Last updated: May 2026
Perplexity Computer is built for fast multi-model web research and synthesis. You ask complex questions and it orchestrates frontier models to compile cited answers and code.
Vellum is built to be your persistent daily coworker. It remembers who you are, manages your schedule, tracks your projects, and acts directly across your tools.
Perplexity Computer runs in the cloud, or locally via Perplexity Portable Computer on dedicated Linux NVIDIA RTX workstations gated behind a $4,679+ hardware investment.
Vellum runs on the computer you already own. Free cloud hosting on signup, or local execution on your Mac with continuous memory shared across iOS, Android, web, and Slack.
Perplexity processes your research through third-party cloud LLM providers, with enterprise compliance tiers for corporate data isolation.
Vellum keeps your memory and credentials isolated. Passwords and API tokens never enter prompt context, and local mode keeps all execution on your own machine.
iOS app with Home Screen widgets, native Mac app, web app, voice, email, Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, and Discord, now an official channel with a setup wizard. Sent messages can be edited in place in Slack and Telegram. Every surface shares the same memory and identity.
Available on the Perplexity web app and Slack. No native desktop or mobile apps for Computer specifically.
Build me a habit tracker gets you a working, interactive app in the conversation. Read this page uses the browser extension to read your open tabs and act on the page you are looking at. Call the dentist and reschedule places an actual phone call with its own voice.
Executes multi-step queries via cloud model orchestration. The Portable Computer release enables local execution on NVIDIA DGX Spark workstations, behind a $4,679+ hardware gate.
Run on-device as a native Mac app, on Vellum's managed cloud, or self-host on your own VPS.
Runs in Perplexity cloud infrastructure across frontier models, or locally on Linux NVIDIA RTX/DGX Spark workstations via Portable Computer ($4,679+ hardware gate).
Native agent skills plus 1-click integrations with 50+ services through managed OAuth, including native Calendly and Eventbrite. Your assistant acts in real services without you touching tokens or API keys.
400+ OAuth-managed integrations including Gmail, Slack, Notion, Salesforce, Snowflake, Databricks, and Outlook.
Vellum builds a structured memory of your projects, people, and preferences automatically, across every surface. It sharpens with every conversation and correction, and there is nothing to configure: no files to curate, no engine to pick, no embedding provider to wire up.
Each Computer task is a scoped workflow you describe. No persistent personal memory layer that compounds across tasks.
Builds its own skills, learns your tone, and adapts based on what you reward and correct. Install new skills from a growing library, or just ask and it figures out a way.
Personalized Skills system to tailor Computer's behavior. Multi-model selection happens automatically per subtask.
Open source under MIT license. Full codebase available on GitHub.
Proprietary. Closed-source SaaS from Perplexity. Source code not available.
Free Base plan with free credits to start. Paid plans from $30/mo (Mighty), $100 (Super), and $200 (Ultra) with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and your assistant's own email and subdomain on higher tiers.
Included on Perplexity Pro ($20/mo) and Max ($200/mo). Computer for Enterprise on Enterprise Max plans, priced custom.
Run locally on Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
Cloud-hosted by Perplexity. Data processed across the 19 orchestrated models per Perplexity's data and provider policies.
Built-in scheduling for daily briefings, weekly reports, and hourly checks that just run on a cadence.
Recurring tasks supported. Computer executes them autonomously and persistently over time, like a daily research briefing.
Credentials live in an isolated vault and never enter the model layer, so prompt injection can't exfiltrate your keys. Every sensitive action asks permission with a risk badge before it runs, and guardian approvals land in one inbox.
Cloud sandbox with enterprise controls. Connector permissions and access policies managed at the Perplexity account level.
No terminal, no API keys, no daemon. Voice-first onboarding is the default: your first experience is speaking, not configuring. Free, no credit card, up in minutes.
Available immediately on any paid Perplexity plan. Sign in, connect tools, start tasks.
Vellum Cloud: 3 GB RAM and 4 GB storage by default. Mac app runs on standard Mac hardware.
Cloud-hosted by Perplexity. No published minimum specs for Computer specifically.
