# Hermes Agent vs Orchid > Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) to Orchid's 20.2 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orchid-ai - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orchid-ai.md (~3,500 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orchid-ai.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orchid-ai.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - Updated: 2026-10-13 Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against Orchid's 20.2 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistants reached by message. - Hermes Agent: grade B, 67.9/100, rank #244 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hermes-agent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hermes-agent.json - Orchid: grade F, 20.2/100, rank #992 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orchid-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orchid-ai.json - Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md - All 834 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md ## Which one, for what ### Hermes Agent (B) Good 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. Ahead on: - Reliability, 57 against 50 - Schema & documentation, 80 against 10 - Agent ergonomics, 80 against 0 - Security & auth, 75 against 0 - Payments & pricing, 60 against 10 - Maintenance & community, 84 against 24 Also in its favour: - No key needed to call it - Free to start without a card - Open source Watch 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 ### Orchid (F) Good for: A founder or operator who wants Gmail and calendar triage by text with approval before anything leaves. Also in its favour: - No incidents deducted, where Hermes Agent loses 3 points for them Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent. ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Hermes Agent | Orchid | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 57 | 50 | Hermes Agent +7 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 10 | Hermes Agent +70 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 80 | 0 | Hermes Agent +80 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 75 | 0 | Hermes Agent +75 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 10 | Hermes Agent +50 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 84 | 24 | Hermes Agent +60 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 63 | 60 | Hermes Agent +3 | | Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **67.9 · B** | **20.2 · F** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Hermes Agent | Orchid | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Agent harness | Platform | | Vendor | Nous Research | Zero Email, Inc. | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | | | Auth | None | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Free | Paid | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | MIT | Closed service under Orchid's Terms of Service (Zero Email, Inc., last updated 16 January 2026). | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | yes | yes | | Last release | 2026-10-11 | none | | Terms last updated | no document linked | | | Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | | | Customer content may train models | | | | Terms restrict automated access | | | | Terms restrict benchmarking | | | | Terms or service can change without notice | | | | Arbitration or class-action waiver | | | | Popularity | 253k stars | none | ## 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. **Orchid.** Orchid is a paid executive assistant over iMessage, SMS and Telegram that holds drafts and calendar holds until the owner approves, with a public status page and a named subprocessor list. No outside agent can call it, there's no free tier, and its privacy policy allows training a personal model while its blog says it never trains. ## Before you call either ### Hermes Agent 1. Set `approvals.mode: manual` before giving it real accounts. The default `smart` lets an auxiliary model approve commands 2. Run the gateway with `terminal.backend: docker` or the project's Docker image when it reads mail, web pages or group chats 3. Set `memory.write_approval: true` and `skills.write_approval: true` to review what it saves about the owner 4. Leave `approvals.cron_mode` and `approvals.unattended_mode` at `deny` for scheduled and webhook runs 5. Set `TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS` or the matching allowlist per channel. Never set `GATEWAY_ALLOW_ALL_USERS=true` ### Orchid 1. Don't plan to call Orchid from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage, SMS and Telegram threads. 2. Check status.orchid.ai before telling the owner Orchid is down. The 7 August incident moved it to a new number. 3. Tell the owner that drafts and holds wait for their approval unless they widen it. ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Hermes Agent or Orchid? Hermes Agent scores 67.9 (B) on agent readiness against Orchid's 20.2 (F), and leads in every scored category. ### Are Hermes Agent and Orchid open source? Hermes Agent is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Orchid. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orchid-ai.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orchid-ai.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "hermes-agent", "b": "orchid-ai"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare hermes-agent orchid-ai` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/hermes-agent.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orchid-ai.json ## Other comparisons with Hermes Agent or Orchid - [asaply vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [asaply vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Asmi vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Asmi vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [AstrBot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Boba vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Boba vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Boski vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Brea vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Brea vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Caddy vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [CowAgent vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Del vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Del vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [folk vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [GAIA vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Grok Bot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Haven vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Hermes Agent vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-hirealpha.md) - [Hermes Agent vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openinstinct.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orbits.md) - [Hermes Agent vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-szn.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zapia.md) - [HireAlpha vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Instinct vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [IronClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Lindy vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [nanobot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [NanoClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Dots vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [OpenClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [OpenInstinct vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Orbits vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Orchid vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-pally.md) - [Orchid vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Orchid vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-poke.md) - [Orchid vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Orchid vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-szn.md) - [Orchid vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Orchid vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-tomo.md) - [Orchid vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-town.md) - [Orchid vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zapia.md) - [Orchid vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Orchid vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zo-computer.md) - [AstrBot vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Boski vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Caddy vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [CowAgent vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [folk vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [GAIA vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Gemini Spark vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Grok Bot vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Haven vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.md) - [Hermes Agent vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-leon.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-lindy.md) - [Hermes Agent vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.md) - [Hermes Agent vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.md) - [Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-poke.md) - [Hermes Agent vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-town.md) - [Hermes Agent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Gemini Spark vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-natura.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-pally.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-tomo.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-wajo.md) - [Leon vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Orchid vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-wajo.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-talorys.md) - [Orchid vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-talorys.md) ## Disclosure - Orchid competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.