Hermes Agent is a personal agent; OpenCode is a coding 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.
Short answer
Hermes vs OpenCode: for coding, use OpenCode. It is built for sitting in a repository and shipping diffs, with LSP code intelligence, a Plan mode that discusses changes before Build mode makes them, and a terminal, desktop or IDE interface. For an always-on assistant you message from Telegram, Slack or Discord, that remembers you across sessions, saves what it learns as reusable skills and runs scheduled jobs, use Hermes Agent.
They do different jobs, so many people run both: Hermes for chat, research and automations, OpenCode in the terminal for code. Both are free and open source, and both can run on the same API key.
Comparing the subscriptions instead?Nous Portal vs OpenCode Go →
Either way, you pay for the model calls. A median coding-agent day on our gateway is 95 requests and 8.6 million tokens. The table prices every step at one model’s rate.
Both run on Standard Compute, where each step goes to the cheapest model that can do it: routine steps go to efficient open models, hard ones to frontier models such as Claude Fable 5.1 or GPT-6 Astra.
| Model | Typical day | Busy day |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5.5 | $7.34 | $59.10 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $3.67 | $29.55 |
| GPT-6 Luna | $0.23 | $2.43 |
Fixed monthly plans from $19. Eligible new accounts can try $0.25 of compute first, no card. Trial terms
Pick a winner in each category. You can change your vote anytime. 111 votes cast so far.
This comparison gets searched constantly, but these are different species of agent. Hermes Agent is Nous Research's open-source personal agent: it runs continuously (self-hosted, from a $5 VPS up), builds persistent memory of you and your projects, writes its own reusable skills after completing tasks, and answers from 20+ messaging platforms, such as Telegram, Discord, Slack, and WhatsApp. Coding is one of the many things it does, not the thing it's for.
OpenCode is a coding agent, full stop: a polished terminal TUI with LSP integration and session management, built for sitting down and shipping code. It has no persistent cross-session memory, no messaging-platform surface, and no learning loop, and it doesn't want them.
Because the jobs barely overlap, 'both' is a legitimate answer: Hermes as the always-on personal layer, OpenCode as the sit-down coding tool. Both are MIT-spirited open source and bring-your-own-model, so they even share an API endpoint happily.
Both agents bring their own model, so one Standard Compute key covers both. In OpenCode, run /connect and choose Standard Compute, which OpenCode lists natively through models.dev. For Hermes, run standardcompute launch hermes: it saves a separate Standard Compute profile and leaves your usual Hermes profile as it is.
Either way, the router sends each step to the cheapest model that can do it: Hermes' routine chat, memory and scheduled-job turns go to low-cost models, and hard coding steps in OpenCode go to frontier models. Providers are vetted for price, uptime and speed, with automatic fallback when one fails. Opt-in rules can keep a key on European or US providers, and we don't train on your prompts.
OpenCode setup →Hermes Agent setup →Best API for Hermes Agent →Best API for OpenCode →
HermesOpenCodeChoose Hermes Agent if you are power users who want a long-running personal agent that learns and compounds. Choose OpenCode if you are terminal users who want a polished AI coding interface with LSP support.
In our editorial scoring, Hermes Agent leads in 2 of six categories (autonomy and reliability), while OpenCode leads in 1 (ease of use). On price, Hermes Agent runs free (mit) / models via standard compute and is open source; OpenCode runs free (mit) / free zen models / go $10/mo and is open source.
Across 111 community votes on this matchup, OpenCode currently leads in 3 of six categories. Cast your own vote above to move the needle.
What it costs to run Hermes or OpenCode
Best API for Hermes →
6 options compared, with prices and limits
Best API for OpenCode →
7 options compared, with prices and limits
Standard Compute sends each step to the cheapest model that can do it, on providers we vet for price, uptime and speed. Plans start at $19 a month, and eligible new accounts can try $0.25 of compute with no card. Choose your agent below to connect.
See the trial and activation steps →
More on Hermes: How Much Does Hermes Agent Cost to Run? · How do I use Qwen 3.8 in Hermes Agent?
More on OpenCode: OpenCode Pricing: Plans, Subscription and API Costs (2026) · How do I use Kimi K3 in OpenCode?
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.
OpenCode is an open-source (MIT) AI coding agent best known for its terminal TUI, now also shipping a desktop app and IDE extensions with OpenCode 2. It connects to 75+ LLM providers through models.dev, has LSP integration for real code understanding, and runs several sessions in parallel. The tool is free; for models you bring your own key, use OpenCode's free Zen models, pay as you go on Zen, or subscribe to its Go plan ($10/month, Go Plus $40).
Not for coding. OpenCode is the better coding agent: LSP code intelligence, Plan and Build modes and a polished terminal interface. Hermes Agent is better as a long-running personal agent: persistent memory, skills it writes from completed tasks, scheduled jobs and access from 20+ messaging platforms. Pick by the job, or run both.
OpenCode (sometimes written Open Code). Hermes can edit files and run commands, but OpenCode is designed around a coding session: it reads your repository with LSP, lets you plan a change before it edits, and keeps sessions you can return to. Use Hermes for the work around the code, such as research, monitoring and reminders, which it can do from your chat apps.
Hermes Agent, from Nous Research, is a self-hosted personal agent with persistent memory (MEMORY.md and USER.md plus searchable past sessions), a skills system and a messaging gateway for Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp and more. OpenCode is an open-source coding agent for the terminal, desktop and IDE. Both are free; you pay only for the model API.
Yes. Both accept any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. With a Standard Compute key, OpenCode connects through /connect and Hermes through standardcompute launch hermes, and the router sends each step to the cheapest model that can do it.
Both agents are free; the cost is the model calls. Hermes tends to make more calls because it runs continuously, so cheap models for routine turns matter most there. OpenCode's cost depends on how hard the coding tasks are. A router that sends each step to the cheapest capable model lowers both.
Hermes and OpenCode both run on Standard Compute
