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- Apr 17, 2018
- Messages
- 25,645
A few weeks ago, I installed Hermes Agent on a Vultr server to give it a try so I could compare it to my OpenClaw agent:
hermes-agent.nousresearch.com
I am not expecting to replace my OpenClaw agent, Jeff, but I wanted to see if I could find a simpler and cheaper solution. Currently, my OpenClaw lives on a Mac Mini in my office and runs on Opus 4.6 with 1,000,000 token context window. Very powerful, but it's also expensive.
So, is a cheaper and more simple option possible? Well, it turns out it is.
The Hermes Docs do a great job of explaining all the benefits/features:
hermes-agent.nousresearch.com
I installed Hermes on a $10 Ubuntu server. The installation process was a few simple Terminal commands. But, instead of Claude/Opus, I decided to use OpenRouter so I could quickly test a few different cheaper models to see which one I liked best.
The winner (so far) is...
MiniMax 2.7
openrouter.ai
Originally, I was using 2.5 but when 2.7 was released I switched my Hermes Agent, Herman, to 2.7. Minimax is a Chinese model. It's VERY good for the price.
Here is a comparison:
openrouter.ai
For
Hermes Agent — AI Agent Framework
An open-source agent that grows with you. Install it, give it your messaging accounts, and it becomes a persistent personal agent — learning your projects, building its own skills, and reaching you wherever you are.
I am not expecting to replace my OpenClaw agent, Jeff, but I wanted to see if I could find a simpler and cheaper solution. Currently, my OpenClaw lives on a Mac Mini in my office and runs on Opus 4.6 with 1,000,000 token context window. Very powerful, but it's also expensive.
So, is a cheaper and more simple option possible? Well, it turns out it is.
The Hermes Docs do a great job of explaining all the benefits/features:
Hermes Agent Documentation | Hermes Agent
The self-improving AI agent built by Nous Research. A built-in learning loop that creates skills from experience, improves them during use, and remembers across sessions.
hermes-agent.nousresearch.com
I installed Hermes on a $10 Ubuntu server. The installation process was a few simple Terminal commands. But, instead of Claude/Opus, I decided to use OpenRouter so I could quickly test a few different cheaper models to see which one I liked best.
The winner (so far) is...
MiniMax 2.7
MiniMax M2.7 - API Pricing & Providers
MiniMax-M2.7 is a next-generation large language model designed for autonomous, real-world productivity and continuous improvement. $0.30 per million input tokens, $1.20 per million output tokens. 204,800 token context window, maximum output of 131,072 tokens. Higher uptime with 3 providers.
Originally, I was using 2.5 but when 2.7 was released I switched my Hermes Agent, Herman, to 2.7. Minimax is a Chinese model. It's VERY good for the price.
Here is a comparison:
MiniMax M2.7 vs Claude Opus 4.6 - AI Model Comparison | OpenRouter
Compare MiniMax M2.7 from MiniMax and Claude Opus 4.6 from Anthropic on key metrics including price, context length, and other model features.
For
