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The Best Hermes Agent UI, Ranked, With A Quick-Start For Every Front-End
The best Hermes Agent UI for most people is Hermes Desktop, the free official app from Nous Research for Mac, Windows and Linux.
Herald OS is my second pick because it is the best-looking Hermes front-end I have used, and Hermes WebUI is third for browser and phone access.
I have run nine Hermes interfaces on my own machine, and each one does a different job inside an Agent OS.
Here is the ranked list first, then the quick-start for each one and where it fits in your workflow.
The best Hermes Agent UI options, ranked
Here is the full ranking, with what each one is, what it costs and who it suits.
| Rank | Hermes Agent UI | What it is | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hermes Desktop | It is the official native app from Nous Research for macOS, Windows and Linux. | Free | It is best for most people as a daily driver. |
| 2 | Herald OS | It is an independent, full-screen agent OS with Hermes as the interface. | Free (alpha) | It is best for the nicest look and for separate Spaces. |
| 3 | Hermes WebUI | It is a lightweight community browser app with close to command-line parity. | Free | It is best for a browser or a phone. |
| 4 | Hermes Workspace | It is a community command centre with chat, memory, skills, files, terminal and kanban. | Free | It is best for running several agents. |
| 5 | Hermes web dashboard | It is the built-in admin panel you open with hermes dashboard. | Free | It is best for keys, config, logs and cron jobs. |
| 6 | Hermes Pixel Office | It is a plugin that shows every agent session as a pixel character. | Free | It is best for watching your agents work. |
| 7 | StarNet | It is a separate pixel-art agent harness that can import a Hermes agent. | Free | It is best for fun. |
| 8 | Hermes Cloud | It is the hosted, always-on Hermes from Nous Research. | Paid | It is best for work that runs while your laptop is shut. |
| 9 | Terminal and TUI | It is the original command line, plus the modern hermes --tui. | Free | It is best for developers and servers. |
This order is my own first-person pick from using every one of them, and it is not a measured benchmark.
I put Hermes Desktop first because it is official, stable and runs on all three desktop systems.
I put Herald OS second because I honestly think it looks nicer than Hermes Desktop, but it is still an alpha.
I put Hermes WebUI third because it is the simplest way to get Hermes onto a phone.
What a Hermes Agent UI is
Hermes Agent is the free, open-source AI agent from Nous Research, and it began as a terminal tool.
A Hermes Agent UI is a front-end that sits on top of that agent, so you can chat and manage it with clicks.
The official docs say the front-ends all talk to the same agent and share state.
That means a session you start in one interface can be resumed in another.
In Agent OS terms, the UI is only the window, and the agent, its memory and its skills are the house.
So you can change windows whenever you like without rebuilding anything.
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Quick-start for every Hermes Agent UI
These are the shortest real routes I know, taken from each project's own instructions and my own installs.
| Hermes Agent UI | Quick-start | Where it opens |
|---|---|---|
| Hermes Desktop | Run hermes desktop, or download the installer from the Hermes Desktop page. | It opens as a native app. |
| Herald OS | Install Hermes, download the Mac build from the GitHub releases page, then run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Herald OS.app" once. | It opens full screen, and Cmd+Ctrl+F toggles that. |
| Hermes WebUI | Run git clone https://github.com/nesquena/hermes-webui.git hermes-webui, then cd hermes-webui, then python3 bootstrap.py. | It opens in your browser. |
| Hermes Workspace | Run the project's one-line installer, then hermes gateway run in one terminal and pnpm dev in another. | It opens on localhost at port 3000. |
| Web dashboard | Run hermes dashboard. | It opens on 127.0.0.1 at port 9119. |
| Hermes Pixel Office | Clone it into ~/.hermes/plugins/pixel-office, then run hermes plugins enable pixel-office and start a new session. | It opens on 127.0.0.1 at port 8113. |
| StarNet | Clone the repo from GitHub and start the local web app, and run npm ci first if it complains. | It opens as a local web app. |
| Hermes Cloud | Sign in to Nous Portal, open Cloud, name the agent and pick a model. | It opens in the browser and on your messaging apps. |
| Terminal and TUI | Run hermes --tui. | It opens in your terminal. |
Every route assumes Hermes Agent itself is installed and has a model provider.
That provider can be a Nous Portal account or an API key for OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic or a local model.
If you have not installed Hermes yet, my one-click Hermes guide gets you there first.
How each UI fits an Agent OS workflow
An Agent OS is not one screen, because it is a set of jobs that need doing.
This is how I'd map those jobs onto the Hermes interfaces.
| Agent OS layer | The job | The Hermes UI I'd use for it |
|---|---|---|
| Cockpit | This is where you chat and give orders all day. | I'd use Hermes Desktop, or Herald OS if you want the nicer screen. |
| Admin | This is where you change keys, models, cron jobs and skills. | I'd use the web dashboard. |
| Visibility | This is where you see which agent is working or stuck. | I'd use Hermes Pixel Office. |
| Task board | This is where bigger jobs become tickets. | I'd use Hermes Workspace or the Kanban page in Hermes Desktop. |
| Remote | This is how you reach the agent from a phone. | I'd use Hermes WebUI over Tailscale. |
| Always-on | This is the agent that works with the lid closed. | I'd use Hermes Cloud. |
| Power tools | This is for scripting and servers. | I'd use the terminal and the TUI. |
You don't need every layer on day one.
Most people should start with the cockpit and the admin panel, which means Hermes Desktop plus hermes dashboard.
Then you add visibility once agents are running in the background.
The remote and always-on layers come last, when you feel the need for them.
The top three in more detail
Hermes Desktop
Hermes Desktop uses the same agent core, config, keys, sessions, skills and memory as the command line.
