Running OpenClaw at Home: Azure vs VM vs Raspberry Pi vs Cheap VPS (Real Costs in AUD)

When I started experimenting with OpenClaw for a personal setup, I did what most cloud engineers do: I immediately reached for Azure.

• Azure Container Apps
• Premium NFS storage
• Private networking
• Tailscale

Clean. Modern. Secure.

But then I did something we do not always do enough of: I actually ran the numbers.

This post walks through a real-world cost comparison (in AUD) between:

• Azure Container Apps
• A small Azure VM
• An older desktop running 24×7
• A Raspberry Pi 4 with NVMe storage
• A cheap unmanaged VPS (1 vCPU / 2 GB)

The results were interesting.

The Requirements

This is a personal OpenClaw setup. Not production SaaS. Not enterprise scale.

Requirements:

• Private access only (Tailscale)
• Persistent storage
• No public ports exposed
• Always reachable
• Used around 100 hours per month

No need for massive throughput. No GPU inference. Just a gateway and storage.

Option 1: Azure Container Apps (Cloud Native)

Architecture:

• Container App for OpenClaw gateway (1 vCPU / 2 GB, scales to zero)
• Container App for Tailscale edge (0.25 vCPU / 0.5 GB, always on)
• Azure Files NFS (Premium) for persistence
• VNet integration

Compute cost estimate (AUD)

Using Azure Consumption pricing and free grants:

• Always-on edge container: around $5–$20/month
• OpenClaw container (100 hrs/month): around $10–$20/month

Compute total: ~$16–$36 AUD/month

Storage cost (the big one)

Azure Files Premium NFS minimum share size is 100 GiB.

Even if you store 5 GiB, you still pay for 100 GiB.

In Australia East, this lands around $20–$30 AUD/month.

Total Azure Container Apps estimate

~$35–$60 AUD/month

Pros:

• Clean architecture
• No OS patching
• Scales
• Great portfolio story

Cons:

• Premium NFS is overkill for personal use
• More moving parts than necessary
• Monthly cost adds up

Option 2: Small Azure VM (1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM)

VM size: Standard_B1ms Disk: 32 GB Standard SSD Always on (Tailscale must be reachable)

Compute

~$25–$30 AUD/month

Disk

~$3–$5 AUD/month

Total

~$30–$45 AUD/month

Pros:

• Simpler than ACA
• Predictable cost
• No Premium NFS

Cons:

• Always paying 24×7 compute
• You manage OS patching
• No scale-to-zero benefit

Interestingly, this ends up similar to the upper end of the ACA setup.

Option 3: Old Desktop at Home (150W)

I have a spare older desktop:

• GPU installed
• Multiple hard drives
• Not particularly efficient

Estimated average draw: around 150W.

Electricity calculation

• 150W = 0.15 kW
• 0.15 × 730 hours ≈ 109 kWh/month

At common Australian electricity rates:

• 30c/kWh → around $32/month
• 40c/kWh → around $43/month
• 45c/kWh → around $49/month

Total

~$30–$50 AUD/month in power alone

Pros:

• No cloud bill
• Lots of storage

Cons:

• Heat
• Noise
• Hardware wear
• Uptime depends on home power and internet
• Not actually cheaper than Azure

This surprised me. Running an older desktop 24×7 is not "free".

Option 4: Raspberry Pi 4 (8 GB) + NVMe SSD

This is where it gets interesting.

Hardware:

• Raspberry Pi 4 (8 GB)
• M.2 NVMe SSD in USB 3 enclosure
• 1 TB storage
• Docker + Tailscale

Estimated average draw: around 6W.

Electricity calculation

• 6W = 0.006 kW
• 0.006 × 730 hours ≈ 4.38 kWh/month

At 30–45c/kWh:

• around $1–$2 AUD/month

That is it.

Total

~$1–$2 AUD/month

Pros:

• Silent
• Ultra low power
• Huge storage headroom
• No cloud bill
• No Premium NFS tax
• Perfect for personal usage

Cons:

• Home uptime dependency
• Not a "cloud-native" showcase
• Limited vertical scaling

For a personal OpenClaw gateway, this is extremely compelling.

