Vellum

Vellum

Vellum is an open-source personal AI assistant that runs locally or in the cloud, remembers you over time, and handles everyday business and personal tasks automatically.

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Last Updated Oct 22, 2026
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About

Vellum is a personal AI assistant designed to take over recurring busywork rather than simply answer questions in a chat window. It keeps long-term memory across conversations, can take real actions such as sending emails, updating calendars, browsing the web, and running background tasks, and it stays available around the clock on every device a user works from.

The assistant runs either locally on the user's own machine or in Vellum Cloud, and its runtime is open source under an MIT license, so anyone can inspect the code or self-host it. Vellum distinguishes itself from general-purpose chatbots by giving each assistant a persistent identity, a permissions system that requires approval for high-stakes actions, and support for multiple underlying models, including those from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and open-weight models via Ollama. Note that Vellum has announced its Personal Assistant Platform will shut down on November 2, 2026.

Key Features

Persistent long-term memory: The assistant remembers people, preferences, and work across conversations, on a memory system built specifically for continuity rather than a limited chat history.
Autonomous task execution: It can send emails, manage calendars, browse and monitor websites, create slides, write code, run research, and handle recurring tasks in the background.
Fine-grained permissions: Risky actions such as emailing new contacts, modifying important files, or spending credits require explicit approval until the user marks them as trusted.
Cross-device availability: The same identity, memory, chats, and schedules are accessible on Mac, iOS, Android, web, voice, email, Telegram, Slack, and terminal.
Local-first privacy: By default, memory, credentials, and conversation history stay on the user's machine, and data is not used for model training; cloud users run in an isolated single-user container.
Built-in and custom skills: Integrations for Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, and the filesystem ship out of the box, and the platform can be extended with community plugins or custom skills.
Model flexibility: Users can switch between OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini models, or open-weight models via Ollama, at any time.

Pricing & Fees

  • Pricing: Free to download and start; Vellum Cloud plans are Mighty at $30/month (1 vCPU / 2 GiB, 10 GB storage), Super at $100/month (2.5 vCPU / 5 GiB, 30 GB storage), and Ultra at $200/month (4 vCPU / 8 GiB, 60 GB storage). A custom plan option is also available.
  • Self-hosting at no platform fee: Because the runtime is open source, users can deploy it on their own hardware or private cloud with no platform or compute-tier charges.
  • Credits system: Usage beyond bundled amounts is pay-as-you-go, with $1 equaling one credit for actions like AI responses, web searches, and image generation.
  • Shutdown notice: Vellum has announced that the Personal Assistant Platform will shut down on November 2, 2026.

Who It's For

Vellum is aimed at busy professionals and founders who want an assistant that handles operational busywork — chasing invoices, updating a CRM, drafting board decks, coordinating hiring loops — as well as individuals who want help with personal tasks like travel planning, reminders, and scheduling. It also suits technically inclined users who want to self-host, inspect the open-source code, and control their own data, keys, and uptime.

FAQ

What is Vellum?Vellum is an open-source personal AI assistant that runs locally or in the cloud, remembers users over time, and autonomously executes tasks across files, tools, and communication channels.

How much does Vellum cost?The assistant is free to download; optional Vellum Cloud subscriptions start at $30/month for Mighty, with Super at $100/month and Ultra at $200/month, plus pay-as-you-go credits.

How is Vellum different from ChatGPT or Claude?Vellum describes itself as an autonomous assistant with long-term memory that takes real actions across tools, keeps personal data private by default, and lets users switch underlying models at any time.

Is data in Vellum private?Yes — by default the assistant runs locally, conversation history and credentials stay on the user's machine, and data is never used for model training; the open-source code can be inspected directly.

Is Vellum shutting down?Yes, Vellum has announced that its Personal Assistant Platform will shut down on November 2, 2026.