head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs magentic
Hermes Agent has 246,618 GitHub stars, 51,659 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped yesterday. magentic has 2,425 stars, 127 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 10,070% (246,618 vs 2,425 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; magentic is written in Python under MIT. Hermes Agent has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, magentic 5%. Hermes Agent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai, chatgpt, llm), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 13541 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Hermes Agent | magentic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 247K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-03-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 127 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Hermes Agent if
- You weight community size — 247K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick magentic if
- You want the magentic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and magentic fits your workflow better
About Hermes Agent
Hermes Agent is a desktop AI agent developed by Nous Research that maintains persistent memory and self improving capabilities across sessions and platforms. It operates as a local first, cross platform interface for LLMs, integrating with multiple model providers and deployment environments without vendor lock in. The agent implements a closed learning loop where it curates its own memory, creates and refines skills from experience, and supports cross session recall via full text search and summarization.
read the full Hermes Agent overview →
About magentic
magentic is an MIT licensed Python library that turns Large Language Model prompts into typed Python functions through the @prompt and @chatprompt decorators, aimed at Python developers who need structured, agentic LLM behavior inside ordinary application code.
read the full magentic overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More AI Interaction & Interfaces projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Interaction & Interfaces field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes Agent or magentic more popular?
Hermes Agent has 246,618 GitHub stars and magentic has 2,425. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and magentic free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and magentic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and magentic?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and magentic in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Hermes Agent or magentic?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (246,618 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose magentic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.