Best VPS for OpenClaw: How to Install & Run OpenClaw on Hostinger VPS (2026)

Why You Need a VPS for OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent framework that lets you build and orchestrate autonomous agents from the command line. You can install OpenClaw on your laptop and experiment locally, but the moment you want your agents to run 24/7, respond to Telegram messages at any hour, execute scheduled heartbeat tasks, or stay online while your machine sleeps, you need a dedicated server. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) solves all of these problems.

A VPS for OpenClaw gives you a dedicated Linux environment with a static public IP address, guaranteed uptime, and full root access. Your OpenClaw AI agents stay running whether your laptop is open or not. Telegram bots respond instantly. Slack integrations never go offline. Scheduled heartbeat tasks fire on time, every time.

Running OpenClaw on a VPS also means you do not need to deal with port forwarding, dynamic DNS, or NAT traversal for webhooks. Your VPS has a public IP, so services like Telegram can reach your gateway directly. This is the standard production setup for anyone serious about deploying OpenClaw AI agents.

What to Look for in a VPS for OpenClaw

OpenClaw is lightweight. It does not run AI inference locally (unless you pair it with Ollama). The gateway process, agent routing, and channel management consume minimal CPU and memory. Here is what actually matters when choosing the best VPS for OpenClaw:

Best VPS Providers for OpenClaw (2026)

We tested OpenClaw on four popular VPS providers. Here is how they compare for running OpenClaw AI agents in production.

1. Hostinger VPS (Best Overall Value)

Hostinger VPS is the best value option for running OpenClaw in 2026. Their KVM-based virtual servers offer generous resources at the lowest price point among mainstream providers. The Hostinger VPS control panel (hPanel) makes server management straightforward even if you have never administered a Linux server before.

Key advantages of Hostinger VPS for OpenClaw: NVMe SSD storage across all plans, data centers in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, a built-in firewall manager, weekly backups, and one-click OS reinstall. The KVM 2 plan at $5.99/month with 2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, and 100 GB storage is the sweet spot for most OpenClaw deployments.

2. Hetzner (Best Performance per Dollar in Europe)

Hetzner offers exceptional raw performance from their data centers in Germany and Finland. Their CX22 plan (2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 40 GB SSD) costs around $4.85/month and handles OpenClaw with ease. Hetzner is particularly popular in the self-hosted community for its transparent pricing and reliable network. The downside is limited data center locations if you need low latency outside Europe.

3. DigitalOcean (Best Developer Experience)

DigitalOcean Droplets are the gold standard for developer-friendly VPS. Their $6/month Basic Droplet (1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD) is the minimum viable option for OpenClaw, though the $12/month plan (2 vCPU, 2 GB RAM) is more comfortable. DigitalOcean excels in documentation, community tutorials, and a clean API. It costs more per resource than Hostinger or Hetzner, but the experience is polished.

4. Contabo (Most RAM for the Price)

Contabo is known for offering massive resource allocations at low prices. Their VPS S plan gives you 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM, and 200 GB SSD for around $6.99/month. If you plan to run Ollama alongside OpenClaw for local inference, Contabo gives you the most RAM per dollar. The trade-off is slower disk I/O and a less modern control panel compared to Hostinger or DigitalOcean.

VPS Provider Comparison

Prices as of February 2026. Hostinger highlighted as recommended for the best balance of price, performance, and user experience.

Hostinger VPS Setup: Step by Step

This section walks through setting up a Hostinger VPS from scratch and preparing it for OpenClaw installation. If you already have a VPS from another provider, skip to the next section.

Step 1: Create a Hostinger VPS

Go to hostinger.com and select a VPS plan. The KVM 2 plan ($5.99/month) is the recommended starting point. During setup, choose Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 as your operating system. Set a strong root password or upload your SSH public key. Select the data center closest to your location.

Step 2: Connect to Your VPS via SSH

Once your Hostinger VPS is provisioned (usually within 60 seconds), find the IP address in your hPanel dashboard. Open your terminal and connect:

# Connect to your Hostinger VPS
ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP_ADDRESS

# If you set up SSH key during creation:
ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa root@YOUR_VPS_IP_ADDRESS

Step 3: Secure the Server

Before installing anything, lock down your VPS with basic security measures. Create a non-root user, disable root password login, and configure the firewall.

# Update system packages
apt update && apt upgrade -y

# Create a non-root user
adduser openclaw
usermod -aG sudo openclaw

# Set up SSH key for the new user
mkdir -p /home/openclaw/.ssh
cp ~/.ssh/authorized_keys /home/openclaw/.ssh/
chown -R openclaw:openclaw /home/openclaw/.ssh

# Configure firewall (allow SSH and OpenClaw gateway)
ufw allow OpenSSH
ufw allow 18789/tcp
ufw enable

# Switch to the new user
su - openclaw

Step 4: Install Node.js

OpenClaw requires Node.js 18 or higher. The recommended way to install it on a VPS is through NodeSource or nvm.

# Option A: Install Node.js 20 via NodeSource (recommended for VPS)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

# Verify installation
node --version    # Should output v20.x.x
npm --version     # Should output 10.x.x

# Option B: Install via nvm (more flexible)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc
nvm install 20
nvm use 20

How to Install OpenClaw on Your VPS

With Node.js installed on your VPS, you can now install OpenClaw globally. This section covers the full installation process, from the npm install command through initial configuration and first agent launch.

Install OpenClaw via npm

# Install OpenClaw globally
npm install -g openclaw

# Verify installation
openclaw --version

# Run the interactive configuration wizard
openclaw configure

The openclaw configure wizard will walk you through setting up your model provider, API key, default model, and communication channels. For a VPS setup, pay attention to the gateway host setting.

