What is Hermes Agent by Nous Research?
Short answer: Hermes Agent is a free, open-source (MIT) AI agent from Nous Research. It keeps memory, writes and improves its own skills, runs scheduled jobs, and talks to you from the terminal, desktop app, Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal or email. You bring the model.
Install (Linux, macOS, WSL2)
Official one-liner. Read any script before you pipe it into a shell:
curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
hermes setup # full setup wizard
hermes model # choose your provider/model (incl. a local endpoint)
hermes # start chatting
hermes doctor # diagnose problemsDesktop apps exist for macOS and Windows.
Costs
The agent is free. Model providers and optional hosted services (like Nous Portal) charge their own prices. Point hermes model at a local server to avoid per-token costs.
Good first job
The quickstart's rule: get one clean chat working before adding the gateway, schedules or skills. Then add one scheduled report and check it for a week.
Related questions
Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw?
Both are self-hosted, MIT-licensed and model-agnostic. Hermes emphasizes its self-improving skills loop; OpenClaw emphasizes the multi-channel Gateway. Try both on a spare machine.
Where these facts come from
- Hermes Agent (Nous Research): install command, free and MIT licensed, pricing FAQ
- Hermes Agent on GitHub: commands, memory and skills, backends
- Hermes Agent quickstart: hermes setup / hermes model
- Google Trends: US search interest and related queries, pulled Oct 29, 2026
Checked Oct 29, 2026. Plans and prices change, so confirm on the official page before you pay.
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