---
summary: "OpenClaw on Raspberry Pi (budget self-hosted setup)"
read_when:
  - Setting up OpenClaw on a Raspberry Pi
  - Running OpenClaw on ARM devices
  - Building a cheap always-on personal AI
title: "Raspberry Pi"
---

# OpenClaw on Raspberry Pi

## Goal

Run a persistent, always-on OpenClaw Gateway on a Raspberry Pi for **~$35-80** one-time cost (no monthly fees).

Perfect for:

- 24/7 personal AI assistant
- Home automation hub
- Low-power, always-available Telegram/WhatsApp bot

## Hardware Requirements

| Pi Model        | RAM     | Works?   | Notes                              |
| --------------- | ------- | -------- | ---------------------------------- |
| **Pi 5**        | 4GB/8GB | ✅ Best  | Fastest, recommended               |
| **Pi 4**        | 4GB     | ✅ Good  | Sweet spot for most users          |
| **Pi 4**        | 2GB     | ✅ OK    | Works, add swap                    |
| **Pi 4**        | 1GB     | ⚠️ Tight | Possible with swap, minimal config |
| **Pi 3B+**      | 1GB     | ⚠️ Slow  | Works but sluggish                 |
| **Pi Zero 2 W** | 512MB   | ❌       | Not recommended                    |

**Minimum specs:** 1GB RAM, 1 core, 500MB disk  
**Recommended:** 2GB+ RAM, 64-bit OS, 16GB+ SD card (or USB SSD)

## What You'll Need

- Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 (2GB+ recommended)
- MicroSD card (16GB+) or USB SSD (better performance)
- Power supply (official Pi PSU recommended)
- Network connection (Ethernet or WiFi)
- ~30 minutes

## 1) Flash the OS

Use **Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit)** — no desktop needed for a headless server.

1. Download [Raspberry Pi Imager](https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/)
2. Choose OS: **Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit)**
3. Click the gear icon (⚙️) to pre-configure:
   - Set hostname: `gateway-host`
   - Enable SSH
   - Set username/password
   - Configure WiFi (if not using Ethernet)
4. Flash to your SD card / USB drive
5. Insert and boot the Pi

## 2) Connect via SSH

```bash
ssh user@gateway-host
# or use the IP address
ssh user@192.168.x.x
```

## 3) System Setup

```bash
# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install essential packages
sudo apt install -y git curl build-essential

# Set timezone (important for cron/reminders)
sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/Chicago  # Change to your timezone
```

## 4) Install Node.js 22 (ARM64)

```bash
# Install Node.js via NodeSource
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

# Verify
node --version  # Should show v22.x.x
npm --version
```

## 5) Add Swap (Important for 2GB or less)

Swap prevents out-of-memory crashes:

```bash
# Create 2GB swap file
sudo fallocate -l 2G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

# Make permanent
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

# Optimize for low RAM (reduce swappiness)
echo 'vm.swappiness=10' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p
```

## 6) Install OpenClaw

### Option A: Standard Install (Recommended)

```bash
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
```

### Option B: Hackable Install (For tinkering)

```bash
git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
cd openclaw
npm install
npm run build
npm link
```

The hackable install gives you direct access to logs and code — useful for debugging ARM-specific issues.

## 7) Run Onboarding

```bash
openclaw onboard --install-daemon
```

Follow the wizard:

1. **Gateway mode:** Local
2. **Auth:** API keys recommended (OAuth can be finicky on headless Pi)
3. **Channels:** Telegram is easiest to start with
4. **Daemon:** Yes (systemd)

## 8) Verify Installation

```bash
# Check status
openclaw status

# Check service
sudo systemctl status openclaw

# View logs
journalctl -u openclaw -f
```

## 9) Access the Dashboard

Since the Pi is headless, use an SSH tunnel:

```bash
# From your laptop/desktop
ssh -L 18789:localhost:18789 user@gateway-host

# Then open in browser
open http://localhost:18789
```

Or use Tailscale for always-on access:

```bash
# On the Pi
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale up

# Update config
openclaw config set gateway.bind tailnet
sudo systemctl restart openclaw
```

---

## Performance Optimizations

### Use a USB SSD (Huge Improvement)

SD cards are slow and wear out. A USB SSD dramatically improves performance:

```bash
# Check if booting from USB
lsblk
```

See [Pi USB boot guide](https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/raspberry-pi.html#usb-mass-storage-boot) for setup.

### Speed up CLI startup (module compile cache)

On lower-power Pi hosts, enable Node's module compile cache so repeated CLI runs are faster:

```bash
grep -q 'NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache' ~/.bashrc || cat >> ~/.bashrc <<'EOF' # pragma: allowlist secret
export NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache
mkdir -p /var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache
export OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1
EOF
source ~/.bashrc
```

Notes:

- `NODE_COMPILE_CACHE` speeds up subsequent runs (`status`, `health`, `--help`).
- `/var/tmp` survives reboots better than `/tmp`.
- `OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1` avoids extra startup cost from CLI self-respawn.
- First run warms the cache; later runs benefit most.

