Runbear vs OpenClaw

OpenClaw is a DIY agent. Runbear is a managed teammate.

OpenClaw gives you an open-source agent to host and wire up yourself. Runbear gives your team managed agents in Slack with 2,000+ integrations, per-user tool auth, and SOC 2 Type II, set up in about 10 minutes.

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  • Managed & hosted
  • 2,000+ integrations
  • SOC 2 Type II

Runbear

Runbear is a managed platform for AI agents in Slack and Microsoft Teams. We host the agents, maintain the integrations, and hold the SOC 2 Type II report, so your team can use AI now instead of building a platform first.

OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an open-source agent framework you self-host. You write the code, host the runtime, wire up integrations one at a time, and own ongoing maintenance, security, and upgrades.

OpenClaw is a starter kit.
Runbear is a finished product.

Both can run AI agents for your team. The question is whether you want to ship a product to your team next week, or build a platform team that ships it next year.

Runbear

  • Managed. We run the infrastructure, OAuth flows, and updates.
  • Pre-built integrations. 2,000+ tools wired in via Pipedream, MCP, and native OAuth.
  • Slack-native. Install the app, mention the bot, you're working with AI.
  • Enterprise-ready. SOC 2 Type II and per-user tool auth, plus SAML SSO and an audit log on Business and Enterprise.

OpenClaw

  • Self-hosted. You provision the servers, manage uptime, handle scaling.
  • DIY integrations. Each tool you connect is code you write and maintain.
  • Bring your own UI. You create the Slack app, set its tokens, and run the gateway yourself.
  • Bring your own security. Compliance, audit logs, RBAC, key rotation — your team's job.

The full feature matrix.

FeatureRunbearOpenClaw
What it isManaged Slack-native AI teammate, fully hostedOpen-source agent framework you self-host
DeploymentSaaS — install the Slack app and start using itSelf-hosted — provision infrastructure, deploy, maintain
Integrations2,000+ pre-built via Pipedream, MCP, native OAuthEach integration is code you write or a plugin you adopt
What you get backFinished tickets, drafts, reports, replies inside SlackWhatever you build — depends on your engineering investment
PricingUsage credits, not per seatFree runtime + your hosting, engineering, and ops costs
Knowledge and memoryKnowledge sources synced and indexed for each agent, plus agent memoryMemory and retrieval you configure and host yourself
TriggersSchedules, one-time runs, webhooks, and events in connected appsScheduled jobs you configure in your own deployment
Team featuresNamed agents (@HR, @Platform) with Per-User or Shared tool authSingle-tenant by default; team features are your work to add
Credential securityManaged OAuth connections, set to Per-User or Shared for each toolAPI keys live in env files on your hosts — your team rotates them
ComplianceSOC 2 Type II; SAML SSO and an audit log on Business and EnterpriseYou're the platform — compliance posture is yours to certify
Setup timeAbout 10 minutes: install the Slack app, connect a knowledge sourceDays to weeks per integration, plus ongoing maintenance

Ten minutes vs. a quarter.

Open-source agent frameworks are great if you have a platform team and runway. If you just want your team using AI this week, the math changes.

Runbear · Day 1

Install the Slack app. Connect a knowledge source. Mention the agent. Real work happens in the first hour, and platform updates arrive without your team shipping a line of code.

OpenClaw · Day 90

Stand up the runtime. Wire in your first three tools by hand. Create the Slack app and its tokens. Add a vector store. Add auth. Add logging. By the time it works, the frontier has moved.

Per-user OAuth, not shared API keys.

How an AI agent authenticates to your tools is a security decision, not just a UX choice. Per-user auth means each request runs as the person who triggered it.

Runbear · Per-User tools

Set a tool to Per-User and each person connects their own HubSpot, Salesforce, or Notion account, so the agent reaches only what that person's account allows. Shared tools use one account for everyone, so you grant them deliberately.

OpenClaw · shared keys

Most DIY setups use a single service-account API key per tool. Anyone who can trigger the agent can access anything that key can see, regardless of their own permissions in the source tool.

Stop maintaining connectors and start shipping product.

Every integration you self-host is a small ongoing tax. Multiply by the number of tools, models, and APIs that change every quarter.

Runbear · managed

We provide managed connections to 2,000+ tools and host the runtime the agents run on. Your team gets the updates without deploying anything.

OpenClaw · self-managed

Every Notion API change, Slack scope shift, model deprecation, or library CVE is your team's afternoon. Multiply by the number of integrations you've wired in.

When to reach for each.

Choose Runbear if…

  • You want your team using AI this week, not running a platform team
  • You need 2,000+ integrations without writing connector code
  • You need per-user tool auth, SAML SSO, an audit log, and SOC 2 Type II
  • You want predictable per-usage pricing instead of hidden engineering costs
  • You want agents in Slack without creating and running your own Slack app
  • You'd rather invest engineering time in your own product, not infrastructure

Choose OpenClaw if…

  • You have a platform team with capacity for ongoing agent infrastructure
  • You have a strict requirement to self-host every component
  • You only need one or two integrations and don't expect that to grow
  • You want full control over the runtime, model choice, and prompt internals
  • You're explicitly building a competitive moat from your agent stack
  • Vendor-managed compliance posture isn't an acceptable answer for your org

Runbear and OpenClaw, side by side.

No. Runbear is a managed product that we host. The trade is less control over internals in exchange for less setup and less maintenance.

Runbear is a hosted service. If you have specific hosting, data handling, or retention requirements, review them with the Enterprise team before you roll out.

OpenClaw is free as software, but you pay for hosting, your engineering team's time, the integrations you maintain, the security work you certify, and the upgrades you ship. Runbear charges by usage, not by seat. One subscription covers every teammate who uses your agents in Slack or Microsoft Teams. Plans include a set number of builders, the members of your Runbear organization who create and manage agents in the dashboard: 5 on Team and 10 on Business. Usage is metered in credits, based on the tokens each model call uses and the model you choose for each agent. Team is $99 per month with 20,000 credits, and Business is $399 per month with 100,000 credits.

On the Claude Agent SDK runtime, the usual default, you choose Claude, GPT, or Gemini models for each agent, and on Business and Enterprise you can bring your own provider key. OpenClaw gives you direct control of model invocation, which is the right call if your team needs that level of customization.

Yes, especially as soon as more than a handful of people use the agent. Without per-user auth, every action the agent takes runs as a shared service account, which means everyone can effectively see and act on everything that account can reach. Per-user auth keeps the principle of least privilege intact, and Runbear lets you set each tool to Per-User or Shared.

Yes. Prompts, system instructions, and knowledge sources from an OpenClaw setup carry over to a Runbear agent, and you reconnect integrations through Runbear's managed OAuth flows.

About 10 minutes. Install the Runbear Slack app, connect a knowledge source, and mention your first agent in a channel.

Skip the platform build. Ship the product.

10-minute setup. Bring a real workflow and we'll wire it live on a demo call.

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