Side-by-side comparison · AI Browsers & Agents
Claude Cowork vs Hermes Agent vs Microsoft Edge
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Business owners and office teams who want repetitive file, report and admin work done for them without building automations.
Pick it if: Technically confident founders and tinkerers who want a personal agent on their own hardware that gets better the more they use it.
Pick it if: Windows and Microsoft 365 users who want AI help with reading, comparing and researching in the browser they already have.
Overview
| Attribute | Claude Cowork | Hermes Agent | Microsoft Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Claude's agent mode: hand it a whole task across your files, apps and browser. | Free, open-source personal agent from Nous Research that remembers and learns as it works. | Microsoft's free browser with Copilot built in to read pages, compare tabs and do tasks. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Free | Freemium |
| Starting price | $20/mo | $20/mo | $19.99/mo |
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Claude Cowork | Hermes Agent | Microsoft Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.1Winner | 3.5 | 3.9 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 2.5 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 3.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Claude Cowork | Hermes Agent | Microsoft Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | No | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | No | No | Yes |
| API access | No | No | No |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | No | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | – | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | Yes | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | No | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | No |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 11/ 17 | 11/ 17 | 12/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Claude Cowork | Hermes Agent | Microsoft Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Pro $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly Trying it on a few tasks a week. | Self-hostedOur pick Free Anyone happy to bring their own AI model key. | FreeOur pick Free Most people: summaries, tab comparisons and Journeys. |
MaxOur pick From $100/mo Anyone handing off tasks every day. | Nous Portal Plus $20/mo People who want one bill for models and tools. | Microsoft 365 Premium $19.99/mo, or $199.99/yr US households and sole traders who want the agent and Office apps in one bill. | |
Team $25/seat/mo, or $20/seat/mo billed yearly Small teams sharing connectors and admin controls. | Nous Portal Super $100/mo Heavy users or an agent hosted around the clock. | Microsoft 365 Copilot (business) See website Companies on Microsoft 365 business plans. | |
Enterprise From $20/seat/mo yearly plus usage, 20-seat minimum Companies that need admin, spend and security controls. | Nous Portal Ultra $200/mo Agents running big jobs all day. | ||
| Which plan to pick | Start on Pro to see which jobs it handles well for you. If you hand it real work most days you will hit the limits, and Max is the plan that makes it a daily tool. | Hermes itself costs nothing. If you already pay for an AI model's API, plug that in. If you'd rather not collect separate keys for models, search and browsing, Nous Portal Plus at $20 a month covers light use. There's also a free Portal tier limited to free models. | Stay on free. The side panel, tab comparisons and Journeys cover what most business owners need, and they cost nothing. Microsoft 365 Premium is only worth it if you're in the US and already want Office for the household; don't buy it just for the browser agent, which Microsoft still calls experimental. |
Key features
| Attribute | Claude Cowork | Hermes Agent | Microsoft Edge |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Claude Cowork | Hermes Agent | Microsoft Edge |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Claude Cowork | Hermes Agent | Microsoft Edge |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Cowork, Hermes Agent or Microsoft Edge?
Claude Cowork scores highest overall in our ratings (Claude Cowork 4.1/5, Hermes Agent 3.5/5 and Microsoft Edge 3.9/5). Claude Cowork is best for weekly reports built from several sources and organising and cleaning up folders of files. Hermes Agent is best for A personal assistant you message on Telegram or WhatsApp and scheduled reports and briefings that run unattended. Microsoft Edge is best for summarising long pages and PDFs and comparing products or quotes across open tabs.
Which is cheaper, Claude Cowork, Hermes Agent or Microsoft Edge?
Claude Cowork: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $20/mo. Hermes Agent: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Microsoft Edge: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $19.99/mo.
Which is easier to use, Claude Cowork, Hermes Agent or Microsoft Edge?
Microsoft Edge rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Windows and Microsoft 365 users who want AI help with reading, comparing and researching in the browser they already have.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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