head to head · open source
Hermes Agent vs QwenPaw
Hermes Agent has 247,211 GitHub stars, 51,953 forks, 41,784 open issues and last shipped today. QwenPaw has 35,130 stars, 3,119 forks, 990 open issues and last shipped today. Hermes Agent leads on adoption by 604% (247,211 vs 35,130 stars). Hermes Agent is written in Python under MIT; QwenPaw is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Hermes Agent has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, QwenPaw 9%. 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-agent, ai-agents), 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 | QwenPaw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 247K | ★ 35K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| 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 QwenPaw if
- You want the QwenPaw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and QwenPaw 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 QwenPaw
QwenPaw is a personal AI assistant harness under the Apache 2.0 licence, aimed at people who want an LLM agent running on their own machine or in their own cloud account and reachable from the chat apps they already use.
read the full QwenPaw overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Hermes Agent or QwenPaw more popular?
Hermes Agent has 247,211 GitHub stars and QwenPaw has 35,130. Hermes Agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are Hermes Agent and QwenPaw free?
Both are open source. Hermes Agent is licensed under MIT and QwenPaw under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Hermes Agent and QwenPaw?
Hermes Agent is written in Python and QwenPaw 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 QwenPaw?
Choose Hermes Agent if you want the larger community (247,211 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose QwenPaw if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.