Nous Research is an independent AI lab producing open-source models and Hermes Agent, a self-improving open source agent harness for developers and researchers.
About
Nous Research is an independent AI research lab that trains open models, builds agents, and develops infrastructure, with the stated goal of making capable AI widely accessible rather than reserved for a small group. The lab is best known for Hermes Agent, an open source agent harness distributed under the MIT license, which it describes as the most widely used of its kind.
The company positions itself as part of the open source AI movement, with research focus areas that include agents, model architecture, data synthesis, fine-tuning, and reasoning. Beyond research, Nous Research ships practical products: a command-line installation of Hermes Agent, a desktop application for Mac, Windows, and Linux, and the Nous Portal for managing plans and usage. Its work spans both publications and usable software, aimed at developers, researchers, and anyone who wants local or cloud access to open intelligence.
Key Features
Pricing & Fees
- Pricing: Not publicly listed on the pages we reviewed; check the official site for current plans. The site describes Plus, Super, and Ultra tiers with daily, weekly, and monthly usage limits plus pay-as-you-go credits.
- Free availability: Every plan grants access to all models, and users who exhaust their allowance can switch to an available free model.
- Usage model: All plans include one hosted cloud agent; API-key requests and extra cloud agents draw from pay-as-you-go credits.
- Platforms: Terminal, desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux, and a cloud option.
Who It's For
Nous Research serves open-source developers, AI researchers, and hobbyists who want capable models and agents they can run, inspect, and modify themselves. The Hermes Agent suits users who want a persistent, self-improving assistant across terminal or desktop environments, while the research output benefits teams studying fine-tuning, data synthesis, and model architecture. The subscription and cloud-agent options also make it practical for less technical users who prefer a hosted experience, and the Nous Portal supports both individual and business customers.
FAQ
What is Nous Research?Nous Research is an independent AI lab focused on open AI training and research; it created Hermes Agent, an MIT-licensed open source agent harness, and works to broaden access to capable AI.
Is Nous Research free to use?Hermes Agent is open source under the MIT License, and hosted plans include usage allowances with an available free model option; the company also sells pay-as-you-go credits, and full plan pricing is not publicly listed on the pages we reviewed.
What platforms does Hermes Agent run on?It can be installed via the terminal, run as a desktop application on Mac, Windows, or Linux, or used in the cloud.
How does Hermes Agent improve over time?It builds skills from experience, improves them during use, persists knowledge on its own, and accumulates an understanding of the user across sessions.
Are the official Hermes mobile apps available?No; Nous Research has warned that official mobile apps are not in app stores yet and that third-party apps imitating Hermes branding are typically fraudulent.
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