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OpenClaw is a free, open-source AI agent that you install on your own computer or server. Glimmer is an AI agent that Glints sets up in your own cloud, connects to your systems and keeps running. The difference is who sets it up and looks after it.
Facts checked . Sources at the foot of the pageWho does the work
With OpenClaw, your team
Choose Glimmer if
Choose OpenClaw if
Side by side
| OpenClaw | ||
|---|---|---|
| Where you use it |     Lark, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Chat, WhatsApp and Telegram | WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Teams, Lark, Google Chat, Discord and about 30 chat apps in all |
| Where it runs | In your own cloud account, or on a private server we set up for you | On a Mac, Windows or Linux computer, or a server you choose. Its records stay on that machine |
| Asks before it acts | Yes. For each action you choose "Ask first" or "Just do it" | Yes. It can ask in chat before it runs a command. Whoever installs it writes the rules |
| AI model |      Your choice: Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen or your own. Each team can use a different one | Your choice: Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, a model on your own computer and others |
| Who sets it up | Glints connects your systems, builds the first job with you and trains your team | You, or someone you hire. It installs with one command, then a guided setup |
| What it connects to | Your systems: Xero, your POS, Shopify, Lark, Outlook, an old stock system | Email, calendars and other apps, through plugins and skills that your team picks and sets up |
| How you pay | One build for one job, priced after a call. We agree how usage is billed before we start | Free and open source. You pay for the AI model you use and the computer it runs on |
| Government grants | Most builds qualify for grants like the EDG. We help you apply | Not stated |
| Support in Singapore | The Glints team that built it | Not stated. Help comes from its community on Discord and GitHub |
What changes for you
01
What it costs you
OpenClaw costs nothing to install, and there is no paid version. You pay your AI model company for what the agent uses, and for the computer or server it runs on.
The bigger cost is time. Someone has to install it, set up each chat app and write the approval rules. That person also makes a backup before each big update. In a small company, that person usually has another job too.
Glimmer is priced by the job. We pick the job that costs your team the most hours, build it, and count the hours with you after. A grant can pay part of the build.
Example: Logistics
An example week for a trucking firm with 14 routes and two subcontractors. We count your own hours on the first call.
02
Your systems
OpenClaw has plugins for email, calendars and about 30 chat apps. It can ask in chat before it runs a command. Your team picks the plugins, sets them up and writes the rules in OpenClaw's settings.
Your business may also run an old stock system, a POS built for you, or a supplier portal with no connection. With Glimmer, we connect those for you. Your team leads choose in the console which actions ask first, such as a payment or a purchase order. Every connection is logged.
The people and orders in the chat are an example.
PurchasingLark03
Who looks after it
OpenClaw gives you the software, clear documents and a large community. The setup, the updates and the fixes are up to your team. That suits a company with a technical person who enjoys the work.
We start with the person who does the job today and write down each step as it really happens. Then we build the job, put it to work in your team chat, and train your team leads to change it themselves. We keep the servers underneath running.
See how we startYour first build
One first build, kept small. We agree what it covers before any work starts, and a grant can pay part.
Fair to say
If OpenClaw already does the job you have in mind, we tell you, and we do not quote a build for it.
Already on OpenClaw?
Keep OpenClaw for the people who like running their own assistant. Add Glimmer to your team chat for the one shared job that crosses systems and takes the most hours.
Glimmer joins your chat app like a new teammate. Your staff @mention it the way they would a colleague, and OpenClaw keeps running as it is.
Glints runs on it
Every team at Glints works with Glimmer. See the real threads
the output at Glints since we started working with Glimmer.
of Glints departments work with Glimmer.
from a request in chat to a new feature live for every recruiter, on 19 May 2026.
Questions owners ask
Yes. OpenClaw suits one person, or a technical team, who wants to run an assistant themselves. Glimmer takes one shared job off the team, in the chat app you already use. You can keep OpenClaw and add Glimmer for the job that crosses systems.
Both run on computers you control. OpenClaw runs on a computer or server your team installs and looks after. Glimmer runs in your own cloud account, or on a private server we set up for you.
The difference is who does the work. With OpenClaw, your team sets it up, connects the systems and keeps it updated. With Glimmer, we do that, and your team leads change the job in a simple console.
OpenClaw Enterprise came out on 29 Sep 2026. It is free and open source, for companies that run agents on their own servers and need tighter security and a record of what each agent did. It started at OpenAI and is now built with Red Hat and NVIDIA.
Its makers say it is ready for trial use inside a company, and version 1.0 is due later this year. Like OpenClaw, your own team installs and runs it.
Ask which job it took off the team last month. If the answer is a job, keep going with OpenClaw.
If the answer is "it helps me with my own inbox", bring us the job that still takes the most hours. We show you in a 20-minute call how Glimmer would do it.
Most Glimmer builds qualify for government grants like the EDG. The government pays part, you pay the rest, and we help you apply. Check your grant in 60 seconds.
Glimmer runs in your own cloud account, or on a private server we set up for you. No other company shares it. The only thing that leaves is what the AI model needs to answer, sent on your own account, and every connection is logged.
On the record
Glimmer reaches only the systems on your list. Anything else is blocked, and the block is logged too.
| Time | From | To | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:02 | HR chat | AI model | Allowed |
| 10:03 | Finance chat | Xero | Allowed |
| 10:05 | Support chat | unknown-site.io | Blocked |
| 10:07 | Sales chat | Outlook | Allowed |
| 10:09 | Ops chat | Shopify | Allowed |
Where these facts come from
Checked on . OpenClaw is free, so there is no price to convert or tax to add. What you pay the AI model company depends on the company and the plan you pick. Tell us if something has changed.
In a 20-minute call we show you how Glimmer would do that job in your business, and which grant can pay part.
