Running your own AI assistant doesn’t have to cost anything. With Akash Network’s decentralized compute marketplace, you can deploy clawdbot — a lightweight AI bot — for free using AKT credits or community incentives.
What You’ll Need
- An Akash Network wallet with a small AKT balance (or testnet tokens)
- The Akash CLI or Console access
- A clawdbot Docker image (publicly available)
Deploying on Akash
Akash uses SDL (Stack Definition Language) files to describe deployments. For clawdbot, the SDL is straightforward: define the container image, set your resource requirements (a small CPU instance is sufficient), and specify the exposed port.
Once your SDL is ready, submit it to the Akash marketplace. Providers will bid on your deployment within seconds. Select the lowest-cost bid and your bot is live.
Keeping Costs at Zero
The key to running at zero cost is combining Akash’s competitive pricing (often 80-90% cheaper than AWS) with community grant programs and testnet deployments for development. For production, a minimal clawdbot instance can run for pennies per day — and with AKT staking rewards, many users effectively cover their compute costs entirely.
For the full walkthrough and SDL file, see the original post on X.