What is Self-hosting vs. managed hosting?
Self-hosting means running the software yourself on your own server; managed hosting means a provider runs it for you on their infrastructure for a fee.
Self-hosting an open-source AI agent means provisioning a server, installing Docker (or the runtime it needs), configuring the agent yourself, and being responsible for keeping it running, patched, and secured.
Managed hosting shifts that operational work to a provider: you get an account and a running agent without touching a server, in exchange for a subscription fee. The tradeoff is less infrastructure control for less operational burden.
On VibeOpenClaw
VibeOpenClaw is managed hosting for OpenClaw and Hermes: you add a model key, pick an agent type, connect a channel, and it deploys in about 30 seconds in an isolated Docker container — no server, Docker, or SSH access required on your side.