Hermes Agent is a personal agent; Roo Code 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.
Pick a winner in each category — you can change your vote anytime.
HermesRoo CodeChoose Hermes Agent if you are power users who want a long-running personal agent that learns and compounds. Choose Roo Code if you are power users who want a deeply configurable VS Code agent and don't mind tuning it.
In our editorial scoring, Hermes Agent leads in 4 of six categories (autonomy, reliability, speed and value), while Roo Code leads in 0. On price, Hermes Agent runs free (mit) / models via standard compute and is open source; Roo Code runs free (byo api key) and is open source.
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.
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Weighing the cost of running it? Compare API plans for Hermes · Compare API plans for Roo Code
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.
Roo Code began as a fork of Cline and grew into its own power-user favourite. Its signature feature is modes: switchable personas like Architect (plan), Code (build), and Debug (fix), plus fully custom modes with their own prompts and tool permissions. It supports auto-approval settings for hands-off runs, MCP servers, and any OpenAI-compatible provider. The trade-off for all that configurability is a steeper setup than Cline — and, like every BYO-key agent, your API bill scales with how hard you run it.
Hermes and Roo Code both run on Standard Compute
