Everyone is going wild over this Clawdbot thing. My entire feed is full of it. So I’m going to give you my take as someone who’s been building with Claude Code for months.
Spoiler: it’s not going to change your life.
I’m Charles Dove, and I run Charlie Automates on YouTube and CC Strategic, an AI automation agency. I’ve been knee-deep in Claude Code, AI agents, and automation workflows for a while now. So when something like Clawdbot starts trending, I pay attention. Not to the hype. To what’s actually underneath it.
What Clawdbot Actually Is (Three Things)
Strip away the hype and Clawdbot is three things:
- Claude Opus with a Telegram wrapper that can execute cron jobs
- A messaging interface so you can chat with AI via Telegram, WhatsApp, or similar apps from your phone instead of a browser
- A scheduling layer so the bot can initiate messages to you, like morning briefs and reminders
That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
It’s not magic. It’s not AGI. It’s Claude with a gateway server and some TypeScript plugins. Everything Clawdbot does, regular Claude can already do. You’re just accessing it through a different interface.
Convenient? Yeah. World-changing? No. I’ve been doing this for months already with agentic workflows and cloud-based scheduling. This is just nice packaging around existing capabilities.
The Politics Nobody’s Talking About
Here’s the part nobody is covering. And this is where it gets interesting.
A few weeks ago, Anthropic sent a cease and desist to the creator of Clawdbot. The name “Claude” was too close to their trademark. So he had to rebrand the whole thing to Maltbot.
Then something shady happened.
The old Twitter handle and GitHub account became available. Guess who swooped in? Crypto grifters. They squatted on those handles, hijacked the names, and then created a fake token called “Claude” on Solana.
They pumped it all the way up to a $16 million market cap. Then dumped it. 90% crash.
The creator came out and said he never issued a token. He posted on Twitter: “Stop pinging me. Stop harassing me. I’ll never do a coin.”
So a huge portion of the hype you’re seeing about Clawdbot on the internet is not from genuine enthusiasm from developers who love the tool. It’s astroturfed by people trying to make money off a pump and dump.
That’s how this works. You blow something up on social media, create FOMO, and then you cash out. Not saying all the hype is fake. But a huge portion of it? Yeah, follow the money.
People Are Panic Buying $600 Mac Minis
Something else that’s blowing my mind. People are running out to buy $600 Mac Minis to run this thing. Mac Minis are sold out everywhere. Apple is probably very confused right now.
But here’s an idea. You know what else can run Clawdbot? A $5 VPS.
Spin up a Hostinger VPS in 20 minutes. Test it out for a month. Total cost: $5. If you love it after a month, great. Buy the hardware.
But no. People are panic buying hardware for something they haven’t even tried yet. This is FOMO in action. Everyone’s talking about it, Mac Minis are selling out, and everybody feels like they need dedicated hardware right now.
It’s crazy. You should test before you invest. The cheap VPS will tell you everything you need to know about it and if it fits your workflows or not.
The Use Cases That Rubbed Me the Wrong Way
Three particular use cases stood out to me. And not in a good way.
File Organization
Someone was organizing their downloads folder by file type using Clawdbot. You know what else does that? The Finder app on your Mac. Just organize by file type. You don’t need an AI assistant on dedicated hardware to sort your downloads.
”Research”
People are talking about internet research, Twitter scraping, daily summarization of group chats. This is all technobabble for “I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m not making any money with this.”
Research is a catch-all term for people using AI to feel productive without producing anything.
Texting Your Wife
Then there was a guy who was using it to text his wife. His wife was having a back-and-forth conversation with his AI assistant.
Congrats for automating being a bad husband.
The Common Thread
Notice what’s missing from all of these use cases? Revenue.
None of this makes money. None of this builds a business. It’s productivity theater right now.
The Three Real Problems With Clawdbot
There are three main problems with Clawdbot right now: cost, security, and maturity.
1. Cost
API usage adds up really quick. Especially when you have an always-on, 24/7 assistant running in the background. One guy on Twitter spent $300 on tokens using it for what he thought were basic tasks. That’s a huge red flag.
2. Security
This is an even bigger red flag. Someone scanned the internet and found over 900 Clawdbot instances running with zero authentication. Open ports. Exposed API keys. ENV tokens readable by anyone.
People are spinning up VPS instances, not reading the docs, and leaving everything wide open. Anyone can jump in and read your Anthropic API key, your email credentials, whatever you’ve configured.
