Hermes Agent vs Zo Computer
We give Hermes Agent a 3.2 GPA and Zo Computer a 3.0, out of 4.0. Hermes Agent grades higher on the free plan. Zo Computer grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Hermes Agent
Open-source AI agent with persistent memory and a messaging gateway
Zo Computer
Always-on personal cloud computer run by an AI agent
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAHermes AgentVery good | 3.0GPAZo ComputerVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BThe agent itself costs nothing: it's MIT licensed, with no paid edition. What costs money is the model. Bring your own provider, or use Nous Portal, where Plus is $20 a month and comes with $22 of credits. That's the going rate here. Always-on hosting is optional, from $0.56 a day. | BBasic is $18 a month, a touch under where agents in this category start. And it's a lot of computer: always on, 4 cores, 32 GB of RAM, 5 hosted services and 3 custom domains. The AI allowance is small, though, at $10 of credits a month. More means buying credits or bringing your own API keys. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe whole agent is free and open source, with nothing held back. A free Nous Portal account works with it too, though that's limited to free models and has no monthly credits. | CNo lasting free plan. You get a 14-day free trial with no credit card, on a computer that sleeps when idle, with limited AI usage and 1 hosted service. After that, ordinary access ends and only recovery sessions remain. Your files stay retrievable. |
| Features | AOne agent with one memory, reachable on more than 20 platforms from Telegram to email. It remembers between sessions, turns finished work into reusable skills, runs jobs on a schedule you describe in plain words, and hands parallel work to subagents. | AThe agent builds websites, storefronts and full-stack apps and hosts them on the same computer, on your own domain if you like. Describe a recurring job in a sentence and it sets the schedule. It has a remote browser and a terminal, 1,000+ integrations, a skills library and an MCP server. |
| Ease of use | CThere are desktop apps for Mac and Windows, but on Linux it's a terminal install. Either way you connect a model provider first, and each messaging platform has to be set up before you can chat there. No rating is on record. | BYou describe the site or the job in a sentence, and results come back by text, email or Slack. Every channel lands in one inbox. There's no rating on record to go by, so a B. |
| Platforms and integrations | BMac, Windows and Linux, plus a hosted cloud option, and it talks through Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal and Teams. There's no iOS version, and Android only runs through a prerelease Termux package, so on a phone you message it. | BWeb, plus desktop apps for Mac, Windows and Linux. No iPhone or Android app is listed, though you can reach it by iMessage, SMS, email, Telegram, Discord or Slack. One-click connections cover Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion and GitHub, and there's an API. |
| Best for | a free agent you message from your chat apps | a cloud computer with an agent that hosts things |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Hermes Agent and Zo Computer. How we grade
Where they differ
- Hermes Agent starts at $20 per month for the optional Nous Portal Plus tier; the agent is free. Zo Computer starts at $18 per month (Basic).
- Hermes Agent has a free plan. Zo Computer does not, though it has a free trial.
- Hermes Agent is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Zo Computer also covers app builder.
At a glance
| Hermes Agent | Zo Computer | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $20 per month for the optional Nous Portal Plus tier; the agent is free | $18 per month (Basic) |
| Free plan | Hermes Agent is free and open source under the MIT license. You connect your own model provider, or a free Nous Portal account that is limited to free models. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of the computer and AI, no credit card required; files stay retrievable afterwards |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Nous Research, Inc. | Zo Computer Company |
| Price read from | hermes-agent.nousresearch.com | zo.computer |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Hermes Agent
- Developers who want an agent on their own machine, server or VPS
- Reaching one agent from Telegram, Discord, Slack or WhatsApp
- Unattended scheduled jobs such as reports and briefings
Zo Computer
- Non-developers who want a website or small app built and hosted
- Scheduled background work such as reports, reminders and follow-ups
- People who want to reach an agent by text message or email
Worth knowing
Hermes Agent
- The agent is free, but paid models cost extra: your own provider's rates, or Nous Portal tiers from $20 a month.
- Desktop apps are offered for macOS and Windows; on Linux the install is through the terminal.
