EmpirioLabs Hosted Agents gives you two managed agent runtimes to choose from when you deploy: OpenClaw and Hermes. Both run on the same platform, use the same models, and are billed the same way, so the choice comes down to a few practical differences. This guide walks through what they share and how to pick.
What they share
Whichever runtime you pick, the agent is fully managed. It runs in an isolated, resource-reserved sandbox, stays online without you managing a server, and uses any EmpirioLabs model by default. You can also point either runtime at a connected Poe account or your own OpenAI-compatible endpoint.
Both runtimes run code in a secure sandbox, generate media through your EmpirioLabs models, browse the web, and call your own tools through remote connectors. Both live in Telegram, Discord, Slack, and Matrix, and both are billed per agent at 15 USD per month for Basic and 30 USD per month for Pro, with model usage billed separately.
OpenClaw
OpenClaw has the widest channel coverage. In addition to the shared channels, it can run in Microsoft Teams, Mattermost, and WhatsApp, which makes it the natural pick if your team already lives in one of those. OpenClaw also installs skills from the ClawHub registry, a large catalog of community skills you can add to an agent in a click.
Hermes
Hermes is a clean, capable runtime that covers the core channels and the full tool set: code, media, web, and connectors. It installs skills from the skills.sh ecosystem. If your agent works mainly in Telegram, Discord, Slack, or Matrix, Hermes is a solid default.
How to choose
If you need WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, or Mattermost, or you want skills from the ClawHub registry, choose OpenClaw. For the core channels and tool set, either runtime works well. You are not locked in: the runtime is set when you deploy, but the model, provider, skills, connectors, and channels are all changeable afterward, so it is easy to start with one and tune from there.
Deploy either one
The only thing that changes between the two is the agent_type field. Set it to openclaw or hermes when you deploy:
curl https://api.empiriolabs.ai/v1/hosted-agents/instances \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $EMPIRIOLABS_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "My Assistant",
"agent_type": "hermes",
"plan_slug": "hosted-agent-basic"
}'Get started
Open Hosted Agents in the dashboard to deploy an OpenClaw or Hermes agent, or read the Hosted Agents documentation for the full API.
