# Run a Hermes agent

> I want a personal assistant that answers me on Telegram, remembers what I tell it and runs jobs on a schedule.

Hermes is a personal AI agent you host yourself. It needs a small machine that stays on and keeps its files. Only one of the sixteen providers offers it in one click; most can run it if you can follow terminal instructions; a few are a poor fit for an assistant that never sleeps.

Guide page: https://botperch.com/use-cases/hermes-agent/

**Short answer:** The cheapest machine that runs it as described is Agent 37 at $10.60 a month, then Lizard ($19.00) and Boat ($20.00). 11 of 16 providers run it without a catch. The AI model adds about $14.70 a month on top (GLM 5.3, 30 requests a day at 40k tokens each, median zero-retention price; from $6.84 at the cheapest host). List prices checked 29 October 2026.

[Hermes Agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) is an open-source (MIT) assistant from Nous Research. You talk to it from Telegram, Slack, WhatsApp, email and [20+ other apps](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/), it keeps a memory of you between conversations, and it writes itself reusable skills from what it does.
The model (Claude, GPT, an open model) runs elsewhere and is billed by its own provider. What you host is the small program that holds your memory, your logins and your schedule, and that runs commands, browses and edits files for you. That program is what this page is about.
Its own README says to run it "on a $5 VPS, a GPU cluster, or serverless infrastructure that costs nearly nothing when idle". A sandbox provider is one of those choices: the difference is how easy it is to set up, whether it is allowed to stay on, and what it costs when it is waiting.

## What it needs

- **Machine size:** At least 1 CPU and 1 GB of memory; 2 CPUs and 2 to 4 GB recommended, and at least 2 GB if it uses the browser. 2 vCPU / 4 GiB / 20 GiB leaves room for Chromium and a growing memory. [source](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/docker#resource-limits)
- **Does it stay on?:** Yes, usually. By default it fetches Telegram messages by asking Telegram every few seconds, and the docs say plainly that "a polling bot can never sleep". It also runs your scheduled jobs every 60 seconds. Webhook mode lets it sleep on hosts that wake on an incoming request, but scheduled jobs then do not fire while it sleeps. [source](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/telegram)
- **What must survive a restart:** Everything in ~/.hermes: memory, past conversations, skills, scheduled jobs, API keys and chat logins. A provider that deletes the disk when the machine stops loses all of it. [source](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration)
- **Browser, Docker, GPU:** A browser is optional and is the hungriest part. Docker is optional. A GPU is only needed if you run the model yourself. [source](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/faq)
- **How busy it is:** Mostly waiting. Battleships' always-on assistant workload averages about 6% CPU, with peaks near 100% when it browses or runs a command. That is why providers that charge only for CPU actually used come out cheap here. [source](https://battleships.dev/data/rankings/employees.json)

## Picks

- **Agent 37**, If you do not want a terminal: The only provider of the sixteen that sets up Hermes in one click. Plans run from $3.99 a month (1 vCPU / 4 GB / 8 GB, bring your own model key) to $29.99 (2 vCPU / 8 GB / 20 GB, with a built-in browser). Watch: The free plan sleeps after 15 idle minutes. These Personal plans are a separate product from the Agent 37 Cloud machines the calculator prices. https://www.agent37.com/personal
- **Boat**, If you can follow terminal steps: Hermes is preinstalled on a full virtual machine. The small size running all month is $13.14 of usage, inside the $20 monthly plan. Watch: Auto-stop is on by default, so create the machine with it turned off. A stopped machine's disk is kept for only 14 days, and there is no free plan. https://docs.boat.dev/long-running-tasks/always-on-services
- **Runtime**, If you want to pay least for waiting: It charges for CPU only while it works, so an assistant that mostly waits costs about $25 a month at 2 vCPU / 4 GiB, and a persistent sandbox never idle-pauses. Watch: No Hermes guide, one US region, and storage keeps billing while the machine is stopped. https://withruntime.com/docs/pricing

