# Vellum vs Claude Cowork
> Personal AI assistant vs agentic AI for knowledge work
> Last updated: May 28, 2026
> Comparison: https://www.vellum.ai/compare-assistants/vellum-vs-claude-cowork

## Overview
Vellum is a personal AI assistant that runs as a native Mac app on your machine or in Vellum Cloud, with iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, Slack, and Microsoft Teams surfaces that share one memory. Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agentic mode inside the Claude desktop app that runs multi-step tasks against local files and connected applications during a sandboxed working session.

## The contenders
### Vellum
Website: https://vellum.ai

Vellum is a voice-first personal AI assistant that learns how you work and can improve itself around your habits. Its companion works alongside you in real time, or takes on longer tasks in the background. It follows you across devices and apps with one shared memory, and can run in Vellum Cloud or on your own machine.

Why choose Vellum:
- Model agnostic: Use any frontier AI model, open or proprietary, and switch anytime.
- Truly yours: Give it a name and personality. It learns you, your work, and your tools.
- Self-improving: Gets better the more you use it, with one memory across every device.
- Private by design: Credentials stay secure, and you choose where your data lives, including self-hosting.
- Built for busy business owners: Offload work and make more time for life.

### Claude Cowork
Website: https://claude.com/product/cowork

Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agentic AI mode for knowledge work, accessed inside the Claude desktop app on all paid Claude plans. It runs multi-step tasks against local files and connected applications like Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, and Chrome inside a sandboxed working session, with the user steering each step before significant actions.

Why choose Claude Cowork:
- Built on Anthropic's Claude models with native access to Claude's reasoning and tool use
- Runs tasks inside an Apple VZVirtualMachine sandbox with explicit folder permissions
- Available on every paid Claude plan with no separate subscription or setup
- Native connectors for Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, DocuSign, FactSet, Linear, Jira, and Chrome

## The scorecard

### channels

Vellum: 9 surfaces, one memory
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.
Vellum runs natively on Mac and iOS with Home Screen widgets, plus web app, voice, email, Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, and Discord. Sent messages can be edited in place in Slack and Telegram. Every surface shares the same memory, so you can start a task on your Mac and pick it up on your phone or in a chat.

Claude Cowork: Channels
Claude desktop app on Mac and Windows, with mobile entry through the Claude app on iOS and Android. Chrome via connector.

### execution

Vellum: One sentence to real output
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.

Claude Cowork: Document synthesis and desktop computer use
Analyzes massive context windows, edits code, and navigates desktop screens via Claude Computer Use. Native M365 add-ins integrate into Word and Excel.
Claude Cowork handles multi-document synthesis, coding, and desktop interface navigation using Anthropic Computer Use and M365 add-ins. Execution burns from your unified Claude token pool, which can limit sustained background execution.

### hosting

Vellum: On-device, managed cloud, or self-hosted
Run on-device as a native Mac app, on Vellum's managed cloud, or self-host on your own VPS.
Vellum gives you the full range: run the native Mac app entirely on your own hardware, use Vellum Cloud for managed uptime and cross-device sync, or self-host on your own VPS for full infrastructure control.

Claude Cowork: Hosting
Runs locally inside the Claude desktop app. Models served from Anthropic's infrastructure. No self-host option.

### integrations

Vellum: 50+ managed OAuth integrations
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.
Vellum connects to 50+ services through managed OAuth: Google, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Linear, Calendly, Eventbrite, and more. Your assistant acts in real services on your behalf without you handling tokens or API keys.

Claude Cowork: Integrations & Skills
Native connectors for Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, DocuSign, FactSet, Linear, Jira, and Chrome. Custom MCP support.

### memory

Vellum: Structured memory that builds itself, everywhere
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.
Vellum builds a structured memory graph of your projects, people, and preferences across every surface. It sharpens over time through use and explicit corrections, so each conversation picks up where the last left off.

Claude Cowork: Memory
Each Cowork task is a working session you steer. No persistent personal memory layer across tasks or sessions.

