DEV Community: Marcus

OpenClaw vs Hermes Agent: Two Very Different AI Assistants

Marcus — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 23:41:42 +0000

Two AI agent platforms getting a lot of attention right now. They are more different than they look.

OpenClaw

Self-hosted personal AI assistant. You install it on your machine or a VPS, connect it to Telegram/WhatsApp/Discord, and it runs continuously as your personal agent.

Key features:

Persistent memory (MEMORY.md, SOUL.md)
Heartbeat checks for proactive monitoring
Sub-agents for parallel task execution
Skills system extensible via plugins
Connects to your messaging apps

Full guide: The Complete OpenClaw Guide

Hermes Agent

Built by Nous Research, a respected open-source AI lab behind the Hermes model series. Hermes 4-14B has 425k+ HuggingFace downloads.

Hermes Agent is a hosted product built on models known for strong tool use, function calling, and reasoning.

Which one?

OpenClaw if you want full control, persistent memory, and messaging app integration.

Hermes Agent if you want a hosted experience backed by serious AI research without managing infrastructure.

They solve different problems. More like complementary tools than competitors.

Detailed comparison: OpenClaw vs Hermes Agent on ReRealize.

5 Real Ways to Make Money With AI in 2026 (Ranked by Speed)

Marcus — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 23:36:15 +0000

Not all AI income streams are equal. Some pay out in days. Some take months. Here's an honest ranking.

1. Freelance AI services (days)

Fastest path to money. Offer AI-assisted writing, image generation, or automation setup on Fiverr or Upwork. You don't need to be technical, you need to know the tools better than your clients do.

Income ceiling: $2,000-$8,000/month for established freelancers.

2. Selling AI prompts (days to weeks)

Platforms like PromptBase and Gumroad let you sell prompt templates for $5-$50 each. A good Midjourney or ChatGPT prompt that saves someone an hour is worth paying for.

Income ceiling: $50-$500/month for consistent sellers.

3. AI digital products (weeks)

Ebooks, templates, planners, printables created with AI, sold on Systeme.io or Gumroad. Systeme.io has a free plan that handles the entire funnel.

Income ceiling: $500-$3,000/month with a small catalog.

4. AI stock photos (weeks to months)

Generate images, submit to Adobe Stock or Shutterstock. Each approved image earns royalties on every download. Takes time to build volume but compounds well.

Income ceiling: $100-$500/month with 500+ approved images.

5. Amazon KDP (months)

Publish AI-assisted ebooks and low-content books. Slowest to start but most passive once you have a catalog.

Income ceiling: $500-$5,000/month with 50+ titles.

Full breakdown with step-by-step guides: 5 Ways to Make Money With AI in 2026 on ReRealize.

How I Keep My AI Agent Running 24/7 Without Leaving My Laptop On

Marcus — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 23:35:24 +0000

Running an AI agent locally is great to start. But the moment you close your laptop, it goes offline. No more scheduled checks. No more proactive alerts. Just silence.

The fix is simple: move it to a VPS. Here's the quick version of how I did it.

The problem with local hosting

OpenClaw (my AI assistant of choice) runs as a Node.js process. That means:

It dies when my laptop sleeps
My home Wi-Fi drops occasionally
Battery wears faster running it 24/7

The solution: a managed VPS

I moved OpenClaw to Ampere.sh — ARM-based managed VPS hosting built for AI agents. Under $10/month.

The setup takes about an hour:

# On your VPS
npm install -g openclaw
# Copy your workspace files over
scp -r ~/openclaw-workspace user@your-vps:/home/user/
# Run with pm2
npm install -g pm2
pm2 start openclaw --name agent
pm2 save && pm2 startup

That's it. Agent runs 24/7, restarts automatically on reboot, and you never have to think about it again.

What changes

Heartbeat checks actually run on schedule. Proactive alerts arrive when they should. You close your laptop and nothing stops.

I wrote a full guide on this over at ReRealize: The Best Way to Run OpenClaw 24/7

If you're running any kind of always-on AI agent, getting it off your laptop is the single most impactful change you can make.