Hermes is a desktop AI agent from Nous Research that runs on your own machine with persistent memory, reusable saved skills, scheduled cron jobs, and the ability to swap the underlying model between frontier, cheap, free, and locally hosted options.
The centerpiece of Justin's Episode 004 segment. He runs Hermes as a desktop agent with persistent memory that never forgets how he works, saves repeat tasks as skills to cut token costs, and schedules cron jobs like a daily AI-news scout. He used it live to turn 533 attendee records into a finished cohort-analysis report, and switches the model per task (frontier, cheap like Kimi, free, or local). He uses it for high-velocity marketing operations and is running a free setup boot camp for attendees.
Genuine substitutes for Hermes that we've also run on stage:
Yes, Hermes has a free tier. Desktop app; you choose the model under the hood, including free and locally hosted options (stated on the live).
Desktop app; you choose the model under the hood, including free and locally hosted options (stated on the live).
Justin Novak used it in Episode 004 to centerpiece demo: persistent-memory desktop agent, live cohort analysis, cron jobs, model switching.
Tools we've also used live that can stand in for Hermes: OpenClaw.
| Category | AI agents & automation |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Desktop app; you choose the model under the hood, including free and locally hosted options (stated on the live). |
| Free tier | Yes |
| Used live in | Episode 004 |
| Operator(s) | Justin Novak |
| Website | hermes-agent.nousresearch.com |
See tools like Hermes set up live, step by step, on AI4NTP, or get hands-on help putting it to work.