### modularity

Vellum: Adapts to you personally
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.
Vellum adapts at the individual level: it learns your communication style, builds custom skills from your instructions, and updates its behavior based on your feedback. Each assistant is shaped by the specific person using it.

Claude Cowork: Modularity
Skills system and customizable plugins. Plugins encode workflows for domains like finance, engineering, or HR.

### open-source

Vellum: Open source under MIT
Open source under MIT license. Full codebase available on GitHub.
Vellum is open source under the MIT license. The full codebase is on GitHub and can be self-hosted, audited, and extended.

Claude Cowork: Open Source
Proprietary. Closed-source SaaS from Anthropic. Source code not available.

### pricing

Vellum: Free Base, paid from $30/mo
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.
Vellum offers a free Base plan with credits to start. Paid plans run from $30/mo (Mighty) to $100 (Super) and $200 (Ultra) with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and a personal assistant email and subdomain on higher tiers.

Claude Cowork: Pricing
Included on Claude paid plans: Pro $20/mo, Max $100 to $200/mo, Team about $25/seat, Enterprise custom. Usage caps apply.

### privacy

Vellum: Local or cloud, always yours
Run locally on Mac, in Vellum Cloud, or self-host. Vellum never has access to your data on any deployment path.
Vellum gives you three deployment paths: native Mac app on your own hardware, Vellum Cloud with per-customer isolation, or self-hosted on your own infrastructure. On every path, Vellum never has access to your data.

Claude Cowork: Privacy
Runs on your local machine but processes through Anthropic's infrastructure under its enterprise data policies.

### schedules

Vellum: Built-in scheduling, always running
Built-in scheduling for daily briefings, weekly reports, and hourly checks that just run on a cadence.
Vellum has native scheduling for recurring tasks: daily briefings, weekly reports, hourly checks. Scheduled tasks run in the cloud whether or not you have a session open.

Claude Cowork: Schedules
Recurring tasks supported. Define cadence once and Claude runs it on schedule, like a weekly Slack digest.

### security

Vellum: Isolated credential vault
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.
Vellum stores every connected service credential in an isolated vault that never touches the LLM inference layer. Prompt injection attacks cannot reach your API keys or OAuth tokens.

Claude Cowork: Security
Sandboxed via Apple VZVirtualMachine with explicit folder permissions. Audit logs and Compliance API not yet captured.

### setup

Vellum: Sign up and start talking
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.
Vellum setup is sign up and start talking. Create an account and your first sentence gets real output. Voice is the default first experience. No terminal, no config files, no API keys, no infrastructure to provision.

Claude Cowork: Setup
Available immediately on any paid Claude plan. Sign in, select a folder for sandboxed access, start tasks.

### storage

Vellum: Storage
Vellum Cloud: 3 GB RAM and 4 GB storage by default. Mac app runs on standard Mac hardware.

Claude Cowork: Storage
Runs inside the Claude desktop app. No published minimum specs for Cowork specifically.

### trust

Vellum: Permissions you can see
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.

Claude Cowork: Anthropic safety guardrails and workspace isolation
Enterprise data policies, prompt-injection filters, and Team workspace permissions. All data is processed within Anthropic cloud infrastructure.
Claude Cowork benefits from Anthropic constitutional AI training, strict zero-retention commercial terms for enterprise accounts, and prompt-injection mitigations. Credentials and personal API keys are managed centrally through Anthropic or third-party OAuth.

## Where they split

### Which one is right for you?
Claude Cowork excels at deep reasoning, complex writing, and code refactoring inside Anthropic's 200K+ token window. It is ideal for focused deep work in Word, Excel, and desktop apps.
Vellum is designed for continuous daily task execution. It runs ambiently in the background, follows schedules, monitors feeds, and operates across all your apps without draining your monthly reasoning tokens.

