{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "hermes-agent", "name": "Hermes Agent", "vendor": "Nous Research", "vendorUrl": "https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Open-source personal agent from Nous Research that the owner runs on a computer or server. It answers on messaging apps, keeps memory between sessions, runs scheduled jobs and connects to accounts, models and MCP servers the owner configures.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hermes-agent", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hermes-agent.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hermes-agent.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hermes-agent.json", "repo": "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "oci", "name": "nousresearch/hermes-agent" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account of its own. Model and channel keys go in `~/.hermes/.env` or come from Bitwarden, 1Password or a command helper at start-up. Google Workspace, MCP servers and Nous Portal sign in by OAuth, with tokens stored under `~/.hermes/`. The optional API server takes a bearer key set in `API_SERVER_KEY`.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under the MIT licence. The owner pays the model provider chosen, or nothing with a local model. Nous Portal plans ($0, $20, $100 and $200 a month in credits) and Hermes Cloud hosting ($0.51 a day running on the Standard size, plus inference) are optional and sold separately.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 on Hermes Agent's own interfaces. An optional skill lets the agent pay other services over MPP, which is a client and not a way to pay for Hermes (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 253000, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/", "llmsTxt": "https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "free", "no-card", "python", "docker", "llms-txt", "pre-1.0" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-11", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 67.9, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 244, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 3, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 80, "maintenance": 84, "payments": 60, "reliability": 57, "schema": 80, "security": 75, "transparency": 63 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-10-08. The v0.21.6 release notes list six security fixes, among them a native sign-in flaw that could send login codes to a non-loopback redirect and a quoted display name in the `From` header that affected the email gateway's sender check. SECURITY.md counts unauthorised access to an external surface as in scope, yet the repository shows no published advisory, so owners on older versions have no advisory to act on. Fixed and described in the notes, -3. https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases/tag/v0.21.6; https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/security/advisories" ], "verdict": "Card payments always ask first and are refused in unattended sessions, and the messaging gateway denies every sender until an allowlist is set. Shell commands run on the host by default with a model judging risk, and sending mail through the Google Workspace skill is held back only by an instruction to the model.", "bestFor": "A technical owner who wants one always-on agent across chat apps with memory and scheduled jobs, on their own machine or a small server, with any model.", "strengths": [ "Every saved-card fill asks for approval, and cron, webhook and API sessions are refused because nobody can confirm", "The messaging gateway denies all senders until an allowlist or a pairing code approved on the CLI is in place", "The docs say no telemetry, usage data or analytics is collected, and conversations, memory and skills stay in `~/.hermes/`", "SECURITY.md states that in-process checks are not a boundary and names OS-level isolation as the only one", "Ten releases between 19 August and 11 October 2026, the latest v0.21.7 on 11 October" ], "weaknesses": [ "The default terminal backend runs commands on the host, and the default `smart` mode lets an auxiliary model approve commands it rates low-risk", "The Google Workspace skill requests full Gmail, Calendar and Drive scopes, and its confirm-before-sending rule is an instruction in SKILL.md, not enforced in code", "Memory writes are saved without approval by default (`memory.write_approval: false`), including from a background review after each turn", "Release v0.21.6 of 8 October 2026 lists six security fixes and the repository has no published security advisory", "15,102 open issues and more than 5,000 open pull requests on 12 October 2026", "The Nous Portal terms grant Nous a licence to train models on customer data when the Portal is the model provider" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `approvals.mode: manual` before giving it real accounts. The default `smart` lets an auxiliary model approve commands", "Run the gateway with `terminal.backend: docker` or the project's Docker image when it reads mail, web pages or group chats", "Set `memory.write_approval: true` and `skills.write_approval: true` to review what it saves about the owner", "Leave `approvals.cron_mode` and `approvals.unattended_mode` at `deny` for scheduled and webhook runs", "Set `TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS` or the matching allowlist per channel. Never set `GATEWAY_ALLOW_ALL_USERS=true`" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 67.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 80, "maintenance": 84, "payments": 60, "reliability": 57, "schema": 80, "security": 75, "transparency": 73 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash # then: hermes setup", "headless": { "command": "hermes chat -q \"$TASK\" --format stream-json --max-turns 30" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/hermes-agent" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Nous Research, Inc.", "domain": "nousresearch.com", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The site footer reads Nous Research, Inc., and the Nous Portal terms name it as a Delaware corporation.", "No terms or privacy link is given. The Nous Portal terms and privacy policy (both dated 28 September 2026) govern the optional Portal and Hermes Cloud services, not the software the owner runs under the MIT licence, so the licence stands in.", "hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404. SECURITY.md in the repository gives security@nousresearch.com and GitHub private reporting.", "No status page applies to software the owner runs. None was looked for on the Portal.", "The domain registration date was not looked up." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hermes-agent.json" }, "answer": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against nanobot's 62.