In the security world, you’d consider this a massive nightmare. But that doesn’t get as many clicks as “Clawdbot helped me automate my morning routine,” right?
3. It’s Not Finished
The creator himself said, and I quote: “Most techies should not install this. It’s not finished. I know about the sharp edges. It’s not even 3 months old.”
The guy who built it is telling you not to install it. And you’re out buying a Mac Mini.
What You Should Actually Do
Here’s what I would tell anybody interested in using Clawdbot:
- Don’t buy a Mac Mini. Not yet.
- Don’t buy somebody’s course. You don’t need a course for this.
- Don’t panic because it’s trending. Trends fade. Smart decisions don’t.
If you’re genuinely interested, spin up a $5 VPS. Install it for a week. See if it fits your workflows.
Ask yourself: what can this do that Claude in my browser can’t already do?
If the answer is “I can message it from Telegram,” the next question is: is that worth the setup, the cost, and the risk?
Follow the Money
When everybody is hyping something up, ask who’s benefiting.
Influencers get views. Course creators get sales. Crypto guys get richer. What do you get?
Clawdbot is not going to change your life. It’s not going to make you money. It’s a neat wrapper around Claude that lets you message it from your phone. That’s it.
The stuff Clawdbot does, Claude can already do more securely. Without exposing your API keys to the internet. Without dedicated hardware. Without the $300 weekly invoice.
What I’d Recommend Instead
If you want to actually build something that makes money with AI, you need a real system. Not a shiny Telegram bot.
At Charlie Automates, I teach people how to use Claude Code to build actual revenue-generating tools. Things like client-facing apps, automation workflows, and AI agents that solve real business problems.
The difference? Every tool I teach connects back to cash flow. Not vibes.
If you want to go deeper on Claude Code, n8n, and AI automation that actually pays, join CC Strategic AI on Skool. I’ve got free templates, workflows, and a community of builders who are focused on results over hype.
And if you want hands-on help building your AI systems, you can work with me 1-on-1 or book a call with CC Strategic for agency-level work.
My Whole Philosophy
My whole thing is this: test before you invest. Don’t believe the hype. If you’re already running Clawdbot and loving it, great. I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m saying most people jumping on this bandwagon have no idea what they’re getting themselves into.
Build things that make money. Use tools that are secure. And never let FOMO make your purchasing decisions for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Clawdbot (Maltbot)?
Clawdbot, now rebranded to Maltbot after a cease and desist from Anthropic, is basically Claude Opus with a Telegram wrapper and a scheduling layer. It lets you chat with Claude AI through messaging apps like Telegram or WhatsApp instead of a web browser. It can also schedule tasks and send you automated messages like morning briefs.
Is Clawdbot worth buying a Mac Mini for?
No. At least not before you’ve tested it. You can run Clawdbot on a $5 VPS from Hostinger. Try it for a month before spending $600 on dedicated hardware. The VPS will tell you everything you need to know about whether it fits your workflow.
Is Clawdbot safe to use?
There are serious security concerns right now. Someone found over 900 Clawdbot instances running with zero authentication, exposed API keys, and open ports. The creator himself said it’s not finished and most techies shouldn’t install it yet. If you do run it, make sure you lock down your authentication and never expose your API keys.
Why is everyone hyping Clawdbot?
Part of the hype is genuine interest. But a big chunk of it is astroturfed by crypto grifters who created a fake “Claude” token on Solana to pump and dump. Influencers get views. Course creators get sales. The people who benefit most from the hype aren’t always the people using the tool.
Can Claude already do what Clawdbot does?
Yes. Everything Clawdbot does, Claude can do through your browser or through Claude Code in the terminal. The only real difference is the messaging interface. You can already build Telegram bots, set up cron jobs, and run agentic workflows without Clawdbot. It’s nice packaging around existing capabilities.
How much does Clawdbot cost to run?
API usage can get expensive fast. One user reported spending $300 on tokens for what he thought were basic tasks. When you have an always-on AI assistant running 24/7, token costs stack up quickly. Factor in VPS or hardware costs on top of that.
What should I use instead of Clawdbot?
Use Claude directly through your browser or Claude Code in the terminal. Pair it with agentic workflows, cloud-based scheduling, and tools like n8n for automation. You’ll get the same results without the security risks, the hardware investment, or the runaway API costs. If you want to learn how, join CC Strategic AI on Skool for free templates and workflows.