Ecosystem report · 50 tracked · data as of Nov 3, 2026
State of the ecosystem.
What moved across every tracked OpenClaw alternative, how the architecture cohorts actually compare, and where the security and deployment posture sits. Numbers are computed from the same data the profiles use — no figure on this page is written by a model.
Tracked
50
projects in every table below
New stars
6,745
across 7 days
Flat
12
gained nothing in the window
Hardened
5
security ≥ 85 and shell risk ≤ 4
The short version
Five things worth knowing before you open the index. Everything below expands on them with the full tables.
- 01Hermes Agent gained the most stars (+1420); OpenClaw stays largest at 391630.
- 02Edge & minimalist is the biggest cohort with 24 projects and a 75 median security score.
- 03Compiled runtimes average 77 on security vs 65 for scripting runtimes.
- 0441 projects are local-first; only 5 require a cloud connection.
What moved
Star movement, Oct 27, 2026 → Nov 3, 2026.
Measured from the daily star history for 50 of 50 tracked projects. Absolute growth favours the large repos, so the relative column is listed beside it.
Most stars added
12 of 50 projects gained nothing over the window.
Architecture
Three cohorts, assigned by rule.
Rules are applied in order and the first match wins, so all 50 projects land in exactly one cohort and none can appear twice. Medians are computed per cohort.
Single-binary runtimes small enough for a tiny VPS, an ARM board, or an always-on background process.
Rule: Memory ≤ 20 MB and boot ≤ 50 ms
- Mem
- 10.5 MB
- Boot
- 30 ms
- Sec
- 75
+ 19 more in this cohort
Heavier runtimes that carry shared workspaces, tenant separation, or channel fan-out for a group.
Rule: Multi-user declared, above the edge footprint
- Mem
- 87.5 MB
- Boot
- 220 ms
- Sec
- 62
+ 11 more in this cohort
Single-operator assistants that keep the reference feature surface and pay for it in memory and boot time.
Rule: Everything else
- Mem
- 90 MB
- Boot
- 235 ms
- Sec
- 67
+ 5 more in this cohort
Security
The runtime split, in real numbers.
Averages and medians over the five security sub-scores every profile carries. Sandboxing and telemetry safety are protection axes where higher is better; shell risk runs the other way. How the axes are scored.
| Cohort | Projects | Avg security | Sandboxing | Shell risk | Telemetry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compiled runtimesRust, Go, Zig, C, C++, Kotlin | 23 | 77 | 6 / 10 | 5 / 10 | 8 / 10 |
| Scripting runtimesPython, TypeScript, JavaScript and friends | 27 | 65 | 5 / 10 | 7 / 10 | 6 / 10 |
Median score
72 / 100
Across all 50 tracked projects
Hardened
5
Security ≥ 85 with shell risk ≤ 4
Open shell
12
Shell risk ≥ 8, largely unsupervised execution
Posture
Where the data actually runs, and under what licence.
Local-first
41 / 50
Cloud required
5 / 50
Cloud optional
44 / 50
Multi-user
22 / 50
Licences
- MIT23
- Apache-2.013
- AGPL-3.03
- GPL-3.01
- LGPL-3.01
- Not published9
Runtimes by median footprint
23 projects run on a compiled runtime and 27 on a scripting runtime — the split that drives most of the footprint and containment difference above.
Next
The report shows the shape. The index gets you to a shortlist.
Every project named above links to its profile. Sort the full index by what you care about, then send two candidates into a side-by-side comparison.