A desktop app derived from GenOffice, the open-source AI office suite that Genspark released under Apache-2.0 on August 3, 2026. The fork was created by solo developer Gustavo Caetano (GitHub account: criptogus). It brings four apps — Docs, Sheets, Slides, and PDF — together on a single foundation, with the “Hermes Agent” AI embedded in each editing screen. The biggest difference from the upstream project is that cloud connections have been stripped out, so everything, including the AI exchanges, runs locally on your own machine. The source code is published under the Apache License 2.0 and is free to use.
Key Features
- Four apps on one foundation: Docs (paragraph-level editing, tracked changes, comments, equations), Sheets (charts, pivot tables, conditional formatting, formula tracing), Slides (masters, charts, image cropping), and PDF (annotations, forms, outlines, signatures, page operations) all run on the same engine
- The AI agent runs locally: The Hermes Agent is called through a local gateway on your machine (
http://127.0.0.1:8642) as an OpenAI-compatible API. Since Hermes Agent is the default provider, it works without creating a cloud account or registering an external model API key - Byte-level preservation of the original file: When loading a docx/xlsx/pptx file, it first archives the original by hash, parses it into a block structure, and rewrites only the blocks the AI touched. Everything left untouched survives as the original bytes, so layouts are far less likely to break when the file is reopened in another office suite
- Propose → review → apply: AI edits are not applied instantly. They are presented as “proposed changes” with a diff preview, and you choose to accept, reject, or roll them back. Version snapshots are kept as well
- Context continues per document: Session IDs are held per document, so the flow of a conversation about the same file carries over
- Apache License 2.0 open source: Only the
ee/directory in the repository is reserved under a separate license for future enterprise modules; the main body is free to use and modify
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Main features |
|---|---|---|
| Open source edition | Free | All features. Source code published under the Apache License 2.0 |
| Enterprise modules | Not yet available (ee/ directory reserved under a separate license) | No details or pricing published at this time |
Pricing is as of August 2026. Please check the official repository for the latest information.
Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- You can try AI-assisted document editing without preparing a cloud account or a model API key
- File contents are never sent to external servers, making it easier to handle documents that cannot leave your organization or that contain personal information
- It reads and writes docx/xlsx/pptx directly, so exchanges with Microsoft Office users stay intact
- AI edits are designed around diff previews and rollback, which reduces the worry of unexpected rewrites
- The Apache License 2.0 places no restrictions on internal use, modification, or adding your own features
⚠️ Cons
- The project is very new, at version 0.7.0. Stability and feature coverage do not match commercial office suites
- No prebuilt binaries are hosted on GitHub Releases, so you have to build from source with git and npm — a high barrier for non-engineers
- The officially listed platforms are macOS (Apple Silicon / Intel) and Windows; Linux is not stated
- Because the AI runs locally, your machine’s performance directly affects response speed
- It is a fork maintained by a solo developer, so the long-term maintenance outlook is unknown
Comparison with Similar Services
| Item | HermesOffice | GenOffice | LibreOffice | Microsoft 365 Copilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | criptogus (Gustavo Caetano) | Genspark | The Document Foundation | Microsoft |
| AI features | Hermes Agent built in (fully local) | AI agents built in (cloud use involved) | Not included by default | Copilot built in (cloud) |
| Where data goes | Stays on your machine | Depends on configuration | Not sent | Microsoft’s cloud |
| Platforms | macOS / Windows | macOS / Windows / Linux | macOS / Windows / Linux | Windows / macOS / Web |
| License & price | Apache 2.0, free | Apache 2.0, free | MPL 2.0, free | Paid subscription |
| Installation | Build from source | Distributed builds available | Installer | Installer / Web |
Who Is It For
- People who want AI help with documents such as contracts or HR materials that they would rather not upload to the cloud
- People who want to draft and format with AI without breaking Microsoft Office file formats
- Developers who want to run an open-source AI agent implementation locally and inspect how it works
- Individuals and small teams who want an AI-equipped office environment without adding another monthly subscription
- People comfortable with building from source and starting a local server
Summary
HermesOffice is a fork that takes GenOffice as its base and commits fully to the direction of “run everything, AI included, locally.” Its byte-preserving editing approach and its propose → review → apply pipeline do a good job of defusing the anxiety of handing documents over to an AI. On the other hand, the project is very new and requires building from source, so for now it is an option aimed at technically inclined users. If you want to see how far a self-contained AI office environment can go in practice, the repository README is the place to start.