OpenClaw vs Hermes Agent
Two of the top assistants, side by side: score, setup, license, activity and what each review found.
OpenClaw
Personal assistant gateway that answers in Discord, Slack, WhatsApp and Telegram
Hermes Agent
Terminal and chat-app agent that writes its own skills and remembers you
| What we compare | OpenClaw | Hermes Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 100, widely used | 95, widely used |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 91, healthy | 83, healthy |
| Easy to run | 50, easy | 50, easy |
| Agent-ready | 45, minimal | 30, minimal |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 391.7k | 252.7k |
| License | MIT (permissive) | MIT (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Language | Not stated | Python |
| Docker | Yes | Yes |
| GPU | Not needed | Not needed |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Not stated | Mentioned |
OpenClaw
OpenClaw runs a local Gateway that connects one assistant to Discord, iMessage, Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp and 20+ other channels, plus native apps for macOS, iOS, Android, Windows and Linux. Model providers and agent harnesses (Claude, Codex, local models) are swappable plugins; state, memory and credentials stay on the host. The same Gateway serves one person or a team, differing only in configuration.
Who it is for: Self-hosters who want one assistant reachable from every chat app they use
Strengths
- Channels for Discord, iMessage, Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp and 20+ more from one Gateway
- Native companion apps on macOS, iOS, Android, Windows and Linux add voice, camera and screen
- No paid tier or hosted service; stewarded by a 501(c)(3) foundation
- Model providers and agent harnesses are plugins; swap Claude, Codex or local models
Weaknesses
- Tools run on the host for the main session unless sandboxing is configured
- Requires Node 24.16+ or 26.1+; the repo is pnpm-only, plain npm install is unsupported
- Daily version check phones home by default; disable with update.checkOnStart: false
- no GPU
- Docker + Compose
- Models: Claude, Codex, local models
Hermes Agent
Hermes Agent is a Python agent with a terminal UI and a gateway for Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal and email. It creates skills from completed tasks, keeps agent-curated memory, searches past sessions with FTS5, runs cron jobs and spawns subagents; tools execute locally or in Docker, SSH, Modal, Daytona or Vercel Sandbox. Works with Nous Portal, OpenRouter, OpenAI or a custom endpoint.
Who it is for: Developers who want an always-on agent on a VPS reachable from chat apps
Strengths
- Seven execution backends: local, Docker, SSH, Singularity, Modal, Daytona and Vercel Sandbox
- Built-in cron scheduler delivers results to any connected messaging platform
- Imports settings, memories, skills and API keys from an existing OpenClaw install
- MCP server support plus 40+ built-in tools grouped into toolsets
Weaknesses
- Installer pulls Python 3.14, Node.js, npm, ripgrep and FFmpeg onto the host
- No bundled browser UI; interfaces are the TUI and the messaging gateway
- Web search, image generation, TTS and cloud browser steer toward the paid Nous Portal
- Antivirus on Windows may quarantine the bundled uv.exe; whitelisting is documented
- no GPU
- Docker + Compose
- Models: Nous Portal, OpenRouter, OpenAI, custom endpoint