Deploy openclaw.ai on Hostinger VPS
Deploy openclaw.ai on Hostinger VPS for affordable, reliable cloud hosting starting at $4.99/month.
Budget-Friendly
Hostinger offers some of the most affordable VPS plans on the market. Their KVM 1 plan ($4.99/month) includes 1 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, and 50 GB NVMe â excellent value for openclaw.ai.
đ Prerequisites
Create a Hostinger VPS
Log in to hPanel and set up your VPS:
- Go to VPS â Setup on your purchased VPS plan
- Select your preferred server location (US, Europe, Asia, South America)
- Under Operating System, choose Ubuntu 22.04 64bit
- Set a strong Root Password
- Optionally, set a Hostname (e.g.,
openclaw-vps) - Click Continue to provision the server
SSH Key Setup
For better security, add your SSH public key in hPanel under VPS â Settings â SSH Keys after provisioning. Then disable password authentication.
Connect via SSH
Find your VPS IP address in hPanel under VPS â Information, then connect:
# Replace with your VPS IP from hPanel
ssh root@your-vps-ipAlternatively, Hostinger provides a Browser terminal in hPanel â click VPS â Browser terminal if you can't use a local SSH client.
System Update & Dependencies
Update the package index and upgrade all installed packages:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -yInstall Node.js 22
openclaw.ai requires Node.js 22 or higher. Install it from the official NodeSource repository:
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
node --version # Should show v22.x.xInstall openclaw.ai
Run the official one-line installer:
curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bashRun Onboarding
Launch the interactive onboarding wizard. The --install-daemon flag automatically configures openclaw.ai to run as a background service:
openclaw onboard --install-daemonThe wizard will walk you through:
- Authentication setup (API keys for your LLM provider)
- Gateway configuration (port, allowed origins)
- Optional channel setup (Slack, Discord, etc.)
Verify Installation
Confirm everything is running correctly:
# Check system configuration
openclaw doctor
# Verify the gateway is healthy
openclaw health
# Open the web dashboard
openclaw dashboard
# Dashboard available at http://your-vps-ip:18789Configure Hostinger Firewall
Hostinger VPS uses a built-in firewall you can manage through hPanel and the OS-level ufw:
Via hPanel
- Go to VPS â Settings â Firewall
- Enable the firewall if not already active
- Add rules to allow SSH (port 22) and the openclaw dashboard (port 18789)
Via Command Line (ufw)
# Enable ufw and allow SSH first (important!)
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
sudo ufw allow 18789/tcp
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw statusAlways Allow SSH First
Always add the SSH rule before enabling ufw, or you'll lock yourself out of the server. If that happens, use the hPanel Browser terminal to regain access.
Keep Running with systemd
The --install-daemon flag from Step 6 already set up a systemd user service. To check its status:
# Check gateway status via openclaw CLI
openclaw gateway status
# Or check directly via systemd
systemctl --user status openclaw-gateway
# View live logs
journalctl --user -u openclaw-gateway -fThe service will automatically restart on failure and start on boot.
đ§ Troubleshooting
If you enabled ufw without allowing SSH first:
- Go to hPanel â VPS â Browser terminal
- Run:
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp - Verify with:
sudo ufw status
Check both the hPanel firewall and the OS-level firewall:
# Check if the gateway is listening
ss -tlnp | grep 18789
# Check ufw
sudo ufw status
sudo ufw allow 18789/tcpAlso verify the firewall rules in hPanel under VPS â Settings â Firewall.
Check resource usage on the server:
# Check memory usage
free -h
# Check disk usage
df -h
# Check running processes
topHostinger KVM 1 includes 4 GB RAM which should be ample. If you're running other services on the same VPS, consider upgrading or removing unused software.
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