Combinations
Agent + hardware.
Which self-hosted AI agent runs well on which portable host. Curated combos with installed-and-tested verdicts. 18 combinations covered.
Hermes Agent
on Raspberry Pi 5
Hermes Agent runs comfortably on a Pi 5 (8 GB) provided you skip the browser tool. The 1.4 GB Docker image fits, RAM headroom stays acceptable, and Claude/OpenRouter calls run at n…
on Intel NUC 13 / Mini PC
This is the workhorse setup. Intel NUC 13 (or any equivalent 32 GB i7 mini PC) running full Hermes Agent including browser automation is what most pocket AI deployments should look…
on Mac Mini M4 / M4 Pro
Hermes Agent on a Mac Mini M4 24 GB works, but you're paying Apple Silicon prices for a workload x86 mini PCs cover for less. The reason to do it: you want Hermes Agent AND meaning…
on Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q (used)
The €150-250 used ThinkCentre M75q running Hermes Agent is the cheapest credible workhorse setup in 2026. You give up some performance vs a current-gen mini PC and you accept the r…
on Mac Studio M3 Ultra
Overkill for Hermes Agent itself, but a credible setup if you specifically want a single workstation that hosts Hermes alongside heavy local LLM workloads (Llama 3.3 70B at 22 tok/…
ZeroClaw
on Mac Mini M4 / M4 Pro
ZeroClaw on a Mac Mini M4 Pro 48 GB is the local-LLM endgame at small form factor in 2026. Llama 3.3 70B Q4 at 9-10 tok/s, ZeroClaw's offline RAG over a documents folder, network e…
on Mac Studio M3 Ultra
If your data cannot leave the machine and you need 70B-class capability at production speed, this is the answer. Llama 3.3 70B Q4 at 22 tok/s through ZeroClaw with network egress d…
Nanobot
on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
Nanobot technically runs on a Pi Zero 2 W. We tested it because someone asked. It boots, it accepts requests, it dies under any non-trivial workload. Use the Zero 2 W as an MCP edg…
on Intel NUC 13 / Mini PC
Nanobot on a 32 GB mini PC is the verifiable-self-hosted setup. The 4,000 lines of Python you can read in an afternoon, on hardware that runs them with massive headroom. Pair with …
on Raspberry Pi 5
Nanobot on a Pi 5 (8 GB) is the most quietly capable setup at this price tier. The Python codebase fits trivially in the available RAM, and you can pair it with Ollama running Phi-…
NanoClaw
on Mac Mini M4 / M4 Pro
NanoClaw was built for this exact hardware. Apple-native installer, Apple container sandboxing, Claude integration via Anthropic's macOS-friendly SDK. Sub-second boot. Fanless on t…
on MacBook Air M3 / M4
NanoClaw on a fanless MacBook Air with 24 GB unified memory is the most portable serious self-hosted AI setup in 2026. Silent operation, full battery day on light agent workloads, …
IronClaw
on Intel NUC 13 / Mini PC
IronClaw on a NUC 13 32 GB is the entry-level deployment for regulated-industry self-hosting. gVisor sandbox, hash-chained audit log, RBAC, all on hardware that costs €700-1,000 pe…
on Mac Studio M3 Ultra
IronClaw on Mac Studio is unusual but works. The use case: regulated organisation with macOS-native infrastructure that wants gVisor-grade isolation in addition to Apple's containe…