Compare/Head to head

Hermes Agent vs Vellum

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

Hermes Agent

Quote Free tier

Hermes Agent is Nous Research's open-source personal agent and OpenClaw's main rival. It runs on your own machine, remembers what it learns and turns finished work into reusable skills. Free under MIT; model costs are yours, or bundled through an optional Nous Portal plan.

Where Hermes Agent fits

  • Technical recruiters who want a self-hosted agent that improves over time
  • Agency owners automating research and outreach routines
  • Teams that want model choice without vendor lock-in

Vellum

$30/mo Free tier

Vellum is an open-source personal AI assistant that runs on its own always-on computer, handling email triage, calendar, meeting prep and research. Start free with pay-as-you-go credits, hosted packages from $30/mo, or self-host for free.

Where Vellum fits

  • Recruiters who want an always-on assistant with its own inbox
  • Technical users who may self-host later
  • People who want memory that lives on storage they control

At a glance

DetailHermes AgentVellum
Starting priceQuote$30/mo
Free tier✓Yes✓Yes
MCP server–No–No
Public API–No–No
Listed underAI assistantsAI assistants

Where they pull apart

Hermes Agent

Stands out: Hermes is built to get better the longer it runs: every solved task can become a saved skill, and its memory carries across restarts. Five sandbox options make it easier to test safely than most self-hosted agents.

Watch out: Like any self-hosted agent, you set it up and keep it secure. Nous advises isolating deployments, never exposing them publicly and reviewing third-party skills, which matters if it touches candidate or client data.

Not the right fit for

  • Users who want a polished hosted app
  • Teams with nobody to own setup and security

Vellum

Stands out: Vellum gives you both routes: rent a hosted assistant with its own computer, email address and subdomain, or run the same open-source assistant on your own hardware with no platform fee.

Watch out: The monthly fee mostly buys compute; the actual work is billed as credits at $1 each, so monthly cost depends on usage. Searches for Vellum also turn up its old LLM developer platform, which is a different product.

Not the right fit for

  • Buyers who want a flat all-in price
  • Teams that need a deep library of prebuilt connectors

Pros and cons

Hermes Agent

  • Free and open source under MIT
  • Writes reusable skills from completed work
  • Five sandbox options for safer runs
  • Self-hosted, so setup and security are on you
  • Model and tool costs vary with usage
  • Business edition still being built out

Vellum

  • Free start and free self-hosting
  • Assistant gets its own computer and storage
  • Open source
  • Usage credits on top of the package fee
  • Fewer prebuilt connectors than agent platforms
  • Easy to confuse with Vellum's old developer product

What each one costs

Hermes Agent

Quote

Hermes Agent is free and open source under the MIT license; you can run it with your own model provider at no charge from Nous. The optional Nous Portal adds model and tool credits: Free ($0, free models only), Plus ($20/mo, $22 in monthly credits), Super ($100/mo, $110 in credits) and Ultra ($200/mo, $220 in credits). Model providers and hosted services you connect bill separately. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 16 Oct 2026

Vellum

$30/mo

Vellum starts free, with usage billed as credits at $1 per credit. Hosted packages are Mighty at $30/mo (small computer, 10 GB), Super at $100/mo (medium computer, 30 GB, assistant email and subdomain) and Ultra at $200/mo (large computer, 60 GB); each includes some usage, and further credits are pay-as-you-go. The open-source assistant can be self-hosted with no platform fee. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 16 Oct 2026

Common questions

Can you try Hermes Agent or Vellum for free?
Hermes Agent and Vellum carry a free tier on our listing.

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 16 Oct 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?