Hermes Agent by Nous Research: What It Is and How to Start (2026)

Hermes Agent by Nous Research is a free, open-source AI agent that runs almost anywhere — your laptop, a $5 VPS, your phone — with 60+ built-in tools, memory that grows over time, reusable skills and 20+ messaging platforms. It’s the agent I use every day, and in the video below I show why it changed AI agents for me. Here’s what Hermes is, what it can do and how to get started.

What is Hermes Agent by Nous Research?

Nous Research is an AI research lab known for its open models, and Hermes Agent is its open-source agent. Unlike a chatbot, Hermes can act: search the web, drive a browser, run commands, manage files, schedule jobs and delegate to sub-agents. It remembers what it learns, turns repeated work into skills, and gets better the more you use it.

What Hermes Agent can do

• Research the web and drive a real browser.
• Work on your computer — terminal, files and code, locally or sandboxed.
• Run on a schedule with built-in cron jobs that deliver results to any platform.
• Remember you and your work across sessions.
• Learn skills from what you do together and reuse them.
• Delegate big jobs to sub-agents running in parallel.
• Talk — voice mode and voice plugins.
• Run as bots — named bots with their own model, memory and routines.

How to install Hermes Agent by Nous Research

On Linux, macOS or WSL2:

curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash

On Windows (PowerShell):

iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1)

Or download Hermes Desktop for Mac (Apple Silicon) or Windows. Then run hermes setup to connect a model and a messaging platform.

Models for Hermes Agent

Hermes works with Nous Portal (which regularly has free models), OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Google, xAI, DeepSeek, Kimi, MiniMax, local models through Ollama or LM Studio, and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. My best Hermes Agent model guide covers which to use.

Ways to use Hermes

Is Hermes Agent free?

Yes — Hermes itself is free and open source. You pay only for the models you use, and there are free models on Nous Portal and free local models. Nous Portal also has paid plans that unlock extra tools like image generation through its Tool Gateway.

Getting started with Hermes Agent by Nous Research

• Install Hermes and run hermes setup.
• Connect a free model and Telegram.
• Ask it to send you a daily news brief at 6am.
• Turn that into a skill and schedule it.
• Add one new use case each week.

For ideas, see my best Hermes Agent use cases.

Why Hermes Agent stands out

Most AI agents are tied to one company’s models and one app. Hermes isn’t: it’s open source, it works with almost any model including free and local ones, and it lives wherever you work — the terminal, a desktop app, your phone through Telegram or WhatsApp, or a server that never sleeps. Add memory that improves over time, skills it writes for itself, plugins and sub-agents, and you get an agent that keeps getting more useful the longer you use it.

That flexibility is why so many people — including me — use Hermes as their main agent and add other tools around it for specific jobs.

Hermes Agent for businesses

For a business, Hermes is most valuable as an always-on assistant: researching, drafting, triaging email, preparing reports and monitoring competitors on a schedule, with results delivered to Slack or Telegram. Because it’s open source, you control where it runs and which models it uses, which makes it easier to meet company rules on data. And because skills are just files, your team’s best processes become reusable assets rather than knowledge locked in one person’s head.

Common questions about Hermes Agent

Do I need to code? No — you describe what you want and Hermes does the work, though basic comfort with installing software helps. Is it safe? It asks for approval on risky actions, and you can sandbox commands in Docker. Can it run on my phone? You can talk to it from your phone through messaging apps, and it even runs on Android through Termux. Can it replace ChatGPT? For many people it does, because it can act, remember and run on a schedule, not just chat.

My take on Hermes Agent by Nous Research

Hermes Agent by Nous Research is the most flexible AI agent I’ve used: free, open source, any model, any platform, with memory and skills that compound. Install it, connect a free model and give it one job to do every day.

If you’re new to agents, Hermes is a great place to start because you can begin for free and grow into it: one daily job this week, a few skills next month, a VPS and several bots when you’re ready.

FAQ: hermes agent by nous research

What is Hermes Agent?

A free, open-source AI agent by Nous Research with 60+ tools, memory, skills, cron jobs and 20+ messaging platforms.

Who makes Hermes Agent?

Nous Research, an AI research lab known for its open models.

Is Hermes Agent free?

Yes — it’s open source; you pay only for the models you use, and free models are available.

What can Hermes Agent run on?

Linux, macOS, Windows, WSL2, Android via Termux, Docker, Nix and even a $5 VPS.

How do I install Hermes Agent?

Run the official install script, or download Hermes Desktop for Mac or Windows.

About Julian Goldie

I’m Julian Goldie — founder of Goldie Agency, best-selling author, and an AI educator with 428K+ YouTube subscribers. I’ve spent 10+ years in SEO and online business and I test every AI agent on my own work before I recommend it. Join the AI Profit Boardroom for the daily builds, or book a free strategy session to talk through yours.

Related reading

• Best Hermes Setup
• Best Hermes Agent Alternative
• Best Hermes Agent Tools

Last updated October 2026. This page is a living guide to hermes agent by nous research — the facts here move fast and it is updated as they do.