Hermes Agent vs Pi comes down to one thing: Hermes is batteries included, Pi is deliberately minimal. Hermes ships with memory, self-written skills, a messaging gateway and a plugin catalog. Pi ships with four tools and a tiny system prompt, and you build the rest yourself in TypeScript. If you want an agent that runs your business, pick Hermes. If you want a lean coding agent you can bend into any shape, pick Pi.
📺 Watch: Pi Coding Agent DESTROYS Openclaw?
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I run Hermes as my main agent every day. I also respect what Pi is doing a lot. They are not trying to be the same thing, and once you see the design difference, the choice gets obvious.
If you want the full setup I run, with Hermes working next to OpenClaw, OpenCode, Claude Code and Codex on one shared memory, it lives inside the AI Profit Boardroom ($69/mo). More on that further down.
The two philosophies
Most comparisons list features. That misses the point here. These two tools start from opposite beliefs about what an agent should be.
Hermes says: give people a complete agent. It should remember them, learn new skills, answer them on their phone, run jobs on a schedule and plug into hundreds of tools without them writing code.
Pi says: give people the smallest useful core. Per its README, Pi is built around four tools, read, write, edit and bash, plus a very short system prompt. Everything else is an extension you add in TypeScript. Less hidden behaviour. More control.
Neither is wrong. They are built for different people.
What Hermes Agent ships with
Hermes Agent is the open-source, MIT-licensed, self-hosted agent from Nous Research. Out of the box you get:
- Persistent memory. It remembers you and your work between sessions.
- Self-written skills. Hermes writes its own reusable skills as it learns how you work.
- A messaging gateway. Talk to it from Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email or the CLI.
- A plugin catalog. 600 reviewed plugins as of v0.22, plus connectors and MCP.
- Real tools. Web search, a browser, terminal and files, cron jobs and subagents.
- Interfaces. A CLI and terminal app, the Hermes Desktop native app, Bot Mode and profiles.
- Models. Anthropic, an OpenAI Codex sign-in, OpenRouter, Nous Portal free models, Ollama and one-click local models as of v0.22.
It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, WSL2 and Android. You install it and you have a working assistant the same afternoon.
📺 Watch: Hermes3D Is INSANE: AI Agents Now Have a 3D Office
What Pi ships with
Pi, the pi coding agent at pi.dev, is a minimal, MIT-licensed terminal coding agent by Mario Zechner, the creator of libGDX. Per its README, here is the core:
- Four tools. Read, write, edit and bash. That is the whole built-in toolbox.
- A very short system prompt. Less instruction overhead, so the model spends its attention on your task.
- TypeScript extensions. Want a new tool, a new command or a new behaviour? You write an extension.
- Bring your own key. It works across many model providers with your own API keys.
- npm install. It installs through npm, like any other Node tool.
Per the Omarchy manual, Omarchy even pre-wires it as "pi". Small, fast, hackable. The trade is simple: you add the features yourself. If you are weighing Pi against another popular open agent, I covered that in Pi vs OpenClaw.
📺 Watch: Hermes AI Agents Just Went Portable
Hermes Agent vs Pi: head-to-head
| Category | Hermes Agent | Pi |
|---|---|---|
| Design idea | Batteries included | Minimal core, extend it yourself |
| Built-in tools | Web search, browser, terminal, files, cron, subagents, MCP | Read, write, edit, bash |
| Memory | Persistent memory built in | Add it yourself if you want it |
| Skills | Writes its own reusable skills | Extensions you write in TypeScript |
| Messaging | Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email | Terminal |
| Plugins | Reviewed plugin catalog, connectors | Your own extensions |
| Interfaces | CLI, Desktop app, gateway, Bot Mode | Terminal |
| Models | Many providers, free Nous Portal models, local models | Bring your own key across many providers |
| Main job | Running work across your business | Coding in a terminal |
| Learning curve | Easy to start, deep when you want it | Easy to start, you build the depth |
| License | MIT | MIT |
Read the first row and you know the rest of the table. Every other line follows from it.
Who Hermes suits
Hermes is for people who want an agent working for them, not a project to maintain.
- Business owners and creators who want research, content, inbox and reporting handled while they do other things.
- People who live on their phone. Message Hermes on Telegram and it does the job on your server.
- Non-coders. Plugins and connectors mean you switch things on instead of building them.
- Anyone running scheduled work. Cron jobs, routines and subagents are already there.
This is why Hermes is my primary agent. I want something that remembers how I work and keeps going when I close the laptop.
Not sure where an agent fits in your business yet? Book a free AI strategy session and we will map it out.
Who Pi suits
Pi is for developers who want a sharp tool, not a platform.
- Coders who hate hidden behaviour. A tiny prompt and four tools means you can see exactly what the agent is doing.
- Tinkerers. If you enjoy writing TypeScript to shape your tools, Pi is a playground.
- Omarchy users. It is already there as "pi", ready in a terminal.
- BYOK people. You pick the provider and the model and pay them directly.
If coding is the main thing you care about, I went deeper on that exact angle in Hermes Agent vs Pi coding agent.
Which should you use?
Pick Hermes if you want memory, skills, messaging and plugins working on day one, and you want one agent to handle work across your whole business.
Pick Pi if you are a developer, you mostly want an agent that reads and edits code in a terminal, and you would rather add features yourself than turn features off.
Run both if you are already technical. They do not fight. Hermes runs the business side, Pi sits in a terminal for focused coding. On Omarchy that is especially easy, and I covered the wider options in the best AI agent for Omarchy.
One honest note from running these daily. Open-source agents ship fast and something breaks now and then. That is why I never rely on just one. My Agentic Operating System runs Hermes, OpenClaw, OpenCode, Claude Code and Codex side by side with one memory, so if one tool has a bad update, the others keep working. The Agent OS guide shows how that fits together, and Goldie Bench shows how I test these tools against real jobs.
The zip, the courses on Hermes, OpenClaw and Claude Code, plus four live coaching calls a week, are inside the AI Profit Boardroom. Want a hand picking your stack first? Grab a free AI strategy session.
FAQ
Is Pi a replacement for Hermes Agent?
No. Pi is a minimal terminal coding agent. Hermes is a full personal agent with memory, skills, messaging and plugins. They overlap on coding, but Hermes covers a lot more ground out of the box.
Can Pi do what Hermes does?
Some of it, if you build it. Per its README, Pi is designed to be extended through TypeScript. You could add tools and behaviours yourself, but memory, a messaging gateway and a reviewed plugin catalog do not come in the box.
Are Hermes Agent and Pi both free?
Both are MIT-licensed and open source. You still pay for the model you use, unless you use free models. Hermes supports free Nous Portal models and local models. Pi works with your own keys across many providers.
Which is better for beginners?
Hermes. The Desktop app, guided setup and plugin catalog make it much easier to get real work done without writing code. If you want a second opinion on your setup, book a free AI strategy session.