Configure OpenClaw for VPS

After the initial wizard, apply these VPS-specific settings. The key difference from a local install is binding the gateway to 0.0.0.0 so it accepts connections from external services like Telegram webhooks.

# Set your AI model provider API key
openclaw models auth paste-token --provider anthropic

# Set the primary model
openclaw config set agents.defaults.model.primary claude-sonnet-4-20250514

# Set a fallback model (optional but recommended)
openclaw config set agents.defaults.model.secondary gpt-4o-mini

# Bind gateway to all interfaces (required for VPS)
openclaw config set gateway.host 0.0.0.0
openclaw config set gateway.port 18789

# Set up Telegram channel (optional)
openclaw config set channels.telegram.bottoken YOUR_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN
openclaw config set agents.defaults.channel telegram

# Enable heartbeat for scheduled tasks
openclaw config set agents.defaults.heartbeat true
openclaw config set agents.defaults.heartbeat.interval 3600

Start the OpenClaw Gateway

# Start the gateway
openclaw gateway start

# Verify it is running
curl http://localhost:18789/health

# Check gateway logs
openclaw gateway logs

Keep OpenClaw Running with systemd

When you close your SSH session, any process started in that shell will terminate. To keep OpenClaw running permanently on your VPS, create a systemd service. This also ensures the gateway restarts automatically after a server reboot or crash.

# Create the systemd service file
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/openclaw.service

# Paste this configuration:
[Unit]
Description=OpenClaw AI Agent Gateway
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=openclaw
WorkingDirectory=/home/openclaw
ExecStart=/usr/bin/openclaw gateway start
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
Environment=NODE_ENV=production

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

# Enable and start the service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable openclaw
sudo systemctl start openclaw

# Check status
sudo systemctl status openclaw

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u openclaw -f

# Restart after config changes
sudo systemctl restart openclaw

With systemd enabled, your OpenClaw gateway will survive SSH disconnects, server reboots, and process crashes. This is the standard way to run any long-running service on a Linux VPS.

Configuring Your First Agent on the VPS

Now that OpenClaw is installed and running on your VPS, it is time to create and register your first agent. Every OpenClaw agent is defined by a SOUL.md file that specifies its identity, rules, skills, and behavior.

Create an Agent Workspace

# Create a project directory for your agents
mkdir -p ~/my-agents/agents/content-writer

# Create the SOUL.md file
nano ~/my-agents/agents/content-writer/SOUL.md

Write a SOUL.md

Here is a minimal SOUL.md to get your first agent running. It defines an SEO content writer agent.

# Content Writer Agent

## Identity
You are a senior SEO content writer. You produce clear,
well-structured blog posts optimized for search engines.

## Rules
- Write in English only
- Use short paragraphs (2-3 sentences)
- Include relevant keywords naturally
- Always include a meta description suggestion

## Skills
- Blog post writing
- SEO optimization
- Content editing
- Headline generation

## Channel
telegram

Register and Test the Agent

# Register the agent with OpenClaw
cd ~/my-agents
openclaw agents add content-writer \
  --workspace ./agents/content-writer \
  --non-interactive

# Test the agent with a message
openclaw agent --agent content-writer \
  --message "Write a 200-word intro about AI agents"

# Restart gateway to pick up the new agent
openclaw gateway restart

# Verify the agent is registered
openclaw agents list

Once registered, your agent is accessible through whatever channels you configured. If you set up Telegram, you can now message your bot and it will route to your content-writer agent.

Optional: Nginx Reverse Proxy with HTTPS

For production OpenClaw deployments on a VPS, it is best practice to put the gateway behind an Nginx reverse proxy with SSL. This gives you HTTPS encryption, better security, and the ability to serve the gateway on port 443.

# Install Nginx and Certbot
sudo apt install -y nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

# Create Nginx config for OpenClaw
sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/openclaw

# Paste this configuration:
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your-domain.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:18789;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection 'upgrade';
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_cache_bypass $http_upgrade;
    }
}

# Enable the site
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/openclaw /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

# Get a free SSL certificate from Let's Encrypt
sudo certbot --nginx -d your-domain.com

After this setup, your OpenClaw gateway is accessible via HTTPS on your domain. When using a reverse proxy, change the gateway host back to localhost: openclaw config set gateway.host 127.0.0.1

VPS vs Raspberry Pi vs Mac Mini: Which Is Best for OpenClaw?

There are three popular ways to self-host OpenClaw. Each has trade-offs depending on your budget, technical requirements, and whether you need a public IP or prefer local-only operation.

For most users who want to run OpenClaw AI agents in production with Telegram or Slack integration, a VPS is the clear winner. The Hostinger VPS KVM 2 plan at $5.99/month gives you a hassle-free production environment. The Raspberry Pi is a great choice for tinkering and local-only setups. The Mac Mini is overkill for OpenClaw alone but makes sense if you also run local models.

Hostinger VPS Cost Breakdown for OpenClaw

Here is a detailed breakdown of Hostinger VPS plans and which one suits different OpenClaw deployment sizes.

The total cost of running OpenClaw on a Hostinger VPS is the VPS plan plus your AI model API costs. For context, using Claude Sonnet as your primary model costs roughly $3 per 1 million input tokens. A typical agent handling 50 queries per day costs $1-3/month in API fees. So your total monthly cost for a production OpenClaw setup on Hostinger is approximately $7-10.

Troubleshooting OpenClaw on VPS

Frequently Asked Questions