Creating Your First Instance

What You'll Set Up

An instance is a dedicated server running OpenClaw, provisioned exclusively for you. Each instance gets its own resources (CPU, RAM, storage), its own IP address, and runs in an isolated Docker container. Nobody else shares your server.

This guide walks through every screen of the creation wizard, from billing mode to a running instance.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• A ClawHosters account (sign up at clawhosters.com if needed)
• An LLM API key from your provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, or another supported provider)
• For daily billing: enough Claws balance to cover the setup fee and first day

Opening the Creation Wizard

From your dashboard, click New Instance. This opens the creation wizard, a four-step process that guides you through all the decisions.

If capacity is currently full (all available server slots are taken), you'll see a waitlist page instead. Slots typically free up within a few hours.

Step 1: Choose Billing Mode

The first screen asks how you want to pay:

Daily (Pay-as-you-go) - Claws are deducted from your balance once per day at midnight UTC - A one-time setup fee applies when creating the instance - Your instance runs as long as you have balance - If your balance hits zero, the instance pauses automatically (data preserved for 3 days) - Good for testing, development, or variable usage patterns

Monthly Subscription - Fixed monthly payment processed through Stripe - Runs continuously with no interruptions - No setup fee - Cancel anytime from your billing settings

Pick the mode that fits your use case and click Continue.

Step 2: Select Tier and Name

Choose the server resources for your instance:

Tier	vCPU	RAM	Storage	Monthly Price	Daily Cost
Budget	2	4 GB	40 GB	€19/month	45 Claws/day
Balanced	4	8 GB	80 GB	€35/month	75 Claws/day
Pro	8	16 GB	160 GB	€59/month	125 Claws/day

Budget handles personal assistants and low-traffic bots without issues. Choose Balanced if you expect multiple concurrent conversations or heavier processing. Pro is for production workloads with high throughput.

The wizard auto-generates an instance name based on your email address. You can change it to anything you like. Names are unique per account, not globally. Two different accounts can both have an instance called "My Bot".

After selecting your tier and naming the instance, click Continue.

Step 3: Configure API Key

This step configures how your instance connects to an LLM provider.

Currently, ClawHosters supports BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) mode. You connect your existing API key from a provider like Anthropic or OpenAI. The key is encrypted and stored on your instance only.

You don't enter the key here in the wizard. The API key configuration happens after your instance is running, through the instance settings page.

Using Claude with a Pro or Max subscription? You can generate a setup-token by running claude setup-token in your terminal. Check the Claude Setup-Token guide for the full process.

Click Continue to proceed to the summary.

Step 4: Review and Create

The summary screen shows everything you've selected:

• Billing mode (daily or monthly)
• Tier with resource details
• Instance name
• Estimated costs (setup fee for daily, or monthly price for subscription)

Review your choices. If anything needs changing, use the Back button to return to earlier steps.

For daily billing: Click Create Instance. The setup fee and first day's prorated Claws are deducted from your balance immediately. If your balance is too low, you'll be redirected to the Buy Claws page.

For monthly billing: Click Create Instance. You'll be redirected to Stripe to complete payment. After successful payment, the system automatically provisions your instance. This redirect is normal and secure.

Setup Fees (Daily Billing Only)

Tier	Setup Fee
Budget	150 Claws
Balanced	300 Claws
Pro	450 Claws

The setup fee is a one-time charge that covers the cost of spinning up your dedicated server. It's only charged for daily billing. Monthly subscriptions include this in the subscription price.

What Happens During Provisioning

After you confirm, your instance goes through these stages:

1. Server Creation - A dedicated Hetzner Cloud server spins up in Falkenstein, Germany. Takes about 30 seconds.
2. Security Hardening - Firewall rules, fail2ban, and Docker isolation are applied automatically.
3. Container Start - The OpenClaw Docker container launches with your configuration.
4. Health Check - The system verifies the container responds correctly.

The entire process typically completes within 60 seconds. You can watch the progress in real-time on the processing page.

Once provisioning finishes, your instance status changes to Running and you're redirected to the instance detail page.

After Your Instance Is Running

With a running instance, you can:

• Access the Web UI - Click the instance URL in your dashboard to open the built-in gateway interface
• Connect messaging channels - Pair Telegram, WhatsApp, or Discord bots through the instance settings
• Configure your API key - Add your LLM provider key in the instance settings
• Monitor usage - Check resource consumption and logs from the dashboard

Troubleshooting

"Insufficient balance" error Your Claws balance is too low to cover the setup fee plus first day's cost. Buy more Claws from the billing page and try again.

Instance stuck on "Provisioning" Provisioning normally takes under 60 seconds. If it's been more than 5 minutes, try refreshing the page. The system has automatic retry logic. If the issue persists, contact support.

Stripe payment page didn't load Check that your browser isn't blocking redirects or pop-ups. Try again from the wizard. Your capacity reservation is held for 10 minutes, so you have time to retry.

"At capacity" message All available server slots are currently in use. This is temporary. Check back in a few hours, or switch to a different tier that may have availability.