Mac Mini sales have spiked. Reports mention developers buying 12 units at once. The reason: ClawdBot, the open-source AI agent that turns your hardware into a personal assistant.
But free software is not free to run. Here is what it actually costs.
Hardware costs
ClawdBot needs a machine running 24/7 to stay available. You have options, each with different price points.
Mac Mini
The popular choice. Starts at $599 for the base model. Runs macOS natively, which means full iMessage integration and a familiar environment.
Some developers are buying multiple units. At $599 each, 12 Mac Minis totals over $7,000. Most people need one.
The Mac Mini draws about 5-10 watts at idle. Running 24/7, that is roughly $10-20 per year in electricity, depending on your rates.
VPS / Cloud server
You do not need dedicated hardware. A virtual private server works fine for basic usage.
Basic tier ($3-5/month): Enough for chat interactions and simple tasks. Limited memory may cause issues during npm install.
Standard tier ($10-20/month): 2-4GB RAM. Handles most use cases comfortably.
Browser automation tier ($20-40/month): 4GB+ RAM. Required if you want ClawdBot to control a headless browser.
Annual cost: $36-480, depending on your needs.
Your existing laptop
Free, but with trade-offs. ClawdBot pauses when your laptop sleeps. Updates interrupt availability. Battery drain is constant if you are on the go.
Fine for testing. Not ideal for "assistant that is always available."
Local LLM setup
If you want to run models locally instead of using APIs, you need more hardware.
An RTX 4090 runs $1,500-2,000. Smaller models work on less powerful GPUs, but response quality drops.
Most users stick with API-based models and skip the GPU investment.
API costs
This is where the real expense hides.
ClawdBot uses AI APIs for every interaction. Unlike ChatGPT where you pay a flat monthly fee, API usage is metered. The more the agent thinks, the more you pay.
The MacStories data point
Federico Viticci at MacStories documented his ClawdBot usage: 180 million tokens over a few months of active use.
At Anthropic's Claude API pricing (roughly $3 per million input tokens, $15 per million output tokens for Claude 3.5 Sonnet), heavy usage can cost $50-200+ per month.
Why agents burn tokens
A chat interface like ChatGPT uses tokens only when you ask it something.
An agent uses tokens constantly:
- Processing every incoming message
- Deciding whether to take action
- Reading context from memory
- Planning multi-step tasks
- Checking "heartbeats" (periodic self-checks)
- Summarizing information for future reference
The agent is always thinking, even when you are not talking to it.
Typical cost ranges
Light usage (occasional questions): $10-30/month
Moderate usage (daily interactions): $30-100/month
Heavy usage (treating it as a full assistant): $100-300+/month
These are estimates. Your actual cost depends on how much you use it and which model you choose.
Reducing API costs
Use cheaper models for simple tasks. Claude Haiku or GPT-4-mini cost a fraction of the flagship models.
Disable proactive features if you do not need them. Heartbeats and automatic summaries burn tokens in the background.
Use local models for non-critical tasks. Quality is lower, but cost is zero after hardware investment.
Time investment
Setup is marketed as "under 30 minutes." That is true for basic functionality.
Initial setup
Install Node.js, run the wizard, configure your first channel. 15-30 minutes for someone comfortable with the command line.
Add 30-60 minutes if you need to set up a VPS, configure Docker, or troubleshoot permission issues.
Ongoing maintenance
Skills and plugins need updates. The codebase is evolving rapidly, with many contributions made by the AI itself. Things change.
Permissions need configuration. When you add new capabilities, you need to grant appropriate access.
Debugging is part of the experience. The maintainer acknowledges "onboarding is still rough." Expect occasional issues.
Budget 1-2 hours per week for maintenance if you are actively using ClawdBot. Less once your setup is stable.
The comparison math
Let us compare running ClawdBot versus scheduled scripts for common automation tasks.
ClawdBot setup
- Hardware: $599 (Mac Mini) or $120/year (VPS)
- API costs: $50-150/month typical
- Time: 2-4 hours setup, 1-2 hours/week maintenance
Annual cost: $700-2,400 depending on choices
Scheduled scripts
- Hardware: None (runs in cloud)
- API costs: Pay per run, not per thought
- Time: Write once, runs automatically
With Humrun at $10/month for 1,000 script runs, you get 30+ daily automations. A price check that runs once costs one API call. An agent thinking about whether to check costs tokens all day.
Annual cost: $120 for extensive daily automation
Where the math favors ClawdBot
If you use it as a genuine interactive assistant multiple times per day, the cost per interaction can be reasonable. The value is in the conversation, not just the automation.
If you enjoy tinkering and want a project, the time investment is part of the appeal.
Where the math favors scripts
If your automation is "run this task at this time," an agent is overhead.
Checking a price once a day should cost one API call, not background token burn.
Sending a weekly report should use AI once a week, not have an agent thinking about it constantly.
The real question
ClawdBot costs money and time to run. So does any tool.
The question is whether your use case needs an always-on agent, or whether it needs scheduled execution.
For interactive work where you want to converse with an AI that can take action, ClawdBot offers something new. The cost is the price of that capability.
For scheduled tasks with predictable inputs and outputs, you are paying for capability you do not use. An agent sitting idle still costs tokens. A script that runs once a day costs one execution.
Humrun examples
These scheduled automations replace common ClawdBot use cases at a fraction of the cost:
Price drop alerts: One API call per check, not continuous monitoring.
Morning briefing: Runs once at 7am, uses AI once, delivers one email.
Competitor monitoring: Weekly check, weekly AI summary, weekly email.
Analytics digest: Monday morning execution, not always-on processing.
Job board monitor: Scheduled checks, notifications only when something is new.
Each runs when scheduled, uses resources only during execution, and costs a predictable amount.
The bottom line
ClawdBot is not expensive if you use it for what it is good at: interactive, conversational AI assistance.
ClawdBot is expensive if you use it for scheduled automation that could run as a simple script.
Know what you need. Choose accordingly.
For interactive AI work: ClawdBot might be worth the investment.
For scheduled automation: start with scripts. Add an agent later if you actually need one.