Free Email + Calendar for OpenClaw: What Actually Works
You want your OpenClaw agent to read email, send replies, and manage a calendar. You also want to do it without paying for a third-party API.
Short answer: **yes, you can—**as long as you're okay with either using a normal provider's APIs (Google/Microsoft) or using open protocols (IMAP/SMTP + CalDAV) with a self-hosted or provider calendar. Below are the most practical free setups.
The Honest Truth First
There is no free, programmatic, email-plus-calendar solution with zero third parties unless you self-host the whole stack. Email and calendaring are infrastructure. Someone has to run the servers. If it's not Google, Microsoft, or a hosted CalDAV provider, it's you.
That said, "free" is still possible. Here's how.
Option A (Simplest): Dedicated Gmail + Google Calendar
What you get
- Email: Read and send via Gmail API (quota-limited).
- Calendar: Manage events via Google Calendar API (Google documents no additional cost for normal use).
Why it works for OpenClaw
Works well for an assistant pattern: read, triage, schedule, notify. No mail or calendar server to maintain. You use OAuth, create a project in Google Cloud Console, enable Gmail API and Calendar API, and wire OpenClaw to both. Request the minimum scopes you need (e.g. read-only where possible).
Practical tip: Use a separate Google account just for the agent. Don't connect your main inbox. That keeps risk and scope clear.
Community skills exist for email (e.g. IMAP/SMTP-style or provider-specific); for calendar, Option B's CalDAV approach is often easier if you want to stay provider-agnostic later.
Option B (Provider-Agnostic): IMAP/SMTP + CalDAV
What you get
- Email: IMAP (read) + SMTP (send) with basically any mailbox provider.
- Calendar: CalDAV (read/write) with Nextcloud, iCloud, Fastmail, or a self-hosted CalDAV server.
The OpenClaw ecosystem has skills for IMAP/SMTP email and CalDAV calendar sync. You're not locked to one vendor.
Free CalDAV options
- Nextcloud Calendar — Self-hostable, supports CalDAV (Nextcloud docs).
- Radicale or Baïkal — Lightweight CalDAV servers, often run via Docker for minimal setups.
Why it's good
No vendor lock-in. Often simpler than full OAuth flows if you use one dedicated account. Fine for assistant-style usage.
What to watch
If you use Gmail via SMTP for automation, sending limits apply (fine for an assistant, not for bulk).
Option C (Dev/Test Only): Nylas Free Tier
Nylas offers a free tier with a small number of sandbox accounts for building and testing. Great for prototyping. Not a "forever free production" option—treat it as dev-only.
The Only 100% Free, No-Third-Party Path: Self-Host Everything
If you want zero reliance on Google, Microsoft, or any hosted provider, you run the stack yourself.
Email (programmatic)
- Postfix — SMTP (send).
- Dovecot — IMAP (read).
- Maildir — storage.
OpenClaw can send via SMTP, read via IMAP, and parse and act on messages. No API. No quotas. No vendors.
Calendar (programmatic)
- Radicale or Baïkal — Expose CalDAV, store calendars locally (filesystem or SQLite).
OpenClaw can list events, create and update meetings, schedule and cancel. Full control.
Why this is the only "pure" free answer
Email needs MX, SPF, DKIM, and DNS. Calendars need a sync protocol. Someone has to run the servers. If you don't use Google, Microsoft, Nylas, or a hosted CalDAV provider, you are the provider. There is no hidden "free global email/calendar API." Self-hosted SMTP + IMAP + CalDAV is the only fully free, vendorless path—and OpenClaw fits it: it already talks IMAP, SMTP, and CalDAV.
Tradeoffs
Pros: Truly free, no lock-in, no API limits, fully automatable. Ideal for agent inboxes, internal assistants, scheduling bots, and headless AI workers.
Cons: Deliverability is on you (emails can land in spam without proper DNS). You must secure the stack (TLS, auth, firewall). This setup is not meant to replace Gmail for humans—it's for agent and internal use.
When Each Option Makes Sense
| Goal | Option |
|---|---|
| Get going fast, no server | Option A (Gmail + Google Calendar) |
| Stay provider-agnostic, avoid OAuth friction | Option B (IMAP/SMTP + CalDAV, e.g. dedicated Gmail + Nextcloud/Radicale) |
| Prototype only | Option C (Nylas sandbox) |
| Zero third parties, full control | Self-hosted Postfix + Dovecot + Radicale |
For agent inboxes, internal assistants, scheduling bots, and ops agents, any of these can work. Pick by how much you want to run yourself versus rely on a provider.
TL;DR
- Free is possible — Use Gmail/Google Calendar APIs, or IMAP/SMTP + CalDAV (Nextcloud, Radicale, etc.), or Nylas for dev.
- The only 100% free, no-third-party way — Self-host Postfix + Dovecot + Radicale (or similar). You are the provider.
- OpenClaw fits all of these — Skills and ecosystem support exist for Gmail, IMAP/SMTP, and CalDAV.
If you want to run OpenClaw without managing the rest of the infra (updates, security, monitoring), you can deploy it managed with Clawctl and wire whichever email/calendar option you prefer.