How to Set Up OpenClaw on a Mini PC (No, You Don't Need a Mac Mini)

The Mac mini M4 is great hardware. It’s also been backordered since launch, with Apple’s signature “ships in 6-8 weeks” message mocking anyone who tries to order one.

You don’t need it.

OpenClaw is an AI assistant that runs on your own hardware, connects to your messaging apps, and does real work in the background — managing tasks, doing research, running automations. The kind of thing that benefits from being always-on, not running on a laptop that goes to sleep when you close it.

A $170 mini PC running Ubuntu handles it fine. That’s what mine runs on.

Why Dedicate a Machine

OpenClaw can run on your main computer, but it works better when it’s always available — running heartbeats, background tasks, agent work — without competing for resources with your browser and IDE. A mini PC draws 10-15W idle. Plug it in, forget it’s there.

Hardware

16GB RAM and a modern processor. OpenClaw isn’t resource-intensive, but you don’t want it fighting for headroom.

Beelink S12 Pro →

Intel N100, 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD. Punches well above its price. Ubuntu installs cleanly, no driver issues. For OpenClaw’s workload — agents, connections, web research — this is more than enough. The only limitation is heavier AI tasks, which you’d be offloading to cloud APIs anyway.

Beelink EQ12 Pro →

Same N100, better cooling, dual Ethernet. The second NIC is useful if you want to do anything with networking later — run a firewall, set up VLANs, whatever. Thirty bucks more for genuine flexibility.

Beelink SEi12 Pro →

Intel i5-1235U, 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD. The point where you stop thinking about the hardware. Fast enough to run a local LLM alongside OpenClaw if you want to experiment. Worth it if the machine is going to pull double duty.

Ubuntu Setup

Download Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, flash a USB drive with Balena Etcher, boot, click through the installer. Takes about 15 minutes. Linux installs on these machines are boring now, which is exactly how you want them.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install curl git build-essential -y

Installing OpenClaw

The official docs have the full walkthrough. Quick version:

npm install -g openclaw
openclaw setup

Setup walks you through connecting messaging apps (Telegram, Signal, etc.) and configuring your AI provider. About 10 minutes.

Keep it running after you close the terminal:

openclaw gateway start

Start on boot:

openclaw install-service

Machine boots, OpenClaw starts, it’s available. You don’t have to think about it again.

Do You Actually Need a Mac Mini?

Is the M4 better hardware? Sure. Does it matter for this workload? Not really. OpenClaw reads messages, runs agents, does web research, kicks off background tasks. An N100 handles all of that with room to spare. If you’re already on a Mac and have one, use it. If you’re waiting for stock, stop waiting.

What Else to Run on It

These mini PCs have enough headroom that OpenClaw barely dents the available resources. That leaves room for Proxmox, Pi-hole, Home Assistant, or whatever else you want running 24/7. A $170 machine doing the work of three or four services is a good deal.

Don’t want to set this up yourself? Check out LobsterHost — hosted OpenClaw with no server required. Sign up and your assistant is ready in seconds. 🦞

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