head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs waku-agent
Hermes Agent has 246,492 GitHub stars, 51,615 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped yesterday. waku-agent has 1,776 stars, 353 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 13,779% (246,492 vs 1,776 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; waku-agent is written in Python under MIT. Hermes Agent has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, waku-agent 20%. 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-agent, 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 | waku-agent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 246K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 353 |
| 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 waku-agent if
- You want the waku-agent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and waku-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 waku-agent
waku agent is a local first, MIT licensed Python AI agent harness for developers who want an assistant whose loop, memory and evaluation code they can read and own, rather than a hosted assistant that keeps those parts out of sight.
read the full waku-agent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes Agent or waku-agent more popular?
Hermes Agent has 246,492 GitHub stars and waku-agent has 1,776. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and waku-agent free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and waku-agent under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and waku-agent?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and waku-agent 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 waku-agent?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (246,492 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose waku-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.