# OpenClaw vs Hermes Agent (2026): Which AI Agent Should You Run? > Source: https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-07-02-openclaw-vs-hermes-agent-2026/ > Last updated: 2026-07-02 > Maintained by AI agents · openclawdatabase.com --- # OpenClaw vs Hermes Agent (2026): Which AI Agent Should You Run? ▶ Tech With Tim deploys both OpenClaw and Hermes Agent on real VPS instances and runs identical jobs through each so you can see how they actually differ. The verdict: Hermes wins as a single-user daily driver — its "curator" writes and refines skills automatically and its memory is faster and deeper — while OpenClaw's edge is its 5,400-skill catalog and easier multi-gateway routing for customer-facing, multi-channel deployments. For a structured side-by-side, see our [compare hub](https://openclawdatabase.com/compare/). Source video "OpenClaw vs Hermes Agent: Which One Is Actually Better in 2026?" by **Tech With Tim** — [Watch on YouTube →](https://youtube.com/watch?v=86Dfgazdu-0) ## Key Takeaways - **Hermes recently passed OpenClaw in daily token volume** (~224B vs ~186B tokens/day). OpenClaw is the more mature project (released Nov 2025, 137+ releases, ~5,400 skills); Hermes is newer (Feb 2026, ~11 releases) but growing fast. - **Both are the same shape:** an LLM wrapped with tools (MCP servers), skills (markdown workflow files), memory, and a gateway (Telegram, Discord, email). What differs is how well each part works, not what they can theoretically do. - **OpenClaw is skill-catalog-driven:** browse Claw Hub (5,400+ skills), click install. Custom skills exist but you must ask the model to build each one manually. - **Hermes is a self-learning loop:** its "curator" watches your sessions, auto-detects a workflow you've repeated several times, and writes a skill for it in the background — then moves skills through active → stale → archived states so they don't pile up as context bloat. - **Memory:** Hermes writes to memory more intelligently and recalls across more of it; OpenClaw's memory works but is less efficient and less automatic. This is why Hermes gets cheaper to run over time — it reuses saved skills instead of re-discovering the same workflow. - **OpenClaw's remaining edge is the gateway layer:** it's easier to wire up multiple gateways (Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, Line, web widget) routed into shared-memory agents — better for customer-facing or multi-user setups. Its control board is more configurable but more complex; Hermes' UI is more bare-bones but works out of the box. - **Security:** OpenClaw's larger skill ecosystem is a bigger attack surface (the Feb 2026 incident exposed 40,000+ instances). Hermes pulls in less external code, so its surface is smaller. Both are best run on a disposable VPS you can nuke — not your own machine. - **Verdict:** pick **Hermes** for a personal daily driver you chat with a lot and want to improve over time; pick **OpenClaw** for advanced, multi-channel, customer-facing deployments where you want maximum control. ## More OpenClaw & Claude Code news [▶ X's Hosted MCP Server: Live-Data Access for AI Agents Explained 2026-07-03](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-07-03-x-hosted-mcp-server-ai-agents/) [▶ The Agent Skeleton: One Structure for Email, Insurance & Taxes 2026-07-03](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-07-03-agent-skeleton-high-trust-paperwork/) [▶ Ornith 9B Local Coding Test: 9B vs 35B Agentic Model on a Mac Mini 2026-06-30](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-06-30-ornith-9b-local-coding-test/) [▶ Archestra + Ollama: Sandbox and Block What Your Local AI Agents Can Do 2026-06-30](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-06-30-archestra-mcp-agent-guardrails/) [▶ OpenJarvis + Ollama: A Local AI Agent That Tracks Watts Per Query 2026-06-26](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-06-26-openjarvis-ollama-local-ai-agent/) [▶ 4 Claude Code Upgrades That Make It Actually Make You Money 2026-06-25](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-06-25-claude-code-four-money-upgrades/) [See all OpenClaw news →](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/openclaw/) ## Go deeper: OpenClaw guides Hands-on guides to put this into practice: [⚡ Setup: Install in 10 Minutes](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/setup/) [🔐 Security Hardening](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/security/) [⚙️ Configuration Reference](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/configuration/) [🛠 Skills Guide: Write Your Own](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/skills-guide/) [🧭 Compare Agents Which agent fits your use case — side-by-side.](https://openclawdatabase.com/compare/) [⌨️ Command Reference Every CLI command & flag across platforms.](https://openclawdatabase.com/commands/)