Is Hermes Agent safe to use?
An open-source personal AI agent that runs on your own computer, remembers your projects over time, and reaches you through messaging apps. A close cousin of OpenClaw.
Last reviewed: 21 July 2026
The short answer
Generally, yes.
- We rate Hermes Agent Generally Safe (privacy risk: Low).
- Trains on what you type: No.
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Does Hermes Agent train on what you type?
No.
Can you turn Hermes Agent's training off?
Hermes keeps your data local, so there is nothing to opt out of in the tool itself. Privacy then depends on the AI model you connect it to — pick one you trust and apply that model's training opt-out.
Is what you put into Hermes Agent private?
Like OpenClaw, Hermes runs on your own machine and is open source, so its memory and the skills it builds stay local rather than on a company's server. The same nuance applies: it does its actual thinking by calling an AI model you connect (Claude, ChatGPT, and others), so your requests are sent to that provider, whose policy then governs them. Hermes itself does not collect or train on your data.
So, is Hermes Agent safe to use?
Generally, yes. We currently rate Hermes Agent "Generally Safe" (privacy risk: Low), based on how it handles the data covered above.
Our take
“Hermes is in the privacy-friendly camp: it lives on your computer and keeps its memory there. The asterisk, same as OpenClaw, is that it routes your requests to whichever AI model you connect — so that is where your data actually goes, and where you would opt out. The agent itself isn't the thing to worry about.”
The official documents behind this review
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Wondering how we decide these ratings? Read how we review AI privacy.
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