Don't be blinded by the hype; most people are not suitable for using OpenClaw.

Author: Miles Deutscher, Cryptocurrency KOL

Compiled by: Felix, PANews

OpenClaw (formerly known as Clawdbot) is an open-source autonomous AI agent tool launched by developer Peter Steinberger. By early 2026, especially after the name was finalized, it quickly became popular, becoming one of the hottest projects in the global AI community. Behind the hype, it's worth considering whether OpenClaw is genuinely user-friendly and suitable for most people. Cryptocurrency KOL Miles Deutscher believes that OpenClaw is actually not suitable for most people and suggests that newcomers start with other tools. Below are the details.

I know the title of this article is ironic, considering that a large part of my AI workflow is built using OpenClaw. I post about it weekly. I even created a series called "Day X of Building My AI Team."

But I have to tell you: most people should not use it.

Before you criticize me, please let me finish. This is not an article against OpenClaw, but rather against the hype. Too many content creators are promoting OpenClaw for traffic without telling you the truth. The truth is: there are better alternatives available for most people right now.

Moreover, a huge shift has occurred in the past week.

Insider Information That Few Are Mentioning Behind the Hype

Here is the real experience of 90% of people using OpenClaw:

You see those viral tweets. You buy a Mac Mini. You install OpenClaw. You spend a weekend configuring the agent. You feel like a genius, then about 2 days later, you realize you don't know what to automate at all.

Your workflow is disrupted. Your agent malfunctions. You spend more time debugging than actually working. Now, you have a machine worth over $1000 sitting on your desk, doing the work that could be done by a $20 monthly subscription service.

I have seen this play out dozens of times in direct messages (and with my friends/staff). The issue isn't with the tool itself, but with the approach.

But no one in the OpenClaw community seems to notice this.

While they are busy debugging agent configurations, Anthropic, Notion, and other companies have announced a series of updates that completely altered the landscape.

Recent Announcements (and Why They Changed Everything)

In the past few weeks, we have seen a series of announcements that truly changed people's judgment on whether OpenClaw is suitable for the majority. Below are the details:

1. Claude Code - Remote Control (Mobile Version)

Anthropic launched a mobile version of Claude Code, called "Remote Control." You just need to scan a QR code on your terminal to control Claude Code via iPhone or Android devices.

No need for a Mac Mini, no VPS, no server, and no need to open the terminal on your desktop. You simply send tasks through your phone, and Claude will build automatically in the background.

One of OpenClaw’s significant advantages is its accessibility via platforms like Telegram/WhatsApp/Discord—and the release of Remote Control resolves this issue for many users.

2. Claude Cowork Business Update

If Claude Code is built for developers, then Cowork is for everyone. It is a graphical user interface (GUI) based smart assistant capable of doing actual work: not only can it answer questions, but it can also execute multi-step tasks within your existing tools.

They recently added integrations with Slack, Figma, Canva, Box, and Clay. Moreover, they released plugins targeting industries like finance, human resources, design, and private equity.

After Anthropic launched the finance plugin, a software industry ETF dropped 6% in one day. On February 20, after the release of Claude Code Security, cybersecurity stocks plummeted that afternoon.

This illustrates how much the market values this product.

For most people’s intended use of OpenClaw (research, document management, content workflows, data analysis), Cowork already meets 80% of those needs.

3. Notion Agents

This feature has been underestimated in the past, but it shouldn't be (especially for Notion users like myself).

Notion completely restructured its AI system into autonomous agents. These agents are not chatbots; they can independently execute multi-step workflows for over 20 minutes and have memory functions. They can connect to Slack, Google Drive, and GitHub, and you can set their execution times and triggering conditions.

For knowledge work, such as project management, meeting preparation, research, content planning, and database management, Notion Agents are already superior to most people’s OpenClaw configurations, and the entry barrier is almost zero.

If your main purpose for using OpenClaw is “to manage my business and automate my workflows,” then frankly, Notion Agents are a great beginner tool.

4. Manus / n8n / Zapier

I won’t spend too much time on these tools (there will be more in-depth content later). But it is obvious: for basic automation tasks, such as email scraping, web searching, standard operating procedure (SOP) generation, and lead enrichment, these tools can handle those tasks currently.

If you haven’t maximized the capabilities of these tools, you might really not need to buy a Mac Mini.

Scalability Issues No One is Mentioning

The OpenClaw community also overlooked a scalability issue.

Claude Code can scale infinitely in the cloud. More computing resources, more parallel tasks, stronger performance—it grows with your needs. OpenClaw, however, runs on your hardware. Once you hit the performance bottleneck of your hardware, your only option is to buy another Mac Mini.

And it’s not just a scalability issue. Claude Code integrates directly into GitHub, VS Code, and Xcode through MCP. They recently launched features like security scanning, lifecycle hooks, hot reloading, and session switching across devices. This ecosystem is expanding weekly.

For most people, cloud-based tools are more practical.

Advantages of OpenClaw

But OpenClaw still has unbeatable advantages.

Complete local control. Your data never leaves your machine. This is crucial for those handling sensitive business data, customer information, or proprietary workflows.
Complex multi-agent orchestration. Running 5 dedicated agents that communicate, allocate tasks, and operate as a coordinated system—cloud tools currently can't do this. This is where OpenClaw truly leads over all other tools (and remains the primary reason people still use it).
Customizable agent features. SOUL files, detailed configurations, agents that can deeply understand your business context—this level of customization isn't achievable elsewhere currently.
24/7 autonomous operation. Once set up correctly, your agents can run all day, without subscription fees that eat into your profits. In the long run, if you prepare properly in the early stages, OpenClaw's economic efficiency may actually be higher.
True ownership. You own the whole tech stack, especially if you run local models.

If you have invested time in building a suitable OpenClaw environment and have real, validated use cases, then you are still in a favorable position.

However, given the various updates currently being rolled out in the industry, my personal view on OpenClaw is as follows:

It is a great tool, but it is not the only tool. I use Claude Code to build specific models/workflows. I use Notion Agents for business automation. I even use GPT for strategy formulation.

Personally, I believe there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The best practice is to use specific tools for specific purposes. The part where OpenClaw is particularly useful for me is automating data scraping and autonomous product iteration. But that is entirely a personal choice.

So, what should you do?

If you are starting from scratch, here are my sincere suggestions:

Step 1: Start with Claude (choose either Cowork or Code version based on your technical skills). Familiarize yourself with what AI agents can do within your specific workflow. Personally, I think this is the best starting point for 99% of people.

Step 2: Add Notion Agents and/or Manus/n8n for your knowledge work and basic automation. Test what is worth automating and what is not. This is a low-risk approach to testing new workflows.

Step 3: OpenClaw will come into play when you genuinely feel these tools aren't enough. Because now you clearly know what you need it to do.

Most people start directly from step three and then wonder why OpenClaw doesn’t work.

Summary

OpenClaw is great for some people, and if you want to be at the forefront of AI, it’s definitely worth trying.

However, the hype has led people to mistakenly believe that buying hardware and configuring agents is the way to leverage AI. That's not the case. The correct approach is to first understand which aspects need automation, use easy-to-use tools for testing, and only upgrade to OpenClaw when truly necessary.

I still use OpenClaw daily and still believe in it. But pretending it is the starting point for everyone is misleading the public.

Start with the tools mentioned above, gradually get comfortable, and then build the machine.

That is the correct order. Most people have it wrong.

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