Vellum
Open-source personal AI assistant with its own always-on computer, hosted by Vellum or self-hosted for free.
From $30/mo Free tier
Bottom line
Vellum is an open-source personal AI assistant that runs on its own always-on computer, handling email triage, calendar, meeting prep and research. Start free with pay-as-you-go credits, hosted packages from $30/mo, or self-host for free.
Stands out for: Vellum gives you both routes: rent a hosted assistant with its own computer, email address and subdomain, or run the same open-source assistant on your own hardware with no platform fee.
Watch out for: The monthly fee mostly buys compute; the actual work is billed as credits at $1 each, so monthly cost depends on usage. Searches for Vellum also turn up its old LLM developer platform, which is a different product.
Overview
Vellum is a Y Combinator company that relaunched in May 2026 as a personal AI assistant, announcing $25 million raised. Before that, vellum.ai was a platform for building LLM applications.
Each assistant runs on its own persistent computer with storage for files, notes, history and skills. It handles email triage, calendar, meeting prep, delegation, research and travel booking, and keeps working in the background.
The assistant is open source, so you can self-host it on your own hardware, a VPS or a private cloud. Hosted Super and Ultra packages also give the assistant its own email address and subdomain.
You can start free and pay per credit at $1 each. Hosted packages are Mighty $30/mo, Super $100/mo and Ultra $200/mo, each with some usage included.
Who it's for
Best for
- Recruiters who want an always-on assistant with its own inbox
- Technical users who may self-host later
- People who want memory that lives on storage they control
Not ideal for
- Buyers who want a flat all-in price
- Teams that need a deep library of prebuilt connectors
Key features
Its own computer. Each assistant runs on a persistent machine, from 1 vCPU up to 4 vCPU with 8 GiB RAM.
Remembers everything. Files, notes, conversation history and skills live on its own storage.
Open source. Self-host on your own hardware, a VPS or a private cloud with no platform fee.
Its own address. Super and Ultra give the assistant an email address and subdomain.
AI features
| What the AI does | Plan |
|---|---|
| Email triage, calendar and meeting prep | Free |
| Always-on assistant with persistent memory | Mighty |
| Assistant email address and subdomain | Super |
Only features named in the vendor's own documentation. Anything sold separately is marked as an add-on.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Pay-as-you-go credits |
| Mighty | $30/mo | Small computer, 10 GB storage |
| Super | $100/mo | Medium computer, 30 GB, assistant email |
| Ultra | $200/mo | Large computer, 60 GB, assistant email |
Vellum starts free, with usage billed as credits at $1 per credit. Hosted packages are Mighty at $30/mo (small computer, 10 GB), Super at $100/mo (medium computer, 30 GB, assistant email and subdomain) and Ultra at $200/mo (large computer, 60 GB); each includes some usage, and further credits are pay-as-you-go. The open-source assistant can be self-hosted with no platform fee. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.
Checked 16 Oct 2026. Vendors change prices without notice.
Is Vellum expensive?
Vellum starts at $30/mo. We list 12 AI assistants tools in total. 11 have a free tier, and those with a public price typically start around $17 a month.
- 2 quote-based
- 11 free tier
- 8 public price
Worked out automatically from every AI assistants listing, so it updates as the directory changes.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Free start and free self-hosting
- Assistant gets its own computer and storage
- Open source
Cons
- Usage credits on top of the package fee
- Fewer prebuilt connectors than agent platforms
- Easy to confuse with Vellum's old developer product
What's new at Vellum
No updates logged yet. Follow Vellum and we will email you when it announces something new or its starting price changes.
Follow Vellum
Get an email when Vellum ships a new feature, posts release notes or changes its starting price. Only when something changes, and you can stop in one click.
How Vellum compares
See all Vellum alternatives, with what each one does differently and a head to head for every pairing.
| Tool | Free tier | From | MCP | API | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vellum (this tool) | ✓ | $30/mo | – | – | |
 Hermes Agent Free open-source agent that writes its own reusable skills, self-hosted only. | ✓ | Quote | – | – | Compare |
 OpenClaw The largest open-source personal agent, free with your own model key. | ✓ | Quote | – | – | Compare |
 Lindy Hosted AI teammate in Slack with 1,500+ integrations and approvals. | – | $49.99/user/mo | – | – | Compare |
Hermes AgentQuote Free tier
Free open-source agent that writes its own reusable skills, self-hosted only.
OpenClawQuote Free tier
The largest open-source personal agent, free with your own model key.
Lindy$49.99/user/mo
Hosted AI teammate in Slack with 1,500+ integrations and approvals.
Your next step
Shortlisting Vellum?
Still deciding? Ask an AI assistant about Vellum.
ChatGPT (opens in a new tab)Claude (opens in a new tab)Grok (opens in a new tab)