Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw: what is different

Short answer. Hermes Agent and OpenClaw are both free, MIT-licensed personal AI agents that you talk to from Telegram, Discord and other chat apps, using your own AI provider key. The clearest difference we measured is memory at rest: Hermes Agent's gateway process used about 260 to 280 MB, OpenClaw's about 1.1 GB, though both need about 2 GB to install or update. Hermes Agent is written in Python by Nous Research and describes itself as an agent that learns from use; OpenClaw is written in TypeScript on Node.js by the OpenClaw Foundation and has the larger community on GitHub. Neither is better for everyone: pick by what you need below.

Checked on 7 November 2026, accurate for Hermes Agent v0.23.0 and OpenClaw 2026.11.1.

This comparison uses each project's own documentation and repository, GitHub's figures on 7 November 2026, and our own tests of both agents on the same kind of server. Where a line is our opinion, it says so. PlayNHost runs both, on the same plans, so we have no reason to push one.

Side by side

Our memory numbers come from throwaway containers with one CPU core and test tokens, so no model was answering and neither had a chat app connected: real use adds to both. Details in how much memory Hermes Agent needs and how much memory OpenClaw needs.

What each project says it is for

• Hermes Agent calls itself "the self-improving AI agent": it creates skills from experience, improves them during use, searches its past conversations and builds a model of who you are across sessions. It has a built-in scheduler for jobs in plain language and can hand work to sub-agents. These are the project's own claims; we have not measured how well the learning works.
• OpenClaw describes a Gateway that connects your chat apps to an agent with browser, command, web search, skills and plugin tools, and a browser dashboard (the Control UI) to manage it.

How to choose

• Small server or several agents on one machine: Hermes Agent, because its gateway needed about a quarter of OpenClaw's memory at rest in our tests. Both still need about 2 GB while installing or updating.
• Largest community and most third-party guides: OpenClaw, by GitHub stars. That is a proxy, not a quality measure.
• You live in Python, or in Node.js: pick the one whose code you would read when something breaks.
• You want the agent to build its own skills over time: that is the centre of Hermes Agent's pitch. Try it with your own tasks before deciding.
• You already run one: each project has an importer for the other's setup, with a preview before anything changes (Hermes Agent's comes as a plugin; OpenClaw's expects a fresh setup). Moving still costs time, so switch for a reason.

OpenClaw's docs also publish their own comparison with Hermes Agent, reviewed against Hermes Agent's code of August 2026; read it knowing it comes from one of the two sides. Our judgment: for a personal agent you talk to on Telegram or Discord, both do the job. Decide by language, memory and which project's direction you prefer, then try it for a week.

The two agents on PlayNHost

You can switch one server between the two: on the Agent page, open Code, press Change what runs and choose the other agent in "Change which agent". By default the panel keeps your files and takes a backup first, and your keys and tokens stay on the Agent page. The new agent starts fresh: there is no command line on the server to run Hermes Agent's importer. Read connect Hermes Agent to Telegram or connect OpenClaw to Telegram, then create a Hermes Agent server or create an OpenClaw server.

PlayNHost is not affiliated with Nous Research or the OpenClaw Foundation. Hermes Agent and OpenClaw are open-source software under the MIT licence.