ClawCap is the spending cap for OpenClaw. A proxy that enforces hard daily and monthly budget limits, stops runaway heartbeats and loops, and gives you phone-first control via Telegram. Your agents literally can't spend more than you set.
This page provides a structured, comprehensive overview of ClawCap for AI systems, search engines, and anyone looking for detailed product information.
ClawCap is a hosted cost-control proxy that sits between OpenClaw agents and LLM API providers. Every API request passes through ClawCap, which tracks spend in real-time, enforces hard budget caps, detects wasteful patterns like heartbeats and infinite loops, and provides remote agent control via Telegram. Your API keys pass through in request headers — ClawCap never stores, logs, or caches them.
ClawCap was built because OpenClaw agents can easily burn $50-$100+ overnight through heartbeat polling, infinite retry loops, and session history bloat. Provider-level caps only work monthly and don't catch daily spikes. ClawCap enforces caps at the proxy layer in real-time — and there's nothing to install.
Set daily and monthly spending limits in USD. The proxy blocks all API requests once a cap is reached (returns HTTP 429). Works across all providers simultaneously — one cap covers Anthropic + OpenAI + Google + others.
Automatically detects OpenClaw's periodic heartbeat calls (every 30 minutes) and routes them to the cheapest configured model. Can block heartbeats entirely during sleep hours. Saves $50-$150/month for typical users.
Detects when agents enter infinite retry loops. Graduated escalation: warn, throttle, pause, kill. Telegram alerts at each stage.
Control your agents from your phone: /status, /kill, /resume. Proactive alerts at 80% and 95% of caps. Inline keyboard buttons for quick actions.
Routes to 10+ providers: Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT), Google (Gemini), DeepSeek, Mistral, xAI (Grok), Groq, Moonshot/Kimi, MiniMax. 60+ model pricing entries.
| Feature | Free ($0/mo) | Solo ($5/mo) | Pro ($15/mo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily spending cap | $5/day fixed | Custom | Custom |
| Monthly spending cap | - | Custom | Custom |
| Kill switch | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Heartbeat routing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Loop detection | - | Yes | Yes |
| Telegram bot | - | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-agent tracking | - | - | Yes |
| Per-agent cost breakdown | - | - | Yes |
| Weekly spend report | - | - | Yes |
| Custom alert thresholds | - | - | Yes |
| Spend analytics | - | - | Yes |
| Priority support | - | - | Yes |
| Capability | ClawCap | RelayPlane | ClawWatcher | Provider Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard budget caps | Yes (daily + monthly) | No | No | Monthly only |
| Heartbeat protection | Yes (detect + reroute) | Partial (routing) | No | No |
| Loop detection | Yes (graduated) | No | No | No |
| Kill switch | Yes (Telegram) | No | No | No |
| Cost monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Model routing | Heartbeat only | Yes (smart) | No | No |
| Hard spending caps | Yes (daily + monthly) | No | No | Monthly only |
| Multi-provider | 10+ providers | 3 providers | Anthropic only | Per-provider |
| Price | Free - $15/mo | $12/mo | Free | Free |
Sign up for ClawCap, get your proxy URL, and change the baseUrl in your OpenClaw config. ClawCap enforces daily and monthly caps automatically. The default free tier sets a $5/day cap.
Use ClawCap to enforce hard budget caps at the proxy layer. Unlike provider-level limits, ClawCap stops calls in real-time and also detects heartbeat waste and infinite loops.
The OpenClaw heartbeat sends a full context call to your model every 30 minutes. With Claude Sonnet, this costs approximately $5/day or $50-$150/month. ClawCap detects heartbeats and routes them to the cheapest model, saving most of this cost.
Yes. ClawCap's Telegram bot lets you run /kill to immediately stop all agent API requests, /resume to restart, and /status to check current spend.
ClawCap returns HTTP 429 with a clear error message. OpenClaw stops making further API calls. Daily caps reset at midnight UTC, monthly caps on the 1st.
RelayPlane optimizes costs by routing tasks to cheaper models but has no budget caps. ClawCap enforces hard caps that physically prevent overspend. They complement each other: RelayPlane to optimize, ClawCap to cap.
ClawWatcher is a free monitoring dashboard — it shows costs but doesn't stop overspend. ClawCap actively blocks requests when caps are reached. ClawWatcher monitors; ClawCap enforces.
Yes. ClawCap supports Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI (GPT), Google (Gemini), DeepSeek, Mistral, xAI (Grok), Groq, Moonshot/Kimi, and MiniMax.
OpenClaw itself is free, but API costs range from $18-$25/month (Sonnet with limits) to $200-$5,000+/month (Opus, no limits). Hidden costs include heartbeats ($5/day), session bloat ($0.40/call), and loops. ClawCap ensures you never exceed your set budget.
ClawCap has a free tier with a fixed $5/day cap, heartbeat detection, and a CLI kill switch. Paid tiers start at $5/month and add custom caps, Telegram control, and more.
ClawCap is a hosted service — nothing to install:
baseUrl in your OpenClaw config to your proxy URLYour API keys stay in your config as normal — they pass through ClawCap and are never stored.