Option 5: Cheap VPS (1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM)

This is the practical middle ground if you want cloud-style uptime without Azure pricing.

Typical plan shape in this tier:

• 1 vCPU
• 2 GB RAM (sometimes 1 GB at the lowest tier)
• 20–50 GB SSD/NVMe
• 1 TB+ monthly bandwidth
• Full root access

Typical cost

For common budget providers and promo pricing:

• around $6–$17 AUD/month is realistic depending on provider and whether you are on promo pricing
• the lower end is usually first-term discount pricing

Pricing assumptions (snapshot): figures below were checked on February 15, 2026 from provider pricing pages. USD and EUR plans are converted using approximate rates near that date (1 USD ≈ 1.42 AUD, 1 EUR ≈ 1.68 AUD). Promo terms, tax, and renewal pricing can change quickly.

Example providers to compare (2 AU + 3 global)

Provider	Region	Example plan seen	Source price	Approx AUD/month
DreamIT Host	Australia (Melbourne/Sydney)	KVM2 (1 CPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB NVMe)	$5.97 promo / $9.95 standard	$5.97–$9.95
OVHcloud AU	Australia (Sydney option)	VPS-2 (6 vCores, 12 GB RAM, 100 GB NVMe)	A$9.52 ex GST	~$9.52+tax
DigitalOcean	Global	Basic Droplet (1 vCPU, 2 GiB, 50 GiB SSD)	US$12.00	~$17.00
IONOS	Global	VPS S (2 vCores, 2 GB RAM, 80 GB NVMe)	US$4.00 promo / US$5.00	~$5.70–$7.10
Linode (Akamai)	Global	Linode 2 GB (1 CPU, 2 GB RAM, 50 GB storage)	US$12.00	~$17.00

Pros

• Much cheaper than Azure VM / ACA for personal use
• Public IP + stable remote access
• No home power or ISP dependency
• Full Linux control for Docker, Tailscale, and firewall hardening

Cons

• You manage patching, backups, and hardening
• Performance can vary on crowded budget hosts
• Some plans rely on first-term discount pricing
• AU-hosted options are usually a bit pricier than global budget regions

For a personal OpenClaw gateway, this is a strong option if you want a "set-and-forget" remote host without running hardware at home.

Security Considerations

If you run at home:

1. Install Tailscale.
2. Disable all inbound LAN access.
3. Allow only tailscale0 interface.
4. Optionally isolate the Pi on its own VLAN.
5. Use UFW to block local subnet access.

Now your gateway is:

• Not exposed to the internet
• Not able to scan your home network
• Accessible only via your tailnet

Clean and controlled.

What I Chose

For personal use, the Raspberry Pi wins when you already have one sitting unused.

Not because cloud is bad, but because:

• I do not need enterprise throughput
• I do not need Premium NFS
• I do not need 24×7 cloud compute
• I do like saving around $40/month

If I later turn OpenClaw into a product or hosted service, Azure absolutely makes sense.

But for a private AI gateway, the Pi is brutally efficient. And if you want cloud reliability on a tight budget, cheap VPS is the clear runner-up.

Final Cost Comparison (AUD/month)

Option	Approx Monthly Cost
Azure Container Apps + NFS	$35–$60
Azure VM (1 vCPU / 2 GB)	$30–$45
Old 150W Desktop	$30–$50
Raspberry Pi 4 + NVMe	$1–$2
Cheap VPS (1 vCPU / 2 GB class)	$6–$17

Those last two lines are hard to ignore.

Closing Thoughts

As engineers, we default to cloud-first thinking, and often that is correct.

But sometimes the right answer is:

• Simpler
• Smaller
• Closer to home
• Radically cheaper

For a personal OpenClaw instance, a Raspberry Pi 4 with NVMe storage is almost absurdly good value.

And if I ever outgrow it, migration to Azure or a cheap VPS is easy.

Sometimes the smartest architecture is not the most complex one.