Helmrig Agents vs Hermes Conduit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Helmrig Agents
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Helmrig is a remote development client for iPhone. It pairs with helmrig-server running on your own laptop and gives you the AI coding agents, terminal, and filesystem of that machine — over an end-to-end encrypted tunnel. FEATURES • AI coding agents — run Claude Code or Codex on your laptop. Tell the agent what to do in plain language; it reads files, runs commands, and edits code on your machine. The app shows the output, diffs of any proposed changes, and approval prompts before anything is applied. You bring your own subscription or API keys; Helmrig doesn't sell or proxy AI access. • Attach files — pull any file from your laptop into the agent conversation in one tap, so the agent has exactly the context it needs. • Terminal — full PTY shell on your laptop with ANSI colors and resize. Use whatever you've installed: bash, zsh, fish, tmux, vim, nano, htop. • Files — browse and view the laptop filesystem with syntax highlighting for common languages. • Multi-project — switch between active projects in one tap; each project keeps its own terminal session and AI thread. HOW IT WORKS 1. Install the server on your laptop: npx helmrig@latest 2. Open Helmrig on iPhone, scan the QR code shown in the server. 3. The pairing key is generated locally on your devices and never leaves them. After pairing, phone and laptop talk directly over LAN or NAT-traversal when possible. When direct connection fails, the encrypted tunnel falls back through one of our regional relays. Relays forward opaque ciphertext only — they cannot decrypt anything. REQUIREMENTS • Laptop: macOS or Linux with Node.js 20+ • iPhone: iOS 17+ PRIVACY No third-party SDKs. No analytics. No crash reporting. Helmrig servers never see code, files, terminal output, or AI conversations. Full policy at helmrig.app/privacy.html CONTACT hi@helmrig.dev Privacy Policy: https://www.helmrig.app/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.helmrig.app/terms.html
Hermes Conduit
This mobile client provides access to your personal AI agent, allowing you to chat, talk, and manage tasks from your devices. It offers real-time voice calls, context-aware chat, and control over your agent's bots and jobs.
- Real-time voice calls with AI models
- Context-aware chat with rich media support
- Task management and bot interaction
- Voice control for jobs and calls
- Cross-device session synchronization
- Customizable AI agent skills and tools
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Hermes Conduit is an independent client for your own Hermes agent, on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Your sessions, profiles, bots and tools are the same ones you use on desktop, in a touch-first app built for chatting, talking, and keeping an eye on your agent while you're away from your desk. TALK TO HERMES • Real-time voice calls with Gemini Live, Qwen Live, GPT-Live and Grok Live, or Local Live on your own speech server, with echo cancellation and interruption • Start, check and cancel Hermes jobs by voice, with results folded back into the call • Calls stay with the chat you started them from, keep going with the screen locked, shrink to a bar while you read, and are saved as chats • Hermes can call you when a job is done or it needs your answer; pick up like a normal call, even on your Watch • Talk from Apple Watch on its own, from CarPlay, from Siri, or with a wake phrase • Classic voice and dictation with spoken Stop and End, plus Read Aloud for any reply CHAT WITHOUT LOSING CONTEXT • Pick up desktop sessions and project chats where you left them, with replies streaming in live • Markdown, highlighted code, math, Mermaid diagrams and task lists • Map, place, travel, media, contact and info cards that Hermes draws right in the chat • Follow thinking, tool calls and each turn's steps, or keep them folded away • Answer Hermes' questions with a tap or a short form • Attach photos, camera shots and any file, or drag them in; long pastes become attachments • Swipe through pictures full screen; quote, react to, edit and resend messages • Browse every file and artifact Hermes made, and your project folders • On iPad and Mac, resize the chat list and chat columns; text grows with the window TASKS, BOTS AND PULSE • Tasks board: follow Hermes' Kanban tasks and add new ones • Open your Hermes bots and their Bot Chats; set each bot's model, skills and tools • Group chats with your bots and @mentions • Review, run and edit scheduled jobs • Pulse (beta): turn it on and Hermes brings things up on its own, from a morning brief to follow-ups on your plans YOUR PHONE, IF YOU ALLOW IT Every one is off until you turn it on, and goes only to your own Hermes host: • Location and place rules, travel times and directions • Calendar and reminders, with each change asked first • Apple Health data • Focus, alarms and timers, and contacts you pick • Ask Hermes about what's on your screen, or send anything to it from Shortcuts or the share sheet STAY IN CONTROL • Approve tools and answer questions straight from a notification, end-to-end encrypted between your host and your phone • Live Activities for a running reply on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Home Screen widgets to start a chat or talk in one tap • Switch providers, models and reasoning effort mid-conversation; watch context use; steer, queue or stop a turn • Branch, pin, archive and delete sessions; switch profiles and Hermes servers • Turn skills, tools, connectors and plugins on or off • Face ID or Touch ID lock, credentials kept in the Keychain EASY TO SET UP Sign in with your dashboard address, a QR code or a setup link from your agent. Install the free Hermes Conduit Notifier plugin on your host for notifications, voice calls, cards and phone features. BUILT FOR SELF-HOSTED HERMES Conduit connects to the Hermes dashboard you run, and in live voice calls to the voice provider you choose. It is not a hosted AI service, and a working Hermes installation is required. Free, with no ads, no analytics and no tracking. If Conduit crashes or freezes, it asks once whether to send that report (call stacks, app and iOS version, device model) to its developer, and sends nothing unless you tap Send. Available in English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish and Turkish. Hermes Conduit is an independent client and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nous Research.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hermes Conduit at none against Helmrig Agents's 1. Hermes Conduit also leads on chart position (#49 vs unranked) and update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). Helmrig Agents's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Helmrig Agents sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $12.99 per month. Hermes Conduit asks for nothing beyond the download.
Helmrig Agents ships an update fortnightly, Hermes Conduit weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Helmrig Agents | Hermes Conduit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.7 (42 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 80.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 42 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Best chart rank | — | #49 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 90 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Nikita Kislitsin | Long Cheung Ho |
In-app purchases
Helmrig Agents
- Helmrig Pro14 Days trial$12.991 Month
Hermes Conduit
No in-app purchases








