Graded · 2026-08-22 · Alex Finn (channel)
Hermes just released their biggest update ever (Hermes Bot)
We graded the Hermes Bot Mode tape. The copy is real. The phone is missing. Receipts inside.
Worth Your Time
What's actually being done
Look, he actually names the theft. Desktop only. Profiles that already existed get dragged to the left like a team. One chat in the middle. Cron on the right, which is just routines with a Hermes noun. Then he walks the copy: agent-to-agent messages, name, title, description, the same logos. He says software is no longer a moat and he does not mean it as an insult. That part is grown up.
The useful argument is not the tour. It is the context tax. One fat agent carries every skill, tool, MCP, and month of history into every prompt. A hundred skinny bots do one job each and stay faster and cheaper. That is Rockefeller counting barrels, not a feature list. Then he tells you he still will not leave Grok Bot. Mobile. Virtual computers. Delegation you can watch.
The Good
Here's the thing. I wanted a war. What I got was a staffing memo:
- Say copy when it is a copy. Direct ripoff, not hiding it, same logos. He says that out loud and then says you should do it too. That is rarer than another feature tour.
- The context tax is the real lesson. One bot that does a hundred things gets dumber, slower, and more expensive. A hundred bots that do one thing stay sharp. Split the work or watch the model drown in its own backpack.
- Profiles were already the bots. Hermes did not invent a new creature. They put the old profiles in a list and gave them a chat. Steal that reframe even if you never install the update.
- Brain dump, then reverse prompt. Tell it who you are. Ask which bots to stand up. Let the desk hire itself. That is the one setup move worth repeating from the last tape.
- Keep both chairs if you can pay. Grok Bot for knowledge work and the phone. Hermes for local models, file work on your machine, and the subscriptions you already bought. He will not make it binary. Good.
The Bullshit
Biggest facelift ever. They moved profiles to the left and pasted a handoff. That is a coat of paint on a shop that already had the tools.
This is a direct ripoff, and I don't think they're really hiding it, of GrockbotTrue. Then he makes the copy his default Hermes. The original stays the daily driver. That is the review.
Software is no longer a moat. Fine as a slogan. Then he spends the back half explaining why the $300 one still wins: phone, VM, it just works. That is a moat. He just will not call it one.
It's the number one community in AI on the entire internet.Number one according to the man selling the boot camp. Same closer as last tape.
I've gotten way more than $300 of value. A feeling is not a receipt. Time saved is real. Show a week of work or stop pricing the plan with a vibe.
The Contradictions
- Opened as should you rip Grok Bot out for Hermes Bot. Closed as keep both, and Grok Bot is still the daily driver. The title fight never happened.
- Said copy without shame, then worried Nous will dilute the product by copying everything. Both can be true. Only one can be the advice.
- Praised Hermes customization for power users, then said the Apple move is no dropdowns. He wants the buffet and the prix fixe. Pick a lunch.
- Harold did the MU research and the orchestrator delivered the answer. Then he says Hermes agent-to-agent is tacked on. The demo proved his own complaint.
The Grades
Alex Finn, host: 7.0. Alex ran a real compare this time. He said ripoff. He showed the Harold handoff failing to land in Harold's own chat. He named the missing phone and the missing VM. He kept Grok Bot. That is a host doing the job. The miss is the register again. $300 of value, number one community, live boot camp this week. On a solo tape those lines still get a free ride. Steal the context-tax argument. Leave the academy.
Scores are opinions based on the published episode, backed by direct quotes. We grade the performance, not the person.