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. nanobot leads on reliability.", "b": { "slug": "nanobot", "name": "nanobot", "vendor": "HKUDS", "vendorUrl": "https://nanobot.wiki", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "nanobot is an open-source, self-hosted personal AI agent written in Python by HKUDS. It runs as a gateway on the owner's machine and answers in a web UI, a terminal and chat apps, with tools, memory and scheduled automations.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanobot", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanobot.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanobot.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanobot.json", "repo": "https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "nanobot-ai" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account with the project. The owner supplies model provider keys or an OAuth sign-in, and bot tokens or mailbox passwords for each channel, in `~/.nanobot/config.json`. The WebUI on localhost needs no password, and binding to all interfaces requires a token.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under the MIT licence, with nothing to buy from the project. The owner pays the model provider, or nothing with a local model. The optional Render deployment needs a paid Render service.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 49000, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://nanobot.wiki/docs/latest/getting-started/nanobot-overview", "llmsTxt": "https://nanobot.wiki/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "assistant.accounts", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "free", "python", "mit", "llms-txt", "docker", "alpha" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-15", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 62.4, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 446, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 6, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 82, "payments": 60, "reliability": 70, "schema": 77, "security": 63, "transparency": 48 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -6, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-09-02. GHSA-vc5v-6vwm-wf9m (critical, 9.3, no CVE). Web fetch did not block internal addresses, so cloud metadata and internal services could be read without authentication in versions before 0.3.0. Fixed in 0.3.0 of 25 July and published, -2. https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot/security/advisories/GHSA-vc5v-6vwm-wf9m", "2026-03-27. GHSA-4gmr-2vc8-7qh3 (CVE-2026-33654, high). A spoofed email could inject instructions through email polling with no user action, up to command execution, in 0.1.4.post5 and earlier. Fixed in 0.1.4.post6 and published, more than six months ago, -2. https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot/security/advisories/GHSA-4gmr-2vc8-7qh3", "2026-03-11. GHSA-g6cf-xjwr-pm77 (CVE-2026-31977, critical, 9.0). A sender ID containing `|` passed the `allowFrom` check in versions before 0.1.4.post4. Fixed and published, more than six months ago, -1. https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot/security/advisories/GHSA-g6cf-xjwr-pm77", "2026-04-14 and 2026-05-24. GHSA-v5j3-4q66-58cf (CVE-2026-35589, high, 8.0), cross-site WebSocket hijacking of the WhatsApp bridge, fixed in 0.1.5, and GHSA-3f63-vcp3-hvqr (CVE-2026-48716, high, 8.7), file write through a WhatsApp document name. Both fixed and published, -1 together. https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot/security/advisories" ], "verdict": "nanobot runs on the owner's machine under the MIT licence, with no telemetry found in its source and memory kept as files the owner can read and restore. No per-action approval step was found, and the shell sandbox and workspace restriction are off by default. Five security advisories were published between March and September 2026, all with fixes.", "bestFor": "A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine across many chat apps, with file-based memory and a free choice of model.", "strengths": [ "MIT licence, runs on the owner's machine, and no telemetry code was found in the source at v0.3.5", "Long-term memory is plain files (`USER.md`, `SOUL.md`, `memory/MEMORY.md`) versioned with Git, with `/dream-log` and `/dream-restore` to inspect and roll back", "Chat channels deny unknown senders by default since v0.1.4.post4, with pairing codes the owner approves", "Email requires SPF and DKIM results from a named receiving service since v0.3.5, and mailbox access stays off until `consentGranted` is set", "Optional `bwrap` (Linux) and `seatbelt` (macOS) sandboxes for shell commands, and an SSRF guard on web fetches and HTTP MCP connections" ], "weaknesses": [ "No per-action approval was found in the docs or source. The agent sends messages, runs shell commands and edits files without asking", "`tools.restrictToWorkspace` defaults to false and `tools.exec.sandbox` to empty. Neither sandbox restricts network access, and Windows has none", "Five advisories published from 11 March to 2 September 2026, two rated critical, among them an allowlist bypass and unauthenticated SSRF in web fetch", "SECURITY.md lists plain-text API keys in `config.json`, no rate limiting and limited security event logging as known limitations", "Version 0.3.5 with an Alpha classifier, 214 open issues and 614 open pull requests on 12 October 2026" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `tools.restrictToWorkspace` to true and `tools.exec.sandbox` to `bwrap` or `seatbelt` before giving it real accounts. Both are off by default", "Run 0.3.0 or later. Earlier versions carry the published SSRF flaw in web fetch (GHSA-vc5v-6vwm-wf9m)", "Keep `allowFrom` narrow on every channel and never set `[\"*\"]` on Email, which has no pairing", "Write secrets as `${VAR}` references in `~/.nanobot/config.json`. Plain values are stored in clear text", "Use `nanobot -m \"...\"` for a one-shot run, and keep `nanobot gateway` running for channels, schedules and heartbeat" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 62.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 82, "payments": 60, "reliability": 70, "schema": 77, "security": 63, "transparency": 69 }, "provenanceScore": 27 }, "connect": { "install": "python -m pip install nanobot-ai # or: uv tool install nanobot-ai # then: nanobot webui", "headless": { "command": "nanobot -m \"$TASK\"" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/nanobot" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "", "domain": "nanobot.wiki", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/HKUDS/nanobot/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "No legal entity is named. The repository belongs to the GitHub organisation HKUDS, which a published advisory title calls the Hong Kong University Data Intelligence Lab. pyproject.toml names Xubin Ren and the nanobot contributors as authors.", "nanobot.wiki has no terms or privacy page linked from its home page or llms.txt, and `/.well-known/security.txt` answered with the site's not-found page on 12 October 2026.", "SECURITY.md in the repository asks for reports through a private GitHub advisory or by email and aims to respond within 48 hours.", "There is no hosted endpoint. A gateway answers on its owner's own host." ], "score": 27 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanobot.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Nous Research", "b": "HKUDS", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-11", "b": "2026-09-15", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "253k stars", "b": "49k stars", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against nanobot's 62.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. nanobot leads on reliability.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Hermes Agent or nanobot?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Hermes Agent is open source (MIT). nanobot is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are Hermes Agent and nanobot open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Agent ergonomics, 80 against 74", "Security \u0026 auth, 75 against 63", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 63 against 48" ], "also": [ "Free to start without a card" ], "goodFor": "A technical owner who wants one always-on agent across chat apps with memory and scheduled jobs, on their own machine or a small server, with any model.", "slug": "hermes-agent", "watchFor": "The default terminal backend runs commands on the host, and the default `smart` mode lets an auxiliary model approve commands it rates low-risk" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 70 against 57" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine across many chat apps, with file-based memory and a free choice of model.", "slug": "nanobot", "watchFor": "No per-action approval was found in the docs or source. The agent sends messages, runs shell commands and edits files without asking" } ], "job": { "capability": "assistant.proactive", "name": "Assistant proactive" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-hermes-agent.json", "title": "AstrBot vs Hermes Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-hermes-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "AstrBot vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-hermes-agent.json", "title": "CowAgent vs Hermes Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-hermes-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "CowAgent vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent.json", "title": "GAIA vs Hermes Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "GAIA vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-hermes-agent.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs Hermes Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-hermes-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-hermes-agent.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs Hermes Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-hermes-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-hermes-agent.json", "title": "Haven vs Hermes Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-hermes-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "Haven vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-leon.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Leon", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-leon" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-lindy.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Lindy", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-lindy" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-poke.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zo-computer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "Instinct vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "IronClaw vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "Leon vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "Lindy vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "nanobot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke.json", "title": "nanobot vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "nanobot vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 13, "edge": "nanobot", "hermes-agent": 57, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "nanobot": 70, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 3, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 80, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "nanobot": 77, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 6, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 80, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "nanobot": 74, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 12, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 75, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "nanobot": 63, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "hermes-agent": 60, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "nanobot": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 2, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 84, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "nanobot": 82, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 15, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 63, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "nanobot": 48, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against nanobot's 62.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. nanobot leads on reliability. Both do assistant proactive.", "verdicts": { "hermes-agent": "Card payments always ask first and are refused in unattended sessions, and the messaging gateway denies every sender until an allowlist is set. Shell commands run on the host by default with a model judging risk, and sending mail through the Google Workspace skill is held back only by an instruction to the model.", "nanobot": "nanobot runs on the owner's machine under the MIT licence, with no telemetry found in its source and memory kept as files the owner can read and restore. No per-action approval step was found, and the shell sandbox and workspace restriction are off by default. Five security advisories were published between March and September 2026, all with fixes." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.min.md" }, "markdown": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against nanobot's 62.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. nanobot leads on reliability. Both do assistant proactive.