### systemd startup tuning (optional)

If this Pi is mostly running OpenClaw, add a service drop-in to reduce restart
jitter and keep startup env stable:

```bash
sudo systemctl edit openclaw
```

```ini
[Service]
Environment=OPENCLAW_NO_RESPAWN=1
Environment=NODE_COMPILE_CACHE=/var/tmp/openclaw-compile-cache
Restart=always
RestartSec=2
TimeoutStartSec=90
```

Then apply:

```bash
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart openclaw
```

If possible, keep OpenClaw state/cache on SSD-backed storage to avoid SD-card
random-I/O bottlenecks during cold starts.

How `Restart=` policies help automated recovery:
[systemd can automate service recovery](https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/systemd-automate-recovery).

### Reduce Memory Usage

```bash
# Disable GPU memory allocation (headless)
echo 'gpu_mem=16' | sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt

# Disable Bluetooth if not needed
sudo systemctl disable bluetooth
```

### Monitor Resources

```bash
# Check memory
free -h

# Check CPU temperature
vcgencmd measure_temp

# Live monitoring
htop
```

---

## ARM-Specific Notes

### Binary Compatibility

Most OpenClaw features work on ARM64, but some external binaries may need ARM builds:

| Tool               | ARM64 Status | Notes                               |
| ------------------ | ------------ | ----------------------------------- |
| Node.js            | ✅           | Works great                         |
| WhatsApp (Baileys) | ✅           | Pure JS, no issues                  |
| Telegram           | ✅           | Pure JS, no issues                  |
| gog (Gmail CLI)    | ⚠️           | Check for ARM release               |
| Chromium (browser) | ✅           | `sudo apt install chromium-browser` |

If a skill fails, check if its binary has an ARM build. Many Go/Rust tools do; some don't.

### 32-bit vs 64-bit

**Always use 64-bit OS.** Node.js and many modern tools require it. Check with:

```bash
uname -m
# Should show: aarch64 (64-bit) not armv7l (32-bit)
```

---

## Recommended Model Setup

Since the Pi is just the Gateway (models run in the cloud), use API-based models:

```json
{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
        "fallbacks": ["openai/gpt-4o-mini"]
      }
    }
  }
}
```

**Don't try to run local LLMs on a Pi** — even small models are too slow. Let Claude/GPT do the heavy lifting.

---

## Auto-Start on Boot

The onboarding wizard sets this up, but to verify:

```bash
# Check service is enabled
sudo systemctl is-enabled openclaw

# Enable if not
sudo systemctl enable openclaw

# Start on boot
sudo systemctl start openclaw
```

---

## Troubleshooting

### Out of Memory (OOM)

```bash
# Check memory
free -h

# Add more swap (see Step 5)
# Or reduce services running on the Pi
```

### Slow Performance

- Use USB SSD instead of SD card
- Disable unused services: `sudo systemctl disable cups bluetooth avahi-daemon`
- Check CPU throttling: `vcgencmd get_throttled` (should return `0x0`)

### Service Won't Start

```bash
# Check logs
journalctl -u openclaw --no-pager -n 100

# Common fix: rebuild
cd ~/openclaw  # if using hackable install
npm run build
sudo systemctl restart openclaw
```

### ARM Binary Issues

If a skill fails with "exec format error":

1. Check if the binary has an ARM64 build
2. Try building from source
3. Or use a Docker container with ARM support

### WiFi Drops

For headless Pis on WiFi:

```bash
# Disable WiFi power management
sudo iwconfig wlan0 power off

# Make permanent
echo 'wireless-power off' | sudo tee -a /etc/network/interfaces
```

---

## Cost Comparison

| Setup          | One-Time Cost | Monthly Cost | Notes                     |
| -------------- | ------------- | ------------ | ------------------------- |
| **Pi 4 (2GB)** | ~$45          | $0           | + power (~$5/yr)          |
| **Pi 4 (4GB)** | ~$55          | $0           | Recommended               |
| **Pi 5 (4GB)** | ~$60          | $0           | Best performance          |
| **Pi 5 (8GB)** | ~$80          | $0           | Overkill but future-proof |
| DigitalOcean   | $0            | $6/mo        | $72/year                  |
| Hetzner        | $0            | €3.79/mo     | ~$50/year                 |

**Break-even:** A Pi pays for itself in ~6-12 months vs cloud VPS.

---

## See Also

- [Linux guide](/platforms/linux) — general Linux setup
- [DigitalOcean guide](/platforms/digitalocean) — cloud alternative
- [Hetzner guide](/install/hetzner) — Docker setup
- [Tailscale](/gateway/tailscale) — remote access
- [Nodes](/nodes) — pair your laptop/phone with the Pi gateway
