OpenBook vs Hermes
Hermes is an agentic platform for building and running AI agents and workflows. OpenBook is an open-source, self-hostable agentic platform with a visual + agentic canvas, a real workflow engine, agents with CORE long-term memory, an AI builder, and human-in-the-loop. Specifics of Hermes vary, so we keep this comparison measured; OpenBook's clearest differentiators are open-source licensing, self-hosting, and a full set of platform features.
At a glance
OpenBook and Hermes, capability by capability.
| Capability | OpenBook | Hermes |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | Varies | |
| Self-hostable | Varies | |
| Visual builder + AI builder | Partial | |
| Agents with long-term memory by default | Configurable | |
| Conditional branching with path pruning | Partial | |
| Error-path routing | Partial | |
| Human-in-the-loop pause/resume | Partial | |
| Generic HTTP connector + secret store | Partial |
Why teams pick OpenBook over Hermes
Open source & self-hosted
OpenBook is MIT-licensed and runs on your infrastructure with your own model keys and full source access.
Real workflow engine
Conditional branching that prunes the untaken path, error-path routing, set_variable and ${vars}, and human-in-the-loop pause/resume.
Agents with memory + AI builder
Agents remember across runs by default, and the AI builder generates the agents and wires the graph, then self-verifies.
Shared Actions + Skills and plugins
One shared pool of code-backed Actions and markdown Skills feeds every agent, extended by a plugin ecosystem and a generic http.request action.
MIT, self-host, your keys.
Licensing and hosting model vary by offering.
When to choose which
- You want an MIT-licensed, self-hostable platform with full source access
- You want a real workflow engine plus agents with memory and an AI builder
- You need built-in human-in-the-loop and a generic HTTP action with a secret store
- Hermes has a specific feature, integration, or hosting model that fits your needs
- You prefer its particular approach to building and running agents
Recreate Hermes agents as OpenBook agents (prompt + actions) and workflows as OpenBook graphs with branching, error paths, and human checkpoints. The AI builder can scaffold the initial graph.
Frequently asked questions
Build your first agentic workflow today.
OpenBook is free and open source. Self-host it in minutes, or read the docs to see how far the engine goes.