DoneClaw Pricing Breakdown — What You Actually Pay

What $29.99 Per Month Includes

DoneClaw's subscription is a flat $29.99/month that covers everything you need to run a personal AI agent. There are no add-ons, usage tiers, or premium features locked behind a higher plan. Every subscriber gets the same service.

Here is exactly what your subscription includes:

• A dedicated Docker container running 24/7 on managed VPS infrastructure
• The OpenClaw AI agent with persistent memory across all conversations
• AI model access via OpenRouter (Gemini 2.5 Flash by default, configurable)
• Monthly token allowance for AI conversations
• Telegram integration — connect your agent to a Telegram bot
• Discord integration for channel-based interaction
• HTTPS gateway with wildcard SSL certificate for secure access
• Automatic container updates when new OpenClaw versions are released
• iOS app and web dashboard access
• Email support at [email protected]

The 7-Day Free Trial

DoneClaw offers a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. During the trial, you get full access to every feature — there is no reduced functionality or limited trial experience. Your card is validated at signup but not charged until the trial period ends.

If you cancel within the 7 days, you pay nothing. Your container and data are cleaned up, and the card on file is never charged. There are no cancellation fees, no questions asked, and no need to contact support — you can cancel directly through the Stripe customer portal.

The trial exists because DoneClaw is the kind of product you need to try to appreciate. Reading about a personal AI agent with persistent memory is one thing; having it remember your preferences, manage your tasks, and send you a daily briefing via Telegram is another. Seven days is enough to set up your agent, configure a few skills, and see the value for yourself.

What You Would Pay to Self-Host

OpenClaw is open-source software, so you can absolutely run it yourself. But self-hosting has real costs that go beyond the VPS bill. Here is an honest breakdown of what it takes to replicate DoneClaw's managed service on your own.

• VPS hosting: $4.50–$12/month for a suitable server (Contabo V92 at $4.50/mo is the minimum with 8GB RAM)
• Domain and SSL: $10–$15/year for a domain, plus time to configure Let's Encrypt certificates
• OpenRouter API key: Pay-per-use, typically $5–$20/month depending on usage volume
• Docker setup: 1–3 hours to install Docker, configure networking, and deploy the container
• Security hardening: 2–4 hours for firewall rules, fail2ban, SSH key setup, and regular updates
• Ongoing maintenance: 1–2 hours/month for OS updates, Docker image updates, certificate renewal debugging, and monitoring
• Telegram bot setup: 30–60 minutes to create the bot, configure webhooks, and test
• Troubleshooting: Variable — when something breaks at 2am, you are the support team

The Real Cost Comparison

Adding up the self-hosting costs: $4.50 for VPS + ~$1/month amortized domain cost + $10 average OpenRouter usage = roughly $15.50/month in hard costs. That is $14.49 less than DoneClaw's subscription.

But that calculation ignores the most expensive resource: your time. The initial setup takes 4–8 hours if everything goes smoothly. Ongoing maintenance runs 1–2 hours per month. If your time is worth $30/hour (a conservative estimate for someone technically skilled enough to self-host), the first month costs $15.50 + $180 in time = $195.50. Subsequent months cost $15.50 + $45 in time = $60.50.

DoneClaw costs $29.99/month, every month, with zero time investment beyond using the agent. For most people, the managed service pays for itself in the first week just from avoided setup time. After that, every month you save 1–2 hours of maintenance that you can spend on things that actually matter to you.

Self-hosting makes sense if you enjoy server administration, need specific customizations that DoneClaw does not support, or have strict compliance requirements that mandate on-premises hosting. For everyone else, the managed service is the better value.

