THREE-WAY COMPARISON — evidence recorded 11–12 October 2026

Scope: local text-response workflow checks, one saved response per runtime.
Not a performance, tool-use, model-quality or security benchmark.
OpenClaw/ZeroClaw: saved browser tests from 11 October, not rerun on 12 October.
PicoClaw: new CLI test on 12 October. Launcher setup screen inspected only.

ENVIRONMENT
Apple M3, 8 GB memory, macOS 26.6.2 (25G83), arm64.
Ollama client/server 0.35.0; qwen2.5:0.5b.
Ollama bound to 127.0.0.1:11435; separate temporary model store.
PicoClaw model downloaded afresh; no cross-date model-digest equivalence claimed.

VERSIONS
ZeroClaw 0.8.5: official macOS arm64 release.
OpenClaw 2026.10.1 (e178c39): npm; temporary Node 24.16.0.
PicoClaw 0.3.1 (2cf030d2), Go 1.25.11, build 2026-07-03T07:10:50Z.
Official PicoClaw latest-release API returned v0.3.1 at collection time.
No assertion that these remain latest on a future publication date.

ARTIFACT VERIFICATION
ZeroClaw archive SHA-256 from original verification:
7036f71b11e3dc8fd4de589b130b08faa792b9b2952e752d975c27bc572f7671
OpenClaw npm integrity from original verification:
sha512-C072/lxy83KP1nMCnJbipr4O+EtIR9XXbjzQFM+ol7VE5ci2MkKk5XTxfSG70jxpEVaGFeXcEmObHxR/ZHLdHw==
PicoClaw picoclaw_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz SHA-256, matched official checksum:
30266e4edd6b0dfb871c6ac58e69ffdf8039fc65f23f2612f8792f704930765b
Source: https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/releases/tag/v0.3.1

METHOD
1. Use isolated state/workspace directories; no external messaging credentials.
2. Start Ollama 0.35.0:
   OLLAMA_HOST=127.0.0.1:11435 OLLAMA_MODELS=/tmp/three-claw/models ollama serve
3. Download model:
   OLLAMA_HOST=127.0.0.1:11435 ollama pull qwen2.5:0.5b
4. OpenClaw/ZeroClaw reproduction: see previous-test-record.md and fixtures.
   OpenClaw: native Ollama, tools denied, authenticated browser chat.
   ZeroClaw: compatible route, native_tools=false, readonly/time-only, no MCP.
   Both configurations passed their original validators.
5. PicoClaw: create config with isolated workspace, local-qwen alias,
   model ollama/qwen2.5:0.5b, api_base http://127.0.0.1:11435/v1,
   max_tokens 128, context_window 4096, temperature 0.
   turn_profile enabled; tools.mode=off and skills.mode=off.
   heartbeat/evolution disabled. Fixture includes runtime-expanded defaults.
6. Run with the downloaded official executable:
   PICOCLAW_HOME=/tmp/three-claw/state PICOCLAW_CONFIG=/tmp/three-claw/state/config.json /tmp/three-claw/picoclaw --no-color agent -m 'Summarize this maintenance note in one sentence: Backup finished successfully. The dashboard is reachable. Telegram has not been tested. Do not use tools.'
   Capture stdout and stderr to picoclaw-chat-raw.txt. Process exit code: 0.
7. Inspect launcher separately:
   PICOCLAW_HOME=/tmp/three-claw/state PICOCLAW_CONFIG=/tmp/three-claw/state/config.json /tmp/three-claw/picoclaw-launcher -console -no-browser -host 127.0.0.1 -port 40320 /tmp/three-claw/state/config.json
   Browser showed /launcher-setup. No password set; no launcher chat tested.

EXACT PROMPT FOR ALL THREE
Summarize this maintenance note in one sentence: Backup finished successfully. The dashboard is reachable. Telegram has not been tested. Do not use tools.

RAW MODEL REPLIES
OpenClaw:
Backup has been successfully finished. The dashboard is reachable. Telegram has not been tested. Do not use tools.

ZeroClaw:
Backup completed successfully. Dashboard accessible. Telegram not tested.

PicoClaw:
The maintenance note indicates that the backup process was completed successfully, the dashboard is accessible, and the Telegram service has not been tested.

RESULT
All retained the three supplied facts. Only PicoClaw used one sentence in these
saved runs. OpenClaw also repeated the instruction. This is not a general ranking.
The facts in the prompt are synthetic input, not independent tool verification.
System prompts, routes, interfaces and settings differ. Responses can vary.
No paid inference API was used. Electricity and hardware cost were not metered.

SCREENSHOT PROVENANCE
OpenClaw and ZeroClaw: original unedited 1280x720 JPEG dashboard captures from
11 October; see previous-test-record.md for hashes and original procedure.
PicoClaw setup: original 1280x720 browser JPEG captured 12 October.
PicoClaw result: original browser screenshot of a locally rendered verbatim
stdout/stderr transcript; clearly labeled as a viewer, not a product dashboard.
SVG annotated versions embed the original JPEG pixels and add only arrows and
labels. No model response or interface content is replaced. Each has a raw link.

LIMITATIONS
No repeated performance runs, resource measurements, hardware-board tests,
Windows/Linux tests, channel delivery, plugin execution, tool execution,
migration, scheduling, uptime or adversarial security tests.