Can OpenClaw make phone calls? Yes, and the hard part is picking a route

Yes. OpenClaw can make phone calls once it has a phone number and a way to place calls. OpenClaw is a personal AI agent that you run yourself and give tasks in plain words. A phone connection can come from an add-on you run yourself, or from a service that handles calls for you. Those options differ in who provides the number and how much setup you do.

We're Bland. We sell the Agent Phone Plan, a monthly plan that gives an AI agent its own phone number. It is one of the routes here, and we list it first because it is ours. Prices for the other routes come from their own websites.

What does OpenClaw need to make a call?#

OpenClaw needs a number to call from and a service that turns your request into a phone conversation. Whoever answers hears an AI voice. Some services include a number. With others you rent a number separately.

What does a call look like once it's set up?#

You ask OpenClaw, for example: "Call (415) 555-0123 and ask what time they close today." The number is made up for this example. OpenClaw asks Bland to place a call from its Bland number. Bland's AI voice then asks whoever answers what OpenClaw wanted to know. When a call ends, OpenClaw gets back the call summary and tells you what was said.

What does Bland's Agent Phone Plan include?#

Our plan gives OpenClaw one US local number that it can call and text from, and that people can call back. When someone texts back, Bland's AI replies for OpenClaw toward the goal OpenClaw supplies as separate instructions with the first request to send a text.

It costs $9.99 for the first month (once per account owner) and then $19.99 a month. It runs one call at a time. Calls and texts go to US and Canada numbers only. Calls and texts carry no per-minute or per-text charge up to our plan's caps, which include 1,000 call minutes a day.

Daily caps reset at midnight UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). Your number can send 20 texts an hour and 100 a day, including Bland's automatic replies. Incoming texts still arrive after a cap is reached, but Bland stops replying until the allowance resets. The AI phone number page lists every cap.

What does the OpenClaw voice-call plugin do?#

A plugin is an add-on that gives OpenClaw a new ability. OpenClaw's own docs call the voice-call plugin the official one.

The plugin places and takes calls through Twilio, Telnyx or Plivo, which are phone companies that developers rent numbers and calls from. You need an account with one of them and a number to call from. You also need a public web address where the phone company can send updates about each call, which developers call a webhook. The plugin's page lists no price, and you pay the phone company for the number and for your calls.

This diagram compares the plugin with our plan on one question: who provides the number.

For developers: what else does the official plugin offer?#

The plugin's release notes for version 2026.10.5 list task briefs, live steering and outcome reports, along with optional callbacks and Twilio voicemail handling. Those features belong to the plugin; you still provide the phone-company connection and number.

What is ClawdTalk?#

ClawdTalk is a calling service for OpenClaw, run by Telnyx. Its free plan uses a shared number, which other customers call from too. Its pricing page lists three plans:

• Free plan: Price: $0; What it includes: 15 call minutes and 20 text messages each month. A separate allowance covers 5 missions. What a mission includes remains unclear. Calls use a shared number and can only reach your own verified phone
• Starter plan: Price: $12 a month plus a $20 number-registration fee; What it includes: 100 call minutes and 100 text messages each month
• Pro plan: Price: $30 a month plus the same fee; What it includes: 1,000 call minutes and 500 text messages each month, with 20 calls at the same time

What about ClawCall, AgentPhone and ClawVoice?#

ClawCall, AgentPhone and ClawVoice each work in a different way. ClawVoice's current setup requirements still need checking.

• ClawCall: What it is: A ready-made AI calling agent that places calls for people and for agents such as OpenClaw; Cost and notes: $8.99 a month on shared numbers, $14.99 a month for a reserved number kept for you alone, with one outbound call at a time and US numbers only
• AgentPhone: What it is: A phone number and calling service for AI agents that names OpenClaw on its site; Cost and notes: $3.00 a number every 30 days, plus $0.13 a minute when you connect your own agent, such as OpenClaw
• ClawVoice: What it is: A free, open-source OpenClaw plugin under the MIT license that uses your own Twilio or Telnyx number; Cost and notes: No price of its own, and it carries a notice about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the US law on automated calls and texts

So which route suits you?#

It depends on what you want OpenClaw to do:

• Our Agent Phone Plan suits you if you want OpenClaw to have its own number, with calls and texts for one flat monthly price and no per-minute charge up to our plan's caps.
• The plugin or ClawVoice suits you if you already have an account with a phone company and want to run every part yourself.
• ClawCall suits you if you want a ready-made calling agent to handle your calls.
• AgentPhone suits you if you're a developer who wants to pay per number and per minute.
• ClawdTalk's free plan suits you if you want to try for nothing first, since it lets OpenClaw call you.

Which routes give OpenClaw its own number?#

Bland's Agent Phone Plan, ClawCall's reserved-number plan, ClawdTalk's paid plans and AgentPhone give OpenClaw a number of its own. ClawdTalk's free plan and ClawCall's cheapest plan use shared numbers. The OpenClaw voice-call plugin and ClawVoice need you to bring a number from a phone company.

How does OpenClaw get a phone number from Bland?#

You can let OpenClaw sign itself up. Bland publishes a skill file at www.bland.ai/ai-phone-number/skill.md, which is a page of written instructions an agent can follow. Paste that address into a message to OpenClaw and ask it to follow the instructions.

OpenClaw then starts the signup and shows you a link and a code. You open the link in your browser, sign up and approve our plan there. Your card is charged when you approve, and OpenClaw gets its new number along with an API key, the password that lets it use your Bland account.

There is also a signup option that avoids opening a browser. It works only for a new Bland account and needs a supported payment setup. OpenClaw starts the request, and you approve the plan in the Link app after you relay one texted code. Link is a payment app. Pass the code from your phone to OpenClaw. A Link virtual card will not work.

The payment through Link covers the first month only. The plan renews monthly against a card on file, so add a card in Billing and Plans if your account has none. Otherwise the renewal fails and the plan drops to pay-as-you-go.

For developers: what payment setup does that option need?#

The documented route uses Link CLI, Link's command-line payment tool. It supplies a single-use shared payment token or answers Bland's payment challenge. These are credentials authorizing the owner-approved payment, rather than a virtual card number. The owner relays the texted code to OpenClaw and approves the plan; OpenClaw cannot approve for them.

The OpenClaw setup page has the full steps.

You can also set it up by hand. Sign up at Bland, copy your API key from your account, and add Bland to OpenClaw's settings file. The lines to add are on the same OpenClaw setup page.

The settings-file setup, for developers#

MCP, short for Model Context Protocol, is a standard way for an AI app to use outside tools, such as one that places a phone call. Bland runs an MCP server at api.bland.ai/v1/mcp. You add it under mcp.servers in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and put your API key in the BLAND_API_KEY environment variable, so the key stays out of the file. An environment variable is a named setting your computer holds outside your code.

Bland's Build plan runs more than one call at the same time. If you need more calls at once, see Build on our pricing page.

Use the OpenClaw setup guide to connect OpenClaw to Bland.