Last updated: July 2026
Town is a research simulation framework designed for developers building multi-agent virtual environments and game worlds where AI characters interact.
Vellum is a finished personal AI assistant designed to help human beings get their daily work done across devices, schedules, and tools.
Town runs via Python scripts and simulation sandboxes configured through developer terminals and codebases.
Vellum is turnkey. Download the Mac app or start in Vellum Cloud with free hosting, and your assistant is ready immediately on your phone, desktop, and messaging apps.
Town stores agent memories and simulation logs as raw text files in Python directories without consumer security boundaries.
Vellum protects personal data with an isolated credential vault, permission badges on sensitive actions, and local memory you can clear or export at any time.
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.
Web app, email (@town.com identity), Slack, WhatsApp (inbound only), and Telegram (inbound only). No native desktop app, iOS, voice, or Microsoft Teams.
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.
Simulates populations of interacting AI personas in virtual towns and game-like sandbox environments for research and testing.
Run on-device as a native Mac app, on Vellum's managed cloud, or self-host on your own VPS.
Fully cloud-hosted by Town. No self-host option, no on-device execution. All processing runs on Town infrastructure.
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.
Town integrations included on all plans: Google Calendar, Gmail, Slack, Pylon, QuickBooks, Ramp, Salesforce, Sentry, Supabase, and more. No custom skills or extensibility.
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.
Town builds a profile from your email and calendar, learning how you write and work. Memory is cloud-stored and shared across channels, but not structured or exportable.
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.
Fixed set of routines and integrations. No custom skills, no skill marketplace, no extensibility beyond what Town ships.
Open source under MIT license. Full codebase available on GitHub.
Proprietary. Closed-source SaaS. Source code not available. No self-host option.
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.
Free with 30 chats per month. Starter $15/mo (1,250 credits). Pro $49/mo (5,000 credits). Power $99/mo (12,000 credits). Power Plus $199/mo (40,000 credits). Credit-based consumption.
Run locally on Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
Cloud-hosted by Town. All email, calendar, and message data processed on Town infrastructure under Town data and provider policies. No on-device or self-host option.
Built-in scheduling for daily briefings, weekly reports, and hourly checks that just run on a cadence.
Scheduled routines including daily morning briefings, auto-inbox triage, and meeting briefings. Up to 2 custom routines on Starter, unlimited on Pro and above.
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-hosted with subprocessor list published. No isolated credential vault, no sandboxed tool execution. Credentials managed by Town infrastructure.
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.
Sign up at town.com, get a @town.com email identity, connect your calendar and inbox. No download required, web-first. 14-day Pro trial included on signup.
Vellum Cloud: 3 GB RAM and 4 GB storage by default. Mac app runs on standard Mac hardware.
Cloud-hosted by Town. No published storage specs. Credits consumed for memory-intensive operations like person research lookups.
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.
Open research project where developers inspect simulation logs and control agent prompts directly in Python code.
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 personal AI assistant that runs on your own machine or self-hosted, with persistent structured memory, custom skills, and 50+ managed OAuth integrations. Vellum shows up across Mac, iOS, web, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack with one shared memory. Choose Vellum if data control and open source matter to you.
Town makes sense if you want an email-first assistant with a dedicated @town.com identity and do not need self-hosting, custom skills, or open source. Town auto-triages your inbox, drafts emails in your voice, and schedules meetings on autopilot. If your primary surface is email and you want something that just works in the cloud, Town is a solid pick.
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). Town offers tiered subscription packages from $15/mo to $199/mo for simulation credits and multi-agent virtual environments.
Vellum builds a persistent, structured memory of your work and people that gets sharper with every conversation and correction. It is shared across every surface and runs whether you are online or not. Town builds a profile from your email and calendar, learning your writing style and work patterns, but memory is cloud-stored and not structured or exportable.
Vellum offers 50+ managed OAuth integrations including Google, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Linear, and more, plus native agent skills you can install or build. Town includes Google Calendar, Gmail, Slack, Pylon, QuickBooks, Ramp, Salesforce, Sentry, and Supabase on all plans, with no custom skills or extensibility.
Town is web-first with no native desktop or mobile app. You interact with your Town assistant through email, Slack, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Vellum has a native Mac app, iOS app, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack, all sharing one memory.
With Vellum, your data lives on your Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or on your own VPS if you self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path. With Town, all your email, calendar, and message data is processed on Town cloud infrastructure under Town data and provider policies.
Both are designed for non-technical users. Town is web-first with a dedicated email identity, which is familiar and approachable. Vellum is up and running in 5 to 10 minutes with a Mac app and web app, no terminal needed. The open-source and self-hosting options are there if you want them, but you do not have to touch them to use the assistant.
Vellum runs as a native Mac app on your own machine, in Vellum Cloud, or self-hosted on your own VPS. It is open source under MIT, so you can inspect and run the full codebase. Town is cloud-only with no self-host option and no on-device execution.
Yes. Some users run Vellum for local-first work and custom skills while using Town for email triage and meeting scheduling. They serve different needs and can coexist. If you want one assistant everywhere with shared memory, Vellum covers email, calendar, and scheduling natively.
Vellum builds a structured, persistent memory of your work and people that compounds over time, is shared across every surface, and runs proactively in the background. Town builds a profile from your email and calendar that learns your writing style and work patterns, but it is cloud-stored, not structured, and not exportable. Vellum memory is designed to get sharper with every correction. Town memory is designed to make your assistant more intuitive.
