Compare/Head to head

OpenClaw vs Vellum

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

OpenClaw

Quote Free tier

OpenClaw is the best-known open-source personal AI agent: it runs on your own machine, lives in WhatsApp, Slack or Telegram and remembers your work between chats. Free under the MIT license; you pay only for the AI model you plug in.

Where OpenClaw fits

  • Technical recruiters and agency owners happy to self-host
  • Teams that want an agent in Slack or WhatsApp without a monthly seat fee
  • Builders creating their own recruiting desk assistant

Vellum

$30/mo Free tier

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.

Where Vellum fits

  • 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

At a glance

DetailOpenClawVellum
Starting priceQuote$30/mo
Free tier✓Yes✓Yes
MCP server–No–No
Public API–No–No
Listed underAI assistantsAI assistants

Where they pull apart

OpenClaw

Stands out: Nothing is locked to one vendor. You choose the model, keep the agent's memory as files on your own hardware, and extend it with community skills. Recruiters already build desk assistants on it, RecruiterClaw being one example.

Watch out: You install and secure it yourself. Researchers found tens of thousands of OpenClaw instances exposed on the public internet, so keep it off open ports, review third-party skills and think hard before giving it candidate data.

Not the right fit for

  • Non-technical users who want a hosted app
  • Teams without anyone to own security and updates

Vellum

Stands out: 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: 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.

Not the right fit for

  • Buyers who want a flat all-in price
  • Teams that need a deep library of prebuilt connectors

Pros and cons

OpenClaw

  • Free and open source under MIT
  • Works with any hosted or local model
  • Huge community and skill library
  • You install, host and secure it yourself
  • Exposed instances are a known security risk
  • Model usage costs vary with how hard you work it

Vellum

  • Free start and free self-hosting
  • Assistant gets its own computer and storage
  • Open source
  • Usage credits on top of the package fee
  • Fewer prebuilt connectors than agent platforms
  • Easy to confuse with Vellum's old developer product

What each one costs

OpenClaw

Quote

OpenClaw is free and open source under the MIT license. Your cost is the AI model you connect (your own API key or a local model) plus any server you run it on. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 16 Oct 2026

Vellum

$30/mo

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

Common questions

Can you try OpenClaw or Vellum for free?
OpenClaw and Vellum carry a free tier on our listing.

Not the pair you wanted?

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 16 Oct 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?