Comparisons · Checked November 11, 2026
Brigade vs OpenClaw
OpenClaw is a powerful personal assistant that you install, run and fix yourself, and that lives in a chat app. Brigade is a team: each teammate has one job, its own Apps and memory, and every decision that needs you lands in one list. Since April 4, 2026, Claude subscription limits no longer cover third-party harnesses like OpenClaw (they draw on paid extra usage instead). Brigade starts the official Claude Code and Codex, signed in with your own accounts.
What OpenClaw is
OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant you install and run on your own machine. It works through chat apps such as WhatsApp or Telegram, handles personal tasks (inbox, calendar, errands) and can run one agent per persona.
Side by side
| Brigade | OpenClaw | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An open-source app that gives your company a team of AI teammates, each one the official Claude Code or Codex with a job, its own computer, the Apps you give it and a shared memory. | An open-source personal AI assistant that you install and run. |
| Jobs it covers | Support, marketing, sales and code, each teammate with one job. | A personal assistant: inbox, calendar, errands; one agent per persona. |
| Claude plan | Works: Brigade runs the official Claude Code on your login. | Since April 4, 2026, a Claude subscription no longer covers it: usage is billed as extra usage, or through an API key. |
| Where you talk to it | Brigade’s own app (web, or installed on your phone with push notifications), and with Cloud an email address per teammate. | Chat apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Slack. |
| Decisions that need you | For each teammate, you choose whether its writes to Apps (an email through Gmail, a change in Stripe, a merge on GitHub) go on their own or wait for your yes, and each mailbox can be set to approve every email. Every request lands in one Needs you list, also on your phone. Commands and files on its own computer don’t ask. | Inside each chat; no shared list across agents. |
| Your team | Invite your team: threads, lists and files are shared. | Built for one person. |
| Open source | Yes, MIT. You can read every line and host it yourself. | Yes. |
Pick OpenClaw if
- You want one personal assistant inside WhatsApp or Telegram.
- You want to run any model, including local ones.
- You enjoy installing and tuning your own setup.
Pick Brigade if
- You want several teammates with clear jobs (support, marketing, sales, code) instead of one assistant.
- You want to use the Claude Max or ChatGPT Pro plan you already pay for.
- You want an email or a Stripe change to wait for your yes before it happens, from one list on your phone.
- Your team needs to see and share the work.
Where Brigade is weaker
- On the free plan, teammates work only while your computer is on. Brigade Cloud gives them one that stays on.
- Teammates run Claude Code or Codex; other harnesses and models are not supported yet.
- You talk to teammates in Brigade’s app and by email, not in WhatsApp or Telegram.
Try it
Click around the live demo (no sign-up), read the docs, or read the code on GitHub.
Sources
What this page says about OpenClaw comes from these pages, checked on November 11, 2026. Products change: if something here is out of date, open an issue on GitHub.