If you’ve been following my OpenClaw journey, you know I’ve been a big fan of setting up AI agents on cheap cloud servers. But MiniMax just dropped something that makes the whole process even easier — and completely free. It’s called MaxClaw, and it’s basically OpenClaw running in the cloud with MiniMax’s M2.5 model, ready to go out of the box. No servers, no API keys, no deployment headaches.
What Is MaxClaw?
MaxClaw is MiniMax’s new cloud-based AI assistant that combines three things: OpenClaw’s open-source agent framework, MiniMax’s own agent infrastructure, and their latest M2.5 model. The result is a fully managed OpenClaw instance that runs 24/7 without you having to touch a terminal.
For context, in my previous guide, I walked through setting up OpenClaw on a Zeabur server with MiniMax M2.5 — choosing a server, installing via command line, configuring API keys, the whole thing. It worked great and only cost about $20 a month, but it still required some technical know-how. MaxClaw removes all of that friction entirely.
Why This Is a Big Deal
The biggest selling point is simplicity. With MaxClaw, there’s no deployment to handle and no extra API costs. MiniMax is hosting everything for you, and the M2.5 model is included. You just sign up through the MiniMax Agent web interface and you’re running.
What makes this particularly interesting is the platform support. MaxClaw works across Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, and Discord right out of the box. Previously, connecting OpenClaw to messaging platforms required additional configuration — setting up bot tokens, configuring webhooks, and making sure your server stayed online. MaxClaw handles all of that automatically with 24/7 uptime.
MiniMax also launched this alongside their Expert 2.0 upgrade, which means you get access to their ready-made Expert ecosystem. These are pre-built specialized agents that can handle specific tasks, and they integrate directly into MaxClaw without any extra setup.
How MiniMax M2.5 Stacks Up
For those unfamiliar, MiniMax M2.5 is a seriously capable model. It’s available on platforms like Ollama for local use, and it performs well on coding benchmarks like SWE-Bench Verified. The model supports both text and code tasks, making it versatile for the kind of agent work OpenClaw excels at — web searches, data scraping, task automation, and more.
What’s impressive is the cost-to-performance ratio. When I was running M2.5 through the API on my own server, it was already one of the cheapest options for the intelligence level you get. With MaxClaw, that cost drops to zero since MiniMax is absorbing the compute costs. Whether this stays free forever remains to be seen, but right now it’s an incredible deal.
Getting Started with MaxClaw
The setup process is dramatically simpler than the manual route I covered before. Here’s the gist:
- Head to the MiniMax Agent web interface
- Look for the MaxClaw option — it’s integrated directly into the platform
- Connect your preferred messaging platform (Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, or Slack)
- Start chatting with your AI agent
That’s it. No server provisioning, no SSH terminals, no PATH exports, no API key juggling. The whole thing takes minutes instead of the 15+ minutes my previous setup required.
What Can You Actually Do With It?
Since MaxClaw is built on OpenClaw, you get the full range of agent capabilities. Web searching, browsing, file management, code execution — all the tools that make OpenClaw powerful are available here. The upgraded built-in tools that MiniMax added make it even more capable for real work tasks.
You also get access to the MiniMax Expert ecosystem, which adds specialized agents on top of the base capabilities. Think of it as having pre-configured skills that your agent can tap into without you having to build them from scratch.
For beginners especially, this is the easiest on-ramp to AI agents I’ve seen. You don’t need to understand Linux, cloud servers, or command-line tools. You just need a MiniMax account and a messaging app.
Should You Switch from a Manual Setup?
If you already have OpenClaw running on your own server, MaxClaw isn’t necessarily a replacement — it’s more of a complement. Running your own instance gives you full control over configuration, data, and which models you use. MaxClaw trades that control for convenience and zero cost.
For anyone who hasn’t set up OpenClaw yet, though, MaxClaw is the obvious starting point. Try it for free, see if AI agents fit your workflow, and then decide if you want to invest in a more customized setup later.
Final Thoughts
MaxClaw is exactly the kind of move I was hoping to see in the AI agent space — taking powerful open-source tools and making them accessible to everyone. MiniMax combining their M2.5 model with OpenClaw’s framework and hosting it for free is a strong play that lowers the barrier to entry significantly.
I’ll be doing more deep dives into MaxClaw’s capabilities in upcoming videos, including how to set up advanced integrations and get the most out of the Expert ecosystem. If you want to follow along, make sure to subscribe to @BoxminingAI and join our Discord community for tips and discussions.
Michael Gu
Michael Gu, Creator of Boxmining, stared in the Blockchain space as a Bitcoin miner in 2012. Something he immediately noticed was that accurate information is hard to come by in this space. He started Boxmining in 2017 mainly as a passion project, to educate people on digital assets and share his experiences. Being based in Asia, Michael also found a huge discrepancy between digital asset trends and knowledge gap in the West and China.