Verdict
IronClaw on a NUC 13 32 GB is the entry-level deployment for regulated-industry self-hosting. gVisor sandbox, hash-chained audit log, RBAC, all on hardware that costs €700-1,000 per unit. The IronClaw license fee at $750/seat/year is the larger line item.
Setup notes
Vendor-supplied install playbook. Multi-day setup with config review. Air-gap mode optional but available. SAML SSO config to your IdP. Hardware-attested boot if your compliance regime demands it (NUCs support Intel BootGuard).
Performance
gVisor adds 5-10% syscall overhead vs Docker. Audit log writes: a few thousand entries/day at typical agent load.
What breaks
- Anyone outside regulated industries (price-prohibitive)
- Workloads that need the smaller IronClaw plugin ecosystem to be larger
Want to know more
See the full IronClaw review and the Intel NUC 13 / Mini PC buyer's notes.