Option 1: Tencent Cloud Lightweight Application Server
Priced at around ¥20 a month or ¥59 for three months, this is honestly one of the cheapest ways I’ve seen to get started. Domestic access is super fast and the whole deployment process is genuinely beginner-friendly.
The only real thing to keep in mind is data compliance. Since it’s a domestic server, it falls under local regulations. For personal projects or internal automation bots it’s completely fine. But if your project touches anything sensitive, an overseas server is the safer route.
Deployment couldn’t be simpler: buy the lightweight server, pick the OpenClaw pre-installed image, wait a few minutes for it to spin up, then log into the dashboard and drop your model’s API Key and URL into the config file. That’s literally it.
Option 2: Hostinger KVM2
I’ve been running the KVM2 plan at about ¥69 a month. It’s an overseas server, so you don’t have to worry about domestic data compliance rules — much better for any longer-term project where that stuff actually matters.
On the stability side, I’ve had it running for roughly six months now and only ran into one maintenance window that lasted about an hour. Nothing I’d even complain about. Yeah, it costs more than Tencent Cloud, but if data sovereignty is important to you, the extra money feels worth it.
The deployment is basically the same story: buy the VPS, choose the OpenClaw pre-installed image, let it initialize, then log in and set up your config.
Key configuration steps (works for both options)
Once you’re inside the terminal, just hand everything over to Claude Code. Give it your OpenClaw API URL, API Key, and model name — it writes the config file for you directly. No manual editing, no fuss.
Connecting a bot platform is just as painless. OpenClaw supports Discord, Telegram, and Feishu. You create the bot, grab the token, drop it into the OpenClaw config, and restart the service. If you’re not sure about the exact commands, ask Claude Code to spit them out for you — it handles it in seconds.
How it feels in practice
The real beauty of using a pre-installed image is that it completely removes all the environment setup headaches. Getting OpenClaw live basically boils down to three things: pick a server, fill in your API details, and authorize the bot platform. With the pre-installed image, the whole process takes under ten minutes.
After that, you’ve got a 24/7 AI assistant ready to go — whether it’s handling automated customer service, running in a group as a bot, serving as your private AI workflow hub, or just being your personal command center for all your AI tools.
If saving every yuan matters most, go with Tencent Cloud. If data freedom and long-term peace of mind are higher on your list, go with Hostinger. Either way, once it’s up you can hand the rest off to OpenClaw and Claude and just let it run.