Continue is a ide extension; Hermes Agent is a personal agent — different tools for different jobs. Here is what each is for, how they differ, and when to run each (or both). Vote for your favorite.
Pick a winner in each category — you can change your vote anytime. 16 votes cast so far.
ContinueHermesChoose Continue if you are developers who want full control over their AI coding assistant. Choose Hermes Agent if you are power users who want a long-running personal agent that learns and compounds.
In our editorial scoring, Hermes Agent leads in 4 of six categories (output quality, autonomy, reliability and speed), while Continue leads in 2 (value and ease of use). On price, Continue runs free (byo api key) and is open source; Hermes Agent runs free (mit) / models via standard compute and is open source.
Across 16 community votes on this matchup, Continue currently leads in 4 of six categories. Cast your own vote above to move the needle.
Give your chosen agent more room to build, test and iterate. Standard Compute stretches your compute through automatic provider selection and smart routing. Plans start at $19/month with $20 in monthly compute. Choose your agent below to connect. Eligible new accounts can try $0.25 of compute with no card.
See the trial and activation steps →
Weighing the cost of running it? Compare API plans for Continue · Compare API plans for Hermes
Continue is an open-source AI coding assistant that works as an extension for VS Code and JetBrains IDEs. It offers chat, autocomplete, and inline editing with full control over which models you use. Highly customizable with support for local models, cloud APIs, and custom context providers.
Hermes Agent is Nous Research's open-source autonomous agent, released in February 2026 under the MIT license. Its defining feature is a built-in learning loop: after completing complex tasks it writes its own reusable skills, improves them with use, and builds persistent cross-session memory of you and your projects. It runs self-hosted — from a $5 VPS to a GPU cluster — works with 200+ models, and is reachable from the CLI or 20+ messaging platforms including Telegram, Discord, Slack, and WhatsApp.
Continue and Hermes both run on Standard Compute
