head to head · open source
nanobot vs mercury-agent
nanobot has 49,806 GitHub stars, 8,711 forks, 775 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mercury-agent has 3,810 stars, 392 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nanobot leads on adoption by 1,207% (49,806 vs 3,810 stars). nanobot is written in Python under MIT; mercury-agent is written in TypeScript under MIT. nanobot has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, mercury-agent 10%. mercury-agent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai-agent), 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
| nanobot | mercury-agent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.7K | ⑂ 392 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nanobot if
- You weight community size — 50K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mercury-agent if
- You want the mercury-agent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and mercury-agent fits your workflow better
About nanobot
English 简体中文 繁體中文 Español Français Bahasa Indonesia 日本語 한국어 Русский Tiếng Việt Discord · X · WeChat / Feishu nanobot 🐈 nanobot is an ultra lightweight, open source, self hosted personal AI agent framework written in Python. It runs in a WebUI, terminal, or chat apps and combines tools, long term memory, MCP integrations, model routing, multi agent delegation, scheduled automation, and an OpenAI compatible API in a small, readable core. Start Here What can nanobot do? nanobot is a self hosted personal AI agent runtime. It can: run in a browser WebUI or terminal connect to Telegram, Discord, Slack, WeChat, Email…
read the full nanobot overview →
About mercury-agent
Soul driven AI agent with permission hardened tools, token budgets, and multi channel access. Remembers what matters. Asks before it acts. Runs 24/7 from CLI, Telegram, or Web. 31 built in tools, Kanban boards, extensible skills, SQLite backed Second Brain memory. 🔖 Current Stable: v1.2.3 English 简体中文 Quick Start One liner install (no Node.js required) — downloads the latest standalone binary for your OS: Or via npm if you already have Node.js 20+: Or install the npm package globally: First run triggers the setup wizard (name, provider, optional Telegram). After setup, Mercury opens the Ink TUI startup screen…
read the full mercury-agent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nanobot or mercury-agent more popular?
nanobot has 49,806 GitHub stars and mercury-agent has 3,810. nanobot has the larger community by that measure.
Are nanobot and mercury-agent free?
Both are open source. nanobot is licensed under MIT and mercury-agent under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nanobot and mercury-agent?
nanobot is written in Python and mercury-agent 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, nanobot or mercury-agent?
Choose nanobot if you want the larger community (49,806 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mercury-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.