# Golem vs Hermes Agent

> Side-by-side comparison of two projects in the OpenClaw ecosystem.

Canonical HTML: https://shelldex.com/compare/golem-vs-hermes/
JSON: https://shelldex.com/api/compare/golem-vs-hermes.json

| Field | Golem | Hermes Agent |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tagline | Your AI agent, single binary, zero dependencies | The agent that grows with you |
| Language | go | python |
| Status | active | active |
| Stars | 188 | 163k |
| Forks | 15 | 26728 |
| Open issues | 90 | 13267 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Last commit | 2026-05-22T23:10:07Z | 2026-05-23T03:15:11Z |
| 7d growth | -9 | 11664 |
| MCP support | no | yes |
| Requires LLM | yes | yes |
| Platforms | cli, server, messaging | server, messaging |
| Categories | self-hosted, lightweight, developer-tools | memory, self-hosted, multi-platform |
| Health score | 40/100 | 75/100 |
| Leaderboard rank | #42 | #2 |

## Key differences

- Hermes Agent has 869x more stars (163k vs 188), indicating significantly broader adoption.
- Hermes Agent is growing faster with +12k stars this week vs +-9 for Golem.
- Golem is written in Go while Hermes Agent uses Python, which may influence your choice depending on your stack.
- Hermes Agent has a higher fork-to-star ratio (16% vs 8%), suggesting more active contributor participation.
- Hermes Agent has MCP (Model Context Protocol) support while Golem does not.
- Golem focuses on lightweight, developer-tools while Hermes Agent targets memory, multi-platform.

## Descriptions

### Golem

Terminal-first personal AI agent built in pure Go. Single binary deployment with TUI, multi-channel bot support, tool calling, long-term memory, skill packs, cron scheduling, and gateway API. No Python, Node, or Docker required.

### Hermes Agent

Persistent personal AI agent by Nous Research with multi-level growing memory, self-authored skills, and multi-platform messaging. Learns your projects and builds reusable knowledge over time.