Every sensitive action asks first with a risk badge, guardian approvals land in one inbox, and you can export or delete your data at any time. The trust model is written down in the docs.
Enterprise SOC 2 compliance in cloud mode, or physical hardware boundary on Portable Linux installations. No unified credential vault for daily personal workflows.
See how every personal AI assistant stacks up across the categories that matter.
See how Vellum compares to other AI assistants easily.
Choose Vellum if you want a persistent personal AI assistant that builds memory of your work and people over time, runs proactively in the background, and shows up across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack with one shared memory. Vellum runs on a Free Base plan with Pro from $50/mo, while Perplexity Computer requires a Perplexity Pro plan at $20/mo or Max at $200/mo.
Perplexity Computer is Perplexity's cloud-based agent orchestrator that coordinates 19 different AI models to run multi-step workflows in the background. If you already pay for Perplexity Pro or Max and primarily want to delegate research-heavy, multi-model workflows like competitive intelligence reports or end-to-end content production, Computer's orchestration pattern covers that workload well.
Perplexity Computer is included on Perplexity Pro at $20/mo and Perplexity Max at $200/mo. Perplexity Portable Computer requires dedicated Linux NVIDIA RTX/DGX Spark workstations starting at $4,679+. Vellum includes free cloud hosting when you sign up. Paid plans upgrade your assistant's compute and storage: Mighty at $30/mo, Super at $100/mo (plus $10 platform fee), and Ultra at $200/mo (plus $10 platform fee).
Vellum builds a structured, persistent memory of your work, people, and patterns automatically across every session, shared across native Mac app, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack. Perplexity Computer operates per task: you describe an outcome, the orchestrator delegates to subagents across 19 models, and each task is scoped. There is no persistent personal memory layer that compounds across Computer tasks.
Vellum connects to 50+ services through managed OAuth with one-click setup, including Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Linear, X, and Telegram. Perplexity Computer connects to 400+ apps via OAuth, including Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Notion, Salesforce, Snowflake, and Databricks. Vellum's set is curated for personal-assistant workflows across consumer and prosumer tools, so the connectors that ship are the ones that show up in daily use.
Perplexity Computer is currently available through the Perplexity web app on desktop and through Slack. There is no native iOS or Mac app for Computer specifically. Vellum ships as a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, with voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces, all sharing the same memory.
With Vellum, your data lives on Vellum Cloud with per-customer isolation, encryption at rest, configurable retention, and custom LLM credentials so model API keys stay under your control. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path, whether you run the native Mac app on your machine or use Vellum Cloud. With Perplexity Computer, data is processed in Perplexity's cloud across the 19 orchestrated models under Perplexity's data and provider policies.
Both target non-technical users. Vellum is built for every human, with a native Mac app, an iOS app, and a web app, plus voice, email, Telegram, and Slack, all syncing one persistent memory. Computer runs inside the Perplexity web app and Slack on paid Perplexity Pro or Max plans, where users describe research and execution workflows for the orchestrator to deliver. Vellum is the broader fit for ongoing personal AI that follows you across surfaces and remembers what you're working on.
Yes. Vellum runs as a native Mac app on your computer or in Vellum Cloud, keeping memory continuous across iOS, Android, web, and Slack. Perplexity Computer is primarily cloud-hosted; running it locally requires Perplexity Portable Computer, which demands dedicated NVIDIA workstation hardware running Linux.
Yes. They serve different jobs. Some people use Vellum as their always-on personal assistant across surfaces and use Computer when they want a high-budget multi-model research workflow delivered as a finished output. Most people consolidate on one over time once they see how Vellum's persistent memory and multi-surface presence cover the day-to-day.
Vellum's memory is structured, persistent, and assistant-managed: it builds up an understanding of you across every conversation, surface, and action, and that memory is the same whether you reach the assistant from Mac, iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, or Slack. Computer's subagent workflow is task-scoped: you describe an outcome, the orchestrator decomposes it, subagents execute across 19 models, and the workflow ends. Future tasks start fresh, without inherited context.
