{ "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": "NanoClaw and Hermes Agent score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 68.3 (B) and 67.9 (B). Hermes Agent leads on agent ergonomics and maintenance \u0026 community.", "b": { "slug": "nanoclaw", "name": "NanoClaw", "vendor": "NanoCo, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://nanoclaw.dev", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Open-source personal assistant that the owner runs on their own machine. It answers on messaging apps, runs each agent session in a Docker container, keeps Markdown memory on disk and runs scheduled tasks.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanoclaw.json", "repo": "https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account is needed to run it. Owners and admins are rows in a local `user_roles` table, and strangers are handled by each chat's `unknown_sender_policy` (https://docs.nanoclaw.dev/concepts/security). Model and service credentials are registered with a credential gateway on the host, OneCLI Agent Vault by default, which adds them to outbound HTTPS requests. Containers receive placeholders such as `onecli-managed` (https://docs.nanoclaw.dev/operate/credentials). Channel tokens stay in the host's `.env`. An optional free NanoClaw account, used for a prebuilt agent image and a managed Slack app, keeps its token in `~/.config/nanoclaw/account.json` with mode 0600 (https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw/blob/main/README.md).", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under the MIT licence, with nothing on sale. The optional NanoClaw account, the Echo image and the managed Slack app are free of charge per the terms of 31 July 2026 (https://nanoclaw.dev/terms). The owner pays the model provider through a Claude subscription, an API key or another provider, and any service a channel or tool uses, such as Dial. Since 2.4.0 Claude groups default to Opus 5.5 (checked 2026-10-12).", "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": 30929, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.nanoclaw.dev", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.nanoclaw.dev/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "agent.mcp-client", "assistant.accounts" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "free", "no-card", "docker", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-09", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 68.3, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 229, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 2, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 70, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 60, "reliability": 78, "schema": 82, "security": 74, "transparency": 65 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -5, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-10-09. Release 2026.10.0 fixed four symlink flaws through which a manipulated agent could make the host read, write or delete files outside its folders, plus an admin-command bypass, a cross-group read through `ncl` and a command injection in Mattermost setup. Fixed and described in the changelog within the week, but the advisories it links (GHSA-frvf-5rf5-89fq and seven others) were not public on 12 October 2026. -5. https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md" ], "verdict": "Each session runs in an unprivileged Docker container and API keys stay in a credential gateway on the host, so a manipulated agent cannot read them. Inside the container the agent runs with permission prompts off, network egress is open by default, and it can message any chat it is wired to without approval.", "bestFor": "A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine, reachable from chat apps, with container isolation and scheduled tasks, and who is willing to keep a fork.", "strengths": [ "Each session runs in a non-root Docker container with all capabilities dropped, and the project root and `.env` are never mounted", "API keys sit in a credential gateway on the host, which adds them to outbound requests, so the container holds only placeholders", "Installing packages, adding an MCP server and admitting a new chat each wait for an admin's approval, and no reachable approver means denial", "Memory is plain Markdown under `groups/\u003cfolder\u003e/memory/`, which the owner can read, edit or delete on the host", "The security page states what the design does not stop, including messages to wired chats and spending through granted credentials" ], "weaknesses": [ "The Claude provider runs with `permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions'`, so shell, file and web tools run inside the container with no prompt", "Egress lockdown is off by default, so a container can reach the internet directly unless `NANOCLAW_EGRESS_LOCKDOWN=true` is set", "The 2026.10.0 changelog links eight advisories on the repository, and on 12 October 2026 the advisories page listed none and one linked advisory returned 404", "Setup sends events to PostHog unless `NANOCLAW_NO_DIAGNOSTICS=1` is set, and the privacy policy does not mention them", "The docs say trunk has no Gmail or Google Calendar integration, while the GitHub repository description still names Gmail", "294 open issues and 750 open pull requests on 12 October 2026, and 10 of the 12 newest open issues had no reply" ], "agentNotes": [ "Install with `git clone` and `bash nanoclaw.sh`. There is no registry package, and setup needs Docker, Node 22 or later and a Claude or Codex credential", "Set `NANOCLAW_EGRESS_LOCKDOWN=true` before giving an agent credentials or an audience of strangers. The default leaves egress open", "Put chats with different audiences in separate agent groups. Every session of a group shares one read-write workspace and memory tree", "Turn on per-request approval for a secret in the gateway when its use should wait for a person. It is off unless configured", "On OneCLI installs, move the gateway to 1.42.0 by the upgrade guide before updating to 2026.10.0. The updater stops until that is done" ], "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": 68.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 70, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 60, "reliability": 78, "schema": 82, "security": 74, "transparency": 77 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "git clone https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw.git nanoclaw-v2 \u0026\u0026 cd nanoclaw-v2 \u0026\u0026 bash nanoclaw.sh" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/nanoclaw" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "NanoCo, Inc.", "domain": "nanoclaw.dev", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/nanocoai/nanoclaw/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The terms and privacy policy at nanoclaw.dev name NanoCo, Inc. and Delaware law. Both say they cover the website and the optional account, not the software, so neither is linked and the MIT licence stands in.", "nanoclaw.dev/.well-known/security.txt returned 404 on 12 October 2026. The repository's SECURITY.md points to GitHub private vulnerability reporting.", "There is no hosted endpoint. The assistant runs on the owner's machine, and the optional account service is at portal.nanoclaw.dev, which we did not open.", "The registration date of nanoclaw.dev was not checked." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Nous Research", "b": "NanoCo, Inc.", "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": "2026-10-09", "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": "31k stars", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "NanoClaw and Hermes Agent score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 68.3 (B) and 67.9 (B). Hermes Agent leads on agent ergonomics and maintenance \u0026 community.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Hermes Agent or NanoClaw?