Bring your own agents
Paperclip acts as a control plane above your agents. It can organize Claude Code, Codex, shell processes, HTTP adapters, and other runtimes into one operating model.
Paperclip features
What Paperclip actually does once it is running on your VPS
Paperclip is not just a self-hosted chat box. It is an orchestration layer for AI companies with goals, agents, budgets, approvals, heartbeats, and multi-company control. This page explains the features that matter most when you are deciding whether to self-host it and how much infrastructure to give it.
What Paperclip is not
Not a chatbot
Paperclip is built around companies, issues, and operating systems for agents, not around one conversation window.
Not just an agent framework
It focuses on how to run a company made of agents, with governance and budgets, rather than only how to wire one agent adapter.
Why that matters for hosting
A control plane with heartbeats, policies, and more than one active agent benefits much more from a stable VPS than a one-off demo script does.
Core capabilities
Paperclip features that define the product
These features are the clearest explanation of why Paperclip stands apart from simpler self-hosted AI tools.
Goal alignment across the company
Tasks trace back to company goals, so each agent can see why a job exists instead of working from isolated prompts with no larger context.
Heartbeats and scheduled work
Agents can wake on a schedule, check assignments, and keep work moving without you reopening the same workflow every time.
Budgets and cost control
Paperclip gives agents monthly budgets and cost visibility so autonomy does not turn into runaway spend.
Governance and approvals
Board-style controls let you approve hires, review strategy, and limit sensitive changes instead of handing unrestricted power to every agent.
Multi-company and audit trails
One deployment can run multiple companies with isolated data, while ticket history and tool-call traces make it easier to understand what happened and why.
Operational meaning
Paperclip works like a company operating layer, not a single automation.
The feature list makes more sense when you see the operating model underneath it: company goals create work, agents pick up issues, heartbeats keep momentum, and governance prevents uncontrolled drift.
Company model
Paperclip gives work a structure. Goals, agents, and issues stay connected instead of becoming disconnected prompts.
Control model
Budgets, board approvals, and governance create a safer path to autonomy than simply letting agents run unchecked.
Runtime model
Heartbeats and multi-agent activity mean the Paperclip runtime benefits from always-on infrastructure rather than a laptop-only setup.
Bring your own agents
- Codex and Claude Code adapters
- Shell-based and HTTP-based agent integrations
- One control plane above many agent runtimes
Use cases
Where Paperclip makes the biggest difference
Paperclip is strongest where work spans roles, keeps repeating, and benefits from a company-like operating model rather than isolated single-step automation.
Autonomous content and SEO teams
Run writers, editors, SEO analysts, and reviewers inside one company structure with budgets, tasks, and approval gates.
Research and market intelligence
Coordinate researchers, analysts, and operators so findings, briefs, and next-step actions stay tied to one company goal.
Growth and operations
Use Paperclip when growth work, admin tasks, and recurring execution need more structure than one-off prompts or disconnected automations.
Software and product teams
Pair engineering, product, design, and QA agents in one control plane so strategy, tickets, and budget decisions stay visible.
Why VPS matters
These features become more useful when Paperclip is always available.
A VPS makes Paperclip easier to keep online, easier to reach in private or public mode, and easier to run without depending on your local machine staying awake and connected.
Best next step
Use the Paperclip VPS plans page to size the server, then follow the setup guide.
How to use this page
Use the features page to understand the product before you size the server.
Once the Paperclip operating model is clear, the hosting and deployment decisions become much easier to make with confidence.
This page
What Paperclip is and why it matters.
Other pages
How to host it, size it, and deploy it.
Ready to order?
Choose the VPS plan that matches the way you want to run Paperclip
If you now understand what makes Paperclip different and want the safest hosting answer, start with Pro and move into the deployment guide.