Baguette Bot
Hermes Agent, by Nous Research, is the reference for people who want to own their AI agent. It is free software under the MIT licence, it runs wherever you install it, it works with almost any model, and its GitHub repository has passed 250,000 stars. Its tagline sums up the idea: "the agent that grows with you", an agent that writes its own skills from experience and keeps a memory of you across sessions.
Baguette Bot starts from the same conviction, that your agents should belong to you, but takes the opposite route: we run the agents' computer for you, in Paris, with apps on every platform. This comparison is not about which is "better". It is about which trade-off suits you.
The short answer
| Hermes Agent | Baguette Bot | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Nous Research | Baguette Bot, France |
| Licence | MIT, free | Hosted service; free plan |
| Where it runs | Your machine, a VPS, Docker, serverless; optional paid "Hermes Cloud" (preview) | A cloud computer per account in Paris, plus your Mac or Linux PC if you want |
| Models | Almost any provider, plus local models (64k context minimum) | Your choice per bot among 400+, or Mistral only |
| Setup | One-line installer, then configuration | Sign up and talk to your bots |
| Interfaces | Command line, desktop app (preview since June 2026), Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email | Web, macOS, Linux, Android, iPhone (beta) |
| Your agent's data | Files on your disk | Exportable to an open .bot file |
Where Hermes Agent is strong
- Full control. The agent, its memory, its skills and its logs live on a machine you choose. If you also run a local model, nothing leaves your infrastructure.
- Model freedom. OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen and many others, plus local models through Ollama, vLLM, llama.cpp or LM Studio.
- Self-improving skills. After a complex task, Hermes can write itself a reusable skill and refine it with use. Skills follow the open agentskills.io format.
- Messaging everywhere. A single gateway connects the agent to Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal and email, with voice-note transcription.
- Breadth. 40+ tools, seven terminal backends (local, Docker, SSH, Modal, Daytona and more), sub-agents, MCP support, a scheduler in natural language.
- A huge community and very frequent releases.
- Cost. The software is free; you pay only for the machine and the model.
Where the two differ
Who runs the computer
With Hermes, you are the hosting provider. On a laptop, the agent stops when the lid closes. On a VPS, you own the uptime, the updates, the backups and the security. That last point matters: an agent with shell access and a messaging gateway is powerful, and setup guides warn that a compromised Telegram account can mean shell access to your server unless you configure allowlists, Docker sandboxing and a non-root user yourself.
With Baguette Bot, each account gets its own Linux computer in Paris, always on, already configured with a browser, a terminal and helper tools. You can watch its screen live. Sensitive actions wait for your approval by default, and secrets are encrypted and never shown to the model. You trade some control for not being on call.
Effort and learning curve
Hermes is CLI-first. The installer is a one-liner, but it pulls in Python, Node.js and several tools, and you then configure providers, gateways and security. The official desktop app arrived in public preview in June 2026; reviewers describe the experience as powerful but demanding for non-developers.
Baguette Bot is designed for people who don't want to touch a terminal: you create a bot, give it a job, and manage its schedule, memory and connected accounts from a visual interface.
Phones and desktops
Hermes has no dedicated mobile app; on a phone you talk to it through a messaging app, or install it under Termux on Android.
Baguette Bot has native apps for macOS, Linux and Android, an iPhone app in public beta, and the web app. You can also talk to your bots over Telegram, WhatsApp or email, and approve an action by replying « ok ». On a Mac, the notch shows what your bots are doing, and they can work on your Mac with your approval for each action.
Models
Both let you choose. Hermes's advantage is local models: if you have the hardware, you can run everything offline. Note its requirement of at least 64k tokens of context, which rules out small local models and Ollama's default settings.
Baguette Bot offers more than 400 hosted models, chosen per bot, and a sovereign mode that keeps every bot on Mistral AI, a French model maker. With the Mac app, bots can also use the Ollama models installed on your Mac.
Cost, honestly compared
Hermes is free, but not free to run: a VPS (a few euros to a few tens of euros per month), model API usage, and your time. Nous Research's optional Hermes Cloud, in preview, bills instances by the hour, plus inference.
Baguette Bot has a free plan with up to 6 bots and a cloud computer, then Pro at €29/month, Max at €69 and Ultra at €129, with the computer, apps and maintenance included.
Portability
Here the two products agree. A Hermes agent is a folder on your disk: you already own it. A Baguette Bot agent can be exported at any time, alone or with all the others, to a plain-text .bot file with its instructions, memory, routines, watchers and teams, without secrets. The format is documented so that any tool, including a self-hosted one, can read it.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Hermes Agent if you are comfortable with Linux and the command line, want local models or total control, enjoy tinkering, and are happy to handle security and updates yourself.
Pick Baguette Bot if you want agents that work 24/7 without maintaining a server, apps on your phone and your Mac, a safe-by-default setup, and computers hosted in France, while keeping the freedom to take your bots elsewhere.
Many people will use both: a self-hosted agent for experiments, a hosted one for the work that has to run every day. See also our overview of the main AI agents in 2026 and our guide to running an AI agent hosted in France.
Sources
- Nous Research, Hermes Agent repository and README: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent
- Hermes Agent releases: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases
- Hermes Agent documentation: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/
- Hermes Agent documentation, model providers: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/integrations/providers
- Decrypt, "Hermes ends AI agent terminal era with release of official desktop app", 3 June 2026: https://decrypt.co/369952/hermes-ai-agent-official-app-terminal
- DEV Community, "Nous Portal explained: plans, models, tools and Hermes Cloud", 2 August 2026: https://dev.to/zackchew/nous-portal-explained-plans-models-tools-and-hermes-cloud-9hh
