Agents are the hot category right now: software that doesn't just answer, but does the task. They split into two kinds, and the kind matters more than the brand. Open source agents are free software you install and run yourself. Hosted agents run on the vendor's computers — you just sign up and pay. Prices checked on official pages October 29, 2026 (Muse: October 27, 2026) — verify before buying.
| Agent | Type | Best for | What it costs | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hermes Agent (Nous Research) | Open source — you host it | An always-on agent across Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email and the terminal, with one memory everywhere — and a learning loop that turns solved tasks into reusable skills | Software free (MIT). You pay for the model; optional Nous Portal from $20/mo for bundled model credits | Setup, hosting and security are yours; an agent with shell access needs sandboxing and command approvals, and its dashboard must never be exposed publicly without authentication |
| OpenClaw (OpenClaw project) | Open source — you host it | A personal agent on your own machine that clears inboxes, sends email and manages calendars from the chat apps you already use, with community-built skills | Free (MIT); no paid tier and no hosted service — you pay for the model you connect and any machine or VPS it runs on | Technical to run: its default setup assumes a trusted operator with sandboxing off, so isolate it before connecting real accounts |
| Manus (Manus AI) | Hosted — the vendor runs it | Handing over a whole task — research report, slide deck, website, analysis — and getting finished work back from its cloud computer | From $20/mo for 4,000 credits (about $17/mo billed annually); bigger credit tiers to $200/mo; Team from $20/seat/mo | Credits, not flat use: a task's cost isn't shown before it runs, monthly credits don't roll over, and work can stop when credits run out |
| Muse (Meta) | Hosted — the vendor runs it | A personal agent in a chat app that handles email, calendar, forms, bookings and purchases — and keeps working in the background, asking approval before anything sensitive | Free with a generous weekly limit; Power $20/mo; Maximum $100/mo | Only in countries where Muse has launched, and subscriptions are in limited testing; the free weekly limit can run out on long tasks |
Open source (Hermes, OpenClaw): no subscription and no landlord — the software is free, your data and memory live on your machine, and you can plug in almost any model, including cheap or local ones. The bill is your time and responsibility instead: you install it, keep it updated, pay the model costs yourself, and secure a program that can run commands and touch your files. If that sentence scares you, that is useful information.
Hosted (Manus, Muse): you sign up and it works — no server, no terminal, no updates to babysit. In exchange you pay rent (a subscription, or Manus's credits), your work runs on the vendor's computers under their rules, and the price or limits can change at renewal. Convenience is the product.
Neither kind changes the standing rule of this site: an agent that can act for you needs a human checkpoint before anything leaves the business — a sent email, a payment, a published page.
If you are comfortable with a terminal and want control, start with Hermes Agent or OpenClaw on a spare machine or a small VPS — never on the computer that holds everything, until you trust your setup. If you want finished deliverables without running anything, try Manus on its entry tier and watch the credit meter on your first real task. If you want a personal agent that lives in a chat and asks before it acts, that is Muse's shape. And if none of this sounds like your week, a plain assistant from the other comparisons may honestly be the right tool — agents earn their keep on multi-step work, not on questions.
Before you connect any of them: an agent with your email, files, or a terminal can do real damage with a wrong click — read Before You Give an AI Agent Access, the safety guide with the permission ladder and the minimum safe setup. And for what each kind really costs per month once models, hosting, and your own time are counted, see The Real Cost of an AI Agent.
Hermes Agent official site → · OpenClaw official site → · Manus official site → · Muse official site →