head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs whirl
Hermes Agent has 252,590 GitHub stars, 54,620 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped today. whirl has 505 stars, 48 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 49,918% (252,590 vs 505 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; whirl is written in TypeScript under MIT. Hermes Agent has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, whirl 10%. 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, 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 | whirl | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 253K | ★ 505 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 55K | ⑂ 48 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Hermes Agent if
- You weight community size — 253K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick whirl if
- You want the whirl feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and whirl 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 whirl
Whirl is an MIT licensed, full stack AI chat application built on Next.js and Convex, for anyone who wants to run their own multi model chat interface — whether for personal use, self hosting, or contributing to an open source project.
read the full whirl overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes Agent or whirl more popular?
Hermes Agent has 252,590 GitHub stars and whirl has 505. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and whirl free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and whirl under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and whirl?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and whirl 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 whirl?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (252,590 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose whirl if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.