<p>Deploy your own personal AI assistant with OpenClaw on a DigitalOcean Droplet® server, a powerful open-source platform that runs entirely on your infrastructure. OpenClaw connects to the messaging platforms you already use - WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, and more - giving you AI assistance wherever you communicate.</p>
<h1 id="what-is-openclaw">What is OpenClaw?</h1>
<p>OpenClaw is an open-source framework for running autonomous, agentic AI systems that interact with APIs, tools, and messaging platforms in real time. With DigitalOcean’s hardened 1-Click deployment, developers can run OpenClaw with secure defaults in their Droplet as an always-on AI assistant with strong security controls, usage-based inference, and predictable operations.</p>
<p>The Droplet 1-Click installation provisions OpenClaw as a self-hosted, local-first AI assistant that runs entirely on the developer’s own infrastructure. The deployed OpenClaw acts as a gateway control plane for managing sessions, channels, tools, and events, and integrates with the messaging platforms developers already use—including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, and more.</p>
<hr/>
<h2 id="why-openclaw-on-digitalocean">Why OpenClaw on DigitalOcean?</h2>
<p>DigitalOcean complements OpenClaw’s open-source capabilities with Droplet’s security features including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Authenticated gateway tokens </li>
<li>Firewall-level rate limiting </li>
<li>Non-root execution </li>
<li>Container sandboxing </li>
<li>Private DM pairing</li>
</ul>
<p>These protections limit blast radius, prevent unauthorized access, and ensure agents can run continuously and safely in production-like environments.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Predictable inference for agent workloads</strong> <br/></p>
<p>DigitalOcean’s Inference Cloud is built for continuous, always-on inference—not just bursty API calls—making it ideal for long-running agents that rely on low-latency model responses and stable economics.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Full control and privacy</strong></p></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="developers-keep-their-own-configuration-data-and-runtime-environment">Developers keep their own configuration, data, and runtime environment.</h2>
<h2 id="key-features">Key Features</h2>
<ul>
<li>Multi-channel messaging gateway (WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, iMessage, Google Chat, MS Teams, and others)</li>
<li>Multi-agent routing with isolated sessions and configurations</li>
<li>Flexible model support (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, local/open-source runtimes)</li>
<li>Tool execution: web browsing, API calls, filesystem ops, voice, CLI actions</li>
<li>Containerized sandboxing for safe skill execution</li>
<li>Built-in web UI for configuration, logs, and monitoring</li>
<li>Extendable via plugins and custom skills</li>
</ul>
<hr/>
<h2 id="system-requirements">System Requirements</h2>
<p>OpenClaw runs directly on Ubuntu 24.04 with Node.js 22 and Docker. Choose the appropriate Droplet size based on your usage:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th id="usage_level">Usage Level</th>
<th id="ram">RAM</th>
<th id="cpu">CPU</th>
<th id="recommended_for">Recommended For</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Personal (1–5 users)</td>
<td>4GB</td>
<td>2 CPU</td>
<td>Individual use, few channels</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Small Team (5–20)</td>
<td>8GB</td>
<td>4 CPU</td>
<td>Small team, multiple channels</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Medium Team (20–50)</td>
<td>16GB</td>
<td>8 CPU</td>
<td>Medium team, heavy usage</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Large Team (50+ users)</td>
<td>32GB</td>
<td>16 CPU</td>
<td>Large deployment, high volume</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Note:</strong> This 1-Click includes Docker for sandboxed execution. Additional resources may be needed if you enable multiple sandbox instances or browser automation.</p>
</blockquote>

OpenClaw

Deploy your own personal AI assistant with OpenClaw on a DigitalOcean Droplet® server, a powerful open-source platform that runs entirely on your infrastructure. OpenClaw connects to the messaging platforms you already use - WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Signal, and more - giving you AI assistance wherever you communicate.

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