Comparing PAI and OpenClaw: Lessons from Running Both

[jdrolls]

I've been running PAI (my instance is named Dora) for a while now, and recently started experimenting with OpenClaw (Jarvis). After a week of using both side-by-side, I wanted to share some observations that might be useful for this community.

Quick disclaimer: I'm not a professional developer — I work in finance and code a bit here and there. These are observations from a power user, not a technical deep-dive.

The Core Difference

After using both, I've realized they're solving fundamentally different problems:

Aspect	PAI (Dora)	OpenClaw (Jarvis)
Primary Mode	Assistant you work with	Agent that works for you
Best When	You're at the terminal	You're away from your desk
Interaction	Collaborative, hands-on	Fire-and-forget, autonomous

Where PAI Shines

Security. Daniel's security-first approach is evident throughout the architecture. OpenClaw has had some discourse about exposed ports and such — fixable, and it's not even that hard to fix, but PAI gets this right out of the box.

Deep Personalization. To make this comparison fair, I gave Jarvis complete access to all of Dora's memory files. They have access to the same data, but Dora still handles it better. She keeps my core context — values, preferences, system architecture — front-of-mind in a way Jarvis doesn't quite match yet. The scaffolding approach means she's completely customized to my workflow.

Skill Quality. Dora has access to higher-quality, more refined skills. When I need something done well, she has the depth.I will caveat this by saying I have been using Dora for quite a while, so my own custom skills I've developed very much, but the out of the box skills that are shared here are amazing and high quality.

Effectiveness for Complex Work. When I can sit down and guide her, we get serious work done. Multiple terminals, multiple tasks, human-in-the-loop guidance. She's become integral to my productivity. This year in ways that have started putting dollars in my pocket. Thank you, Daniel!

Where OpenClaw Shines

Accessibility. This is the big one. I work an office job with no access to my personal setup during the day. Being able to reach Jarvis via Telegram on my phone is genuinely useful. It's not the same depth as sitting with Dora, but having any agentic AI accessible on mobile changes things.

Tool & Skill Access. Jarvis is much better at setting up his own tools and learning new skills on the fly. This is both a plus and a drawback — Dora has better-quality skills, but Jarvis adds them more easily. Given they have access to the same underlying capabilities, it's just more streamlined with Jarvis.

Autonomous Operation. Jarvis is built around cron jobs and background tasks from the ground up. He handles reminders, scheduling, and small projects well. I wouldn't throw him at a large codebase, but for routine autonomous work, the infrastructure just works. Out of the box, he's essentially like a base LLM until he gets skilled up — which is probably going to be pretty normal for most AI agents running on Opus 4.5. I like hands on control for my projects. I like to steer, but for things that are a little less complex, it's nice to have a system running in the background.

Areas for Improvement (Both)

Memory Systems. PAI's memory works great when I'm actively working with Dora. OpenClaw's memory is decent but still has gaps. Both could improve here.

PAI on Mobile. I know remote access is in the long-term vision, and I've made some half-hearted attempts to get a Telegram bots working with Dora. Haven't had much success yet, but I'm sure with a few focused hours of iteration it could get there, it's just hasn't been a priority in the past. Part of the issue might be the memory system — each first prompt brings in so much data, and Claude Code doesn't keep sessions continuously open, starting fresh each time. That context reload overhead makes real-time chat feel clunky.Thats not what she was built for, but it could be something that with a bit of development she does just as good or better than Jarvis.

Autonomous Scaffolding. PAI could benefit from more built-in structure for autonomous operation — cron scheduling, background tasks, proactive check-ins. The models have the same capabilities; it's about infrastructure making it easy. Now that I have seen how helpful it can be, I may start using Dora more for those tasks, or continue to use both.

How I Use Both Right Now

• Dora: Complex development work, building things, deep problem-solving. We work hand-in-hand.
• Jarvis: Quick tasks when I'm away from my desk, reminders, scheduling, small projects, simple automations.
They complement each other well. Honestly, having Dora made setting up Jarvis much easier.

TL;DR

PAI is the better assistant/partner — secure, deeply personalized, higher-quality skills, incredibly effective when you're working together. OpenClaw is the better employee (right now) — accessible anywhere, easy to skill up, runs autonomously, handles routine tasks and small projects without supervision.

The exciting thing is that these aren't mutually exclusive. PAI could adopt some of OpenClaw's accessibility and skill-loading patterns while keeping what makes it great.

Thanks for building this, Daniel. This project is amazing.

[danielmiessler]

I think this is great analysis and very much the way I see the combination now as well. We're looking to get more and more stuff into PAI so that extra systems are not needed. But I am also using OpenClaw because of the Telegram integration. For example. So… I think your points are spot on.

[letswastetimee]

For mobile, try the Happy app! Super easy to use. Basically a way to remote into a computer and use claude code via mobile. A+ for their interface too.

[appressman]

Thanks, @jdrolls I just got started with a Moltbot (mine is Milo) as an assistant to my PAI DA (Eve) and I basically consider Milo Eve's personal assistant. Like you I split up the work based on complexity and security. I'm using just a local Llama model to save money in case Milo decides to go "out on the town" or joins Moltbook and chats with his new friends all night. I did use Twilio to give Eve (PAI) a phone capacity so for mobile just in time situations I can call Eve and Eve can call me with reports, start jobs etc. Before there was a Moltbot I'd set up an OpenWebUI interface so I could get to Eve without a terminal (Termuis? yea, no... last resort) but it is more likely on mobile I'll use Telegram and the Milo OpenClaw instance. Like you I've set up shared access to the same files (Milo can only write to certain spaces) and they can pose tasks to each other as well as me. Your analysis is spot on and I'll share as we all get better at this anything I'm finding useful. Cheers.