\n\n- Hermes Agent: grade B, 67.9/100, rank #244 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hermes-agent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hermes-agent.json\n- nanobot: grade B, 62.4/100, rank #446 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanobot.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanobot.json\n- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md\n- All 190 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Hermes Agent (B)\n\nGood for: A technical owner who wants one always-on agent across chat apps with memory and scheduled jobs, on their own machine or a small server, with any model.\n\nAhead on:\n- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 74\n- Security \u0026 auth, 75 against 63\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 63 against 48\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Free to start without a card\n\nWatch for: The default terminal backend runs commands on the host, and the default `smart` mode lets an auxiliary model approve commands it rates low-risk\n\n### nanobot (B)\n\nGood for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine across many chat apps, with file-based memory and a free choice of model.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 70 against 57\n\nWatch for: No per-action approval was found in the docs or source. The agent sends messages, runs shell commands and edits files without asking\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Hermes Agent | nanobot | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 57 | 70 | nanobot +13 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 77 | Hermes Agent +3 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 74 | Hermes Agent +6 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 75 | 63 | Hermes Agent +12 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 82 | Hermes Agent +2 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 48 | Hermes Agent +15 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -6 | |\n| **Total** | | **67.9 · B** | **62.4 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Hermes Agent | nanobot |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Nous Research | HKUDS |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | None | None |\n| Pricing | Free | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT | MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-10-11 | 2026-09-15 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | |\n| Popularity | 253k stars | 49k stars |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Hermes Agent.** Card payments always ask first and are refused in unattended sessions, and the messaging gateway denies every sender until an allowlist is set. Shell commands run on the host by default with a model judging risk, and sending mail through the Google Workspace skill is held back only by an instruction to the model.\n\n**nanobot.** nanobot runs on the owner's machine under the MIT licence, with no telemetry found in its source and memory kept as files the owner can read and restore. No per-action approval step was found, and the shell sandbox and workspace restriction are off by default. Five security advisories were published between March and September 2026, all with fixes.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Hermes Agent\n\n1. Set `approvals.mode: manual` before giving it real accounts. The default `smart` lets an auxiliary model approve commands\n2. Run the gateway with `terminal.backend: docker` or the project's Docker image when it reads mail, web pages or group chats\n3. Set `memory.write_approval: true` and `skills.write_approval: true` to review what it saves about the owner\n4. Leave `approvals.cron_mode` and `approvals.unattended_mode` at `deny` for scheduled and webhook runs\n5. Set `TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS` or the matching allowlist per channel. Never set `GATEWAY_ALLOW_ALL_USERS=true`\n\n### nanobot\n\n1. Set `tools.restrictToWorkspace` to true and `tools.exec.sandbox` to `bwrap` or `seatbelt` before giving it real accounts. Both are off by default\n2. Run 0.3.0 or later. Earlier versions carry the published SSRF flaw in web fetch (GHSA-vc5v-6vwm-wf9m)\n3. Keep `allowFrom` narrow on every channel and never set `[\"*\"]` on Email, which has no pairing\n4. Write secrets as `${VAR}` references in `~/.nanobot/config.json`. Plain values are stored in clear text\n5. Use `nanobot -m \"...\"` for a one-shot run, and keep `nanobot gateway` running for channels, schedules and heartbeat\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Hermes Agent or nanobot?\n\nHermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against nanobot's 62.4 (B), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. nanobot leads on reliability.\n\n### Are Hermes Agent and nanobot open source?\n\nYes. Hermes Agent is open source (MIT). nanobot is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"hermes-agent\", \"b\": \"nanobot\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare hermes-agent nanobot`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hermes-agent.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanobot.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Hermes Agent or nanobot\n\n- [AstrBot vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [AstrBot vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [CowAgent vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [GAIA vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [GAIA vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [Haven vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Haven vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-leon.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-lindy.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-poke.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zo-computer.md)\n- [Instinct vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [IronClaw vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [Leon vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [Lindy vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [nanobot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [nanobot vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke.md)\n- [nanobot vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zo-computer.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-12", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Hermes Agent vs nanobot", "url": "" } ], "description": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) to nanobot's 62.4 (B) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Hermes Agent B 67.9", "nanobot B 62.4", "scores" ], "h1": "Hermes Agent vs nanobot", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.png", "path": "/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Hermes Agent vs nanobot for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2550, "slim": 480 }, "version": 1 }