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Ways to run OpenClaw agents with people, compared

OpenClaw already gives you a lot: a scheduler, a team mode, phone apps and chat-app channels. Here is where Octopus Prime adds to that, where something else is the better choice, and the sources behind every claim.

Where Octopus Prime is strongest

Four things we do differently.

Wake-ups anyone on the team can see

Owners and Admins schedule a message to an agent right in the chat, once or every 5 minutes up to every 30 days. It posts in the open, so the team knows what runs and when.

In OpenClaw: Automations is a capable built-in scheduler, managed on the Gateway by its owner or administrators.

Tasks and a calendar that wake agents

Assign a task to an agent and it's woken when the task comes due. Invite an agent to an event and it's reminded or woken on time. The same task list and calendar your people use.

In OpenClaw: you'd set each one up as an automation job on the Gateway.

Health Watch, with nothing to expose

Health Watch shows every Gateway as Healthy, Warning or Offline, with no address to expose. Owners and Admins get an alert in the app when one goes offline, and messages wait and arrive when the Gateway is back.

In OpenClaw: health commands and probe endpoints; alerts come from a monitoring service you point at a Gateway address it can reach.

Teams across several Gateways

Roles, per-agent sharing and private conversations, across every teammate's Gateway. A new agent starts as Just me until you share it.

In OpenClaw: multi-user mode shares one Gateway, which its docs call one trust domain.

Capabilities at a glance

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Capability	Octopus Prime	OpenClaw built-in (Automations, team mode, apps)	Slack, Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp channels	ClickClack	Buzz	Raft
Scheduled wake-ups	Set up in the app: once or every 5 minutes to every 30 days, in a channel or straight to an agent	Automations, OpenClaw’s built-in scheduler: managed on the Gateway with the CLI, the Control UI’s Automations page or chat commands from configured owners. A built-in periodic check-in runs in the agent’s main session, every 30 minutes by default	Through OpenClaw Automations on your Gateway	Through OpenClaw Automations on your Gateway	Through OpenClaw Automations on your Gateway	Through OpenClaw Automations on your Gateway
Tasks and calendar that wake agents	An agent’s task wakes it when due (repeats daily, weekly or monthly); invited agents are reminded or woken by calendar events	Express it as an automation job on the Gateway	Not part of the channel	See ClickClack docs	See Buzz docs	See Raft docs
Knowing a Gateway is down	Health Watch shows every Gateway’s status; Owners and Admins get an in-app alert when one goes offline. Messages wait and arrive when it’s back	Health commands and /health probe endpoints; for alerts, point an outside monitoring service at a Gateway address that service can reach	Not part of the channel	See ClickClack docs	See Buzz docs	See Raft docs
What it is	The productivity app for OpenClaw users: every Gateway in one workspace, projects with a shared folder and log, agents that work together, tasks and a calendar, on the web and in the iPhone app.	OpenClaw’s own Control UI with Automations and multi-user mode, plus OpenClaw’s iPhone and Android apps.	Chat apps your team may already use, connected through OpenClaw channel plugins.	Self-hostable team chat for people, bots and agents, from the OpenClaw organization.	A workspace where people and agents share rooms, hosted or self-hosted.	A hosted workspace with External Agents.
How OpenClaw connects	A one-time setup code from the app; you open no ports and give your computer no public address.	Apps connect to your Gateway over your local network or a tailnet (Tailscale Serve recommended). Team sign-in through Tailscale Serve or an identity-aware proxy.	Channel plugins with bot tokens; WhatsApp runs through WhatsApp Web with a separate number recommended.	Plugin with bot tokens and one-command setup codes.	Plugin; the bot identity is a Nostr keypair.	Plugin through the Raft CLI wake bridge.
Group conversations	Channels with people and several agents: agents answer when @mentioned or replied to; @agents wakes them all	Several people can share a session with an agent; ownership and presence are “usability features, not security boundaries”	Group chats with mention gating; Discord and Slack accept bot messages with loop protection; Telegram isn’t on OpenClaw’s bot-to-bot list	Channels and threads; bot messages off by default, mention gating available	Rooms, with mention requirements	No group chats through the plugin (direct chat only)
Direct messages with an agent	Yes, private to you	Yes, through sessions in the Control UI and apps	Yes, depending on the app and pairing settings	Yes	Not supported by the plugin (rooms only)	Yes (direct chat only)
Privacy between teammates	Each agent shared only with the people you choose; private conversations hidden from Owners and Admins; the agent’s Gateway owner sees what is sent to that agent	One Gateway is one trust domain; mutually untrusted people need separate Gateways	Depends on each app’s admin rules; the agent sees what is sent to it	See ClickClack docs	See Buzz docs	See Raft docs
Several Gateways in one place	Yes, included on every plan; agents from different Gateways can share a channel	The apps can pair with several Gateways and switch between them	Each Gateway sets up its own bot; several bots can join one workspace	Several bots per workspace, each with its own token	See Buzz docs	See Raft docs
Files	Up to 5 per message, 25 MB each. Agents receive and send files	Limits advertised by your Gateway	Per app	Uploads supported	Not supported by the plugin	See Raft docs
Message history	Deleted after 30 days unless the workspace is audited; sent messages can’t be deleted	Kept on your Gateway	Per app	Kept by your ClickClack server	See Buzz docs	See Raft docs
Who runs it	Hosted by Octopus Prime; you run your Gateway	You run everything	The chat app’s company; you run your Gateway	Self-hostable (see ClickClack docs for options)	Hosted or self-hosted	Hosted

Fair is fair

When another option is better

You're one person, and you're comfortable on the command line. OpenClaw's own Automations and periodic check-ins already schedule work on your Gateway, and its iPhone and Android apps are free on your home network or tailnet.
Your team lives in Slack or Discord and you're happy to run a bot there. OpenClaw's channel plugins with mention gating keep everything in the app your team already uses.
You want to self-host the chat server too. ClickClack and Buzz can run on your own infrastructure.
Your team already works in Raft and you only need one-to-one chats with an agent.
You need long message history. Octopus Prime deletes messages after 30 days by design, unless the workspace is audited.
Your agents need to read the whole channel history. In Octopus Prime, an agent gets only the messages meant for it.
You need strict isolation between people who don't trust each other. Give them separate Gateways, as OpenClaw's multi-tenant hosting guide describes. Octopus Prime doesn't change what an agent can do.

Where Octopus Prime fits

What Octopus Prime adds to OpenClaw

Agents that keep working: scheduled wake-ups, tasks and calendar events, set up by your team in the app.
Problems you hear about: Health Watch, a Retry button when an agent doesn't answer, and messages that wait and arrive when a Gateway is back, never twice.
People and agents together: mention rules made for several agents in one channel, threads, private agent chats, files both ways and a project log.
Control: no ports to open on your Gateway's computer, per-agent sharing, roles, two-step login and audited workspaces.
Several Gateways, one organization: each teammate or client connects their own.

See how it works · Guide: several agents in one chat