- The platform support page lists no iOS version, and Android runs only through a prerelease Termux package.
- Hermes Cloud needs $2 of Nous credit or an active subscription to deploy, and bills inference separately from the instance.
Zo Computer
- There is no lasting free plan: after the 14-day trial, ordinary computer access ends and only recovery sessions remain.
- Included AI credits are capped by plan at $10, $40 or $100 a month; more usage needs bought credits or your own API keys.
- Custom domains are not included in the Free Trial; Basic allows 3, Pro 5 and Ultra 10.
- The desktop guide lists Mac, Windows and Linux (.deb) apps but no iOS or Android app.
Key features
Hermes Agent
- Messaging gateway
- One gateway connects the agent to Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Matrix, email, Microsoft Teams and other platforms, more than 20 in all, sharing a single memory.
- Memory and self-written skills
- The agent keeps memory across sessions, creates reusable skills from work it has done and revises them in use. Skills follow the open agentskills.io format.
- Scheduled automations
- Built-in cron accepts natural-language schedules for reports, backups and briefings and delivers the results to any connected platform.
- Subagents
- Isolated subagents with their own conversations and terminals handle parallel workstreams without filling the main agent's context.
- Terminal backends and sandboxing
- Commands run locally or in Docker, over SSH, or on Daytona, Singularity, Modal or Vercel Sandbox, with command approval and container isolation.
- Nous Portal and Hermes Cloud
- A Portal subscription supplies credits for 200+ models and hosted web search, image generation, text-to-speech and browser tools. Hermes Cloud hosts an always-on agent, billed daily.
Zo Computer
- Always-on cloud computer
- Each workspace is a cloud computer with 100 GB of storage, a remote browser and a terminal. On paid plans it stays on around the clock and keeps memory across sessions.
- Websites and hosted services
- The agent builds websites, storefronts and full-stack apps from a description and hosts them on the same computer, including on your own custom domains.
- Automations
- Recurring jobs are described in a sentence. Zo sets the schedule, runs them while your laptop is closed and delivers the results by text, email or Slack.
- Messaging channels
- You can talk to the agent over iMessage and SMS, email, Telegram, Discord and Slack, or call it through an API, and every channel lands in one inbox.
- Integrations and skills
- One-click connections to apps such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion and GitHub, more than 1,000 integrations in all, plus a skills library and an MCP server.
- Choice of models
- Built-in models include Claude, GPT and Gemini, billed against the plan's credits. You can also bring your own API keys or connect a Codex or Gemini subscription.
Plans
Hermes Agent
Hermes Agent$0
The complete MIT-licensed agent, run on your own machine or server with a model provider of your choice.
Nous Portal Free$0
Free models only, standard rate limits and no monthly credits.
Nous Portal Plus$20
per month
$22 of monthly credits (a 10% bonus) with a $10 rollover cap, 200+ models, hosted tool usage and high rate limits.
Nous Portal Super$100
per month
$110 of monthly credits with a $50 rollover cap, plus the same models, hosted tools and rate limits as Plus.
Nous Portal Ultra$200
per month
$220 of monthly credits with a $100 rollover cap, plus the same models, hosted tools and rate limits as Plus.
Hermes CloudFrom $0.56
per day while running, billed from Nous credit
Optional always-on hosting: Medium is $0.56 a day and Large $1.09 while running, $0.03 a day stopped. Inference and tool usage are billed separately.
Zo Computer
Free Trial$0
14 days of limited AI usage on a computer that sleeps when idle, with 1 hosted service and 100 GB of disk. Recovery access only after that.
Basic$18
per month
Always-on computer with 4 cores and 32 GB RAM, memory across sessions, $10 of AI credits a month, 5 services and 3 custom domains.
Pro$64
per month
16 cores and 128 GB RAM, $40 of AI credits a month, 10 services, 5 custom domains and priority support.
Ultra$200
per month
64 cores and 512 GB RAM, $100 of AI credits a month, 50 services, 10 custom domains and priority support.