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Hermes Agent is open source (MIT). NanoClaw is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are Hermes Agent and NanoClaw open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Agent ergonomics, 80 against 70", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 84 against 78" ], "also": null, "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, 78 against 57" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine, reachable from chat apps, with container isolation and scheduled tasks, and who is willing to keep a fork.", "slug": "nanoclaw", "watchFor": "The Claude provider runs with `permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions'`, so shell, file and web tools run inside the container with no prompt" } ], "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-nanoclaw.json", "title": "AstrBot vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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-nanoclaw.json", "title": "CowAgent vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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-nanoclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Haven vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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-nanobot.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot" }, { "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-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Leon vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Lindy vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "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/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 21, "edge": "nanoclaw", "hermes-agent": 57, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "nanoclaw": 78, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 2, "edge": "nanoclaw", "hermes-agent": 80, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "nanoclaw": 82, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 80, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "nanoclaw": 70, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 75, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "nanoclaw": 74, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 0, "edge": "", "hermes-agent": 60, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "nanoclaw": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 6, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 84, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "nanoclaw": 78, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 2, "edge": "nanoclaw", "hermes-agent": 63, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "nanoclaw": 65, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "NanoClaw and Hermes Agent score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 68.3 (B) and 67.9 (B). Hermes Agent leads on agent ergonomics and maintenance \u0026 community. 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.", "nanoclaw": "Each session runs in an unprivileged Docker container and API keys stay in a credential gateway on the host, so a manipulated agent cannot read them. Inside the container the agent runs with permission prompts off, network egress is open by default, and it can message any chat it is wired to without approval." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.min.md" }, "markdown": "NanoClaw and Hermes Agent score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 68.3 (B) and 67.9 (B). Hermes Agent leads on agent ergonomics and maintenance \u0026 community. 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- NanoClaw: grade B, 68.3/100, rank #229 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanoclaw.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 70\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 84 against 78\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### NanoClaw (B)\n\nGood for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine, reachable from chat apps, with container isolation and scheduled tasks, and who is willing to keep a fork.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 78 against 57\n\nWatch for: The Claude provider runs with `permissionMode: 'bypassPermissions'`, so shell, file and web tools run inside the container with no prompt\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Hermes Agent | NanoClaw | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 57 | 78 | NanoClaw +21 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 82 | NanoClaw +2 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 70 | Hermes Agent +10 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 75 | 74 | Hermes Agent +1 |\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 | 78 | Hermes Agent +6 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 65 | NanoClaw +2 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -5 | |\n| **Total** | | **67.9 · B** | **68.3 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Hermes Agent | NanoClaw |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Nous Research | NanoCo, Inc. |\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 | 2026-10-09 |\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 | 31k 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**NanoClaw.** Each session runs in an unprivileged Docker container and API keys stay in a credential gateway on the host, so a manipulated agent cannot read them. Inside the container the agent runs with permission prompts off, network egress is open by default, and it can message any chat it is wired to without approval.\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### NanoClaw\n\n1. Install with `git clone` and `bash nanoclaw.sh`. There is no registry package, and setup needs Docker, Node 22 or later and a Claude or Codex credential\n2. Set `NANOCLAW_EGRESS_LOCKDOWN=true` before giving an agent credentials or an audience of strangers. The default leaves egress open\n3. Put chats with different audiences in separate agent groups. Every session of a group shares one read-write workspace and memory tree\n4. Turn on per-request approval for a secret in the gateway when its use should wait for a person. It is off unless configured\n5. On OneCLI installs, move the gateway to 1.42.0 by the upgrade guide before updating to 2026.10.0. The updater stops until that is done\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Hermes Agent or NanoClaw?\n\nNanoClaw and Hermes Agent score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 68.3 (B) and 67.9 (B). Hermes Agent leads on agent ergonomics and maintenance \u0026 community.\n\n### Are Hermes Agent and NanoClaw open source?\n\nYes. Hermes Agent is open source (MIT). NanoClaw is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"hermes-agent\", \"b\": \"nanoclaw\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare hermes-agent nanoclaw`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hermes-agent.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanoclaw.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Hermes Agent or NanoClaw\n\n- [AstrBot vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [AstrBot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [CowAgent vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [GAIA vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Haven vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Haven vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-nanoclaw.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 nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.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 NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Leon vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Lindy vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-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 NanoClaw", "url": "" } ], "description": "NanoClaw and Hermes Agent score within a point of each other for assistant proactive, 68.3 and 67.9 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Hermes Agent B 67.9", "NanoClaw B 68.3", "scores" ], "h1": "Hermes Agent vs NanoClaw", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.png", "path": "/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Hermes Agent vs NanoClaw for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2550, "slim": 480 }, "version": 1 }