For a Hermes Agent user, this is the real decision. Nous Portal is Hermes-native — one auth flow, 300+ models, bundled tools (search, image, browser) — but its credit multiple is thin (~1.1x), so you pay mostly for convenience and breadth. Claude Max buys the best coding agent but only Anthropic models and only Claude Code. If you live in Hermes, Portal; if you live in Claude Code, Max. They barely overlap.
This comparison is maintained by Standard Compute — we sell a third thing entirely (unlimited tokens at a flat price, paced under sustained load, from $9/mo), so we have no horse in this particular race and keep both sides honest. If neither plan above fits because the meter itself is your problem: the full comparison including us →