head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs Risuai
Hermes Agent has 246,618 GitHub stars, 51,659 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Risuai has 1,688 stars, 349 forks, 160 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 14,510% (246,618 vs 1,688 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; Risuai is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Hermes Agent has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Risuai 21%. 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, claude, 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 | Risuai | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 247K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 349 |
| 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 Risuai if
- You want the Risuai feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Risuai 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 Risuai
Risuai is a cross platform, open source AI chat and roleplay client, written in TypeScript with Svelte and Tauri and licensed under GPL 3.0, for people who want to run character driven conversations against the language model of their choice instead of a single vendor's locked down chat window.
read the full Risuai overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes Agent or Risuai more popular?
Hermes Agent has 246,618 GitHub stars and Risuai has 1,688. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and Risuai free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and Risuai under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and Risuai?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and Risuai 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 Risuai?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (246,618 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Risuai if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.