following the setup instructions as they appear.
Install OpenClaw on your VPS
Use Docker to launch OpenClaw by going to the catalog tab and searching for OpenClaw. You’ll be prompted throughout the configuration process and given a gateway token which will be needed to access your OpenClaw interface, so make sure to keep this safe. You’ll then be asked for your gateway token and WhatsApp number, and from here you are ready to deploy.
Connect your AI assistant
Now that you’re ready to set up your AI assistant, you can link OpenClaw with all of the applications and files it will need to be able to carry out the desired tasks. This may include your email accounts, messaging apps, or cloud storage.
Train your assistant with prompts
You can inform the actions of your AI assistant by training it with prompts that help it refine its output. By giving it as much context and detail as possible about what you want, it can build up its understanding of your needs and get a better outcome. The more time you spend training your assistant, the more value you will be able to get from it in the long term.
Run your AI assistant and test
Especially for new OpenClaw users, training an AI assistant will be a learning experience. Once you have set it up, run test tasks to see what outcome you receive and whether further prompts are needed to improve the quality. By carrying out a thorough testing process, you can be more confident that your AI assistant is ready to handle real-life tasks.
Getting the Most Out of OpenClaw
Knowing how to get the most out of OpenClaw opens up endless possibilities, whether you want to automate your administrative tasks or do a research project.
Once you’ve found the best VPS for OpenClaw and become familiar with the platform, you’re on track to create a trusty sidekick that is on hand to help whenever you need it.
Setting up your VPS for OpenClaw and creating your very own AI assistant can completely transform your everyday operations, streamlining tasks that once took up hours of your time every single day.
