{ "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 Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "openai-dots", "name": "Dots", "vendor": "OpenAI", "vendorUrl": "https://chatgpt.com", "kind": "platform", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Dots is OpenAI's always-on agent inside ChatGPT, in beta. Each dot has a cloud computer and browser, keeps notes, works between conversations across connected apps, and answers in ChatGPT, by voice call, Slack and Teams.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.json", "license": "Proprietary hosted service. The governing terms were not read", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "A person signs in to ChatGPT on an eligible plan and creates a dot in the mobile app, desktop app or a desktop browser. No API key or other credential for outside programs was found. Apps are reached through plugins connected to the ChatGPT account, each with its own connected account and allowed actions. Website logins go through a private form to the cloud browser outside the conversation, sessions last until sign-out or expiry, and reusing a saved login needs confirmation. A local computer is connected with Allow access and removed with Revoke access. Where tokens and saved passwords are stored is not stated (https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/computers-and-apps; https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/getting-started).", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "Included with ChatGPT Pro at $100, $200 or $500 a month, Business Premium (price not found on the pages read) and Enterprise through sales. Conversations with a dot do not count towards ChatGPT usage limits. Tasks it starts in ChatGPT Work or Codex count towards those limits. The plan includes an allowance for deeper work with no figure given, extended for the first month after launch. No free tier or trial for dots was found (https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots#access; https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing, checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "$100 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Dots docs, the admin guide or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots", "llmsTxt": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory", "assistant.messaging" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "closed-source", "beta", "chatgpt", "slack", "teams", "voice", "cloud-browser", "approvals", "paid", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-09", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 28.3, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 973, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 17, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 22, "maintenance": 38, "payments": 10, "reliability": 3, "schema": 41, "security": 58, "transparency": 31 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read.", "bestFor": "A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.", "strengths": [ "An automatic review checks each action that could affect accounts or share information against instructions, permissions and custom rules before it runs", "Custom rules have four settings, from acting without asking to handing the step to the owner, and app permissions can allow reading mail without sending", "Proactive research uses tools that cannot send messages, change app content or control a browser or computer, per the docs", "Website passwords are entered in a private form outside the conversation, and reusing a saved login needs the owner's confirmation", "Six docs pages with Markdown twins listed in llms.txt, and a dated release note for dots on 9 October 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha", "No way to view or delete individual saved notes is documented. The admin guide's link to reset options lands on the section for deleting the whole dot", "Custom rules are described as instructions the dot tries to follow and can get wrong, and an authorised write can run without a prompt where policy allows", "Pro consumer accounts in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are excluded, and the plan's allowance for deeper work has no published figure", "No status page, service terms or privacy policy is linked from the Dots docs, and openai.com and help.openai.com refused our reader", "No API, MCP endpoint or other documented way for an outside program to message a dot was found" ], "agentNotes": [ "Say what may be sent. Asking a dot to draft replies does not permit sending them, and an action outside a stated scope needs another decision", "Stop three things separately. Pause stops the main task only, delegated tasks stop in Activity and recurring tasks in Scheduled, and completed actions are not undone", "Connect each thing separately. A messaging channel grants no access to an inbox, an app or a computer", "Sign out of websites and disconnect apps yourself when removing access. Revoking dots access or disconnecting an app does not delete information already obtained", "Keep the connected computer online with the ChatGPT app open for local work. Only one personal computer can be connected at a time" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 28.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 22, "maintenance": 38, "payments": 10, "reliability": 3, "schema": 41, "security": 58, "transparency": 26 }, "provenanceScore": 36 }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openai-dots" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Pro 100", "unit": "month", "usd": 100, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan, includes dots with an allowance for deeper work that has no published figure" }, { "item": "Pro 200", "unit": "month", "usd": 200, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan" }, { "item": "Pro 500", "unit": "month", "usd": 500, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "", "domain": "chatgpt.com", "domainRegistered": "2022-11-30", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/whats-new", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "No page we read names the legal entity or the documents that govern Dots. The docs footer links https://openai.com/policies, which answered 403 to our reader, so `terms` and `privacy` are left out. OpenAI's other listings here link https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/ and https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/. Neither was read today, and whether the consumer Terms of Use govern Pro accounts was not established.", "No status page is linked from the Dots docs, the admin guide, the pricing page or the release notes we read.", "learn.chatgpt.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404. chatgpt.com is closed to Anthropic agents by its robots.txt and openai.com answered 403 on the one page requested, so neither host's security.txt was requested.", "The .com registry's RDAP record gives 30 November 2022 as the registration date of chatgpt.com, registrar MarkMonitor Inc.", "learn.chatgpt.com/robots.txt answered 200 and allows every path. help.openai.com/robots.txt allows the article paths, and four linked articles answered 403 with a JavaScript check. cdn.openai.com/robots.txt answered 404." ], "score": 36 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Platform", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Nous Research", "b": "OpenAI", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "None", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Paid", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "MIT", "b": "Proprietary hosted service. The governing terms were not read", "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": "none", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Hermes Agent or Dots?" }, { "answer": "Hermes Agent is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Dots.", "question": "Are Hermes Agent and Dots open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 57 against 3", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 80 against 41", "Agent ergonomics, 80 against 22", "Security \u0026 auth, 75 against 58", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 10", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 84 against 38", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 63 against 31" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Free to start without a card", "Open source" ], "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": null, "also": [ "No incidents deducted, where Hermes Agent loses 3 points for them" ], "goodFor": "A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.", "slug": "openai-dots", "watchFor": "Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha" } ], "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-openai-dots.json", "title": "AstrBot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "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-openai-dots.json", "title": "CowAgent vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots" }, { "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-openai-dots.json", "title": "GAIA vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots" }, { "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-openai-dots.