No Hidden Fees — What Is NOT on Your Bill

Some services advertise a low base price and then add charges for features, usage overages, or premium support. DoneClaw does not do this. Here is what you will never see on your bill:

• No setup fee — provisioning is instant and automatic
• No overage charges — token usage is capped at your monthly limit, not billed per-token
• No premium support tier — all subscribers get the same email support
• No feature gates — every subscriber gets every feature
• No annual commitment — month-to-month billing, cancel anytime
• No cancellation fee — cancel through the portal, effective at end of billing period
• No data export fee — your data is in your container, accessible anytime

How Token Limits Work

Your monthly subscription includes a token allowance for AI model usage. Tokens are the units that AI models use to measure input and output — roughly 4 characters per token in English text.

DoneClaw tracks your token usage per billing cycle. You can monitor your current usage through the iOS app or web dashboard. When you approach your limit, the dashboard shows a usage bar so you can pace your usage or adjust your conversation patterns.

If you hit your monthly limit, your agent stops processing new conversations until the next billing cycle. It does not silently degrade quality, switch to a cheaper model, or charge you overage fees. You just wait until the cycle resets, which is clearly displayed in your dashboard.

For users who need more tokens, the bring-your-own-key (BYOK) option lets you connect your own OpenRouter API key. With BYOK, you pay OpenRouter directly for token usage at their rates, and DoneClaw's token limit does not apply. Your subscription still covers the infrastructure, container, and all other features.

Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) Option

Power users who want unlimited AI usage or access to specific models can use the BYOK option. You create an account with OpenRouter (or another supported provider), get an API key, and configure it in your DoneClaw container.

With BYOK, your AI requests go directly from your container to the provider — DoneClaw's token limit is bypassed entirely. You pay the provider directly at their per-token rates, which are often very competitive. For example, Gemini 2.5 Flash on OpenRouter costs about $0.15 per million input tokens, making heavy usage surprisingly affordable.

BYOK does not reduce your DoneClaw subscription cost because the subscription covers infrastructure (VPS, container, networking, SSL), not just AI model access. Think of it like a cell phone plan: the plan covers the network and phone, and BYOK is like choosing to make calls through a different carrier while keeping the same phone.

Payment Processing and Billing

DoneClaw uses Stripe for all payment processing. Stripe is the industry standard payment processor used by companies like Amazon, Google, and Shopify. Your card details are handled entirely by Stripe — DoneClaw never sees, stores, or processes your card number.

Billing is monthly, charged on the same date each month from when you subscribed. You can view invoices, update your payment method, or cancel your subscription through the Stripe customer portal at any time. The portal link is available in the DoneClaw settings page.

Refund requests can be submitted via email to [email protected]. Since the 7-day trial gives you a full preview of the service, refunds are evaluated on a case-by-case basis for charges after the trial period.

Who Should (and Should Not) Subscribe

DoneClaw is designed for people who want a personal AI agent that runs continuously, remembers everything, and integrates with their daily communication channels — without managing servers. If you value your time more than the cost of a managed service and want an agent that works out of the box, DoneClaw is built for you.

Typical DoneClaw subscribers include professionals who use their agent for daily briefings and task management, freelancers who automate client communication and invoicing, developers who want an AI assistant with persistent project context, and non-technical users who want AI capabilities without any setup complexity.

DoneClaw might not be the right fit if you need to run a local AI model with no cloud dependency (self-host with Ollama instead), if you want to customize the Docker image itself (self-host with the open-source OpenClaw), or if your budget is strictly below $15 per month and you have the technical skills to self-host. In those cases, the open-source OpenClaw project gives you the same agent software for free — you just handle the infrastructure yourself.

Conclusion

DoneClaw's pricing is straightforward: $29.99/month for a fully managed personal AI agent with everything included. No hidden fees, no usage surprises, no premium tiers. The 7-day free trial lets you evaluate the full service before paying anything. Compared to self-hosting, the managed service saves you 4-8 hours of setup and 1-2 hours of monthly maintenance — time that is worth far more than the price difference. For power users, the BYOK option provides unlimited AI usage at provider rates while keeping all the managed infrastructure benefits.

Frequently asked questions