clams.tech

What It Is

Clams is accounting infrastructure built for Bitcoin use cases. It is not positioned as general-purpose finance software, but rather as a Bitcoin-native accounting layer. The product originally started as a privacy-first desktop app, but its current focus has shifted toward businesses and teams: with Clams Server, BTC ledgers can be deployed as an HTTP service on self-owned infrastructure, with access via REST API and CLI.

Core Capabilities and Architecture

Based on the available materials, Clams centers on self-hosted ledgers, auditable records, and developer integration. It can be deployed on cloud servers, VPS, bare metal, VMs, containers, or PaaS, and uses local LMDB storage for state, keys, workspaces, profiles, archives, and journals. The API layer sits under /v1 and provides health checks, Prometheus metrics, workspace invitations, and other capabilities, with Swagger/OpenAPI documentation available. For team collaboration, it supports multiple clients connecting to the same instance, role-based access for members and clients, and two instance access modes: open and invite-only.

Pricing and Deployment

The pricing information is relatively clear but incomplete: it is free for individuals, free for businesses with annual revenue below USD 1 million, and requires an enterprise license above that revenue threshold. Specific enterprise pricing, seat rules, and payment methods are not disclosed. Deployment is primarily self-hosted. For production, it is recommended to run the service behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy, configure a persistent data root, and manage the process with systemd or a similar process manager. One important caveat is that the server still connects to auth.clams.tech for login, JWKS validation, invitation emails, and related functions, and also connects to rates.clams.tech to sync exchange rates.

Pros and Cons

The main advantages are strong privacy and control: data can remain within the company’s own file system. Its API, CLI, OpenAPI documentation, and metrics exposure are fairly complete, making it suitable for integration with internal ERP, BI, or accounting workflows. Documentation around rate limiting, CORS, JWT validation, SSRF restrictions, logging, and backups is also relatively detailed. The downside is that it feels more like engineering infrastructure than a turnkey finance tool. Non-technical teams will need to handle reverse proxy setup, TLS, backups, capacity planning, permissions, and operational monitoring. Enterprise license pricing, compliance certifications, hosted editions, and payment methods are not disclosed.

Who It’s For and Access from China

Clams is suitable for exchanges, miners, accounting firms, node operators, corporate finance teams that hold or process BTC, and development teams that need to connect Bitcoin ledgers to internal ERP/BI systems. Access from China cannot be determined from the text alone. Since deployment can be self-hosted, the core service can run locally or in the cloud, but authentication and exchange-rate syncing depend on its official domains, so network connectivity should be tested in practice. Alternatives to evaluate include Rotki, Koinly, CoinTracker, Cryptio, Ledgible, or using finance systems such as Kingdee/用友 together with self-built on-chain reconciliation data.