head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs Swirl Search
Hermes Agent has 246,492 GitHub stars, 51,615 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Swirl Search has 3,046 stars, 286 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 7,992% (246,492 vs 3,046 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; Swirl Search is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Hermes Agent has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Swirl Search 9%. Hermes Agent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Hermes Agent | Swirl Search | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 246K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 286 |
| 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 Swirl Search if
- You want the Swirl Search feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Swirl Search 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 Swirl Search
Swirl Search is an open source federated AI search and retrieval augmented generation (RAG) platform written in Python and built on Django. It lives in the AI and machine learning ecosystem, specifically the AI interaction and interface space, and is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license as SWIRL Community. The project queries more than 100 connected sources live, ranks the combined results, and optionally generates an answer with citations using a large language model of the operator's choice. It ships with the Galaxy UI, the same interface used by the commercial SWIRL Enterprise edition.
read the full Swirl Search 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 Swirl Search more popular?
Hermes Agent has 246,492 GitHub stars and Swirl Search has 3,046. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and Swirl Search free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and Swirl Search under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and Swirl Search?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and Swirl Search 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 Swirl Search?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (246,492 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Swirl Search if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.