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openai-dots" }, { "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-openai-dots.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "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-openai-dots.json", "title": "Haven vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots" }, { "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-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-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-openai-dots.json", "title": "Instinct vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "IronClaw vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Leon vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Lindy vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots" }, { "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/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/openai-dots-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.json", "title": "Dots vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "Dots vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "Dots vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 54, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 57, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "openai-dots": 3, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 39, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 80, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "openai-dots": 41, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 58, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 80, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "openai-dots": 22, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 17, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 75, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "openai-dots": 58, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 50, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 60, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "openai-dots": 10, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 46, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 84, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "openai-dots": 38, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 32, "edge": "hermes-agent", "hermes-agent": 63, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "openai-dots": 31, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. 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.", "openai-dots": "Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.min.md" }, "markdown": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category. 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- Dots: grade F, 28.3/100, rank #973 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.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- Reliability, 57 against 3\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 80 against 41\n- Agent ergonomics, 80 against 22\n- Security \u0026 auth, 75 against 58\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 10\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 84 against 38\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 63 against 31\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Free to start without a card\n- Open source\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### Dots (F)\n\nGood for: A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No incidents deducted, where Hermes Agent loses 3 points for them\n\nWatch for: Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Hermes Agent | Dots | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 57 | 3 | Hermes Agent +54 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 41 | Hermes Agent +39 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 22 | Hermes Agent +58 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 75 | 58 | Hermes Agent +17 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 10 | Hermes Agent +50 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 38 | Hermes Agent +46 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 31 | Hermes Agent +32 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **67.9 · B** | **28.3 · F** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Hermes Agent | Dots |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Platform |\n| Vendor | Nous Research | OpenAI |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | None | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Free | Paid |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | MIT | Proprietary hosted service. The governing terms were not read |\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 | none |\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**Dots.** Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read.\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### Dots\n\n1. Say what may be sent. Asking a dot to draft replies does not permit sending them, and an action outside a stated scope needs another decision\n2. Stop three things separately. Pause stops the main task only, delegated tasks stop in Activity and recurring tasks in Scheduled, and completed actions are not undone\n3. Connect each thing separately. A messaging channel grants no access to an inbox, an app or a computer\n4. Sign out of websites and disconnect apps yourself when removing access. Revoking dots access or disconnecting an app does not delete information already obtained\n5. Keep the connected computer online with the ChatGPT app open for local work. Only one personal computer can be connected at a time\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Hermes Agent or Dots?\n\nHermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Are Hermes Agent and Dots open source?\n\nHermes Agent is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Dots.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"hermes-agent\", \"b\": \"openai-dots\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare hermes-agent openai-dots`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hermes-agent.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Hermes Agent or Dots\n\n- [AstrBot vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [AstrBot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [GAIA vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [GAIA vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Haven vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-hermes-agent.md)\n- [Haven vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots.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 NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.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 Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [IronClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Leon vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Lindy vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [nanobot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Dots vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.md)\n- [Dots vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [Dots vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-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 Dots", "url": "" } ], "description": "Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) to Dots's 28.3 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Hermes Agent B 67.9", "Dots F 28.3", "scores" ], "h1": "Hermes Agent vs Dots", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.png", "path": "/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Dots for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2600, "slim": 580 }, "version": 1 }