ClawdBot is everywhere right now. The open-source AI agent that turns your Mac Mini into a personal assistant you can message on WhatsApp.
But before you set one up, ask yourself: do you actually need an AI agent, or do you need automation?
These are different things.
What ClawdBot does well
ClawdBot excels at tasks that are interactive, ambiguous, or require real-time judgment.
Interactive tasks: You send a message, the AI responds, you refine your request, it takes action. Back and forth until you get what you want.
Ambiguous situations: "Look at my desktop and help me organize these files." The AI needs to see what is there, make judgment calls about categories, and ask clarifying questions.
Screen-aware work: Tasks that need to observe what is happening on your screen and respond in real-time.
Exploration: When you do not know exactly what you want. The AI can help you figure it out through conversation.
For these use cases, an agent is genuinely useful. You cannot write a script for "help me think through this problem."
What scheduled scripts do well
Scripts excel at tasks that are predictable, repeatable, and time-based.
Predictable inputs: You know exactly what data you need. A URL, an API endpoint, a file location.
Predictable outputs: You know exactly what you want. An email notification, a Slack message, a saved file.
Scheduled execution: The task should run at specific times. Every morning at 8am. Every hour. Every Monday.
No human interaction needed: The script runs, does its job, and delivers results. No conversation required.
For these use cases, a script is simpler, more reliable, and more predictable than an agent.
The decision framework
Here is how to decide:
| If your task... | Use |
|---|---|
| Requires back-and-forth conversation | ClawdBot |
| Has ambiguous requirements you need to figure out | ClawdBot |
| Needs to see your screen in real-time | ClawdBot |
| Should run at specific times without your involvement | Script |
| Has predictable inputs and outputs | Script |
| Is the same task repeated on a schedule | Script |
Most daily automation falls into the second category.
Real examples
"Organize my messy desktop": ClawdBot. This requires seeing what files exist, making judgment calls about categories, and potentially asking you questions.
"Check this price every day and email me if it drops below $50": Script. Predictable input (URL), predictable output (email if condition met), scheduled execution.
"Help me debug this code": ClawdBot. Interactive, requires context, benefits from conversation.
"Send me a summary of my analytics every Monday": Script. Same task every week, predictable data source, predictable output format.
"Research competitors and tell me what changed": Could be either. If you want to have a conversation about what you find, ClawdBot. If you just want a weekly digest in your inbox, script.
"Remind me about upcoming deadlines": Script. Calendar integration, scheduled check, notification when conditions are met.
The hidden costs of ClawdBot
ClawdBot is free and open-source, but running it is not free.
Hardware: You need a machine running 24/7. A Mac Mini ($599+), a VPS ($5-20/month), or your laptop always on.
API tokens: ClawdBot uses AI APIs constantly. One user reported 180 million tokens over a few months. At standard API pricing, that adds up.
Maintenance: Skills need updates. Permissions need configuration. Things break and need debugging.
Always-on overhead: The agent runs continuously, even when you are not using it.
For a script that runs once a day, you pay for one API call per day. For an always-on agent, you pay for the agent thinking about whether it should do something, all day long.
When to use both
The best approach for many people: use ClawdBot for exploration and scripts for execution.
Use ClawdBot to figure out what you want. Have a conversation. Experiment. See what is possible.
Once you know exactly what you want, write a script that does that specific thing on a schedule. No agent overhead. No always-on costs. Predictable execution.
ClawdBot is great for prototyping automation. Scripts are great for running it.
Humrun examples that replace common ClawdBot use cases
These are tasks people set up ClawdBot for that work better as scheduled scripts:
Price drop alerts: Check prices on a schedule, email when something drops. No agent needed.
Competitor monitoring: Fetch competitor pages weekly, AI summarizes changes. Delivered to your inbox.
Morning briefing: Weather, calendar, and news compiled into one email every morning at 7am.
Weekly analytics digest: Pull your data, AI writes a summary, arrives every Monday.
Job board monitor: Watch job listings, notify you of new relevant posts.
Blog to Twitter thread: Convert new blog posts into Twitter thread format automatically.
Each of these runs on a schedule, uses AI only when needed, and delivers results without requiring an always-on agent.
The bottom line
ClawdBot is impressive technology. For interactive, ambiguous tasks where you want to converse with an AI that can take action, it offers something new.
But most daily automation is not interactive or ambiguous. It is: check something, process it, notify me. On a schedule.
For that, a script is simpler.
Write the script. Set the schedule. Get the result in your inbox.
No agent required.