Hermes Agent on a mini PC, Mac mini or VPS

With the model at a cloud provider, people report that almost any used mini PC is enough. The failures they post come from low-RAM VPSes, the dashboard and Desktop app using memory, and the host freezing under load.

13 public reports, summarized and credited to their authors. We haven't run them ourselves. Checked Oct 22, 2026.

1. Dell OptiPlex (used, about $50), 8th-gen Intel i5

   RAM

   16 GB, 256 GB SSD

   Model runs

   API

   Worked

   Says it's plenty just to run the agent, with no local models.

   Broke

   Nothing reported.

   u/ZealousidealGarage14 · 2026-08-14 · r/hermesagent: Which hardware do you recommend running Hermes 24/7

2. Dell OptiPlex, 6th-gen Intel i7

   RAM

   32 GB

   Model runs

   Not stated

   Worked

   Runs alongside other services.

   Broke

   The hard drive's I/O is the bottleneck with everything else running. Plans to swap in an SSD.

   u/HalpABitSlow · 2026-08-14 · r/hermesagent: Which hardware do you recommend running Hermes 24/7

3. Mac mini 2018, Intel i3, running Ubuntu

   RAM

   32 GB (upgraded from 8 GB)

   Model runs

   Not stated

   Worked

   Hermes has lived on it since April. Thinks the stock 8 GB would have been fine.

   Broke

   Nothing reported.

   u/Abarth_Vader · 2026-08-13 · r/hermesagent: Which hardware do you recommend running Hermes 24/7

4. GMKtec NucBox (Ryzen 5 3500U), then Minisforum (i5-1250P)

   RAM

   16 GB, later 32 GB, 512 GB SSD

   Model runs

   Not stated

   Worked

   Both handle containers without RAM worries. The i5-1250P feels noticeably snappier, which they put down to faster RAM. Both cost $350 to $500.

   Broke

   Nothing reported.

   u/myziot · 2026-08-13 · r/hermesagent: Which hardware do you recommend running Hermes 24/7

5. Small i3 mini PC (sold on Amazon), no GPU

   RAM

   12 GB, 512 GB SSD

   Model runs

   API + local

   Model

   Small local model for the memory index

   Setup

   Ubuntu

   Worked

   About 5 W, always on, never crashed. The CPU sits around 80% when the local model builds the memory index.

   Broke

   Speech-to-text could be faster. Only the small model runs quickly.

   u/Sn0opY_GER · 2026-08-13 · r/hermesagent: Which hardware do you recommend running Hermes 24/7

6. Intel NUC, Celeron J3455

   RAM

   8 GB

   Model runs

   API

   Model

   OpenRouter

   Worked

   Says it's more than enough with an OpenRouter key.

   Broke

   Nothing reported.

   u/Careless_Copy_4399 · 2026-08-13 · r/hermesagent: Which hardware do you recommend running Hermes 24/7

7. Mini PC, AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS

   RAM

   16 GB

   Model runs

   API + local

   Model

   Some local models through llama.cpp

   Setup

   Headless Ubuntu 26.04

   Worked

   Says it works great and can also run some models that are useful for their needs.

   Broke

   Nothing reported.

   u/shaghaiex · 2026-06-13 · r/hermesagent: Should I buy Mac mini or VPS for Hermes?

8. M1 MacBook Pro kept in a closet

   RAM

   Not stated

   Model runs

   Not stated

   Worked

   Never sleeps. They reported 137 days of uptime.

   Broke

   Nothing reported. Others in the thread asked about leaving the battery plugged in all the time.

   u/dmackerman · 2026-08-15 · r/hermesagent: Which hardware do you recommend running Hermes 24/7

9. Hetzner VPS, about $7 a month

   RAM

   Not stated

   Model runs

   Not stated

   Setup

   Docker containers, MCP servers and custom bridges, Telegram

   Worked

   Hermes works with their Obsidian vault, Google Calendar, Todoist and Actual Budget. Calendar changes wait for a yes on Telegram first.

   Broke

   No specific failure listed. Says the real work was making all of it reliable, not running Docker.

   u/ismailx · 2026-08-09 · r/hermesagent: I built a personal AI assistant on a $7/month VPS

10. VPS (provider not stated)

    RAM

    Not stated

    Model runs

    Not stated

    Setup

    Telegram from the phone, Tailscale

    Worked

    Used heavily for about two months, enough to carry the laptop less.

    Broke

    The gateway died while they were out, and there was no easy way to recover it without the laptop. SSH from Android over Tailscale worked, but the phone terminal was painful.

    u/Exciting-Cat1996 · 2026-05-13 · r/hermesagent: Hermes made me stop carrying my laptop

11. VPS with 960 MB RAM

    RAM

    960 MB

    Model runs

    Not stated

    Setup

    Ubuntu 22.04, hermes dashboard as a systemd service

    Worked

    The issue is closed on GitHub.

    Broke

    The dashboard rebuilt its web UI on every start (about 45 s, peaking near 388 MB), and systemd's OOM killer stopped it.

    georgeglessner · 2026-04-24 · GitHub issue #14898

12. Ubuntu 22.04 VPS

    RAM

    5.9 GB plus 4 GB swap

    Model runs

    Not stated

    Setup

    Hermes Desktop on a Mac connected over SSH, Hermes v0.21.5

    Worked

    The issue is closed on GitHub.

    Broke

    While the VPS was busy, the Desktop app reconnected about once a minute and each time left another 150 to 360 MB backend running, until the VPS ran out of memory and SSH stopped answering.

    VexterZ · 2026-10-03 · GitHub issue #132034

13. Intel N100 NAS, headless

    RAM

    7.5 GB plus 4 GB swap

    Model runs

    Not stated

    Setup

    Hermes v0.18.0 in a packaged NAS app

    Worked

    The issue is closed on GitHub.

    Broke

    The dashboard's event loop stalled for up to 83.9 s and the host stopped responding, so it had to be hard-rebooted. Afterwards the dashboard never came up, and the gateway couldn't restart as a user service until linger was enabled.

    dw361 · 2026-08-10 · GitHub issue #83208

Picking a model? See free & cheap models for Hermes Agent, refreshed hourly.