# Hermes Agent by Nous Research 129 Hacker News commenters recommended Hermes Agent by Nous Research and 32 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 0 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** An easy-to-set-up personal AI agent that connects to chat apps and home tools and keeps long-term memory, though critics find it bloated and slow on local models. ## Why people recommend it - Connects to chat and home tools (6 comments): "Native gateway support. I've been primarily using mine through Element and it has largely been great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48712206)) "It's been wonderful for stuff like, say, giving Hermes an account on my Home Assistant server" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49391650)) "having Hermes in slack where multiple teammates can share a context window is indeed nice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48649454)) - Easy setup, low barrier (3 comments): "I like Hermes because it simultaneously lowers barrier of entry and shows you what possibilities are unlocked by agents." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49128154)) "It was really easy to setup and I've been getting some value out of it but hasn't been the craziest thing in the world." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787193)) "it took hermes just around 10-15 minutes to build first iteration. I am impressed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48826061)) - Memory, skills and multi-agent orchestration (3 comments): "Hermes also supports project-scoped kanban boards and can orchestrate across multiple specialized Hermes profiles." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48586615)) "It has long-term memory (vs project by project) and constantly reviews its output to improve its skills" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48253128)) "It can be set up to delegate to OpenCode for better multitasking and context usage as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49205752)) - Works reliably with little maintenance (3 comments): "Yeah maybe Claude/OpenCode/KiloCode/Hermes/whatever are not as minimal as Pi but they also work right now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49177322)) "Hermes usually works without maintenance more or less but I don't really trust these agents much" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49963786)) "This setup is so plain and simple that it just works, and it works wonders." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50191836)) ## What people warn about - Bloated with rarely used features (4 comments): "it's packed to the gills with stuff you'll probably use one time just to test it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49127404)) "Hermes seems to suffer from the same problem: why do I need to download skills for managing Spotify playlists or pokemon or minecraft" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48588397)) "they've each become so bloated with features that they're far more difficult to use and bug prone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49617903)) - Heavy prompts, slow on local models (3 comments): "hermes is not optimized right for local agents which will somewhat affect your work balance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49822338)) "inflated by the massive overhead that is the system prompt hermes generates for each request" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50159985)) "Models are too slow and expensive for this to work with tools like OpenClaw, Hermes, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49301649)) - Limited real productivity gains (2 comments): "Hermes in particular is a very well-built system, very easy to have fun with, but I had hard time improving my actual day-to-day productivity with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47696298)) "It was really easy to setup and I've been getting some value out of it but hasn't been the craziest thing in the world." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787193)) - Barred from Claude subscription plans (2 comments): "I can't even have Claude assist in creating a Hermes or OpenClaw agent that utilizes a 3rd party API?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47969544)) "restricting third-party agent systems like OpenClaw and Hermes from using the monthly plan" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47976434)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Munder Difflin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/munder-difflin.md): 11 recommend - [Omnigent](https://hackerapproved.com/p/omnigent.md): 10 recommend - [Raven](https://hackerapproved.com/p/raven.md): 8 recommend - [Gambit agent harness](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gambit.md): 8 recommend - [Prime Agent](https://hackerapproved.com/p/prime-agent.md): 7 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Hermes Agent by Nous Research", https://hackerapproved.com/p/hermes/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).