# Hermes Agent vs NextClaw

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

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

| Field | Hermes Agent | NextClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tagline | The agent that grows with you | Ultra-lightweight OpenClaw alternative with full plugin compatibility |
| Language | python | typescript |
| Status | active | active |
| Stars | 163k | 215 |
| Forks | 26728 | 32 |
| Open issues | 13267 | 3 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Last commit | 2026-05-23T03:15:11Z | 2026-05-23T04:15:23Z |
| 7d growth | 11664 | -1 |
| MCP support | yes | no |
| Requires LLM | yes | yes |
| Platforms | server, messaging | cli, server, messaging |
| Categories | memory, self-hosted, multi-platform | self-hosted, lightweight, messaging |
| Health score | 75/100 | 75/100 |
| Leaderboard rank | #2 | #41 |

## Key differences

- Hermes Agent has 760x more stars (163k vs 215), indicating significantly broader adoption.
- Hermes Agent is growing faster with +12k stars this week vs +-1 for NextClaw.
- Hermes Agent is written in Python while NextClaw uses TypeScript, which may influence your choice depending on your stack.
- Hermes Agent has MCP (Model Context Protocol) support while NextClaw does not.
- Hermes Agent focuses on memory, multi-platform while NextClaw targets lightweight, messaging.

## Descriptions

### 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.

### NextClaw

OpenClaw-inspired personal AI assistant at ~1/20 the codebase. 12+ AI providers, 10+ message channels (Discord, Telegram, Slack, WhatsApp, Feishu, DingTalk, and more), cron and heartbeat scheduling, browser UI configuration. Published on npm, runs locally.