> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://repocloud.io/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Agent Apps

> OpenClaw and Hermes Agent: AI agents that you install on your own server with AI Deploy, and how they differ from the DevOps AI Agent

## AI Agents as Apps

An agent app is an AI agent that is itself the application. You install it on your own VPS with [AI Deploy](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/ai-deploy.md), like any other application, and then you talk to it directly. Two such apps have guides:

> **[OpenClaw](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/openclaw.md)**
>
> A personal AI assistant: one Gateway on your server that answers in a web interface and in chat apps

> **[Hermes Agent](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/hermes-agent.md)**
>
> An autonomous AI agent from Nous Research, with a web dashboard and messaging integrations

Both run on a VPS with root access, SSH, the browser console, and the manage page. They are not the [DevOps AI Agent](https://repocloud.io/docs/ai-agents/devops-ai-agent.md): that agent belongs to RepoCloud and sets up another application on a server, while an agent app is the application you set up, and the DevOps AI Agent can install it for you.

## How They Compare

| | OpenClaw | Hermes Agent | DevOps AI Agent |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | A personal AI assistant with one Gateway | An autonomous AI agent with a web dashboard | The agent that installs and changes an application on your server |
| How it gets on the server | Installed by the DevOps AI Agent through [AI Deploy](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/ai-deploy.md) | Installed by the DevOps AI Agent through [AI Deploy](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/ai-deploy.md) | You start it from [AI Deploy](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/ai-deploy.md) |
| What you give it | An API key from the AI provider you choose, when the agent asks for it | An API key from a model provider, when the agent asks for it | A GitHub repository, and optional [custom instructions](https://repocloud.io/docs/ai-agents/custom-instructions.md) |
| How you talk to it | Its web interface and chat apps | The dashboard's Chat tab, the terminal and messaging integrations | The chat that RepoCloud opens |
| Who pays for the AI model | You, through your own key | You, through your own key | Not billed on top of the server |
| Smallest tier | Tier 2 | Tier 2 | Tier 2 |
| What RepoCloud bills | The server, by the hour | The server, by the hour | The server, by the hour |

## Which One Do I Need?

- **An assistant that answers you in a browser or in chat apps:** OpenClaw.
- **An agent that works toward a goal with tools and shows its work in a dashboard or the terminal:** Hermes Agent.
- **An application installed and configured on a server for you:** the DevOps AI Agent, started from [AI Deploy](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/ai-deploy.md).
- **Your own AI tool that creates and manages servers:** [bring your own agent](https://repocloud.io/docs/ai-agents/your-own-agent.md).

## Using an Agent App Safely

An agent app with a terminal can change the server it runs on, just as the DevOps AI Agent can. The same habits apply: take a snapshot before you give it a big task, keep your keys least-privileged and revocable, and read what it did. [Safety and Control](https://repocloud.io/docs/ai-agents/safety-and-control.md) covers them.

The model provider is the one you chose, and its terms and prices are its own. [OpenClaw](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/openclaw.md) and [Hermes Agent](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/hermes-agent.md) explain how to get a key and how the cost is billed.

## Next Steps

> **[OpenClaw](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/openclaw.md)**
>
> Install and configure OpenClaw

> **[Hermes Agent](https://repocloud.io/docs/deployment/hermes-agent.md)**
>
> Install and configure Hermes Agent

> **[AI Agents Overview](https://repocloud.io/docs/ai-agents/overview.md)**
>
> Compare every way to use an AI agent on RepoCloud