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by tuesdaynight 105 days ago
Are small local models good enough for driving OpenClaw-likes or an API key from one of the big labs is needed?
2 comments

Depends on what you're using it for I suppose. A common tactic with Openclaw itself is to have a cheap or local model as the default, with rules to "escalate" to other models based on task complexity/type. But if every cron job comes with complete access to your personal machine and browser profile... Yeah, better go for the most predictable model you can find.
I always recommend Claude Opus 4.6 for anything OpenClaw gets its hands on.
I was hopeful that small models would be enough for the majority of the tasks, but I understand that it's not the case yet. But thanks for answering