Hermes Agent
Free open-source AI agent from Nous Research that remembers your work and writes reusable skills as it goes.
Free
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Bottom line
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.
Stands out for: 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 for: 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.
Overview
Hermes Agent is an open-source AI agent from Nous Research, a US lab founded in 2023 and known for its Hermes open models. Released in February 2026 under the MIT license, it has become one of the most downloaded open-source agents and the closest rival to OpenClaw.
It runs on Linux, macOS or WSL2 with a one-line install, then lives on your server and reaches you through Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email or the terminal. It researches the web, edits files, writes code and keeps a memory of your projects across restarts.
Its signature feature is the learning loop: when it solves a problem it writes a skill document following the open agentskills format, so repeat work such as a weekly market scan or a candidate research routine gets faster each time.
The agent is free. Model costs come from your own API keys or a local model, and Nous sells an optional Nous Portal subscription that bundles models and tools. Nous is also building Hermes for Businesses for company deployments.
Who it's for
Best for
- 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
Not ideal for
- Users who want a polished hosted app
- Teams with nobody to own setup and security
Key features
Learns as it works. When Hermes finishes a hard task it writes a reusable skill document, so it does not relearn the same workflow next time.
Persistent memory. Projects, preferences and past sessions survive restarts and can be searched.
One agent, many surfaces. Reach it on Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email or the command line.
Sandboxing. Runs locally, in Docker, over SSH, Singularity or Modal for safer experiments.
AI features
| What the AI does | Plan |
|---|---|
| Writes reusable skills from completed tasks | Free |
| Persistent memory and session search | Free |
| Bundled models, web search and hosted browser | Nous Portal Add-on |
Only features named in the vendor's own documentation. Anything sold separately is marked as an add-on.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | $0 | MIT license, bring your own model |
| Portal Plus | $20/mo | $22 in monthly credits |
| Portal Super | $100/mo | $110 in monthly credits |
| Portal Ultra | $200/mo | $220 in monthly credits |
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. Vendors change prices without notice.
Is Hermes Agent expensive?
Hermes Agent starts at Free. We list 12 AI assistants tools in total. 11 have a free tier, and those with a public price typically start around $17 a month.
- 2 quote-based
- 11 free tier
- 8 public price
Worked out automatically from every AI assistants listing, so it updates as the directory changes.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free and open source under MIT
- Writes reusable skills from completed work
- Five sandbox options for safer runs
Cons
- Self-hosted, so setup and security are on you
- Model and tool costs vary with usage
- Business edition still being built out
Integrations
Telegram Discord Slack WhatsApp Signal Email
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How Hermes Agent compares
See all Hermes Agent alternatives, with what each one does differently and a head to head for every pairing.
| Tool | Free tier | From | MCP | API | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hermes Agent (this tool) | ✓ | Free | – | – | |
 OpenClaw The largest open-source personal agent, with the biggest community and skill library. | ✓ | Quote | – | – | Compare |
 Vellum Open-source assistant you can also rent hosted, if you want the option of not running a server. | ✓ | $30/mo | – | – | Compare |
 Lindy A hosted AI teammate in Slack with approvals built in, no setup required. | – | $49.99/user/mo | – | – | Compare |
OpenClawQuote Free tier
The largest open-source personal agent, with the biggest community and skill library.
Vellum$30/mo Free tier
Open-source assistant you can also rent hosted, if you want the option of not running a server.
Lindy$49.99/user/mo
A hosted AI teammate in Slack with approvals built in, no setup required.
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