---
title: 'Run OpenClaw Locally with Ollama (100% Private and Free)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=wQKx6TPZyg4'
video_id: 'wQKx6TPZyg4'
date: 2026-06-14
duration_sec: 315
---

# Run OpenClaw Locally with Ollama (100% Private and Free)

> Source: [Run OpenClaw Locally with Ollama (100% Private and Free)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=wQKx6TPZyg4)

## Summary

The video addresses two main concerns about using OpenClaw: cost and data privacy. It introduces a solution using Ollama to run OpenClaw with a local AI model, making it free and keeping data on your computer.

### Key Points

- **Reasons for Hesitation** [0:01] — People hesitate to use OpenClaw because it's not free (pay per token/task) and data leaves their computer to external servers.
- **How It Works** [0:51] — Ollama runs AI models locally; OpenClaw is configured to use the local model instead of cloud providers, ensuring data stays private.
- **Download and Install Ollama** [1:25] — Download Ollama from ollama.com/download and install it.
- **Choose a Model** [1:46] — Select a model from Ollama's library; more parameters mean smarter but more resource-intensive. Recommended: Kimmy K 2.5.
- **Install the Model** [2:29] — Copy the command from Ollama page, paste in terminal, and run. Confirm installation by sending a test message.
- **Install OpenClaw via Ollama** [3:12] — Use the command 'ollama launch openclaw' to install OpenClaw. Choose the local model (Kimmy 2.5) when prompted.
- **Test and Limitations** [4:36] — Local models are slower and less powerful than cloud models, but they are free and private.

### Conclusion

Running OpenClaw locally with Ollama is a viable option for privacy and cost savings, but users must accept slower performance and less capability compared to cloud-based AI.

## Transcript

Right now, there are two big reasons why
people are hesitating to use open cloud.
Number one, it is not free. You're
paying for every token, every task,
every agent use. That's money out of
your pocket.
And number two, every time you send
something to open cloud, it goes out on
someone else's server. Whether it's
ChatGPT or Anthropic, your data leaves
your computer, your contacts, personal
projects, all of that goes out on the
internet.
What if I tell you there's a way to use
open cloud without
using any token and your data stays on
your computer? So, today, let me
introduce you how to use Ollama to power
your open cloud with a local model. This
is completely free and your data is 100%
safe. So, how does this actually work?
There are two pieces. The first piece is
Ollama.
Think of it as a platform that runs AI
models locally on your computer. It
downloads the model, hosts it, and keeps
it running in the background. The second
piece, obviously, is open cloud. So,
normally, open cloud goes out to a
provider like Anthropic for [music] its
intelligence.
But, when you point it at Ollama
instead,
it calls for local model for
intelligence. This way, no internet is
involved, your data is completely safe.
So, the very first thing to do is just
to download Ollama. Head down to the
Ollama official website,
ollama.com/download,
and uh download the installation file.
And after doing that, just install
Ollama. Okay, now we open up this
application, Ollama, and uh we have a
fun task of picking a model which your
open cloud will be powered on.
So, just go to Ollama
official page, and these are a list of
models you can download to your
computer,
which can then be used to power open
cloud. But, before you pick a model,
there's one thing you need to
understand.
The most important thing about the model
is the parameters. The more parameter a
model has, the smarter it is. But, the
trade-off is it also takes up more space
on your computer and needs more
computing power. So, if you have a
regular laptop, you probably want to
start with something small.
For this tutorial, I'm going to pick up
a very popular model that performs
relatively well. It's called Kimmy K
2.5. Click on this copy button and then
open Open up a terminal,
paste in [music] this command, run it.
It will say something like, "If your
browser did not open, navigate to this."
So, copy this URL,
go back to your browser
>> [music]
>> and paste it.
Connect.
Go back to terminal, paste in this
command again, and hit [music] enter.
Connecting to Kimmy 2.5. Send a message.
Just say hi.
Okay, so this means your Kimmy model has
been installed on your computer. Go to
Ollama.
You should be able to find that model,
Kimmy K 2.5.
The next thing we want to do is to
install and launch open cloud via
Ollama.
To do it, also very straightforward,
head down to this link
and copy this command, Ollama launch
open cloud.
Copy it, go back to terminal,
paste it, and hit enter.
Open cloud is not installed. Install
with npm. Say yes. Uh it will ask you
which model do you want to use to power
open cloud. So, here, just press enter
on Kimmy 2.5.
Proceed. Yes.
And I understand the risk. Continue.
Yes.
So, if you're seeing this, that means
your open cloud has been successfully
installed. And sometimes, if you get hit
with an error message, that means your
node version is not up to date. What you
need to do is to just update node. And
the command to do that is
nvm install node.
So, right now, your open cloud is up and
running. If you want to see the
dashboard, scroll to this section. This
is the URL for your open cloud
dashboard. Copy the URL,
go to a browser, paste it.
And here you go. You can configure your
channel, your skills, and everything in
here.
You want If you want to test it out, you
can simply go back to the terminal and
say, "Who are you?"
Because we're running this on a local
model,
it's going to take a lot of time for it
to answer your questions.
So, to be honest with you, local models
are definitely not as powerful as
ChatGPT or cloud.
If you give it a complex, multi-step
task, it will struggle. The answers are
generally shorter, less nuanced, and
sometimes just worse. But, this is free
and uh it keeps your data safe. So, make
that trade-off and see if you want to
use open cloud this way.