# Hermes Agent vs OpenClaw

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

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

| Field | Hermes Agent | OpenClaw |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tagline | The agent that grows with you | The OG self-hosted AI super-agent |
| Language | python | typescript |
| Status | active | active |
| Stars | 136k | 369k |
| Forks | 20779 | 76104 |
| Open issues | 8579 | 7307 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Last commit | 2026-05-06T19:07:48Z | 2026-05-06T19:42:42Z |
| 7d growth | 7810 | 1935 |
| MCP support | yes | yes |
| Requires LLM | yes | yes |
| Platforms | server, messaging | server |
| Categories | memory, self-hosted, multi-platform | reference, self-hosted |
| Health score | 75/100 | 95/100 |
| Leaderboard rank | #2 | #1 |

## Key differences

- OpenClaw has 3x more stars (369k vs 136k), indicating significantly broader adoption.
- Hermes Agent is growing faster with +7.8k stars this week vs +1.9k for OpenClaw.
- Hermes Agent is written in Python while OpenClaw uses TypeScript, which may influence your choice depending on your stack.
- Hermes Agent focuses on memory, multi-platform while OpenClaw targets reference.
- OpenClaw scores higher on project health (maintenance activity, issue management, release cadence).

## 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.

### OpenClaw

The original. Self-hosted AI super-agent platform. Formerly Clawdbot, then Moltbot. The project that started it all.