The 30-Second Overview
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| First step | Connect an AI model (an API key on Pro; Advanced comes wired to Roamer AI) |
| What your first task should be | Something you actually have to do this week |
| Where not to start | "Let's see what it can do" |
| AI model costs | Pro: bring your own API key and pay the provider; Advanced: Roamer AI by default, counted against a daily allowance |
| Fastest way to see value | Repetitive data cleanup |
What Is OpenClaw?
OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent platform that gives you a digital employee working 24/7, year-round. Because of the "claw" in its name and its logo, the Chinese-speaking community has taken to nicknaming it the "lobster" — so if you see people discussing the "lobster AI agent," they mean OpenClaw. It can:
- Chat in text — talk with you like ChatGPT, answer questions, write copy
- Call APIs — connect to third-party services automatically and complete automated workflows
- Drive a browser (Pro and up) — operate web pages, scrape data, fill in forms
- Run scheduled tasks — set jobs on a timer and let the agent run them automatically
RoamerHost is a fully managed platform for OpenClaw. You don't have to run a server yourself — we handle every technical detail. On Pro, you just bring your own LLM API key (OpenAI, Claude, and so on); Advanced comes with Roamer AI already connected, so you don't even need a key.
Step 1: Create an Account
- Go to roamerhost.com
- Click "Start Free" in the top right, or the "One-Click Install" button on the homepage
- Enter your name, email, and password to register
- Verify your email address
Step 2: Pick a Plan
We offer two plans — pick the one that matches your needs:
| Plan | Who it's for | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | Users who need text chat and API integrations, or want to drive web pages, scrape data, or split work across several agents | Text chat, API calls, scheduled tasks + browser automation; 10 GB of storage; 1–5 custom agents |
| Advanced | Users who want AI to build agents and tune their lobster for them | Everything in Pro (browser automation included), double the storage at 20 GB, plus commercial Roamer AI access; 5–10 custom agents |
Tip: If you're not sure what you need, start with Pro. You can upgrade at any time — to add Roamer AI, click "Add Roamer AI (upgrade to Advanced)" on the Roamer AI card of your instance page under My Projects. It takes effect as soon as you pay, and your lobster and its data stay as they are — no rebuild needed.
Step 3: Pay and Install in One Click
- Once you've picked a plan, fill in your billing details
- Complete the payment by credit card
- After payment goes through, the system builds your own OpenClaw instance automatically within 60 seconds
- You get a dedicated subdomain, for example
your-name.roamerhost.com
Step 4: Set Up Your LLM API Key
On Pro, OpenClaw needs an LLM (large language model) API key to power its AI capabilities. Advanced comes with Roamer AI connected by default, so you can skip this step and add a key later only if you want to use your own model. Currently supported:
- OpenAI (GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo)
- Anthropic (Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 4)
- Other OpenAI-compatible APIs
How to set it up:
- Sign in to your OpenClaw control panel (through your dedicated subdomain)
- Go to "Settings" → "LLM Settings"
- Choose your LLM provider
- Paste in your API key
- Click "Save"
Security note: Your API key is stored AES-256 encrypted inside your isolated container, where no one else can reach it.
Step 5: Start Talking to Your AI Agent
Once setup is done, you're ready to go.
- Type what you want the agent to do into the OpenClaw interface
- For example: "Draft a reply to this customer," or "Look up today's weather in Taipei"
- The agent responds in real time and carries out the task you gave it
FAQ
Q: Do I need to know how to code?
No. OpenClaw has a graphical interface — if you can type, you can use it.
Q: How are API key costs calculated?
When you use your own API key (required on Pro, optional on Advanced), usage is billed directly by the LLM provider (OpenAI, for instance), separately from your RoamerHost subscription. Advanced answers with Roamer AI by default, so no key is needed; usage counts toward your Roamer AI daily allowance, which resets at 00:00 Taipei time.
Q: Can I cancel at any time?
Yes. You can cancel your subscription from billing management whenever you like, with no penalty. After cancellation, service stops at the end of the current billing period.
Q: Is my data secure?
Very. Every user's OpenClaw instance runs in its own Docker container, fully isolated. API keys are stored AES-256 encrypted. Data on your work computer is never accessible to the agent.
Q: What if I run into problems?
You can reach us in either of these ways:
- Email: [email protected]
- Go to the "Contact Us" page
Full Tutorial Index
- OpenClaw for Beginners (this article)
- Post-Install Configuration Guide
- API Key Setup Guide
- Messaging Platform Integration Guide
- Installing Skills
- Wiping and Rebuilding Your Instance
- FAQ
Three Practical Starter Tasks
If you can't think of anything to try, these three usually land on the first attempt:
| Task | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Clean up a messy dataset | The output is unambiguous — you can see at a glance whether it's right |
| Summarize a long document | No external tools needed; it's a pure test of comprehension |
| Pull a set of public data off a web page | It exercises browser automation, and it's where the difference from an ordinary AI shows most clearly |
The third one shows off what makes it different — that's something a pure chat AI simply cannot do.
How to Choose Your First Task
Most people spend their first session asking test questions, then conclude "eh, it's okay."
The problem isn't the tool. It's that test questions can't reveal value in the first place. The value is in doing things you already had to do but that take a lot of your time.
Three conditions for picking a task:
- You actually have to do it this week — not hypothetically
- It's repetitive — you've done it more than once
- The output is well defined — you can say what "done" should look like
A task that meets all three will land on the first try.
How to State a Task Clearly
This is the part that really takes practice. An effective instruction usually covers four things:
| What to state | Example |
|---|---|
| What to do | "Clean up this order list" |
| Where the data comes from | "From the CSV I pasted in" |
| What format to produce | "Output a table grouped by month" |
| What the constraints are | "Don't count rows with an amount of zero" |
The fourth one is the most commonly skipped, and the most common cause of results that look right but aren't.
Further Reading
- OpenClaw Pre-Purchase FAQ: Model Costs, Choosing a Plan, and What It Covers
- What OpenClaw Can and Can't Do: Boundaries and Choosing a Plan
Want Someone to Build It for You?
If you'd rather not build these workflows yourself, or the scope is big enough that you want help planning them, Roamer Tech (RoamerHost's parent company) takes on contract work for business process automation and AI agents:
