head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs nanobot
Hermes Agent has 246,492 GitHub stars, 51,615 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nanobot has 48,274 stars, 8,533 forks, 775 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 411% (246,492 vs 48,274 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; nanobot is written in Python under MIT. Hermes Agent has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, nanobot 18%. 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, ai-agents), 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 | nanobot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 246K | ★ 48K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 8.5K |
| 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 nanobot if
- You want the nanobot feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and nanobot 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 nanobot
nanobot is an ultra lightweight, open source, self hosted personal AI agent framework written in Python, aimed at individual developers and small teams who want to run their own agent through a browser WebUI, a terminal, or chat apps instead of renting a hosted assistant.
read the full nanobot overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes Agent or nanobot more popular?
Hermes Agent has 246,492 GitHub stars and nanobot has 48,274. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and nanobot free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and nanobot under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and nanobot?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and nanobot 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 nanobot?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (246,492 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nanobot if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.