## How to run it on each provider

- **Agent 37** (one-click; no terminal: yes): Pick Hermes on the Personal plans and it is set up with a dashboard, task board, web terminal and chat channels. The free plan sleeps when idle; paid plans stay up between scheduled jobs. Price: Personal plans from $3.99 a month; $29.99 with a built-in browser. [Agent 37 Personal](https://www.agent37.com/personal)
- **Boat** (preinstalled; no terminal: no): Hermes is already installed on every sandbox. Create one with auto-stop turned off, run the setup wizard over SSH, and keep the gateway running as a service. [Boat: always-on services](https://docs.boat.dev/long-running-tasks/always-on-services)
- **boxd** (manual; no terminal: no): boxd documents the personal-assistant pattern: create a machine, install the assistant, turn off auto-hibernate (otherwise it sleeps after four quiet hours) and let chat apps reach it. [boxd: personal assistants](https://docs.boxd.sh/use-cases/personal-assistants)
- **Sandboxer** (manual; no terminal: no): Nothing preinstalled and no guide. Create a sandbox with auto-stop off, run Hermes' installer over SSH, and keep the gateway running as a service. [Sandboxer: long-running tasks](https://sandboxer.com/docs/long-running)
- **Runtime** (manual; no terminal: partly): Start a sandbox from the dashboard and you get a shell in the browser; install Hermes there and mark the sandbox persistent so it never idle-pauses. No Hermes guide. [Runtime: getting started](https://withruntime.com/docs/start)
- **InstaBox** (manual; no terminal: partly): The dashboard creates a machine and opens a browser terminal and desktop; installing Hermes and keeping it running is typed by hand. No Hermes template. [InstaBox: getting started](https://instabox.sh/docs/start)
- **Lizard** (manual; no terminal: partly): The dashboard creates a sandbox and opens a terminal; Hermes is installed by hand. Lizard's one-click templates cover OpenClaw, not Hermes. [Lizard: sandbox quickstart](https://lizard.build/docs/sandboxes/quickstart)
- **Morph** (manual; no terminal: no): Create a Devbox, install Hermes over SSH, and turn on wake-on-HTTP so it pauses between messages and wakes when one arrives. [Morph: Devboxes](https://cloud.morph.so/docs/devboxes/getting-started)
- **E2B** (guide; no terminal: no): E2B ships a ready-made hermes template you start from its command line. Sessions end after 24 hours on Pro and one hour on the free plan, so it suits Hermes doing tasks better than an assistant that never stops. [E2B: Hermes Agent](https://docs.e2b.dev/agents/hermes)
- **Daytona** (backend; no terminal: partly): A built-in Hermes backend: Hermes on your own machine starts, stops and resumes a Daytona sandbox for its commands. Daytona's dashboard Playground opens a browser terminal if you want to host it there instead. [Hermes: Daytona backend](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration)
- **Modal** (backend; no terminal: no): A built-in Hermes backend for running its commands. Not an always-on host: Modal sandboxes end after 24 hours and cannot pause. [Hermes: Modal backend](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration#modal-backend)
- **Vercel Sandbox** (backend; no terminal: no): Vercel publishes an official guide, but it is for the backend mode: Hermes stays on your computer and each task runs in a sandbox. [Vercel: Hermes](https://vercel.com/docs/sandbox/ecosystem/hermes)
- **Sprites** (backend; no terminal: no): Fly.io markets Sprites for agents like Hermes, but its only official Hermes integration is the backend mode. Hosting Hermes inside a Sprite means registering it as a service, because a Sprite pauses about 30 seconds after activity stops. [Sprites: agent plugins](https://docs.fly.io/sprites/integrations/agent-plugins.md)
- **Blaxel** (manual; no terminal: no): Possible in a sandbox with a volume for its files, installed by hand. Blaxel's agent hosting caps a run at 15 minutes, so it is not the place for an always-on assistant. [Blaxel: get started](https://docs.blaxel.ai/Get-started.md)
- **Cloudflare Sandbox** (none; no terminal: no): Neither Cloudflare nor Hermes documents this. Cloudflare sandboxes also lose their disk when they stop, so memory would have to be saved elsewhere.
- **Tensorlake** (manual; no terminal: no): Create a named sandbox with `--timeout 0` on Pro, install Hermes and keep it in a background process or under systemd. Suspend is the catch: Hermes polls Telegram every few seconds, so the sandbox has to stay running, and only Pro allows a session with no cap. Everything in `~/.hermes` sits on the ephemeral root disk, so a snapshot or a mounted volume is what saves it if the sandbox is ever terminated. [Tensorlake: timeout and plan limits](https://docs.tensorlake.ai/sandboxes/lifecycle#timeout)

## Monthly machine cost (preset `personal`)

One always-on 2 vCPU / 4 GiB / 20 GiB machine that keeps its files. It waits for messages most of the time: about 6% CPU on average, with peaks near 100% when it browses or runs a command.

- Agent 37: $10.60
- Lizard: $19.00
- Boat: $20.00
- InstaBox: $20.00
- Runtime: $24.95
- Sandboxer: $40.00
- Morph: $63.00
- Sprites: $77.61
- boxd: $110.90
- Blaxel: $123.29
- Tensorlake: $250.00
- Vercel Sandbox: $73.12 (catch: Sessions end after 24 hours, so an always-on machine has to be restarted by your own code.)
- Cloudflare Sandbox: $99.41 (catch: A stopped instance loses its disk; files have to be backed up to R2 or a snapshot and restored.)
- Daytona: $122.07 (catch: 20 GiB of disk is over the 10 GiB limit.)
- Modal: $143.71 (catch: Sessions end after 24 hours, so an always-on machine has to be restarted by your own code. Modal sandboxes have no stopped state; keeping files needs a Volume or a snapshot.)
- E2B: $270.89 (catch: Sessions end after 24 hours, so an always-on machine has to be restarted by your own code.)

## Outside a sandbox

Hermes' own docs point to an ordinary virtual private server ("a $5 VPS") or Docker on a machine you own. Neither isolates the agent the way a sandbox does, and neither is set up for you.

## Sources

- [Hermes Agent on GitHub](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent)
- [Hermes docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/)
- [Hermes: resource limits](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/docker#resource-limits)
- [Hermes: Telegram polling and webhooks](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/telegram)
- [Hermes: terminal backends](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration)
- [Battleships: always-on assistant workload (built by the Boat team)](https://battleships.dev/data/presets.json)