Today, I finally made the decision to switch from OpenClaw to Hermes.
To be honest, I really don't want to keep tinkering with OpenClaw anymore.
I've been using OpenClaw for more than half a year. During that time, it helped me with quite a few things and also introduced me to the idea of using an AI Agent as something more than just a chatbot.
So this isn't an article saying that OpenClaw is a bad product.
Quite the opposite.
I'm genuinely grateful for the time I spent using it.
But after using it for this long, I've gradually realized that what I need from an AI Agent has changed.
And eventually, I decided it was time to try something else.
One More Upgrade, One More Problem
A few days ago, OpenClaw released version 2026.9.1.
I had been using version 7.1, so I decided to upgrade.
To be honest, I was already a little nervous before doing it.
I've upgraded OpenClaw several times before, and the process hasn't always gone smoothly.
Sometimes the program simply wouldn't start.
Sometimes it would start normally, run for a while, and then suddenly shut down.
So every time I see a new version, I have this strange feeling:
Am I upgrading the software, or am I creating another project for myself?
Still, I decided to give it another chance.
The result?
Pretty much the same story.
The upgrade completed successfully.
The program started normally.
And then, less than three minutes later...
It stopped again.
I spent several hours troubleshooting the logs with ChatGPT and Claude.
We tried different approaches, checked different possibilities, and went through the usual debugging process.
But the problem remained.
At that point, I simply didn't want to spend any more time on it.
So I thought:
Why not try Hermes?
I Don't Want an AI Agent That Needs to Be Watched
The crashes weren't actually the biggest reason I became frustrated with OpenClaw.
What bothered me more was task reliability.
When I give an AI Agent a task, I don't really care if it immediately tells me:
"Sure, I'll take care of it."
What I actually want is:
"Give me the goal, and I'll keep working until it's done."
But sometimes my experience with OpenClaw was different.
I'd give it a task.
It would confidently reply:
"Sure."
"No problem."
"I'll continue working on it."
And then...
Nothing.
Eventually, I'd have to go back and ask:
"How's it going?"
Only then would it say something like:
"Sorry, I didn't report the progress earlier."
So I even started asking it to report its progress every 30 minutes.
But even that wasn't always reliable.
It reminded me of a certain kind of coworker:
If you don't keep an eye on them, they might quietly stop working.
Of course, that's a somewhat unfair comparison.
But the underlying point is serious.
For me, one of the most important qualities of an AI Agent is:
I need to be able to trust it with a task.
Then I Tried Hermes
So I decided to give Hermes a try.
And honestly, I was pleasantly surprised.
The biggest difference I noticed was that Hermes seemed much more focused on actually completing the task.
If it encountered a problem, it would try to figure it out.
If something needed to be changed, it would make the change.
If another attempt was necessary, it would try again.
And throughout the process, it would keep me informed about what it was doing.
That changed the feeling of using an AI Agent.
I don't need an AI that simply gives me answers.
What I really want is:
An AI that can take responsibility for a task.
That's a completely different experience.
The Biggest Difference: GitHub CI
One of the clearest differences for me has been GitHub.
Previously, my workflow with OpenClaw often looked something like this:
Modify the code
↓
Commit
↓
Push to GitHub
↓
Task finished
Except the task wasn't necessarily finished.
The GitHub CI pipeline might still be running.
Or it might fail.
And OpenClaw wouldn't necessarily continue monitoring what happened.
So I'd have to check GitHub myself.
Then I'd discover:
❌ Build failed
I'd copy the error message and send it back to the Agent:
"The build failed. Please fix this."
Then it would continue working.
With Hermes, the workflow feels more like:
Modify the code
↓
Commit
↓
Push to GitHub
↓
Monitor CI
↓
Check the result
↓
Failed?
↓
Analyze the error
↓
Fix the code
↓
Push again
↓
Check again
↓
Until it passes
And I don't necessarily have to intervene.
That's exactly the kind of behavior I expect from an AI Agent.
I Finally Realized What I Actually Need
After more than half a year of using OpenClaw, I've become much clearer about what I want from an AI Agent.
I don't necessarily need the "most powerful" AI.
I need a reliable one.
I don't care if it occasionally needs another attempt.
I care whether it can:
- Keep working on a task
- Handle problems by itself
- Report progress
- Maintain context
- Complete tasks instead of stopping halfway
- Continue working even when I'm not watching
Because the real value of an AI Agent isn't simply saving me a few minutes.
It's allowing me to delegate work.
If I have to stand next to the Agent and supervise every step, then I'm still doing a lot of the work myself.
I've simply changed from being the person doing the work to being:
the AI's project manager.
And that's not what I want.
I'm Not Rejecting OpenClaw
I don't want this article to sound like I'm simply attacking OpenClaw.
I'm genuinely grateful for what it has given me.
Without OpenClaw, I probably wouldn't have started exploring AI Agents so deeply.
It made me realize that AI doesn't have to be just a chatbot.
It can be something that:
- Executes commands
- Uses tools
- Remembers context
- Runs automated tasks
- Works with code
- Interacts with GitHub
- Continues working toward a goal
That experience was valuable.
But my expectations have changed.
What used to feel impressive to me was:
"It can execute commands for me."
Now I expect more:
"Can you take this task and finish it without me watching you?"
That's a much higher standard.
Software Doesn't Deserve Permanent Loyalty
I've also realized something else.
There is no reason to keep using software forever just because you've used it for a long time.
Something can be useful today and unsuitable tomorrow.
Your needs change.
Your workflow changes.
The technology changes.
And when that happens, switching tools isn't betrayal.
It's simply making a different choice.
OpenClaw was the right tool for me for a long time.
Maybe Hermes will be the right tool for me now.
And maybe, a few months from now, I'll switch again.
Who knows?
The AI Agent ecosystem is evolving incredibly quickly.
Today's favorite tool might look completely different six months from now.
Goodbye, OpenClaw
So today, I've finally made my decision:
OpenClaw, I really don't want to keep tinkering with you anymore.
I've used you for more than half a year.
There were frustrating moments.
There were failed upgrades.
There were crashes.
There were plenty of times when I wondered why I was still messing around with this thing.
But there were also many moments when I thought:
"This is actually pretty damn useful."
So I don't want to say:
"Goodbye, OpenClaw. You were terrible."
I'd rather say:
Thank you for accompanying me this far.
You've been part of my journey into AI Agents, and that experience won't disappear just because I've switched tools.
Now I want to try something different.
A different Agent.
A different workflow.
A different way of working with AI.
Maybe Hermes will eventually disappoint me too.
Maybe I'll eventually switch back to OpenClaw.
That's possible.
But for now, I want something simple:
I want to give the task to Hermes, walk away, and let it work.
As for whether it can really prove itself...
I'll let time decide.