It gives you streaming chat, a preview rail, a file browser, voice, cron, profiles, skills and settings.
Its Connections settings can register a local runtime, remote gateways, SSH hosts and Hermes Cloud instances together.
It also has a plugin marketplace, where I found around 500 free community plugins with a one-click install.
I walk through that in my Hermes plugins marketplace guide.
Herald OS
Herald OS is made by an independent developer called Luke The Dev, and it is not affiliated with Nous Research.
Its dashboard greets you, shows today's schedule and offers a "Pick up where you left off" card.
Spaces split your work into Ideas, Work and Personal, and you can add one for each client.
Missions, Memory, Files and Automations each get their own page.
My automations synced across Herald OS, Hermes Desktop and my Agent OS, because all three run the same Hermes.
The full tour is in my Herald OS guide.
Hermes WebUI
Hermes WebUI is built by nesquena with Python and plain JavaScript, so there is no build step.
It has sessions on the left, chat in the middle and a workspace file browser on the right.
You reach it from another device through an SSH tunnel or Tailscale.
🔥 Want the exact Hermes Agent interfaces in the Agent OS setup I run inside my Agent OS?
Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get the installable Agent OS, step-by-step video tutorials, four coaching calls a week and 3,400+ members building real automations.
The rest of the list
Hermes Workspace is the heavier browser option, and version 2 added profiles, a kanban board, a live inspector and an editable memory browser.
The web dashboard manages config, API keys, MCP servers, sessions, logs, analytics, cron jobs and skills on your own machine.
Hermes Pixel Office is by Teknium, and it shows a red exclamation mark over any agent that is waiting for your approval.
The Hermes Office plugin gives you a similar visual office with a one-click install in Hermes Desktop.
StarNet is covered in my StarNet guide, and it imports a Hermes agent's persona, instructions, memory and model.
Hermes Cloud is covered in my Hermes Cloud guide, and it needed at least $10 in credits or a Nous subscription when I set it up in July 2026.
The terminal is the baseline, and the docs call hermes --tui the recommended way to run Hermes interactively.
Where my own Agent OS fits
I also run Hermes inside my own Agent OS, and I have kept it out of the ranking because it is mine.
It gives one Hermes thirteen rooms, including chat, voice, tickets, outreach and memory.
It sits next to Claude and my other agents under one shared memory.
It is only available to AI Profit Boardroom members as an installable zip, and there is no public GitHub repo.
You can see the Hermes side of it in the Hermes Command Desk guide.
The free interfaces above are the right starting point for almost everyone.
Honest limits of each Hermes Agent UI
No interface here is perfect, so here is the one thing I'd warn you about for each.
| Hermes Agent UI | The honest limit |
|---|---|
| Hermes Desktop | Voice permissions were hit and miss on my Mac in June, and some people don't like how it looks. |
| Herald OS | It is an alpha at version 0.1, the Connections page did not sync for me, and the top of the UI was slightly cut off. |
| Hermes WebUI | You have to secure remote access yourself. |
| Hermes Workspace | It needs the gateway and the dashboard running behind it. |
| Web dashboard | Its Chat tab only embeds the terminal UI. |
| Hermes Pixel Office | It is a window and not a controller. |
| StarNet | API keys don't transfer, chat has a slight delay, and I don't think it has many practical use cases. |
| Hermes Cloud | It costs money while it works. |
| Terminal and TUI | It is the least friendly option for beginners. |
Herald OS is the one to watch most closely, because its repo was only created on 6 October 2026.
I would not build a client process on it yet, but I would absolutely try it.
Tips from running several Hermes UIs at once
Pick one cockpit and stick with it for a week before you judge it.
Use the dashboard for settings, because it shows which profile you are editing.
Check the Memory page before you share your screen, because I spotted my Telegram details in mine.
Keep approval prompts on until you trust a new setup.
Read a plugin's GitHub page before you install it.
If you want the full stack around the interface, read the best Hermes Agent setup next.
If Hermes turns out not to be for you, the best Hermes Agent alternative lists what I'd try instead.
Also On Our Network
FAQ
What is the best Hermes Agent UI?
Hermes Desktop is the best Hermes Agent UI for most people. It is the free official app from Nous Research for macOS, Windows and Linux, and it shares its config, keys, sessions, skills and memory with the command line.
What is the fastest Hermes Agent UI to start?
If Hermes is already installed, run hermes desktop for the native app or hermes dashboard for the browser admin panel. Both use your existing install, so there is nothing else to set up.
Is Herald OS an official Hermes interface?
No. Herald OS is an independent project by Luke The Dev, and it is not affiliated with Nous Research. It is free, MIT licensed and still an alpha, and it runs on a normal Hermes Agent install.
Can I run more than one Hermes Agent UI at the same time?
Yes. The interfaces share one agent, so my automations synced across Herald OS, Hermes Desktop and my Agent OS. You can chat in one, manage settings in the dashboard and watch agents in Pixel Office.
Is Julian's Agent OS a free Hermes UI?
No. My Agent OS is only available to AI Profit Boardroom members as an installable zip, and there is no public GitHub repo. Hermes Desktop, Herald OS, Hermes WebUI and the others in this list are free.
Final word on the best Hermes Agent UI
Start with Hermes Desktop as your cockpit and the dashboard as your admin panel.
Add Herald OS, Pixel Office or Hermes WebUI when a real job calls for one, and you will have the best Hermes Agent UI for your own Agent OS.
About Julian
I'm Julian Goldie, an AI entrepreneur, SEO expert and the founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.
I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.
My YouTube channel has 400,000+ subscribers, and I run Goldie Agency, a seven-figure SEO agency.
Related guides on agentos.guide
→ Herald OS: The Free Hermes Agent OS
→ Hermes Cloud: The 60-Second AI Employee
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