head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs poco-claw
Hermes Agent has 246,618 GitHub stars, 51,659 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped yesterday. poco-claw has 1,352 stars, 127 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 18,141% (246,618 vs 1,352 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; poco-claw is written in Python under MIT. Hermes Agent has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, poco-claw 9%. 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, claude-code), 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 | poco-claw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 247K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-06 |
| 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 poco-claw if
- You want the poco-claw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and poco-claw 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 poco-claw
Poco is an MIT licensed, self hostable AI agent workspace written in Python that wraps a Claude Code–based agent in a channel based web interface, built for developers and teams who want an OpenClaw style coworker running on infrastructure they control.
read the full poco-claw overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes Agent or poco-claw more popular?
Hermes Agent has 246,618 GitHub stars and poco-claw has 1,352. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and poco-claw free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and poco-claw under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and poco-claw?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and poco-claw 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 poco-claw?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (246,618 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose poco-claw if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.