### Which setup fits you best?
Claude Cowork is centered on desktop environments and M365 add-ins, tied directly to your active Claude Pro, Team, or Enterprise subscription.
Vellum provides seamless multi-device continuity. Start a task by voice on your iPhone, check progress on your Mac, and get status updates in Slack or Telegram with one shared assistant.

### How do you want privacy and security handled?
Claude Cowork is hosted entirely in Anthropic's cloud with commercial zero-data-retention terms on eligible tiers, but cannot run offline on local hardware.
Vellum gives you full architectural flexibility: run entirely offline with local open-weight models, or use Vellum Cloud with isolated credential vaults that keep your logins private.

## Lingering questions

### When should I choose Vellum over Claude Cowork?
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 executes real actions through managed OAuth on 50+ services and runs scheduled work continuously in Vellum Cloud, not only during a steered session at your desk.

### When does Claude Cowork make more sense than Vellum?
Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agentic mode for knowledge work inside the Claude desktop app. If you already pay for Claude Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise and primarily want to delegate self-contained desktop tasks like reformatting files, drafting reports from source documents, or organizing folders, Cowork covers that working-session pattern well.

### How much does Vellum and Claude Cowork cost?
Claude Cowork is included on paid Claude plans: Pro at $20/mo, Team at roughly $25 per seat/mo, and Max tiers ($100 to $200/mo). Execution consumes from your shared monthly Claude token allowance across Chat, Code, and Cowork. Vellum includes free cloud hosting when you sign up, with paid plans upgrading your assistant's compute and storage: Mighty at $30/mo, Super at $100/mo (plus $10 platform fee), Ultra at $200/mo (plus $10 platform fee), and Custom.

### How does memory work in Vellum vs Claude Cowork?
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. Cowork operates as a working session: you describe a task, Claude executes it inside the session, and the next task starts fresh. There is no managed long-term memory of you across Cowork tasks.

### What integrations do Vellum and Claude Cowork support?
Vellum connects to 50+ services through managed OAuth with one-click setup and no API keys to handle, including Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Linear, X, and Telegram. Cowork has native connectors for Google Drive, Gmail, Slack, DocuSign, FactSet, Linear, Jira, and Chrome, plus custom MCP support for the broader ecosystem.

### Does Claude Cowork work on iPhone or only desktop?
Cowork is primarily a desktop product running inside the Claude desktop app on Mac and Windows, with mobile entry through the Claude app on iOS and Android. 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.

### Where does my data live with Vellum vs Claude Cowork?
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 Cowork, files Claude accesses stay on your machine inside an Apple VZVirtualMachine sandbox, and Anthropic processes actions through its infrastructure under its enterprise data policies.

### Is Vellum or Claude Cowork better for non-technical users?
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. Cowork is built for knowledge workers who want to hand off desktop tasks during a working session inside the Claude desktop app. For ongoing personal AI work across surfaces, Vellum is the broader fit. For self-contained desktop deliverables, Cowork is a strong execution layer.

### Can I run Vellum on my own machine like Claude Cowork?
Yes. Vellum runs as a native Mac app on your own machine, with iOS, web app, voice, email, Telegram, and Slack surfaces in sync. If you want continuous 24/7 background work without keeping your laptop open, Vellum Cloud handles it on the Pro plan from $50/mo with pay-as-you-go credits, configurable compute and storage, and your assistant's own email and subdomain. Either path gives you the same assistant and identity.

### Can I use Vellum and Claude Cowork at the same time?
Yes. They serve different jobs. Some people use Vellum as their always-on personal assistant across surfaces and use Cowork when they want to hand a sandboxed desktop task to Claude for a single session. Most people consolidate on one over time once they see how Vellum's persistent memory and multi-surface presence cover the day-to-day.

### What's the difference between Vellum's memory and Claude Cowork's working sessions?
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. Cowork's working session is task-scoped: you define a task, steer it through to completion, and the session ends. Future tasks start fresh, without inherited context.

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Full comparison index: https://www.vellum.ai/compare-assistants
Try Vellum: https://www.vellum.ai