head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs mercury-agent
Hermes Agent has 246,492 GitHub stars, 51,615 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mercury-agent has 3,153 stars, 340 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 7,718% (246,492 vs 3,153 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; mercury-agent is written in TypeScript under MIT. Hermes Agent has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, mercury-agent 11%. Hermes Agent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai-agent, 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.
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Side by side
| Hermes Agent | mercury-agent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 246K | ★ 3.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 340 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Hermes Agent if
- You weight community size — 246K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mercury-agent if
- You want the mercury-agent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and mercury-agent 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 mercury-agent
mercury agent is an open source AI agent written in TypeScript and licensed under MIT. It lives in the AI & Machine Learning / AI Interaction & Interfaces ecosystem, with topics ai agent, ai assistant, and llm. The project provides a soul driven agent that uses tools, keeps memory, and connects through CLI, Telegram, or Web.
read the full mercury-agent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes Agent or mercury-agent more popular?
Hermes Agent has 246,492 GitHub stars and mercury-agent has 3,153. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and mercury-agent free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and mercury-agent under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and mercury-agent?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and mercury-agent in TypeScript. 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 mercury-agent?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (246,492 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mercury-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.