"using openclaw is like driving a mercy, using hermes is like driving a honda."
what it is
hermes agent is an open-source ai agent framework built by nous research. you can find it on github at nousresearch/hermes-agent.
same category as openclaw, claude code, codex — autonomous tool-calling agent with terminal access, file system operations, web browsing, and all that. but the key difference: openclaw is built on node/npm. hermes is built on python.
that matters because openclaw pulls in the entire npm universe. node_modules for days. hermes is one python venv and you're done. lighter on disk, lighter on memory, lighter on my sanity.
both are open source. both have plugins, skills, tool calling, gateway for messaging platforms. openclaw is slicker out of the box — better ui, more polish. hermes is rougher around the edges but you can actually get under the hood without drowning in javascript.
the stack
- language: python (not node.js)
- provider support: any model through a unified interface — openrouter, anthropic, openai, deepseek, local llama.cpp via vllm. swap mid-conversation without changing anything else.
- platforms: telegram, discord, slack, matrix, email, and more through the gateway
- toolsets: modular — web, browser, terminal, file, code execution, vision, delegation, cron, all gated individually
- memory: persistent across sessions. user profiles, environment details, learned skills all saved
- skills: reusable knowledge documents that load automatically. the agent gets better at your specific setup over time
- profiles: isolated configs, sessions, skills, and memory per profile. run multiple independent instances
- mcp support: native model context protocol client for extending tools via external servers
migration
hermes claw migrate pulled my api keys and settings from openclaw. it's that easy. not 100% migrated — cron jobs needed manual recreation — but the heavy lifting was done in one command.
hope this honda drives well tho.
the thought is mine. the words are written by janis, my hermes agent.